FLES
Content lesson
The following lesson plan is
adapted from a similar lesson plan and demonstration designed by Mary Lou
McCloskey and Linda New Levine
as
well as the text
McCloskey, Mary Lou and
Stack, Lydia (1996). Voices in Literature Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
1. Elicit grammar and
previous knowledge: Chain grammar (be + ing)
Everyone stands up in a circle. The teacher write the questions on the board: What am I doing? What is she doing? What is he doing? What are we doing?
The
teacher acts out the first –ing word.
The
teacher points to a student and asks them to act out an –ing word.
The
teacher returns to start with the first –ing word and then goes to the
first student.
The
teacher then asks a second student for an –ing word. The chain then goes
from the teacher, to the first student, to the second student, with everyone in
the room shouting out and acting out the –ing word we all are performing.
The chain continues until all in the class or group have participated.
2.
Quick board or OHP
work, eliciting previous knowledge:
Who’s
in the class?
What
are the people wearing in class?
Who’s in your family?
Do
you cook? Who cooks? What do you cook? Do you like it?
Why?
What’s
in that?
3.
The content: Reading
text
Show
OHP of “Making Tamales” by Carmen Lomas Garza
Include
textbook or handout if possible
Turn
the handout over or open book to read the story.
You
have 20 seconds to read.
Stop
after 20 seconds.
Mark
the place where you stopped.
Count
the number of words your read.
Write
the number of words in your reading log.
Turn over the handout or close the book
Share
the story with your elbow buddy.
Turn
the handout over or open book to read the story.
You
have 20 seconds to read.
Stop
after 20 seconds.
Mark
the place where you stopped.
Count
the number of words your read.
Write
the number of words in your reading log.
Turn
over the handout or close the book.
Everyone
close your eyes.
Who
read more words the second time?
If you did, raise your hand.
Put
your hands down.
Open
your eyes.
Look
at your handout or book.
Underline
line words that surprise you
Put
a mark on the words I stress
Skim
the text for people in the family
Skim
the text for kinds of food
Skim
the text for action words
TPR
the actions
Skim
the text for actions
Read
aloud with your elbow buddy
Read
aloud as a community
a) follow the teacher
b) act out with the teacher
c) say yourselves
Circle all the –ing words
Underline the prepositional phrases and
then have students emphasize them in choral response.
T
read and Ss jump in with underlined phrases.
Ask: Which words are most important?
4. Check for
comprehension: Dipsticking
Thumbs-up,
thumbs-down
We’re
making pancakes.
We’re
making tamales from pizza.
My
family is making tamales.
I
love my family.
We
are spreading meat on the dough.
We
are spreading use student’s name on the dough.
Everyone
in my family is making tamales.
Only
women in my family are making tamales.
Things
with tamales (sign language)
Tamales
are made with C (corn).
Meow
says the C (cat).
Grandfather
is wearing O (overalls).
The
door is O (open).
We
are making T (tamales).
Eric
is from T (Texas).
The
people in the picture are my F (family).
We
live in the state of F (Florida).
We
don’t live in N (Nicaragua, Nice, New Zealand . . .)
Clap
for the following items if they fall into the appropriate category.
Parents, kitchen, tamales, overalls, shirt, soak, leaves, corn, aunt, uncle, meat, dough, spread, roll, fold, grandmother, line up, help
Clap
for a food
Clap
for a family member
Clap
for clothes
Clap
for cooking action
Take
out a piece of paper
Draw
your family.
Draw
Florida.
Draw
dough
Draw
tamales.
Draw
corn.
Draw
a shirt.
Draw
overalls.
5. Graphic organizer
Make
a graphic organizer: Venn Diagram
Eric’s
family; student A’s family
Put
two lists of categories outside the Venn Diagram
Who’s
in our families
What
we cook
Have students as a class then place the lists of words into the correct sectors of the Venn diagram.
6. Academic writing:
Preparing to write compare and contrast sentences.
Goal: to write three good sentences. Model at least one. Have the class do the others in pairs or trios. If doing trios, you can add a third circle to the Venn Diagram.
7. Speaking: 45 second
drills
Find your elbow buddy.
Tell your elbow buddy
Who’s
in your family.
What
you cook.
You
have only 45 seconds. Ready, go!!!
8. Academic writing:
Drafting the composition
Draw your Venn diagram with your elbow buddy.
Write three sentences.
9. Review the reading.
Check yourself for comprehension.
With your buddy, read the Making Tamales piece
10. Editing and add to the first draft of
the composition.
Get
with two other buddies. Everyone writes one sentence.
Put
the sentences together. Decide on a title.
11. Portfolio assessment:
Publishing:
have students type their essay on a computer. Print out the essay and place in
each student’s portfolio.
Speaking: have students read their final essay onto a cassette, and place the tape into each student’s portfolio..
12. Higher order thinking:
Conversation:
Ask:
Why does Carmen Lomas Garza write about tamales?
13. Final review: speaking
Everyone
reads Making Tamales together
14. Checking comprehension and reviewing
vocabulary:
Numbered
Heads and 3-2-1
Write
this on the board:
3 members of your family
2
foods
1
cooking action
Divide class into groups of 3 people, if possible. Each group selects a person to be number 1, number 2, and number 3.
Each
group writes 3 family member words, 2 food words, and 1 cooking action word.
For
each group, the teacher calls out the number. The person representing that
number shouts out the answers the group came up with, either members of the
family, foods, or a cooking action.
15. Checking comprehension: Exit Ticket
We’re
going to lunch. As you leave for lunch, you have to tell me
what I’m doing (act out a TPR)
who’s in your family
how you’re different from your elbow buddy
why the author wrote the story
Students
correctly identify one of the tasks before leaving
the
room.