ALEX Lesson Plan

     

"Batty" About Bats!! (Writing)

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  This lesson provided by:  
Author:Judy Jester
System: Lawrence County
School: Hatton Elementary School
  General Lesson Information  
Lesson Plan ID: 4942

Title:

 "Batty" About Bats!! (Writing)

Overview/Annotation:

As a part of a week-long unit about bats, the students will identify the characteristics of a bat and write an essay about bats. Student understanding will be enhanced through the use of books, poems, lectures, discussions, individual “flip books”, an art project, and the Internet.

 Associated Standards and Objectives 
Content Standard(s):
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 1
R1. Utilize active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings, following agreed-upon rules for participation.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
R1.
  • Active Listening
  • Discussion
  • Conversation
  • Rules
  • Participation
Knowledge:
R1. Students know:
  • Active listening skills.
  • Agreed-upon rules for participation.
Skills:
R1. Students are able to:
  • Demonstrate active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings.
  • Converse in pairs, small groups, and large groups.
  • Practice the agreed-upon rules for participation.
Understanding:
R1. Students understand that:
  • Conversations and discussions follow agreed-upon rules to help us actively listen and gain understanding.
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 1
4. Present information orally using complete sentences and appropriate volume.

a. Orally describe people, places, things, and events, expressing ideas with relevant details.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
4.
  • Present
  • Complete sentences
  • Appropriate volume
4a.
  • Describe
  • Express ideas
  • Relevant details
Knowledge:
4. Students know:
  • How to orally present information using appropriate communication skills.
4a.
  • How to orally present relevant details to express descriptions of people, places, things, or events.
Skills:
4. Students are able to:
  • Speak in complete sentences and use appropriate volume to present information orally.
4a.
  • Clearly describe people, places, things, and events.
  • Use relevant details in descriptions.
  • Express ideas clearly.
Understanding:
4. Students understand that:
  • To communicate clearly, a speaker should use complete sentences and a voice volume that can be heard by the audience.
4a.
  • Relevant details and clearly expressed ideas enhances oral descriptions of people, places, things, and events.
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 1
9. Read grade-appropriate texts with accuracy and fluency.

a. Read and reread grade-appropriate decodable text orally with accuracy and expression at an appropriate rate to support comprehension.

b. Recognize and self-correct decoding and other errors in word recognition and reread for clarification.

c. Participate in poetry reading, noticing phrasing, rhythm, and rhyme.

Example: Pause between stanzas and between lines where punctuation indicates.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
9.
  • Grade-appropriate texts
  • Accuracy
  • Fluency
9a.
  • Reread
  • Grade-appropriate decodable text
  • Accuracy
  • Expression
  • Appropriate rate
  • Comprehension
9b.
  • Recognize
  • Self-correct
  • Decoding errors
  • Word recognition
  • Clarification
9c.
  • Participate
  • Poetry
  • Phrasing
  • Rhythm
  • Rhyme
Knowledge:
9. Students know:
  • Accurate reading is correctly decoding words.
  • Fluent reading is reading at a rate that supports their overall understanding of the text.
9a.
  • Reading accurately, with expression, and at an appropriate rate will support comprehension.
9b.
  • Decoding errors.
  • Word recognition errors.
9c.
  • The features of poetry, including phrasing, rhythm, and rhyme.
Skills:
9. Students are able to:
  • Read grade-appropriate texts accurately and fluently.
9a.
  • Read orally with accuracy.
  • Read orally with expression.
  • Read orally at an appropriate rate.
  • Comprehend text that is read orally.
9b.
  • Recognize decoding and word recognition errors.
  • Recognize when their understanding of the text breaks down.
  • Reread for clarification.
  • Self-correct decoding and word recognition errors.
9c.
  • Read poetry.
  • Identify phrasing, rhythm, and rhyme in poetry readings.
Understanding:
9. Students understand that:
  • To make meaning of text, they must accurately decode words and read at a rate that supports their comprehension.
9a.
  • Fluent readers accurately decode words in text, read text with expression, and read at an appropriate rate in order to comprehend the text.
9b.
  • Fluent readers recognize when their understanding of the text breaks down and take action to understand the text by rereading for clarification.
9c.
  • Poetry is a genre of text that uses distinctive style and rhythm to aid in the expression of feelings.
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 1
17. Use content knowledge built during read-alouds of informational and literary texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through drawing and writing.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
17.
  • Content knowledge
  • Read-alouds
  • Informational text
  • Literary text
  • Participating
  • Content-specific discussions
  • Peers
  • Drawing
  • Writing
Knowledge:
17. Students know:
  • Content knowledge can be learned from read-alouds of informational and literary texts.
  • Content knowledge can be shared with others through discussions, drawing, or writing.
Skills:
17. Students are able to:
  • Gain new content knowledge by engaging in read-alouds of informational and literary texts.
  • Participate in discussions with their peers demonstrating their knowledge of content-specific topics.
  • Produce drawings or writing that displays content knowledge learned through read-alouds.
Understanding:
17. Students understand that:
  • They can learn new information by engaging in read-alouds of informational and literary texts.
  • They can demonstrate their understanding of content-specific knowledge through discussions, drawing, or writing.

