LESSON 1 Lesson title: Introducing Timelines Grade/age level: Third Grade Learning Objective(s) What do you want students to know, understand, or be able to do as a result of this lesson?
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Students will be able to define essential vocabulary including timeline, important event, and chronological order Students will understand how to use a timeline Students will pick out the most important events in a subject’s life
Evidence for assessment
This lesson only includes informal assessment. I will confer with with students who I think might need extra support. I will ask students students to make a T-Chart that that shows Where will you look for signs “important events” and “less important important events.” I will review these charts to help of student learning? What will you look for ? me determine who may need support in in small group for the the next lesson. During the What are your criteria ? lesson, I will also listen in to turn and talks and monitor group discussions to be sure that students are accurately picking out the most relevant relevant events for their timelines. I will also review review the worksheets that students students filled out during the lesson. Standard(s) Which Common Core State Standard relates to this objective?
RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea Timelines will help students determine the big ideas of texts and how they contribute to the main accomplishments of the character.
Learning Experience
Assessment
In each section below, specify the sequence of instructional activities. Consider how you will manage materials, bodies, and time. Use small boxes to indicate time.
What will you look/listen to/for?
Starting It
I will begin by talking about how much I will look to see that students’ body How will you invite students we have learned learned about biographies. I willlanguage suggests that I have their into the learning experience? tell students that we know about attention. character traits, motives, and struggles. We are so good at learning about the subject of the biography, but sometimes it’s hard to determine what events are really important and what events are less important in the person’s life. When we read biographies, there are a lot of of different facts that we learn about a person’s life. One tool we can use to help us pick out the most important ideas is a timeline.
3 mins
Doing It Outline your sequence of instructional moves including participation structures, materials, intellectual resources, and time allotted. Is there a product or performance you will be expecting students to create?
I will begin by asking students what they During the part on the rug, I will look to think timelines are used for. I will ask see that students are engaged and students to volunteer some answers to the participating. I will listen to students’ question, “What types of events go on a answers to my guiding questions to be timeline?” I will help guide students sure that their answers are on track (for towards understanding that it is only the example, “Timelines include big events most important events that end up on a of a person’s life” or “Timelines organize timeline. I will then ask students, “When events in order”). I will listen in on turn we put events on a timeline, do we just and talks to see if students are able to put them in any order?” We will discuss. pick out which timeline tells us more I will then reveal a chart that defines de fines important information. information. It is my hope that “timeline,” “chronological order” and students will be able to identify events “important event.” There will also be that are not very important in a subject’s criteria for “important event” that life. As students fill out worksheets, I includes: relates to family or childhood, will walk around to see that students are relates to main accomplishment, or circling the events appropriately. I will will relates to subject’s impact. We will review these worksheets after the lesson. review this chart and have a brief I will also give students the opportunity discussion. Then I will put two timelines to share why they why they circled the events that of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life up on the they did. This will help me understand understand Elmo projector. One timeline will have students’ thinking better about what important events such as the Montgomery makes an important event. Bus Boycott and winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The other timeline will have events that are less significant such as During independent reading, I will confer changing his name to Martin and joining with students to see that they are a church choir. choir. Students will turn and understanding how to pick out only the talk to discuss which timeline has more big ideas. I will review reading notes, relevant information. I will ask questions and I will give students feedback to help such as, “Which timeline has events that guide their reading. Based on my relate more to MLK’s big findings during conferences, I will form accomplishments?” and “Which timeline small groups for tomorrow’s lesson. seems to have information that is irrelevant?” We will discuss as a group why one timeline might be better than the other. I will then give pairs a worksheet with a list of events in Shaun White’s (the Olympic athlete) life. Students will circle events that they feel should end up
on a timeline. I will remind students that it is important for big events to relate to White’s main accomplishment of being an Olympic Snowboarder. I will model how to make a chart of “important” and “less important” events in our reader’s notebooks. Then, students will be sent off to read and take notes, being sure to note the big ideas that could end up on a timeline.
35 mins
Finishing It
At the end of the lesson, I will call
I will monitor how students answer the
How will you bring students students back to the rug. During reading final question and analyze the students’ to closure with this learning timeline. If there appears to be confusion experience and connect it to time, I will have asked one student to future learning? volunteer to share his/her list with the (for example if students can’t articulate
class. We will review why the ideas why he/she chose these events) ev ents) I will he/she wrote down are big ideas that modify the lesson for tomorrow to review today’s lesson more deeply. could fall on a timeline. We will then then discuss the question, “How do timelines help us organize the information we read in biographies?” 7 mins
Accessibility
Whole class: Timelines projected on the Elmo will help visual learners see the
What accessibility and information. The hands-on activity in which students students circle the big ideas and cross participation challenges have out the smaller ideas with partners will help students interactively gain an you taken into account and understanding of what a big idea is. It will also give them a chance to argue with how have you addressed them? (material and human peers about differences of opinion, which will ultimately help deepen resources, sequence of understanding. Reading time will allow students to work independently with the instruction) possibility of one-on-one teacher conferences.
