Highlights from this Lesson Set:
Kaitlyn Fischer
Lesson Set One
Fifth Grade- Interactive Read Aloud, Reading Minilesson and Writing Minilesson
Books Used: Charlotte’s Web by E.B White and Amos and Boris by William Steig
Interactive Read Aloud
Fifth Grade
Charlotte’s Web by E.B White
Rationale: This interactive read aloud is taught so that students will be able to determine and analyze the overall theme of a text.
Standard: RL.2-Grade 5. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text
Objective: Students will be able to determine the theme of a story by looking at character development, plot and setting.
Procedure:
“I want you to close your eyes and imagine your best friend. What does he/she look like, how does he/she dress, what is he/she doing? Open your eyes. Now I want you to get with a partner and tell them a few things about your best friend. Why is that person your best friend? Walk around to the partnerships. Now I want you to come back, and close your eyes again. Imagine someone that you would never be friends with. Someone who is nothing like you. I want you to think about what makes them different. Now go to a different partner and tell him/her about this new person. Tell them about why you would not normally be friends with this person. Let us now make a chart about our findings. Chart: Friend | Unlikely Friend
I want each person to write one characteristic for either the friend category or the unlikely friend category. It seems as though a lot of responses under the unlikely friend category have to deal with a person acting different and looking different than you. In Charlotte’s Web, the pig Wilbur and the spider Charlotte become best friends. Do you think these animals would normally be friends? Why/why not. Talk to partners, then a few partnerships share what they think with the whole class. I am going to read one of the last chapters from Charlotte’s Web called Last Day and I want you to keep in mind what we talked about as we think about possible themes for this story. Remember that we previously defined theme as the main idea that connects the plot, characters and setting. In addition, there can be more than one theme in the story.
Read up to line: A moment later a tear came to Wilbur’s eye. “Oh Charlotte,” he said. “To think that when I first met you I thought you were cruel and bloodthirsty!”
I want you to get with a new partner and talk about what Wilbur means by this statement. Talk about how first impressions have changed and how you can’t judge someone until you truly know them. Wilbur thought Charlotte was mean because she was a spider.
Read up to line: “Well,” said Wilbur. “I am no good at making speeches. I haven’t got your gift for words. But you have saved me, Charlotte, and I would gladly give my life for you- I really would.”
Let us discuss the character relationship between Wilbur and Charlotte, using specific details from the text.
Read rest of chapter.
Everyone sit quietly for a minute and think about what the theme of the story is, after listening to the chapter I read aloud. Now I would like some ideas about what the theme might be. Use chart paper to write down ideas.
Boys and girls, after looking at our responses, one of the main themes I see on this chart is an unlikely friendship between those who are different than oneself. I want everyone to be aware of the different themes in stories that we read throughout the year. If you are reading and come across an example in your book that would support the theme, you should jot it down on a post-it note. Keeping track of all those examples will help you paint a clearer picture of the overall theme in a book.”
Materials: Charlotte’s Web by E.B White, chart paper, markers.
Differentiation: For those who are auditory learners, they can listen to the passages of the story. For those who are visual learners, I can print out copies of the passages for students to read. Tactile learners can write down a chart in their notebook to compare the friendship characteristics and possible themes. Kinesthetic learners can turn to a partner and discuss what they feel is the main theme, or come up to the board to write a theme. Those who are shy can share their ideas comfortably with a partner, rather than the whole class.
Assessments: This will be based on teacher-student interaction, student-student interaction, student responses, and written responses of themes.
Reading Minilesson
Charlotte’s Web by E.B White and Amos and Boris by William Steig
Fifth Grade
Rationale: This whole-class minilesson is taught so that students will be able to critically analyze the “big idea” or theme of a text, and compare it to texts with similar themes.
Standard: RL.9 Grade5 - Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
Objective: Students will be able to synthesize across texts by comparing stories with similar themes.
Procedure:
“Boys and Girls, during your lifetime you will probably read thousands and thousands of books. You may find that some books remind you of previous books you read, while other books may be different. Books can be similar in many ways, including setting, characters, or even plot. However, today we are going to synthesize and connect similar themes of two different sets of texts. Remember that the theme connects the plot, setting and characters, and can raise questions in the mind of the reader that may lead to a change in perspective. Stories can have many themes but today we are going to take one particular theme, and connect that theme to another book. I am going to read you a short passage from Charlotte’s Web by E.B White that we read together a few days ago. Can anyone tell me if they remember what we said was the overall theme of this book? I want you to turn to a partner and share your ideas about the theme. Student- student interaction. I listen in to conversations as I walk around the room. I am now going to read a passage from the book, and I would like you to keep thinking about the overall theme that you and your partner came up with.
Page 164:
“Oh Charlotte,” he said. “To think that when I first met you I thought you were cruel and bloodthirsty!”
When he recovered from his emotion, he spoke again.
“Why did you do all this for me?” he asked. “I don’t deserve it. I’ve never done anything for you.”
“You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We are born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
“Well,” said Wilbur. “I am no good at making speeches. I haven’t got your gift for words. But you have saved me, Charlotte, and I would gladly give my life for you- I really would.”
