Molly Craig

Week of April 6
Monday-Thursday
Fifth Grade ELA Plan
Note: Any comments in blue were added to the lesson plan for the write up for the
differentiated lesson plan assignment.
Context:
The students I meet with are 8 fifth graders that have reading goals, some in both
fluency and comprehension or just comprehension. I meet with each student for 30
minutes twice a week. These lessons were chosen after viewing the data from Acuity for
reading as a pre-assessment. One of the standards the students needed extra support
in was 5.RN.4.1, listed below. Each student reads below grade level, some at third and
some at fourth. Comments in blue were added onto the lesson plan for the write up.
Focus:
I will help them with their nonfiction reading comprehension, specifically how an author
uses evidence to support their point of view.
Standards
5.RN.4.1 Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support claims in a text,
identifying which reasons and evidence support which claims.
I Can Statements:
I can describe the authors point of view.
I can find evidence from the passage that supports the authors point of view.
I can retell the story or passage.
Materials:
Running: Sport or Way of Life? With Questions Attached (4th grade level)
Pencils
Highlighters
Notebook for conferring notes
Procedure:
Meet with each of the following students for 30 minutes on 2 separate days: Taylor,
Kateria, Timothy, and Habriya, Corey, Kion, Destiny, and Robert.
Have them read aloud the nonfiction text of their choice.
Ask them questions while they read.
o What is the passage all about?
o How does the author feel about the subject?

o How do you know?

Ask them to retell the passage.
Take notes about their fluency (words they struggle with and how fluently they read),
their ability to retell, their ability to answer the questions that follow, and the effort
they give.
Assessment:
The students pre-assessment was the result of Acuity data. We highlighted standards
from the pacing guide that they needed extra support in (shown below). I will assess the
students based on their ability to answer the reading comprehension questions I ask
them throughout our sessions. I will assess the questions that go along with the passage
and the questions about authors point of view. I will take conferring notes to document
my assessment of each area (fluency, comprehension, effort).

Modifications:
1. Read questions to them.
2. Support them when they are trying to figure out a word (chunking, sounding out).
3. Give them extra thinking time to think about their answers.
4. Allow them to answer questions verbally before writing.
5. Allow them to read books/passages that are on their level.
6. Do not penalize for handwriting or spelling.
7. Work with each child individually.

Strengths:

One strength of this lesson plan was that it was designed to meet the needs of my
students at their level. The pre-assessment was the data from the Acuity testing they do
throughout the year. Highlighted were standards that they needed more support on. Another
strength is that I used this data and the standard to find a lesson that would fit their needs and
support them in their reading comprehension, which they all have goals for. Another strength is
that I added a couple of written response questions to the end of the worksheet. This helped
the students because they all need extra practice writing the answers to the questions besides
just saying them out loud to me. Overall, the worksheet fit the standards, their needs, and the
passage that they read. When they were successful, I felt confident that all of their needs for
this specific content were being met.
In terms of classroom management and behavior, meeting with the students
individually prevents negative behaviors. In this lesson specifically, the students were
challenged throughout and had me there to support them when they needed it, so the effort
and focus during the lesson was great.

Improvements:
Some improvements could be made to this lesson. I wish I would have had a passage for
each of them that was at their specific level. For some, this passage was too hard. Super
Teacher labeled it as fourth grade which would have worked for them according to their needs,
but some of the words were very hard to figure out for the students. A couple of them got
frustrated at times with decoding and sounding out the words, but they were challenged
nonetheless. Next time, I will look for a passage that is below the level of the passage I got or
close to being at that level.
Another improvement I would make is finding different passages for the students to
pick from so what they read aligned with their interests. In other lessons, I allowed the students
to pick books. For this lesson, I chose to use a passage so they would be able to highlight the
evidence they found. I think some would have enjoyed it more if it was something they were
interested in.

In terms of classroom management and behavior, I should have provided the students
with a more interactive way to learn authors point of view. This would have interested them
and motivated them more even though there werent any negative behaviors. At the same
time, practicing referring back to the passage to answer questions will be very beneficial for
them on ISTEP.

Overall Evaluation:
This lesson comes from standards from the students Acuity data. There were a few
standards these students needed extra support in, so for the past few weeks and the next few,
Ill be working to support them in learning these standards for ISTEP. First, we worked through
main idea, then characters, setting, plot, and events, and now we are working on authors point
of view with evidence to support the claims. After this, we will work on another standard thats
highlighted for them. This work supports what they are doing in the general education
classroom because its extra practice on each standard that they need more support in.
The content and product are differentiated in this lesson plan through the modifications
given. The content is differentiated because the passages are below the fifth grade reading
level. During the lesson, I numbered the paragraphs to make navigating back through the
passage easier for the students. They were able to see the passage a separate section this way
so it was less overwhelming. The product is differentiated because the modifications allow for
minor mistakes such as not penalizing for spelling and handwriting. They also get extra help in
reading the questions. Getting to work with me individually is another modification that their
general education peers dont receive.
The students reached the learning objectives and focus of the lesson because they were
able to determine how the author feels about the subject (running) and how the author
expressed that feeling in the passage. They were asked to explain how an author uses evidence
to support claims in a text. In this text, the author used more than one way to explain why
running is important (for our health, joining a club, inexpensive, etc.). The students were asked
to answer questions that pertained to this objective with the activity that followed the reading
of the passage. Within this lesson, the students worked on their fluency, decoding strategies,

retelling, comprehension of nonfiction, and written expression. Two examples of student work
are included.