Groups of students with similar needs: For this first lesson, I plan to let students work independently, without pulling small groups, so that I can get a sense of students’ needs. I will provide a range range of leveled texts so that children will be reading biographies at an appropriate reading level. Individual students : This lesson will include visual aids, the definition of vocabulary words, and partner work to aid the students with language processing difficulties. The guided practice component includes hands on work for students who struggle with sustained sustained attention. Struggling readers will be provided with appropriate leveled texts.
Materials Needed
Biographies, Elmo Projector, Timelines, Worksheet, Easel/Chart Paper, Reader’s Notebooks
LESSON 2 Lesson title: Ordering Events on a Timeline Grade/age level: Third Grade Learning Objective(s) What do you want students to know, understand, or be able to do as a result of this lesson?
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Students will practice taking notes on a biography in the form of a timeline Students will place important events in chronological order on a timeline Students will start to think about the relationship of even ts in a subject’s life
Evidence for assessment
This lesson only includes informal assessment. I will confer with with students and ask students to fill out timeline templates. I will review students’ initial attempt attempt at Where will you look for signs filling in timelines timelines to be sure that students students understood the task. This will help me to of student learning? What will you look for ? form small groups for the following lesson. lesson. During the lesson, I will also listen in What are your criteria ? to turn and talks and monitor group discussions to be sure that students are accurately putting events in chronological order and understanding the relation of events. Standard(s) Which Common Core State Standard relates to this objective?
RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea Timelines will help students determine the big ideas of texts and how they contribute to the main accomplishments of the character. RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence and cause/effect As students review timelines, they will be able to see and describe the relationship between the key events in the character’s life.
Learning Experience
Assessment
In each section below, specify the sequence of instructional activities. Consider how you will manage materials, bodies, and time. Use small boxes to indicate time.
What will you look/listen to/for?
Starting It
I will look to see whether students absorbed the vocabulary word “chronological order” based on their responses to my questions.
I will explain to students, “Yesterday we How will you invite students worked really hard and pulled lots of big into the learning experience? ideas from our biographies. We distinguished between important events and events that are less important. Today, we need to finish our timelines. I want us to think about the special ‘c’ word that we talked about yesterday. Who remembers what that word is?” 3 mins
Doing It Outline your sequence of instructional moves including participation structures, materials, intellectual resources, and time allotted. Is there a product or performance you will be expecting students to create?
I will start by having a conversation with During the part on the rug, I will look to the students about what chronological see that students are engaged and order means. We will review the word participating. I will listen to students’ on the Timeline Chart. I will then ask answers to my guiding questions to be students to turn and talk about why chronological order is important. I will sure that their answers are on track (for example, “timelines need to be in order talk about how when we read, we can write down ideas in chronological order. based on when the events happened”). I I will ask, “What happens if an event will watch as students sort the events and doesn’t have a specific year? How will see if students can make the connection we know where it goes on the timeline?” that certain events couldn’t have Students will briefly discuss. I will then happened unless other events happened talk about how we can know about the first. relation of events. I will explain that some events need to happen before other events. I will point out that some events might even cause other events. For example, what if we read about Jackie Robinson. If the book said he joined the Dodgers and also became the first African American major league baseball player, could we assume that one of these events happened first? first? I will remind students that it’s really important to think about how the big events relate to one another. After this discussion, I will give each partnership slips of paper with major events from Jackie Robinson’s life without dates. Students will be asked to put the events in chronological order based on the relation of events. I will remind students to ask themselves, “Could this event have happened had another event not happened first?” After students have worked together to figure it out, we will discuss how they they did so. I will then model how we can take notes in the form of a timeline, thinking about the relationship of important events. I will do this based on the list of important events from Jackie Robinson’s life. I will model how to take a list of events and put it into the form of a timeline. I will also encourage students to try to add new events to their timelines as they read. I will hand out a template on which
students can take their notes. I will then send students off to their tables to practice taking notes in the form of a timeline as they read. As students work, I will work with a I will assess the small group I work with small group who still needs help with to see that they better understand how to determining big ideas. Students will will work together to determine which events pick out the big ideas of a biography. I on their timeline might not be as will look to see that irrelevant events important as others. I will provide such as pets and small hobbies are not support, but it is my hope that through thelisted on timelines. If my assessment use of the chart and peer support that helps me see they are ready, I will also students will be able to make revisions on help them work on putting their events in their own. order. The rest of the group will work independently on their timelines. If it seems like students need group support, I During conferences, I will review may ask students to work in their book timelines to see that students are clubs to create timelines together. accurately filling them out with relevant events in chronological order.
35 mins
Finishing It
I will ask one or two students to share
I will monitor how students answer the
How will you bring students their timelines. timelines. I will ask how they final question and analyze the students’ to closure with this learning timeline. It is my hope that students students will experience and connect it to decided to put their events in the order future learning? they did. I will then then ask what they notice be able to answer that timelines help us
about how events might cause other events. How does putting events in chronological order help us understand more about the events in the main character’s life?
see how some events may cause other events and may lead to the main accomplishment of the subject.
