Lesson 3

Objective: Good readers know that spelling patterns are important to decode words and can sort words with the oi, oy, ow, and ou sounds. Good readers can re-read the same text multiple times to gain a deeper understanding of the author’s message.

Assessment: Word Sort, kids write on their copy of the poem; using underlines, boxes, notes, etc. and answer questions to demonstrate understanding.

Procedures

Welcome:

Opening: Today we’re going to start out by doing a word sort. We will then read a poem called, “The Spider and the Fly” a few times to see if we can understand the author’s message for a reader. Good readers can re-read text to gain a deeper understanding.

Purpose: The purpose of the word study is to help you easily recognize the oi, oy, ow, and ou sounds to easily use them as a spelling/reading strategy. (The purpose for the poem is under each reading below).

Steps for first objective: Word Sort

My student and I will be sorting words that focus on diphthongs. This will be the second time we study these so I will be doing a blind sort with given categories. I will have the words flipped upside down and she will point to a card. I will pick the card up and read the word to her; her job will be to spell the word on her paper under the correct category.

Steps for second objective: Poem

Reading 1-

Purpose: What is this poem mainly about?

Questions:

1. How would you describe the fly? How would you describe the spider?

2. What character traits does the author want you to associate with the fly? What about the spider?

3. What happened to the fly? Why? Text evidence.

Reading 2-

Purpose: How is the poem structured or organize?

Questions:

1. What words in the poem indicate the tone the author was trying to use? Circle some.

2. How might the poem be different if the spider was the narrator?

3. How might the poem be different if the fly was the narrator?

Reading 3-

Purpose: What does the text mean? What was the author’s purpose?

Questions:

1. What lesson can you learn from the spider?

2. What lesson can you learn from the fly?

3. Have you ever seen or experienced a situation like this one in the poem?

Closure:

Thanks for working so hard with me. What did you learn about reading one text multiple times? Did this method help you? 

Reflection on Student: 

In this lesson, we did a blind sort to start out with. Lily did awesome with this! She only put one word in the wrong category and at the end I asked her to think about that one a little harder and she put it in the correct category. After our word study, we practiced closed reading. I told her the objective and explained that when you read a text more than one time you discover new things about the text and you have a better understanding each time you read it. For this close reading Lily read the poem The Spider and the Fly by Mary Hewitt. I chose a harder poem because I really wanted to challenge her. As she was reading through it the first time she was really stumbling over her words and lacking expression. I thought that she didn’t comprehend it at all. But after she finished she said "aww, poor fly" without any prompting. It kind of caught me off guard; I wasn't expecting her to understand the fly had died. But I asked her a few questions about what the poem was overall about and she answered them all correctly. She was able to describe each of the characters as well. We then went back through and read it again. I told her to really focus on what tone the author was using. After we finished reading it the second time, I had her circle some words that she though set the tone. She did awesome with this as well, she was able to tell me the tone was dark and mysterious and then go right to the text and circle the words that told her that. After that, we read it a third and final time. This time we talked about the authors purpose. She was able to connect the poem to not talking to strangers. She said if the fly wouldn't have talked to the spider, he might still be alive. That's just like what her mom taught her, if you talk to someone you don't know or if they ask you to get in the car with them, they might hurt you. She also told me she had a connection; how she watched a spider kill a fly in her basement before. Lily did awesome today, I was very happy with where she is. Next time we meet I am going to try to challenge her a little more. 

What I've Learned About Myself:

I learned that it is important to do word studies with the kids. It can make huge improvements in little amount of time. Being able to recognize spelling patterns is so important when it comes to reading, writing, and spelling. It can make all of those things so much easier for them if they use those as strategies. 

-Ms. A