Literacy Project 1

Group Literacy Project

Megan Chapell Stacey Kincer

Priscilla BuchannonDon McCormack

Kyle Thomas

LeTourneau University

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for EDUC 3003

Dr. Holt

Spring 2010

Literacy Project 2

Dr. Seuss Thematic Unit Designed for 2nd Grade

Our hope is that this unit will be beneficial in a second grade elementary school classroom. This unit contains lessons and centers targeting below level, on level, and above average learners. In addition to several small group lesson plans and centers, a whole group lesson plan and a classroom management plan are included. We hope you enjoy reading through our unit and come away with something new.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn,

the more places you'll go.” – Dr. Seuss

Literacy Project 3

Table of Contents

Classroom Management Plan: 4

Group Lesson Plan: Horton Hears a Who 6

Below Grade Level: Lessons: Summarizing Green Eggs and Ham 7Main Idea Green Eggs and Ham 9

Centers: Prefixes 10Main Idea/Summarization 11

On Grade Level: Lessons: Predicting Horton Hatches the Egg 12Main Idea The Lorax 13

Centers: Summarizing 14Using Prefixes re, pre, and un in sentences 15

Above Grade LevelLessons:Summarizing Cat in the Hat 16Drawing Conclusions Cat in the Hat 17

Centers: Summarizing 18 Prefixes Dis and Mis 19

Literacy Project 4

Classroom Management PlanBy: Don McCormack

How will the rest of the class function while you are meeting with small groups?

They will be engaged in their learning center. They will have the objectives explained to them ahead of time and will know exactly what is expected of them. They understand and are expected to abide by the classroom rules and procedures which are covered the first days and weeks of school.

These Rules are to be posted prominently in the classroom. It is assumed we have spent a lot of time discussing and rehearsing these behaviors

Be respectfulBe safeBe cooperativeBe preparedBe focused

Some suggestions for the teacher for positive consequences:verbal praise smiles stickers rubber stamps thumbs up  

What are students (outside the small group you are leading) supposed to do if they need help while you are with one small group? Students are encouraged to be independent problem solvers. We will use the "3 Before Me" rule.  If a student has a question, they are to ask three friends for help.  If the student still has a question, they can come and get a 3 sided question placard and set it on their desk. The student is to turn their 3 sided placards to the side that states “Need help”. substep: The student should see the words “Keep working” facing them. Students are to continue working on other problems until the teacher can come over to them to help.   The child may set this on his desk and continue working.  When the teacher has a free moment, the child will get assistance. This should help the children understand that group time is very important and should not be interrupted.  

What happens if students are unruly?

There are 7 levels we go through if student are unruly, as follows:

Level 1 – Class rule reminderLevel 2 – Individual rule reminderLevel 3 – Environmental modification (e.g. change seat or group)Level 4 – Time away in another class

Literacy Project 5

Level 5 – Parent contactLevel 6 – After school detention Level 7 – Office referral  

Literacy Project 6

Whole Group Lesson PlanBy: Stacey Kincer

Lesson Title:  What character are you?  

Objectives:

Use titles and pictures to make predictions to which Dr. Seuss book their character appears in.   

Read to determine and fully understand the story to complete a circle map which summarizes the story.

Activities: 

Before “Horton hears a Who” is read students will look under their chair and find the picture of a Dr. Seuss character and this will be their character throughout the unit.  The students will make predictions about which book their character appears in.  Have the Dr. Seuss books that are being used throughout the lesson displayed and make a prediction to the class about which book my character appears in.  Tell them several ways to make predictions using what they already know. 

Read the book aloud to students, stop every couple of pages and ask questions about the main idea of what was just read, stop and predict what might happen next, summarize what we just read.  

After the story has been read create a summary using a circle map.  The students can fill in a circle map that has already been started.  Questions:  What do we think now about other worlds existing?  What was your favorite part of the story? Explain why it is your favorite part.  Give a reason why the other animals in the jungle would not believe Horton when he told them about Who-ville.  From the circle map the students will create a summary.  

Evaluation: Teacher Observation  

Literacy Project 7

Group 1 – Below Grade Level

Lesson 1 – Priscilla Buchannon

Objectives:

Students will learn the importance of being open to new experiences, such as, trying new food and new activities.

Materials:

“Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss

Journals

Food: Green Eggs and Ham

Procedures:

Teacher will start a lesson by asking students if they ever did not try food just because it looked “funny” to them, even after their parents told them that the particular food is good for them.

Teacher will introduce “Green Eggs and Ham” book by showing students the cover page and asking if they heard of Dr. Suess. The teacher will talk about other Dr. Seuss books, “Cat in the Hat”, “Hop on Pop”,etc.

Teacher will read the story to the class. The teacher will then re-read the story and have students join in the reading. The teacher will tell students to listen for rhymes.