7 mins
Accessibility
Whole class: The hands-on activity in which students put the big events in
What accessibility and chronological order will help students interactively gain an understanding for what participation challenges have a big idea is. Turn and talks and group discussions discussions will help break down the you taken into account and
concepts for students with with language processing difficulties. Reading time will
how have you addressed allow students to work independently with the possibility of meeting in a small them? (material and human group with a teacher. resources, sequence of instruction)
Groups of students with similar needs: For this lesson I plan on working with a small group that is still struggling with the main idea from yesterday’s lesson. I want students to be actively engaged and to feel like they have something of value to offer to the group, so students will be working together to make changes change s to their own timelines with minimal help from the teacher. Individual students: This lesson will include visual aids, the definition of vocabulary words, and partner work to aid the students with language processing difficulties. The guided practice component includes hands on work for students who struggle with sustained sustained attention. Struggling readers will be provided with appropriate leveled texts. Materials Needed
pieces of paper with big events of Jackie Robinson’s life, leveled biographies, easel/chart paper, reader’s notebooks, timeline chart, timeline template
LESSON 3 Lesson title: Creating Timelines Grade/age level: Third Grade Learning Objective(s) What do you want students to know, understand, or be able to do as a result of this lesson?
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Students will create timelines that include important events in chronological order Students will teach peers about the subject of their biography
Evidence for assessment
This lesson includes informal informal and formal assessment. assessment. I will confer with with groups of students to see that they are making informative timelines about which they can Where will you look for signs speak and write. I will also monitor monitor group discussions to be sure that students are of student learning? What will you look for ? realizing the importance of using a timeline to organize and teach information. I criteria What are your ? will administer a formal assessment at the end of the lesson to see if students have made progress throughout this learning segment. Standard(s)
RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain Which Common Core State how they support the main idea Standard relates to this Timelines will help students determine the big ideas of texts and how they objective? contribute to the main accomplishments of the character. RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence and cause/effect As students review timelines, they will be able to see the relationship between the key events in the character’s life. Learning Experience
Assessment
In each section below, specify the sequence of instructional activities. Consider how you will manage materials, bodies, and time. Use small boxes to indicate time.
What will you look/listen to/for?
Starting It
I will introduce the lesson by explaining I will look to see that students are engaged. timelines now. I will tell students that I can tell that we are really understanding und erstanding how to use timelines to order the events in a story and see how they relate. I will tell them that today we are going to prove our knowledge and create timelines to share with our classmates to teach them about our biographies.
How will you invite students to students how much we know about into the learning experience?
3 mins
Doing It Outline your sequence of instructional moves including participation structures, materials, intellectual resources, and time allotted. Is there a product or performance you will be expecting students to create?
To get started, I will review any common mistakes or misunderstandings with the I will walk around the classroom as class. This could potentially include students are creating their timelines. I vague statements on the timelines rather will meet with each group and assess the than specific events, events that don’t following: relate to the subject, or events that are unimportant. I will explain that today we - Is everyone participating? are going to take all of the information - Are the students picking out we have collected in our notes the past relevant events? two days, and we are going to make final copies of a timeline to share with the - Are the events in chronological class. I will hand out templates templates to order? children who want them but I will also give students the choice to work without - Are the students making a template. Students will work connections between the events? independently to create timelines. I will model how to create a timeline in my notes. I will then send students off to As students share their timelines, I will work for a period of time. When it seems look to see that students are critically students have finished, I will invite looking at each others’ timelines. timelines. It is students back to the rug. Students will my hope that students will be able to help oin small groups and share their each other learn how to fine-tune their timelines. I will remind students to give timelines even more. each other constructive feedback that includes at least one compliment and at least one thing the person could change or improve.
30 mins
Finishing It
After students have shared, I will ask How will you bring students “How does making timelines help us to closure with this learning experience and connect it to teach others about the subject of our future learning? biography? How do timelines help us better understand our biographies?” After presentations, students will take a formal assessment.
I will listen to students reflections to see if they really understood the main idea. It is my hope that students will acknowledge that timelines helped them think of the text in a different way. Hopefully students will mention that it helped them see the relationship of events. The formal assessment is looking to see that students can identify important ideas and understand their relationship. relationship. I will
12 mins
review the formal assessment to gauge the overall success of the learning segment. Accessibility
Whole class: This hands-on activity in which students actually create timelines and
What accessibility and present them will help students interactively gain an understanding for what a participation challenges have timeline is, how it can help people learn, and how it can help us teach others. The you taken into account and presentation component will allow students to verbally express what they have how have you addressed them? (material and human learned. resources, sequence of instruction) Groups of students with similar needs: For this lesson, students will share their
timelines in a group that that is not determined by skills. skills. Therefore, students will receive feedback from a wide variety of perspectives and abilities. Individual students: This lesson will include visual aids, the definition of vocabulary words on the chart, and group work to aid the students with language processing difficulties. The lesson primarily involves hands on work for students who struggle with sustained sustained attention. Struggling readers will be provided with appropriate leveled texts. Students will be provided with a template to help organize their thoughts. Materials Needed
Templates, biographies, easel, paper, Timeline Chart, reader’s notebook