Benjamin Bergmans Term 3 Literacy Lesson Plan

For Professor Ngo , GSE Fall 2015

Core Decisions
What
I will teach a small group of third graders at Penn Alexander on November 30th.
The students will learn about and practice differentiating the main idea and supporting
details. I want the students to learn and understand that nonfiction texts often have an
essential idea which is supported by details. I want students to realize that when
reading nonfiction texts, or any texts for that matter, not all of the information will be
retained. Authors of nonfiction realize that the reader can not remember everything.
Authors often attempt to convey a main idea, and it is this main idea which authors most
want the reader to remember. I want the students to learn that the most important idea
in a text to the reader is not necessarily the main idea. In other words, what a student
finds most important or most interesting in a text is not always the authors main
takeaway message.
How
I will teach a small group lesson with four students. The lesson will involve
integration with a current social studies unit which I am also teaching. The purpose of
integrating this literacy lesson with social studies is to effectively teach students two
things at once, literary and social studies. The purpose of integrating this lesson with a
social studies unit that the students are currently working on is to build upon the
students prior knowledge of the social studies unit and to go in-depth with the social
studies content.
The lesson will be taught by having students read to themselves and to one
another, through my lectures, and through small group discussions. Students will have
opportunities to both read, write, and discuss. By giving students intellectual variety

(reading, being read to, writing, synthesizing information, and discussing), I hope to
simultaneously keep their engagement and to differentiate the instruction.
I will model and encourage students to write on the text, such as underlining a
sentence that sounds like it might be the main idea. I believe that this is a strategy
students are allowed to use on the PSSA. I will not give the students sticky notes
because not only is that not allowed on the PSSA, but I think it may prove to be more of
a distraction than a helpful tool; the students have not learned how to use sticky notes
as a means of jotting down thoughts about specific sections of a text, and I do not have
time in this lesson to teach them that skill.
Why
My placement teacher recommended that I teach main ideas and details, and
that was my initial inspiration for choosing this topic. In class, students have done main
idea lessons and assignments many times and in various forms. For example, the
students often have weekly reading homework in which they read a short fiction or
nonfiction passage and then answer reading comprehension questions which often
include the question: What is the main idea? Additionally, in class the teacher has read
short passages and then asked the class as a whole to share their opinion on what the
main idea is. Despite this topic having already been taught to and practiced by the
students, my teacher recommended I do it. I believe that my teacher believes that the
students could use more practice with it.
Figuring out the main idea of a passage is a literacy ability which the Common
Core expects third graders to be able to do. The 2015-16 PSSA Scoring Sampler (which
is basically a PSSA practice test) contains multiple choice questions which ask the test
taker to identify main ideas and supporting details of a third-person information text and
of a first-person, nonfiction, personal narrative, and to recount the main events of a
fictitious story. It is reasonable to assume that the PSSA taken by my third grade
students this upcoming Spring will contain questions about main ideas and supporting
details similar to the ones found in the Scoring Sampler. Therefore, I have chosen to
give the students a passage which resembles those of the Scoring Sampler. The
passage for my lesson, like those in the Scoring Sampler, will be about three pages in

Lan 11/21/2015 9:17 PM

Comment [1]: Its OK to use sticky notes
because people use them outside of testtaking situations. The students arent
taking the test for this lesson, so it should
be fine for them to use authentic tools.

length. And like one of the passages in the Scoring Sampler, it will be a nonfiction firstperson narrative which serves to act as an informational text. I believe if students are
going to practice for the PSSA, then the passages and questions should resemble those
found in the PSSA.
I am not doing a lesson on main ideas and details just to help my students do
well on the PSSA. I also believe that it is a useful skill to be able to identify the main
idea of a text, isolate supporting details, and read for specific information.
Lesson Plan Template
Goals / Objectives
Learn that nonfiction texts often have a main idea.
Learn that the main idea is not simply the most interesting idea.
Practice identifying the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction texts with
and without multiple choice answers.
Practice reading aloud, listening to others read, and reading to oneself, all the
while comprehending what is being read so as to identify the main idea.
Practice writing coherent, complete sentences (how ironic).
Standards (and Assessment Anchors, if applicable)
Common Core: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.2 - Determine the main idea of a
text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
Both the Pennsylvania Core Standards and the Pennsylvania Department of
Educations Assessment Anchors are word-for-word the same as the Common
Core expectation italicized above.
The PSSA is based on the states Assessment Anchors which are based on the
Pennsylvania Core Standards which is ultimately based on the Common Core.
Materials and preparation
Handouts for every student all four passages and multiple choice questions
Students will bring their writers notebook and a pencil

Lan 11/21/2015 9:16 PM

Comment [2]: Are there designated
times for students to specifically practice
the PSSA?
For a regular, everyday lesson plan, the
Scoring Sampler/PSSA/test prep dont
need to be the focus.

 I will bring extra paper

Classroom arrangement and management issues
The purpose of having a small group is to minimize management issues, but they
may arise nonetheless. I will try to find a place in the school where we can work free of
distractions. If students misbehave, I will carry out stern warnings and then
consequences.
Plan

Lan 11/21/2015 9:00 PM

Comment [3]: Engaging, meaningful
lessons usually minimize classroom
management issues.

