ACTIVITIES: Students listen to a story, make a story map, and write stories from notes.

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1 A Funny Day (Lesson A) CONTENT FOCUS: Insert Reading/Language Content Focus Arts PROFICIENCY: Insert Intermediate Proficiency to Proficient OBJECTIVE: Insert Objective here - it must not exceed two lines. If it OBJECTIVE: Students make inferences and express opinions. does, let the Content Department know so they can revise it GRADES 2-3 COT TOT ACTIVITIES: Students listen to a story, make a story map, and write stories from notes. PREPARATION: drawing and writing paper student copies of the Story Map worksheet an overhead transparency of the Story Map worksheet Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst Build Background Note: Preteaching the elements of a sentence by giving a lesson about sentence structure (capitalization and punctuation) and the need for a subject and verb to make a sentence would be an excellent day-before activity. Introduce 1. Talk to students about days when funny things happen, one right after the other (chain of events). Tell about a series of real or imaginary things that happened to you. 2. Tell students they will hear a story about funny things that happen to a boy named Alexander. Read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst to the class. Plan and Write Humorous Stories Practice 1. Talk through the story, focusing on what makes the events of the story funny to a reader: When Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, how does he feel? Why do we laugh? (L4.2: Make inferences based on known information) Elicit preferences from the students: What part of the book did you like the best? Why? (S1.2: Express opinions and preferences) 2. On the board, create a graphic organizer like the one on the Story Map worksheet (or use an overhead of the graphic organizer). Walk through the map with students, filling in each part of it as you verbalize: The characters are the people in the story. Alexander is the main person in the story, so I will write his name in that box. The events are the things that happened. The first event was that he woke up with gum in his hair, and so on. (R3.1: Demonstrate reading comprehension)

2 3.134 A Funny Day (Lesson A) 3. Erase the information in the story map boxes. Model use of the story map by saying: Now I am going to fill in a story map about my own funny day. The characters in my story are... continue to make notes for all three events and an ending. Model the use of notes rather than complete sentences. Say: You can write a few words and phrases to tell the main ideas. 4. Distribute the Story Map worksheet to the students. Tell the students they will use it to get ready to write their own funny stories. Encourage the students to think about a chain of funny events, adding that it can be a true story or it can be made up. Have the students brainstorm ideas and take notes on their maps. Remind students that they can write notes, as you did. They do not have to write in sentences. Circulate as they work, offering individual assistance as needed. 5. Model thinking through the process of turning some of your notes into complete sentences. For example: Let s see I see the words ice cream on my map. What happened with ice cream?... How can I write about that in a sentence? Continue eliciting suggestions for turning your notes into complete sentences that describe people or events. Apply 6. As students volunteer suggestions for sentences, review the elements of a sentence. Terminology is not important at this point, especially if this is a new concept. Focus on eliciting the who and action of the sentences (subject and verb) and beginning each sentence with capitalization and ending with a period. (W4.1: Write simple sentences to describe; W2.1: Capitalize beginning of sentence and proper names; W2.2: Use sentenceending marks) Write a Story 1. After the class seems comfortable with the process of turning notes into sentences, tell students that they are going to use the ideas on their story maps to write complete stories. Students may wish to share their story with a partner first. (W4.1: Write simple sentences to describe; W4.2: Write simple sentences to explain) 2. Give students ample time to complete their stories. On separate sheets of paper, they may make illustrations. Gather the stories for the subsequent lesson.

3 A Funny Day (Lesson A) RELATED LINKS: Standards: L4, S1, R3, W2, W4 Multilevel Links: Beginning students could use a simpler version of the story map. Include boxes for the main character, a single story event, and the end. Intermediate students can use invented spellings for words they aren t yet sure how to write. Above Proficient students can extemporaneously tell other funny stories for the class. Resource Links: Read other books in the Alexander series by Judith Viorst: Alexander, Who s Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday Absolutely, Positively Alexander

4 3.136 A Funny Day (Lesson A) Student: Date: Story Map Characters First Event Int to Prof Second Event Third Event Ending

