Literacy Lesson: Private I. Guana
Literacy Lesson: Private I. Guana
Grade Level: 2nd Grade, Struggling 3rd Grade
Subject: English/Reading
Duration: Listening - 8 minutes, Assessment - 5-7 minutes, Writing Activity - 20/25 minutes
DOK Level: 3
SAMR Level: Augmentation
Indiana Standard:
2.RL.1 Read and comprehend a variety of literature within a range of complexity appropriate for grades 2-3. By the end of grade 2, students interact with texts proficiently and independently at the low end of the range and with scaffolding as needed at the high end.
2.RL.2.1 Ask and answer questions (e.g., who was the story about; why did an event happen; where did the story happen) to demonstrate understanding of main idea and key details in a text.
3.RV.3.1 Determine how the author uses words and phrases to provide meaning to works of literature, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language, including figurative language (e.g., similes).
Objective: Students will be able to listen to a story being read aloud, accurately answer comprehension and literary elements questions about the story, and create a slides presentation that compares and contrasts characters from the story and those same animals in nature.
Procedure: The student will access this link to view and listen to the story “Private I. Guana” by Nina Laden: Read Aloud Story. It would be helpful for the student to have his/her own copy of the book to track the words and follow along with the story. They can access this video from any device that has an internet connection. They can use the pause or rewind button to review any part of the story. Once they have completed the listening exercise, they should access the assessment (in the Assessment section) to demonstrate comprehension. In addition to the assessment, they should complete the writing exercise.
Student directions for follow up activity: “Think about the characters in the story. There was a salamander, a chameleon, a firefly and an iguana. They don’t normally spend time in offices or restaurants. Choose one of the animals and research its natural habitat. You can type the name of the animal and natural habitat in the search engine. Create a Google slides presentation with at least three slides. The first slide should introduce your animal. Give the name, a picture and tell what type of animal (insect, amphibian, reptile). The second slide should give three facts about its natural habitat. The third slide should compare and contrast three aspects of the animal characters from the book and how those animals live in real life.”
Resources: Personal Learning Device (iPad/Chromebook/Laptop) or other device to view video, GoFormative Account (It’s free!) or Scholastic Reading Counts or Accelerated Reader (for use with assessments), Paper and colored pencils to design Digital program for written response, Optional: a physical copy of the picture book. Headphones, if necessary. Access to Google Slides or Powerpoint and/or Google Docs to complete the research activity.
Product or Assessment: If your school provides the assessment systems Scholastic Reading Counts or Accelerated Reader, this book has a comprehension quiz in both systems. The Accelerated Reader quiz number is: 21553. The book level is 3.5. Scholastic Reading Counts also offers a quiz, but the number is only accessible if your school has a paid subscription. If your school does not maintain one of those systems, you can use this link to access the assessment created in the GoFormative site over the literary elements:Private I. Guana Story Elements Quiz. GoFormative is a free assessment tool and anyone can register! The teacher could certainly use the AR/SRC and the Go Formative, as they cover different aspects of literacy, not just comprehension.
Enrichment: Storyline Online is available 24 hours a day for children, parents, caregivers and educators worldwide.Each book includes supplemental curriculum developed by a credentialed elementary educator, aiming to strengthen comprehension and verbal and written skills for English-language learners. Click here for Storyline's additional activities and resources for this story.This link includes cross curricular projects.
Additional Note: Ten Reasons to Read Aloud to Children: 1. To provide enjoyment. 2. To model expressive reading. 3. To show the connections between speech and print. 4. To help children develop stronger vocabularies and more sophisticated language structures. 5. To introduce different genres and writing styles. 6. To increase attention Span. 7. To strengthen cognitive ability. 8. To enhance the affective domain. 9. To help second language learners to become familiar with the sounds and shapes of English. 10. To meet national literacy standards (Polette, 2014). Article retrieved from this Read Aloud Resource .