1. I will begin by telling the students they are doing a lesson on main idea and
supporting details. I will hook the students by telling them that we are going to
read about my friend in Africa. (30 seconds)
2. Then I will set in place norms for proper behavior such as raising ones hand to
speak, concentrating on the task at hand, and I will I will also explain the
consequences for misbehavior.
3. I will ask the students why it is important to be able to identify the main idea of a
nonfiction text. After hearing their responses, I will emphasise that the reader
cant remember everything, and I will suggest that main ideas can be more
important to remember than details. I will give an example of how the main idea
can be more important to remember than details based on the sinking of the

Lan 11/21/2015 9:00 PM

Comment [4]: Present the hook before
providing this information.
Lan 11/21/2015 9:03 PM
Comment [5]: You may want to make
this a longer discussion than 30 seconds
to make time for students to share about
themselves. You could ask them
questions, such as, What do you know
about Africa? before telling the story of
your friend in Africa.
Lan 11/21/2015 9:05 PM
Comment [6]: This can be done
throughout the lesson. In most cases, it
should be fine to not mention
consequences until something happens.

Titanic because that was the previous social studies unit I taught the students. I
will then explain that while you (the student) may find a specific detail within a
text very interesting, that does not make it the main idea. I will explain to the
students that when reading for the main idea in a nonfiction text, they should
keep in mind the idea that the author has an overarching message he/she wants
to convey. (5 minutes)
4. I will ask the students where they might find the main idea in a text? After hearing
their responses, I will emphasise that sometimes but not always the main ideas
are at the beginning and ending of paragraphs and chapters. (1 minute)
5. I will model how to take notes on the text itself. (30 seconds)

Lan 11/21/2015 9:06 PM

Comment [7]: Try to rethink how the
main idea could be introduced such that
the students are providing explanations of
what they think the main idea means,
and you could provide guidance or steer
them on the right track if they dont seem
to understand the point of the main idea.

6. I will then present the students with three informational passages about rice, one
at a time. Each passage will be very short, about five sentences. The first
passage will be accompanied by multiple choice questions asking for the main
idea and supporting details (questions will be phrased and formatted similarly to
the PSSA Scoring Sampler). The students will be instructed to read the first
passage to themselves, and then answer the multiple choice questions. When I
see that everyone has answered, we will discuss the answers as a group. I will
call on students to share their answers. If a student gets the wrong answer I will
ask them to share their thinking. I will then ask a student who got the right
answer (if anyone did) to share their thinking. I will repeat this process with the
second passage except for the second passage students will take turns reading
aloud (each student reading just one or two sentences). For the second passage
I will also ask students to identify supporting details from the text. For the third
passage, there will not be multiple choice questions; rather, I will ask the
students to write the main idea in one sentence after we finish reading it aloud.
Then the students will read aloud their written response. (10 minutes)
7. Next the students will read to themselves the three page story about my friends
experience growing rice in Africa. I will preface this reading with a very brief
explanation about my friends situation. (10 minutes).
8. I will ask students to write a one sentence description of the main idea and write
one or two sentences containing evidence from the text which support their
assertion. (5 minutes).
9. I will conclude the lesson by having students share their responses. (2 minutes)
10. I will assess students learning through a discussion of their responses. I will ask
questions like:
How are your main ideas different/similar? (in reference to two particular
students)
Why do you think this is the main idea?
Is the main idea the most interesting idea in this text?
Was the main idea written at the beginning/end of a paragraph or of the
whole passage?

Lan 11/21/2015 9:19 PM

Comment [8]: Would it be possible to do
this lesson with a piece of authentic text
and without multiple choice questions? As
is, it feels like test prep, though perhaps
that is not your intention.
The rest of the lesson (7-10) would
change if you adopt the above
suggestions.
I suggest reading/looking up different ways
to teach the main idea and details. You
might find interactive lessons and lessons
that incorporate graphic organizers, other
visuals, music, etc.

(5 minutes)
I expect the lesson to take 45 minutes. If on the off chance my teacher only allots me 30
minutes, I will nix step #4.
Assessment of the goals/objectives listed above
The benefit of having students assess the main idea of multiple passages is that I
will be able to look for learning in students thinking from one passage to the next. After
each passage we will discuss the main idea and supporting details as a group, which
will be a chance for students to learn. Therefore, I will be looking for the students to
better understand main idea and details with each subsequent passage. Specifically I
will be looking for evidence that students understand the main idea of a passage and
are able to cite evidence or supporting details directly from the passage to support their
assertion. If students use prior knowledge to support their main idea assertion, I will tell
them to look for supporting details in the text itself.
I will not be formally assessing students ability to read aloud or write. The main
purpose of having students read aloud and write was for them to practice doing so.
Anticipating students responses and your possible responses
The passages I provide will be intentionally written to have a fairly clear single
main idea similar to those composed in the Scoring Sampler. There is a possibility that
a student identifies a secondary or tertiary idea which the student mistakes for the main
idea. In this case, I will ask the student to identify supporting details for what they
mistakenly believe is the main idea. If the student can not find supporting details, I will
remind the student that main ideas always have supporting details. If the student does
identify supporting details, then I will praise them for their ability to provide evidence for
their reasoning, after which I may ask them if there was an even more important idea in
the text.
Accommodations
I plan to take a group of students who are all of approximately equal levels in
literacy and reading comprehension ability to minimize the extent to which I need to

differentiate instruction. If a student, however, finds the material too easy, I will ask them
to write additional supporting details for the longer passage, and I will be more
demanding of them to provide textual evidence of their thinking. If a student finds the
material too difficult, I will help them in different ways depending on what exactly they
are finding too difficult. If writing is a difficulty, I will simply ask them to do their best, and
I will help them spell words. If reading comprehension is the difficulty, then I will be
deliberate in explaining to them (and having other students explain to them) exactly
what the main idea is and where supporting details can be found in the text.