Title: Twister on TuesdayGrade Level: 2nd GradeSubject Area: Language ArtsLiterature Circle: Artful Artist, Word Finder, Connector, Summarizer, Passage Picker, and Discussion Director

Unit Topic: Tornadoes

Day: Days 1 - 5

Objective:Desired learning outcome(s):Students will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read through literature circle experiences.

Essential question(s) from learning objective:How to use literature circle packet experiences to enhance comprehension of text that is read.

NCSCOS objective assessed:Language ArtsCompetency Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.Objectives2.01 Read and comprehend text appropriate for grade two.2.02 Use text for a variety of functions, including literary, informational, and practical.2.06 Recall main idea, facts, and details from a text.

NCSCOS objective addressed:Competency Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use of oral language, written language, and media and technology.Objectives3.01 Use personal experiences and knowledge to interpret written and oral messages.3.03 Explain and describe new concepts and information in own words. Competency Goal 4: The learner will apply strategies and skills to create oral, written, and visual texts.Objectives4.03 Read aloud with fluency and expression any text appropriate for early independent readers. Competency Goal 5: The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.Objectives5.07 Use legible manuscript handwriting.

Learner Prior Knowledge/learner background experiences:Students will read at least two chapters daily of the book, Twister on Tuesday.

Students will be familiar with reading novels, discussing facts from novels, and supplying supporting details. Vocabulary:Pioneers, heed, billow, funnel, sod, barreling, modesty, destruction, hover, territories

Materials and Resources Needed:Copy of book, Twister on Tuesday for each studentLiterature Circle packet for each student and marker

Teaching Strategies:

Anticipatory Strategies: Talk with students about cover of the book. Ask students to make predictions about what might happen in the story. Ask students if they know what is a twister? Ask what is another word for twister? Ask students what they know about tornadoes. Ask what students notice about the clothing Jack and Annie are wearing on the cover. Ask if students think this might tell them something about the time period in which the story will take place.

Development Strategies: Over a five or six day period, the students will read at least two chapters per day. Each day, the students will be assigned a different page from the literature circle packet; this assures that all topics will be discussed daily. The topics of the packet are: Artful Artist, Word Finder, Connector, Summarizer, Passage Picker, and Discussion Director. The packet is laminated to conserve paper and the students will be given special markers to write on the laminated paper. Instructional needs of Anna and Brianna will be met by this lesson. Pacey will be given a different book and he will be asked to write five sentences about the book. Concluding Strategies: Once the entire book has been read and all aspects of the literature circle have been discussed, students will be given practice questions to prepare for reading comprehension assessment.

Assessment: As an assessment, each student will take a short answer or multiple choice test for reading comprehension about the book.

EC Accommodations/Modifications: Refer to IEP/504 plans. N/A

References:Literature circle packet from Amanda White of Cornatzer Elementary School.

Twister on Tuesday Assessment Name: ____________________________

1. Who are the two main characters?2. What is the name of the magical librarian?

3. What is the name of the long-ago kingdom that Jack and Annie are trying to help save?

4. Where are Jack and Annie traveling back in time to visit?5. What are the signs of life that Jack and Annie saw?6. What are sod bricks?7. What is another word for tornado?8. What is the teacher’s name?9. Why do Jack and Annie find it hard to believe she is a teacher?10. Describe the one room schoolhouse.11. How many students were in Jack and Annie’s class?12. What did Will bring for lunch?13. Why had Jeb never been to school?14. How far did Kate and Will walk to school?15. What are hailstones?16. What color did the clouds turn?17. What was the funnel shape that dropped out of the storm clouds?18. What dangerous decision did Jack and Annie make once they reached the tree

house?19. Why didn’t the teacher and students know about the storm cellar?20. What did the twister sound like?21. What did the dugout look like after the tornado?22. Who opened the cellar door?23. Why does Ms. Neely say teaching is a job that lasts forever?24. Why didn’t Jeb’s parents go to school?25. When are Jack and Annie supposed to go back to the tree house?

Wrap-up and Reflection by the Students:

Students enjoyed reading the book Twister on Tuesday. The literature circle

packets were new and presented a challenge for the students. Once they got used to the

packets, they seemed to enjoy them. They were very responsible with the special

markers and returned them daily. Pacey is not a very expressive child. He did well with

his reading and seemed to like his books.

Reflection by the teacher:

Students have leveled reading groups every day. Each of the five groups read a

different book or books over the course of five days. Anna and Brianna are in the group

that read Twister on Tuesday. This group experienced the literature circle packets. On

the first day, there was a great deal of discussion about the cover and students made

predictions about the book. The reading of the book went well. After reading at least

two chapters each day, the group began working on the literature circle packets. I

assigned the page of the packet that each student would work on that day. The students

were allowed to begin work on their page in class. If they did not finish, they had to

finish it for homework. Additionally for homework, they had multiple choice review

questions for each chapter that was read.

The students seemed to enjoy the book. They seemed interested and eager to

keep reading to see what will happen next. The literature circle packets took a day or so

to get accustomed. Students did seem to like the special pen and they did a good job of

being responsible with the pens. Most students wanted to be the artist first. Students

needed assistance with the discussion director. It was difficult for them to think of “fat”

questions. They did not usually finish the packet during the day. Therefore they seemed

to have more homework than normal. The multiple choice review questions were very

straight forward and did not take too long. Students performed very well on these

questions. We reviewed the answers daily. We also reviewed the literature circle packets

daily.

If I were to use this lesson plan again, I would use the multiple choice questions

as an assessment and not as homework. The fill in the blank questions seemed somewhat

difficult for the students. Multiple choice questions seem much easier as they have the

answers in front of them. I liked the literature circle packets because they started good

discussions about the chapter and they were new and different. The students seemed to

enjoy the conversations and it was good for the students to lead a topic of discussion.

The literature circle packets did aid in comprehension of the text.

Pacey read two shorter books during this five day period. He read The Hailstorm

and What will the Weather be Like Today? During reading groups, he read the book a

few times. His nightly homework was to read the book again. After two or three days of

reading and discussing the books, he took a five question multiple choice comprehension

test. He received an 80 on each test which is considered a good score.