As you keep that idea in mind, I am now going to read you another passage from a story you may not have heard of called Amos and Boris by William Steig. This story is about a mouse named Amos who is sailing out in the ocean and comes across a Whale named Boris. Boris helps Amos get back to shore, but while doing so, he comes across a bit of a problem.
Passage about when Boris the Whale gets stuck on the beach, and the mouse helps him get back safely into the water where he can live happily.
After listening to this passage, I want you to tell me what best represents the theme of this story. Student Responses- friendship. I will be more specific than friendship, and say that the theme of this story is friendship among those who are different. How are the themes of both stories similar? Let’s make a chart to compare both stories.
Both deal with friendship, both are animals, both involve animals that might not normally become friends.
Boys and girls, next time you are reading and you come across a similar theme as a book you previously read, I want you to write it down on a post-it note. You should always be connecting books with other books you read in order to help you fully understand the message of the theme.”
Materials: Charlotte’s Web by E.B White, Amos and Boris by William Steig, chart paper, markers.
Differentiation: For those who are auditory learners, they can listen to the passages of the stories. For those who are visual learners, I can print out copies of the passages for students to read. Tactile learners can write down a chart in their notebook to compare the two themes of the story. Kinesthetic learners can turn to a partner and discuss they feel is the main theme of each book. Those who are shy can share their ideas comfortably with a partner, rather than the whole class.
Assessments: This will be based on teacher-student interaction, student-student interaction, student responses, and their future use of post-it notes to connect the themes of stories.
Writing Mini Lesson
Fifth Grade
Charlotte’s Web by E.B White
Rationale: This whole-class minilesson is taught so that students will be able to use descriptive writing techniques in order to fully develop a particular object or scene.
Standard: W 3.2 Grade 5 - Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
Objective: Students will be able to incorporate descriptive language techniques into their writing in order to fully describe a particular object or event.
Procedure:
“I want everyone to close their eyes and pay very close attention to a passage as I read it aloud.
The barn was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell- as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world. It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubber boots and of new rope. And whenever the cat was given a fish-head to eat, the barn would smell of fish. But mostly it smelled of hay, for there was always hay in the great loft up overhead. And there was always hay being pitched down to the cows and the horses and the sheep.
The barn was pleasantly warm in the winter when the animals spent more of their time indoors, and it was pleasantly cool in summer when the big doors stood wide open to the breeze. The barn had stalls on the main floor for the work horses, tie-ups on the main floor for the cows, a sheepfold down below for the sheep, a pigpen down below for Wilbur, and it was full of all sorts of things that you would find in barns: ladders, grindstones, pitch forks, monkey wrenches, scythes, lawn mowers, snow shovels, ax handles, milk pails, water buckets, empty grain sacks, and the rusty rat traps. It was the kind of barn that swallows like to build their nests in. It was the kind of barn that children liked to play in. and the whole thing was owned by Fern’s uncle, Mr. Homer L. Zuckerman.
Now, I want everyone to take out a sheet of paper and make a chart of the five senses: smell, sight, touch, hear, and taste, and provide a few examples for each sense based on the passage that I read aloud. Then, get in groups of three-four students, and discuss what you’ve written down. Be sure to talk about whether or not it was easy or hard to find examples, and what you have learned about writing based on this passage.
Students get in groups for a few minutes. As a class, discuss how the use of details can really bring writing to a new level. Write down sensory details from passage on chart paper.
Adding lots and lots of details when writing makes your readers truly feel as though they were there. These vibrant, sensory details also support the show-don’t tell method and allow readers to draw their own conclusions about what you are describing. E.B White could have just said that the barn was big and old, and moved on with his writing. However, he specifically used two solid paragraphs of detail in order to describe the barn. Since the barn is a major setting in the book, it was important for E.B White to expand his thoughts and fully describe the setting so that readers can accurately paint a picture in their own heads.
After reading and listening to this passage, it is clear that the use of description and details while writing is imperative, or important. I want each of you to choose a particular item or place and incorporate the use of the five senses while writing. You can pick any topic, but try to keep it simple. E.B White described a simple barn, however the extent of details he used truly made it come alive. You can pick an animal, building, object, location or anything else you can come up with. The most important part is that you are describing the object using full and vibrant details. We will spend the rest of the time planning and brainstorming ideas and possible examples that incorporate the five senses. During writing time this week, I really want to see your writing become developed into at least two well-written and detailed paragraphs.
I want you to turn to a partner and go over again what the assignment entails. Then, I want you to turn to another person and describe to them what you learned today about descriptive writing.
You can look back on your notes to help guide you with your writing. I am not giving out copies of the passage because I want you to come up with your own details. However, I will keep Charlotte’s Web in the front of the classroom as a reference in case you are stuck. Happy Writing!”
Materials: Charlotte’s Web by E.B White, chart paper, markers.
Differentiation: For those who are auditory learners, they can listen to the passages of the story. Tactile learners can write down the five senses chart in their notebook to determine the details used. Kinesthetic learners can turn to a partner and discuss their findings and opinions. Those who like to write will be given the opportunity to write about an object/place of their choice. Students will have some freedom of what topic they will write about for the assignment.
Assessments: This will be based on teacher-student interaction, student-student interaction, student responses, group work, and their well-developed and detailed-oriented writing assignment.
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