The teacher will ask the class what they thought was the main point of the story. Were the green eggs and ham worth trying? Were they tasty? Do you guys want to try real green eggs and ham? The teacher will have samples of green eggs and ham.

After the students are done with their green eggs and ham, they class will go on to the word study and fluency building.

Word Study:

Students will identify rhyming words in the story.

Teacher will write rhyming words on the board and students will copy them into their notebooks and then add their own rhymes.

Words: house, mouse, box, fox, would, could, rain, train, may, say.

Literacy Project 8

Building fluency: This book is easy to read and full of high frequency words, repetition, and rhymes. Rereading builds fluency and reading comprehension.

Assessment:

Students will write and illustrate a summary of “Green Eggs and Ham” story.

The students will write a story of their own experience when they change their mind about food or activity after giving it a try.  

References: http://readingisfun.me/?p=936

Literacy Project 9

Lesson 2 – Priscilla Buchannon

Objective: The students will be able to identify the main idea of the story.  The student will be able to identify word recognition, sequencing, and cause/effect of the book.   

Materials for teacher:

Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss chart paper white drawing paper

Procedure:

1. Students will sit together on a rug. The teacher read the book to the students. First the teacher will do a picture walk with the book.

2. The teacher will discuss cause/effect and main idea. What is cause and effect? Do we have to have an effect first or a cause? Who can come up with an example of cause and effect? Who can tell me what a main idea is?  Give an example from a different book that has already been read.

3. Teacher reads story and asks questions of the story4. Teacher writes responses down on chart paper. 5. Children write a title and draw a picture to match the story. 6. Share students work.

Assessment:

Teacher will listen to the students’ responses as she asks questions throughout her lesson. 

Literacy Project 10

Learning Center 1 – Priscilla Buchannon

Green Eggs and Ham and Horton Hears a Who

The students will take the book and re-read the story in a group of 4 students.  They will then take the paper provided to write a brief summery of the book.  There will be highlighters available for the students to mark the main idea, cause/effect, and then the students will end with the sequencing of the book. At the finish of this lesson, the students can draw a picture of the characters of the book.

Literacy Project 11

Learning Center 2 – Stacey Kincer

Skill being taught or reviewed: Prefixes – Pre, Re and Un 

Materials:  Index cards with 3 prefixes, index cards with base or root words

Procedures: Pass out all the cards to the students, one at a time have the students read the card.  The students will then identify the root word and the prefix.  Then the students will match the prefix with a root word and read the new word.  Reteachable moments may present itself. 

Literacy Project 12

Group 2: On Grade Level

Lesson One – Don McCormack

Title: Horton Hatches the Egg

Author/Illustrator: Dr Seuss

Skill being taught or reviewed: Predicting 

Before reading activity: Do a KWL chart. Determine what they know about elephants, birds and their eggs, circuses, and being responsible. We will come back to this at the end of the lesson when we talk about what we learned and how close our predictions were to what actually happened to Horton and the egg.

Look at the title and pictures. Explain what a prediction is and give an example. Do this by thinking aloud about where Horton lives. Tell them “Because Horton is an elephant and I know elephants don’t hatch eggs, I predict that Horton’s egg will come from a bird.” Then write your prediction on the board. Then continue “Now if the egg does come from a bird, how does Horton get it? Why does Horton have it? Let’s think about questions like those and as a class we can make some predictions of our own about this story.” The students then make predictions as to what may happen in the story. Record student responses on the board. 

 During reading activity: Read the book aloud to students, stop every couple of pages and do a think aloud about what is happening with Horton and the egg.  Ask them to make mini-predictions about what they think may happen on the next page.

After reading activity: Once the story is read, a quick review is given with some critical thinking questions such as:  Why was it important that Horton stay with the egg? The students then write and draw in their journals as if they were Horton and try to explain their choices

The students share their ideas in their journal through small group discussion. The groups come back together as one group and discuss how they feel Horton has changed as a result of this experience. Then we check our predictions against what actually happened in the story and discuss what we learned.

The teacher records students' comments on board.

Oral large group discussion about how this situation changed the elephant and egg’s life. Discuss the qualities that made Horton a good choice to sit on the egg.

As a class, we check the board and look at the predictions we made at the beginning of class and compare them to what we learned. Then students orally summarize the story.  

Literacy Project 13

Lesson Two – Megan Chapell

Title: The Lorax

Author/Illustrator: Dr. Seuss

Skill being taught or reviewed: Main Idea

Before reading activity: Ask the students: have you ever heard of the main idea before? What do I want you to do when I ask you to find the main idea? Explain to the students that the main idea is the most important point in the story. It answers the questions what is the basic point of the story, and what is the author’s goal? Let’s practice finding main idea by looking at some articles. Notice the headline usually tells us what the story is about.

During reading activity: I have a book here by Dr Seuss. I covered the title and picture on the front because when we are finished reading the story, I want you all to come up with what you think the title and picture of the story are. Have each student read a page, stopping frequently to assess comprehension by having them summarize what has happened. Remind the students that the main idea is NOT a summary but the most important point of the story. Students can have a pen and paper to write down their ideas during the group reading.