Local/National Standards:

  

Primary Learning Objective(s):

Students will listen with comprehension to a story read aloud. Students will demonstrate listening comprehension by using information from the story to write an essay.

Additional Learning Objective(s):

Students will make a book about bats that incorporates facts gleaned from print and online resources. Students will act out a story they have read.

 Preparation Information 

Total Duration:

91 to 120 Minutes

Materials and Resources:

The book, Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon (big book version); various fiction and nonfiction books about bats (see list below for examples); overhead projector; transparency of Level 0, B4 Think-Sheet from the Makes Sense Strategies CD (to review its use)(see attachment); Level 0 Rubric from the same CD for assessment (see attachment), one for each student; whiteboard, dry-erase marker(s); copies of Flip Book, one for each student (see website in Step 11 for directions); Reading Rainbow video of Stellaluna; crayons; writing paper (at least one page per student)
Book List
Bats by Gail Gibbons; Bat Jamboree by Kathi Appelt; Shadows of Night by Barbara Bash; The Bat in the Boot by Annie Cannon; Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Ann Earle; Bats on Parade by Kathi Appelt; Batbaby by Robert Quackerbush; The Bat-Poet by Randall Jarrell; Bats: Shadows in the Night by Diane Ackerman; Beautiful Bats by Linda Glaser; Bat by Caroline Arnold

Technology Resources Needed:

Computer with Internet access, Microsoft Word or other word processing software, Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0, “Makes Sense” Literacy Strategies CD (all items needed from the CD are attached)
Suggested websites for Step 10:
http://fennerschool-associated.anu.edu.au/batatlas/index.html 

http://www.batcon.org 
http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/bats/
http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu/BatQuiz.html

http://www.bats4kids.org/

Background/Preparation:

A. Background: The teacher has introduced (I DO IT) and students have used (WE DO IT/YA’LL DO IT)the MS Literacy Strategies Think-Sheet, the SCOPE editing strategy, the PATH writing strategy, and the PLANS writing strategies in previous lessons--across the curriculum.
B. Planning Ahead: •Have Big Book version of book, Stellaluna, on book easel. •Access/Preview/Bookmark the Internet sites and read background information about bats. (List of websites is provided). •Assemble books (fiction and nonfiction) about bats for the Writing Center. •Make transparency of Level 0, B4 Think-Sheet. •Copy Level 0, B4 Think Sheet (one for each student). •Download and copy “What Does a Bat Look Like?” from the Internet [see URL in Step 10](one for each student). •Download and copy Flip Book [see URL in Step 11] (one for each student). •Check out video: Reading Rainbow – Stellaluna from library. •Assemble writing paper, pencils, crayons, and dry-erase markers. •Assemble completed masks from previous art class.

  Procedures/Activities: 
1.)Review vocabulary/facts about bats that have been introduced in previous lessons. List these on the whiteboard.

2.)State the purpose for reading the book, Stellaluna. Ask the students to listen for facts about bats while listening to the story.

3.)Read the Big Book version of Stellaluna. Discuss the story/pictures as the book is read.

4.)Review the items on the Think-Sheet and answer any questions about its use (the students have completed these in previous lessons).

5.)Put the transparency of the Level 0, B4 Think-Sheet on the overhead.

6.)Give each student a copy of the Level 0, B4 Think-Sheet.

7.)Have students complete the Think-Sheet with facts about the character, Stellaluna (a bat), from the book.

8.)Assess the Think-Sheets using the Level 0 Rubric (see attachment) as they are completed and offer suggestions (if needed).

9.)Have the students write an essay (using the completed Think-Sheet) on the provided writing paper.

10.)Distribute a printed out copy of “What Does a Bat Look Like?” Discuss the various characteristics of a bat. Provide a selection of children's books about bats for students to review. Allow computer time for students to visit websites previously bookmarked by the teacher (list provided in "Technology Resources" section).
(What Does a Bat Look Like?)
Includes a diagram of a bat and briefly describes the main parts of a bat.

11.)Distribute the Bat Flip Books and explain their use.
(Bat Flip Book)
Can be downloaded to a folder on your computer and printed on card stock or regular paper.

12.)Have students complete the Flip Book. Students will title each page with a different part of the bat’s body (Ex: ears, nose, eyes, feet, hands and wings, fur on their body) and write one or two facts about each body part.

13.)Allow students to share their Flip Books with the class.

14.)Allow students to act out the story of Stellaluna using the masks made in a previous art class.


Attachments:
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  Assessment  

Assessment Strategies

The teacher will check to see that each student has correctly completed the Level 0, B4 Think Sheet (from “Makes Sense” Literacy Strategies CD) using the Level 0 Rubric. The teacher will listen to each child’s verbal fact(s) about a bat’s body parts (from the Flip Book).

Acceleration:

View video: Reading Rainbow – Stellaluna. Complete Bat Mobile from http://www.allaboutnature.com/crafts/bat/. Provide additional books and resources in class for students.

Intervention:
 

View the Special Education resources for instructional guidance in providing modifications and adaptations for students with significant cognitive disabilities who qualify for the Alabama Alternate Assessment.