5 A Funny Day (Lesson B) CONTENT FOCUS: Insert Reading/Language Content Focus Arts PROFICIENCY: Insert Intermediate Proficiency to Proficient OBJECTIVE: Insert Objective here - it must not exceed two lines. If it OBJECTIVE: Students use appropriate grammar. does, let the Content Department know so they can revise it GRADES 2-3 COT TOT ACTIVITIES: Students practice test-taking skills by completing a worksheet and writing and editing a story. PREPARATION: On the overhead or the board, write four sentences. The first two are correct and the second two have subject-verb agreement mistakes. The sentences should reflect what the students are producing in class. a class set of the Find the Correct Sentence worksheets editing pens for each student Introduce Parts of a Sentence 1. Using the first two examples, review the elements of a sentence. Ask volunteers to tell what parts are needed in order to make a sentence. Review 2. Review the sentences you have prepared, inviting the students to read the second two sentences aloud and suggest corrections. Make the corrections on the board. Practice Test-Taking Skills 1. Distribute the Find the Correct Sentence worksheet. Point out that the worksheet is divided into two parts. In each part, students will choose answers to make correct sentences. Tell students you are going to think together about the best way to answer the first question in each part. Say: Part one. Find the sentence that is correct. Fill in the correct circle. THINK ALOUD: Let s read all the sentences and see which one sounds right. The first one says: Tony am mad. That doesn t sound right. When I hear Tony am, it seems like something is missing. Let me see what the other two sentences say. The next one says Tony are mad. I know that one isn t correct either. Tony and are don t go together. I know we use are when we re talking about more than one person, like Tony and Jordan are having a bad day. Let s see if the last one is correct. If the first two are not correct, this one must be. It says: Tony is mad. Yes! That s the right answer. Tony goes with is. It s a good sentence. The other ones aren t. Apply

6 3.138 A Funny Day (Lesson B) 2. Have students fill in the third circle. Pause to let the students mark their answer. Say: Now do Numbers 2 and 3 by yourselves. Find the sentence that is correct. Fill in the correct circle. Pause to let the students mark their answers. 3. Move on to the next section and say: Part two. Find the word that best completes the sentence. Fill in the correct circle. THINK ALOUD: The sentence says: Blank sits on a bench. I have to find the word that goes in the blank. The first word is She. Let s say the sentence: She sits on a bench. That sounds right. She goes with sits. Let s use the next word: You sits on a bench. Does You go with sits? That doesn t sound right. Let s read the last one and see what it says before we decide: They sits on a bench. That sounds wrong. They and sits don t go together. So I ll choose the first answer choice. 4. Have students fill in the first circle. Pause to let the students mark their answer. Say: Now do Numbers 5 and 6 by yourselves. Find the word that best completes the sentence. Fill in the correct circle. Pause to let the students mark their answers. 5. When they are finished, collect their work for later assessment. (W1.2: Use singular and plural nouns correctly; W1.2: Create sentences with correct subject/verb agreement.) STRATEGY LINK: WRITING The writing portions of many English Language Proficiency tests require test-takers to identify grammar errors as well as a correct sentence, usually within a multiple choice item format. You can help your ELL students prepare for such items by having them identify errors in other students work and become familiar with peer editing. Peer editing takes a lot of practice, sensitivity, and autonomy. ELLs in the 2nd and 3rd grade can start learning about peer editing, at least in a simplified format. (In fact, they are required to perform similar tasks on tests!) Try these ideas as a first step to scaffolding your 2 3 ELLs to full-blown peer editing practices: Tell your students that they will begin to learn about peer-feedback strategies. Brainstorm possible benefits and discuss concerns.

