Common Core Connection
This lesson allows my class to analyze how illustrations and details help readers understand the key details in a text. The students look at the images, diagrams, and text to make inferences about what is happening as butterflies grow. The class also engages in a highly complex in context experience learning to apply their phonological rules, and apply meaning to new words.
I gradually release students towards practicing the task independently. Also, the class will Transition every twenty minutes or so to keep the learners focused, and I made a video in the resources to explain. There is another video explaining the Partners.
This is when I try to engage the class, but also assess their prior knowledge and skills related to gathering information from the diagrams and illustrations. I ask the students to talk to their partner about what kinds of things you can learn from an illustration, and I project the lesson image on the Promethean board. Technology always motivates my class and they love to talk. While they are talking I am assessing what they know about gathering information from an illustration or diagram.
This is the time in the lesson I like to move back to the lounge where learners practice their speaking and listening skills. Two or three students present the information they learned. To create a higher order thinking activity for the other students I ask them to evaluate their partners (Peer Evaluation 1 and Peer Evaluation 2). They will give specific academic feedback about what they agree or disagree with. For example, "I agree that the caterpillar was green, but you could have added that it was eating a leaf."
Last, we chant the lesson objective three times. I can use the illustrations to add to the key details of a text. This really helps students comprehend what is important in the lesson. I have a video (Tweet Board and Closure) explaining this section.