After reading activity: Once the group has finished reading the story, facilitate a discussion about possible main ideas. Create a list of main ideas based on the discussion. Look for teachable moments, particularly if the student’s are not listing relevant main ideas. Have the students narrow down the list to one main idea based on the importance of the idea in the story. Give them a few minutes to title and illustrate what they think the book title is. Allow them to share. To conclude the mini lesson, ask the question “who was the story mainly about?” Lift up the cover from the title and reveal “The Lorax.”

Literacy Project 14

Learning Center 1 – Don McCormack

Skills being taught or reviewed: Summarizing

Materials:

The book “Horton Hatches the Egg” PencilStudent summary sheets  Part 2: socks, wiggly eyes, yarn, paper lunch sacks, paper plates, popsicle sticks, markers, crayons, scissors, tape, glue 

Procedures:

Part 1:

1. Place the book “Horton Hatches the Egg” or some other Dr. Seuss book at the center. Provide the student with a student sheet labeled like the one above.

2. Students read the text.

3. Students read questions on student sheet and writes answers in designated shape.

4. Student uses recorded information to help write a complete summary statement.

Part 2:

Students Puppet Center:  At the “Summarizing center students summarize the story of Horton using puppets. Students can use their summary sheets they completed earlier as a guide for the script. They will summarize the story to each other with the puppets. They may design their own puppet or use one from the center. 

Literacy Project 15

Learning Center 2 – Megan Chapell

Skill being taught or reviewed: Using prefixes pre, un, and re in sentences

Materials:

Writing centerPaperWriting Utensils Word bank with sample prefixes

Procedures: Students will write a postcard to a friend using at least 3 words with prefixes. Students can use the word bank for tips or ideas.

Prefix Sample Words: pre (before): Pretest, presoak, previewun (not or to reverse): Uncover, undo, untie, unreal, unfairre (again): Retell, redo, reread, replay, recall

Literacy Project 16

Group 3: Above Grade Level

Lesson One – Kyle Thomas

Title: The Cat in the Hat 

Author/Illustrator: Dr. Seuss 

Skill being taught or reviewed: Summarizing 

Before reading activity: I will have a stuffed cat wearing a hat for the children to see. We will have a dry-erase board to identify what type of animal this is, what he has on his head, and have a discussion about cats to get their background knowledge going and to set the atmosphere for the book. The dry-erase board can help set up the KWL chart about cats. 

During reading activity: Read the book aloud to students showing pictures and engaging the readers. Stop every so often to ask the students what just took place in the story. 

After reading activity: After the story has been read, have a question and answer discussion with the students about what happened in the book. What happened in the book? 

Literacy Project 17

Lesson Two – Kyle Thomas

Title: The Cat in the Hat 

Author/Illustrator: Dr. Seuss 

Skill being taught or reviewed: Drawing conclusions 

Before reading activity: We will review over Cat in the Hat to ensure students understand what was read to help reinforce summarizing. Then as a group, the class will formulate a few questions for coming to a conclusion and why the ending happened the way it did.  After we come up with questions, the students will be paired off to talk about the questions and answer them together. Then we will come back together as a group to have drawing conclusions game. 

During reading activity: We will read a portion of the story and discuss what happened. There will be a multiple choice game where two answers will be wrong, two would be close, and one would be the correct answer. I will have a large poster board where two answers will be wrong, two will be close, and one would be the correct answer.  The large poster will contain the answers and choices so everyone in the class can see the options clearly. The large poster board can be placed on an easel, marker board, or chalk board for presentation. The class will need to pick the correct one. 

After reading activity: Review over conclusions with students to make sure they understand. Go over why there is a correct one and wrong ones. Students can act out what happened in the scenarios and we can discuss what was correct and what was not correct

Literacy Project 18

Learning Center 1 – Kyle Thomas

Skill being taught or reviewed: Summarizing 

Materials: Colored pencils, pencils to write with, and paper 

Procedures: At this center, students will have a journal entry to write in where they include what the setting is, the title of the book, The Cat in the Hat, describe in your own words what happened in the book, and draw a picture of the setting.   

Literacy Project 19

Learning Center 2 – Megan Chapell

Skill being taught: Prefixes Dis and Mis

Materials: Blocks Labels Paper Writing utensilsDefinitions of prefix poster Dictionary

Procedure: Teacher will label several blocks with prefixes dis, mis, re, pre and un. Label another set of blocks with site words and other vocabulary such as: think, appear, name, open, lead, read, test, like, agree, do, make, place, ect

Students will put blocks together using a suffix block and a vocabulary block to make a new word. The students will continue building on top of words, forming a wall of new words. Have the student complete the activity by picking out their favorite new word using dis or mis as a prefix.

Reference: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/mar05_prefixessuffixes.htm