Diane M. Huot
The following is a basic outline of a ten-day guided reading lesson. Each of the above books will need to be read by the teacher and chunked into appropriate parts for discussions and comprehension. Most of the texts contain glossaries but you may want to review the text for unfamiliar vocabulary. Refer to the above written/oral response to text to complete the plan.
Day 1 - Whole Class/Before Reading
Materials: chart paper, marker
Objective: The students will build background and create definitions for the words heritage, culture, and immigration.
Procedures:
I will spend some time building background with my students discussing the meanings of the terms heritage, culture, and immigration. We will make lists on chart paper of our discoveries.
Our discussion will begin with a sharing of traditions from our families.
What are some of traditions we have on special holidays? Are their special foods shared at different times of the year? Are their special places where people gather or remember their past?
From this discussion we will understand the meaning of heritage. The children will understand that heritage refers to something which is inherited from one's ancestors and can have many meanings including cultural heritage, a nation's historic monuments, museums collections, etc. and traditions which are customs and practices inherited by our ancestors.
We will continue our discussion and focus on the meaning of culture. We will begin with talking about American culture.
What do we like to do? How do we dress? What are some of our routines? How might other people in the world be the same or different from us?
From this discussions we will conclude that culture is the entire way of life of a particular people, including it's customs, religions, ideas, inventions, and tools.
As we discuss different cultures, I will guide our discussion to how the United States is a melting pot of many different cultures because people have come here from all over the world. This will lead to a discussion of the term immigration. Immigration is the act of relocating to another country or region. An immigrant is a person who intends to stay long-term (often forever), in contrast to a casual visitor or traveler. I will briefly talk with the students about the reasons people immigrate without going into too much detail. People immigrate for the following reasons: economic (to escape poverty, seek prosperity, work to send money back to their family/friends in their native country, find employment, get an education), persecution/oppression (to escape dictatorship or other unfair government, not allowed to practice their own religion), national disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tsunami, etc.), personal reasons (to be with a family or loved one, to retire, for better weather, lower living costs).
Day 2 - Introducing the Text
Objective: The students' curiosity will be aroused and they will build interest for the text.
Materials: Individual texts, Reading Response Journals (notebooks)
Procedures:
The students will be grouped for small-group instruction. The similar reading level, reading behaviors and, instructional needs, will group them homogeneously. The above books are generally within the range of the students in my classroom. The guided reading groups have from four to six students and so an equal amount of that particular text is needed. I will have 5 different reading groups. The small-group sessions will last for 20-minute. I will meet with three groups per day, rotating the groups.
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· Distribute the book and discuss the cover.
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Let's read the title together. What's the setting? Who do you think the main character is?
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· Discuss the summary on the book jacket.
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What will this book be about?
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· Turn to the title page. Have students read the book title and the name of the author and illustrator. Have them exchange ideas about the illustration.
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· Turn to the first page of the story. Then encourage further exploration, having students commenting on the illustrations and the text.
Open your reading response journals. Write the title, author and today's date. Write your predictions.
Culminating Project Choices
During this two-week period each small group will plan a special presentation of their book for the rest of the class. They will work on this presentation during center time. The following are presentation choices.
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· Group mural - Students will create a mural showing the highlights or sequence of the story.
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· Drama - Students will write a script and reenact all or a part of the story.
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· Puppet Theater - Students create puppets and use them to tell the story.
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· Choral Reading - Students read the story or part of the story aloud for the rest of the class.
Materials: chart paper, mural paper, paint, markers, construction paper, pencils, glue, and Popsicle sticks.
Day 3 - Reading the Text
Objective: The students will read the text orally and silently.
Materials: Individual texts, Reading Response Journals, poster board (optional)
Procedures:
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· Have the students read silently to themselves. Have them stop at the designated page you chose and review what's happened so far. Then, have them continue reading. Invite individual students to read aloud to you. Provide assistance as needed.
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· Have students go back and revise their predictions.
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· Have the students locate the state or country in which the story takes place or originates on a map. Assign the students to draw a map of the country or state in their Reading Response Journals.An alternative idea would be to assign each group to make a large map on poster board to share with the class when they make their presentations.
Day 4 - Discussing the Text
Objective: The students show an understanding of the text through discussion and reading response.
Materials: Individual texts, Reading Response Journals
Procedures:
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· Because of the length of the book, you may need to discuss the story in more that one session, or only discuss certain pages in a small-group session. Make sure students understand the main idea.
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· Assign a written response question to the group or pair the students to work on different questions together.
Day 5 and 6 (if needed) - Continue Reading and Discussing the Text
Procedures:
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· Follow the procedures on Day 3 and 4
Day 7 - Follow Up
Objective: The students will make connections to other texts read and read with fluency.
Materials: Individual texts
Procedures:
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· Have students reread the book thinking about how it's similar or different from other stories they've read.
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· Lead students to realize that, although stories may be about different things, they often have similar structures. Recognizing the structure can help them with comprehension and making predictions.
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· Fluency - Organize students for partner reading. Ask them to decide who will read first. Then have them read alternate pages aloud.
Day 8 -Revisiting the Text
Objective: The students will gain a better insight into the meaning of the text.
Materials: Individual texts
Procedures:
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· Have student read the book independently and meet together on several occasions to discuss the story. Join in the discussion to model effective way to explore literature.
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Who is/are the central character(s) of this story? What problem does the main character face? What does the main character learn from his/her experience?
Day 9 - Reinforcing the Text
Objective: The students will conclude how characters in the story change.
Materials: Individual texts, chart paper
Procedures:
· Talk about the main character. Have students come up with words to describe the main character and how he or she changes as the story progresses. Chart ideas.
At the Beginning In the Middle At the End
Day 10 - Whole Group Share/Culminating Activity
Objectives: The small-groups will share their presentations with the rest of the students.
Materials: chart paper, marker
Procedures:
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· Each group will prepare a 10-12 minute presentation chosen on Day 2.
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· After the presentations the class will compare and contrast the stories.