Tiffany Ortiz December 2, 2014 Read Aloud Lesson

A Pen Pal for Max Purpose:  SOL English o 1.8 The student will expand vocabulary.

a) Discuss meanings of words in context. b) Develop vocabulary by listening to and reading a variety of texts. c) Ask for the meaning of unknown words and make connections to familiar words. d) Use text clues such as words or pictures to discern meanings of unknown words. e) Use vocabulary from other content areas. o 1.9 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fictional texts. a) Preview the selection. b) Set a purpose for reading. c) Relate previous experiences to what is read. d) Make and confirm predictions. e) Ask and answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about what is read. f) Identify characters, setting, and important events. g) Retell stories and events, using beginning, middle, and end. h) Identify the main idea or theme. i) Read and reread familiar stories, poems, and passages with fluency, accuracy, and meaningful expression. o 1.12 The student will print legibly. a) Form letters accurately. b) Space words within sentences. c) Use the alphabetic code to write unknown words phonetically. o 1.13 The student will write to communicate ideas for a variety of purposes. a) Generate ideas. b) Focus on one topic. c) Revise by adding descriptive words when writing about people, places, things, and events. d) Use complete sentences in final copies. e) Begin each sentence with a capital letter and use ending punctuation in final copies.

f) Use correct spelling for commonly usedsight words and phonetically regular words in final copies. g) Share writing with others. Objectives:  The student will be able to make a prediction about what the story is going to be about based on the objects presented in the book box.  The student will be able to relate prior knowledge to the new vocabulary presented throughout the story and analyze the new words presented.  The student will be able to make a self to text connection by writing a letter to the main character in the story Max writing about a topic of their choice. Procedure: Introduction:  Gather the students on the carpet.  Have the students imagine a faraway place.  Ask the students:  What are some places that are faraway places that you know about?  Has anyone ever been somewhere faraway?  What do you think people in faraway lands are like?  Are they different from you and I? Development:  Introduce the book A Pen Pal for Max by Gloria Rand by using a book box.  Pull out the items one by one and prompt the students by asking:  Map of Chile, South America  Does anyone know what country this is?  Where is this country located?  Grapes  Who knows what fruit this is?  Where do they come from?  Pen and Paper  What is this?  What are some things you can do with these two things?  U.S. Stamp  Does anyone know what this is?  What is it used for?  Spanish English Dictionary  This is interesting. Can anyone tell me what this is?  What is it used for?  Broken tile  Oh no, what about this?  What do you think happened?  Small box  Has anyone seen one of these?  What can it be used for?  What do you think would be inside?

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Class Photo  You have all seen this. What is it?  Where do you get them?  Have the students think about the items that were in the box. Have the students think about how they relate to each other. Have them predict in the story what is going to happen based on the items in the box. Have them turn and talk to a partner.  Call on random students to recall their predictions.  Begin reading the book A Pen Pal for Max by Gloria Rand.  While reading you will complete a variation of the activity Ten Important Words. You will read the book and highlight ten important words in the story. When you reach the following words in the story, stop and discuss.  Before you discus each word, write the word on the board.  Let volunteers answer the questions, but also use to the class roster to call on random students, making sure to hear from every student at least once.  Page 2: Vineyard o What is a vineyard?  Grape Farm o Where do you find them?  All over the world o What do they grow at a vineyard?  Grapes  Page 3: Freighters o What is a freighter?  Ship o What are they used for?  Ship Goods from one country to another o What do they carry?  Food, toys, clothes, etc. o Where do they go?  All over the world o What is being shipped?  Grapes and letter  Page 9: Translate o What does this mean?  To change one language into another o What language are they translating English to?  Spanish  Page 11: Produce Manager o What is the job of a produce manager?  They receive the shipments of vegetables and fruit from the trucks and organize it in the stores o How did does this relate to the story?  He found Max’s letter and gave it to his daughter, Maggie  Page 13: Pen Pal o What is a pen pal?