7 A Funny Day (Lesson B) Brainstorm peer-feedback rules for your classroom, e.g. Be nice. Find one good thing and one thing to fix. Don t use words like stupid. Use words like great job, you used a capital letter for the first word in the sentence or I think this might be wrong you should add an s. Prepare a checklist for any peer-feedback task. Limit the number of grammar or mechanics features the students are editing. In this lesson, you may want to have students focus only on #1 on the Proofreading Checklist. Eventually, have students exchange papers and make sure that just the first letter of the first word on their partner s paper is capitalized. Alternatively, you may want students to look only for one common ELL error, such as omitting the third person s ending on present tense verbs. Students may not be able to immediately cope with peer-feedback tasks. As you and they make adjustments, however, the process will pay off manifold. If they can begin to look autonomously at one another s work, they have a better chance at scoring well on error-identification items on English Language Proficiency tests. Edit and Rewrite Stories 1. Look at the Proofreading Checklist at the end of Lesson B. Adapt two of the questions for this review, depending on the level of your students. Write these two questions on the board. For example: Extend Does every sentence have a subject? Do the subjects work well with the verbs? 2. Review with the students the two questions in the Proofreading Checklist. (W1: Use appropriate grammar; W1.1: Singular and plural; W1.2: Subject/ verb agreement; W1.3: Tense agreement; W1.4: Conjunctions; W1.5: Pronouns; W1.6: Prepositional phrases; W1.7: Auxiliary verbs; W4.1: Write simple sentences to describe) 3. Distribute the stories from the previous lesson. Form pairs of students and have them exchange stories. Tell them to edit each other s work using the Proofreading Checklist. Remind students that they need to be kind in their editing discussions. (L1: Follow common, explicit oral directions) 4. When students are finished editing each other s work, have them trade papers back and talk through the corrections. Students may rewrite their stories, implementing the edits to their work, at a later time. If students made illustrations during the previous lesson, they should be combined with the stories at this time.

8 3.140 A Funny Day (Lesson B) 5. Invite students to take turns reading aloud their stories for the class. After each presentation, ask questions about the purpose, main idea, and details of each story: How did Desai s story start? What happened after that? How did it end? What was Desai trying to do in his story? (L3.1: Identify purpose; L3.2: Identify main ideas; L3.3: Identify and retell supporting details) ASSESSMENT: Use completed copies of Find the Correct Sentence to evaluate students mastery of subject-verb agreement. For further evaluation, compare the original drafts and edited versions of their humorous stories. RELATED LINKS: Standards: L1, L3, W1 Home Link: Encourage students to take their stories home to share with family members. Visual Art Link: Distribute drawing materials and have students create an illustration for their stories. Performing Art Link: Small groups can turn Funny Day stories into plays and act them out for the class.

9 A Funny Day (Lesson B) Student: Date: Find the Correct Sentence (Page 1) Part 1: Find the sentence that is correct. Fill in the correct circle. 1 Tony am mad. Tony are mad. Tony is mad. Int to Prof 2 They have gum. They has gum. Tony have gum. 3 We laughs. He laughs. You laughs.

10 3.142 A Funny Day (Lesson B) Student: Date: Find the Correct Sentence (Page 2) Part 2: Find the word that best completes the sentence. Fill in the correct circle. 4 sits on a bench. She You They 5 The bench wet. are an is Int to Prof 6 Mary s clothes wet too. is am are

11 A Funny Day (Lesson B) DIRECTIONS Student: TO TEACHERS: Adapt the use of the Proofreading Checklist Date: to the level of your students. For Beginning students, concentrate on one or two checks per lesson. Intermediate students may benefit from three checks, two basic and one more advanced. Above Proficient students may have four or five checks to make. Add checks as they are needed for other classroom work. Proofreading Checklist Note: This checklist is meant to be a guide. Please select the appropriate number of checks per lesson, according to student proficiency level. 1. Does every sentence begin with a capital? yes no 2. Does every sentence end with an end mark? yes no 3. Does every sentence have a subject? yes no (Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, Daniel, Marta, the children, etc.) 4. Does every sentence have a verb? yes no (Examples: have, see, do, play, be, feel, get, etc.) 5. Do the subjects work well with the verbs? yes no 6. Are all of the verbs written in the same tense? yes no present (Examples: is, are, am, do) past (Examples: was, went, did) future (Examples: will, will go, will run) 7. Are the words she, he, it, and they used correctly? yes no 8. Are the words and and but used correctly? yes no 9. Are words such as of, in, and to used correctly? yes no 10. Are commas used correctly? yes no (Examples: trains, boats, and planes)

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