Week Two; 3rd Grade Lesson Plan: Stranger in the Woods

Michelle Hall

Grade Level: Third Grade Time Required: 60 Minutes

Materials

·  Sams II, Carl, and Jean Stoick. Stranger in the Woods. Milford, MI: Carl

R. Sams II Photography, Inc., 2000.

·  6 pieces of large white construction paper

·  Crayons/markers/colored pencils

·  Deer stencils

·  Glue

·  6 pieces of lined paper

·  scissors

Michigan Literacy Objectives

L.CN.03.01 Respond to questions asked of them, providing an appropriate

level of detail.

L.RP.03.04 Combine skills to reveal strengthening literacy (e.g., viewing then analyzing orally, listening then summarizing orally).

R.MT.03.01 Self-monitor comprehension when reading or listening to texts by

automatically using strategies used by mature readers to increase comprehension, (e.g., predicting, constructing mental images, representing ideas in text, questioning, rereading or listening again, inferring, summarizing).

Lesson Specific Objectives

  1. Be able to summarize Stranger in the Woods.
  2. Know which animals ended up going to find the stranger.
  3. Comprehend the illustrations and story enough to create an illustration of their own.

Anticipatory Set

I chose to read Stranger in the Woods to you because of three reasons. Number one, the authors/photographers are from Michigan, which I thought was really neat. The second reason I chose to read this book is because with your previous knowledge about the animals around our area, this book could be very entertaining or easy to relate to. Lastly, I think the photography throughout the book is just beautiful and I thought you’d all enjoy them too.

Before Reading

1. What stands out to you about the cover? (The students should notice the real photography on the cover, rather than illustrations)

2. Title: Stranger in the Woods

Authors and Photographers: Carl Sams and Jean Stoick

3. Can anyone guess what the book is about by looking at the cover and a few pages? ( I will skim through random pages of the book at this time)

During Reading

1. (Page 7): Do you have any guesses as to who the stranger is?

2. (Page 13): Does anybody know what a hoof is?

3. (Page 25-26): What did the authors do to the picture on this page to show something important about the bird? What was important?

After Reading

Responding

1. Who was the stranger in the woods after all?

2. What did you wonder or enjoy about this story?

3. Did you have a favorite picture in the book, if so which ones?

Exploring

Let’s take a few minutes to walk through the story as if we were going to summarize it to someone else. This step is important because you will also be asked to write down a summary of the story.

Extending

Ok now that we have summarized the story together as a group, it is time to write down a summary on your own. It has to fit on this one page lined paper because we will be turning the summary into a fun art activity. You will have seven minutes to summarize.

(After summaries are written):

Now with these examples we are going to make a one page “pop-up book.” (Show them my example one.) I will walk you through the following steps in making a pop-up book:

1.  Fold construction paper in half. Unfold. On the top half, draw the setting of the story.

2.  Glue your written summaries onto the bottom half of the construction paper.

3.  Fold the construction paper again. Cut two slits for a tab for an animal and two slits for a tab for the snowman.

4.  Open the folded paper, and at the same time push the slits forward with your finger so they “pop out.”

5.  Draw (or trace) a deer and a snowman, color them as you please, and then cut them out.

6.  Glue the deer and the snowman onto the front of the tabs with the bottom of the figure on the bottom fold (to create a 3-D effect).

Closure

I will introduce my next lesson by stating that we will be working with the adjectives and vocabulary words from stranger in the woods. I will then remind the students to bring their name tags next week and thank them for being good participators in my lesson (if this is the truth).

Assessment

I will evaluate each student’s pop-up books. The setting should be in the winter and include trees, snow, and animals. The summaries should be accurately restating the story, and it is necessary to mention that the stranger is the snowman. During my read aloud I will keep a mental note of who seems to be paying full attention and who is distracted (I will reflect this into a journal right after the lesson so it is not forgotten).

Adaptations for Diverse and/or Special Needs

Children who have difficulty hearing or listening will be placed near me where they can see clearly and hear better. I will make eye contact with them frequently. Students with special needs may need my help holding their crayons to draw on their name cards, or help writing their reflections. If a student is visually impaired I may explain what illustrations are on each page. Those with attention difficulties I will keep eye contact with as much as possible to keep them on track

Reflections

Overall my lesson went extremely well. It felt a little rushed due to the fact I had to incorporate my first lesson in with it. The students seemed very enthusiastic and paid great attention to my read aloud. I had one student with special needs that at first refused to do anything I asked of her at first. After about twenty minutes, she warmed up to me and followed directions much better. I could tell after two minutes of the session that this girl was probably a special education student, so when she refused to do what I asked of her I gave her an alternative. Rather than writing a paragraph describing her favorite book and why, I allowed her to just write key words. I have a session rule that I must see them smile at least once during our session. They loved this rule and it was successful. The students did my extension project just as I asked of them, it seemed like they were really good students and listeners.