 Someone faraway you write to o Has anyone ever had a pen pal?  Various answers o Where does Max’s pen pal live?  United States  Page 16: Earthquake o What happens during an earthquake?  Shaking of the earth o Where do they occur?  All over the world  Page 17: Heaving o What does this mean?  Lifting, pulling o What was heaving?  The ground o What else can heave?  Answers may vary  Page 20: Debris o What is debris?  Bits and pieces that have been wrecked or destroyed o What was destroyed and caused debris?  Houses and buildings caused by the earthquake  Page 21: Trembling o What does it mean when something trembles?  Shakes o What was trembling?  The ground o Was this still happening after the earthquake?  Yes, called aftershocks  Page 24: Addressed o What does it mean to address something?  To send it to someone o What was addressed to Max?  The boxes? o What do you think is in the boxes?  Answers may vary  Ask the students: o Who was Max’s pen pal? o What happened to Max? o How did Maggie help?  Pass out the letter template to each student. Have the students write a letter to Max. The students can use their imagination when writing their letter. They can write to Max about themselves or about what he experienced in the book. Summary:  Once their letters are completed have the students share what they wrote to Max.  Ask the students:

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o Would you like to have a pen pal in real life? o Why or why not? What were some new words you learned in the story? Did your predictions you made at the beginning of the lesson come true? What was right about your prediction? What was wrong about your prediction? For advanced students: o Students will write a letter to Max on the topic of their choice with at least five sentences. An introduction sentence, three sentences about themselves or Max, and a closing sentence. One sentence must be a question to Max. For struggling students: o Students will write a letter to Max given the topic “Tell Max what are your favorite things to do at home and school.”

Materials:  Book Box with following items:  Map of Chile, South America  Grapes  Pen and Paper  U.S. Stamp  Spanish English Dictionary  Broken tile  Small box  Class Photo  Book A Pen Pal for Max by Gloria Rand  Letter Template Evaluation Part A:  During the book box, I will evaluate the responses of the students. The students will turn and talk to their partner when making the prediction of the story and I will listen in to their responses for appropriateness. I will call on random students to hear their predictions. I will be assessing on participation.  Throughout the reading I will be assessing the students on participation. I will be looking for students who want to answer the questions and looking for appropriate responses, that is, responses relating to the word and the book. At times I will call on random students to check for comprehension. Using the class roster, I will be sure to call on every student.  The final activity, the student will be assessed based on the letter written to Max. I will assess the content of the letter making sure the letter is on topic about the student’s life or Max’s life. The letter will be assessed on correct punctuation, capitalization, and correct spelling of known words. The content of the letter must be related to the student’s life or Max’s life in order for it to be accepted as a text connection.

Evaluation Part B: . I was able to assess the lesson and the students after the lesson was completed. I worked with a small group and was able to determine that all the students met my objectives. During the pre-reading activity, the students participated in giving me responses to the items in the book box. I heard valid predictions from all the students. They were able to use the items from the book box to construct predictions that were a plausible story line. Because I was working with a small group, I was able to hear a prediction from each student. Each student’s prediction made sense. While reading the book, all students were actively engaged and participating. I heard responses from each student and each response was thoughtful. I felt based on the interaction with the students that the students met my objective for the during reading activity. For the post reading activity, all but one student met my objective. Each of the student’s letter (except one) was on the topic of themselves or Max. Only one student’s letter seemed to be off topic with no direction. The letters were well thought out and the students use correct punctuation, capitalization, and correct spelling of known words. I feel that the strengths of my lesson were delivering the lesson and interacting with the students. The students were engaged during the entire lesson which mad for good discussion. I feel that based on the delivery, this allowed for maximum participation. I was enthusiastic while giving the lesson which in turn made the students enthusiastic. The discussions throughout the lesson were strong and I feel the students learned from each other’s responses. When the conversation seemed to stall, I was able to revive it with another prompting question from the lesson plan. I was well prepared. A weakness of my teaching the lesson was making sure to keep everyone equally involved. I felt as if I called on some students more than others. I felt as if I could have done a better job at equaling out the participation of all the students. If I were to teach this lesson in the future, I would have a predetermined plan on how to call on the students so all would have the chance to participate. My practicum teacher using cards with each student’s name written on them. She goes in order of the cards calling the student’s name who is one top requiring a response from that student. If I had cards such as these readily available, I think I could have gotten equal participation from all students making it easier for me to assess them. Also if I plan to teach this lesson again, I will give the students more guidance on how to complete the writing activity at the end. I gave them free range to write what they wanted to write about. Some students thrived while others did not. By giving more guidance on the topic I feel that they could more efficiently meet the objectives that I had set for them.