Understanding By Design Unit Plan



|Stage 1 - Desired Results |

|Unit Summary |

|In this unit, students will analyze characters from stories and pictures using effective strategies of good readers: making inferences, |

|predictions and connections. |

|Content Standards and Learning Expectations |

|Listening/Speaking |

|L/S.4.1 Listens and responds during a read aloud from a variety of narrative texts to comprehend and identify main character and setting. |

|Reading |

|R.4.4 Identifies the main character(s), compares and contrasts character traits, and identifies setting within narrative and expository text |

|R.4.5 Uses story organization of beginning, middle, and end to identify sequence within narrative and expository text; makes predictions and |

|connections. |

|Writing |

|W.4.3 Uses appropriate grammar and mechanics to write complete declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences; identifies |

|the parts of speech correctly. |

|Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings: |Essential Questions: |

|Making connections to what we read helps us understand who we are. |What can I learn about myself from stories and pictures? |

|Writers make characters come alive using descriptive text. |How does a character come alive? |

|Authors create text patterns and make word choices that help readers|How does the author’s story-organization and word choice help the |

|better understand the text. |reader understand a story? |

|Content (Students will know…) |Skills (Students will be able to…) |

|Character traits (hero and villain) |Listen and respond during a read-aloud from a variety of narrative |

|Strategies of effective readers (i.e. connections, predictions, |texts to comprehend and identify main character |

|inferences) |Identify the main character(s) |

|Parts of speech (i.e. adjectives) |Make inferences to compare and contrast character traits (i.e. between |

|Four sentence types (declarative, interrogative, imperative and |characters or between character and self) |

|exclamatory) |Make predictions and connections (i.e. predictions about what will |

|Content Vocabulary |happen next in a story, connections between characters in fiction and |

|Main character |self) |

|Character traits |Use appropriate grammar and mechanics to write complete declarative, |

|Prediction |interrogative, imperative and exclamatory sentences |

|Inference | |

|Connection | |

|Adjectives | |

|Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence |

|Performance Tasks: |Other Evidence: |

|Character Posters |Journal Writing: Have students create a journal entry where they make |

|Part 1: Pre-Reading |text-to-self connections (can be used as closing to poster assessment).|

|Give students Alphabet Chart (See Attachment: 4.3 Performance Task - |Review “text-to-self connections” (See Attachment: 4.3 Other Evidence |

|Alphabet Chart) and the topic, “Hairs.” Ask them what words come to |– Making Connections Prompts) |

|mind when they think of this topic. Have them place each word in the |Order of Adjectives quiz (See Attachment: 4.3 Other Evidence – Order of|

|correct box and share answers with the class. For example the word |Adjectives Quiz) |

|“curly” will go in the “C-D” box. |Identifying adjectives quiz (See Attachment: 4.3 Other Evidence – |

|Tell students that they will now read a story titled Hairs. Ask |Identifying Adjectives Quiz) |

|students what they think the story is about based on the title and |Quiz on the different types of sentences (See Attachment: 4.3 Other |

|the words that they gathered in the alphabet chart. Record students’ |Evidence – Different Sentence Types Quiz) |

|answers on the board. |Fluency Running Records and Paired Fluency Checks (See Attachment: 4.3 |

|Explain to students that they just made predictions about the text. |Other Evidence – Paired Fluency Check) |

|Present to students the definition of “prediction.” Post the | |

|definition of “prediction” on the board: Prediction is a reading | |

|strategy that efficient readers use to develop ideas about what to | |

|expect next in the text. They modify their expectations as they | |

|obtain additional information while reading. When the text suddenly | |

|stops making sense, good readers go back and re-read. Making | |

|predictions becomes automatic to good readers, but it is a skill that| |

|can be taught and developed. | |

|Part 2: Reading | |

|Read the story Hairs aloud (See Attachment: 4.3 Text – Hairs), | |

|pausing to clarify any new vocabulary. Ask students to describe the | |

|different characters presented in the story. | |

|Part 3: Character Organizers | |

|Have students work in small groups and have them illustrate the | |

|mother character in Hairs on a character organizer (See Attachment: | |

|4.3 Graphic Organizer – Blank Character Map). | |

|Make sure that they use the descriptions in the story to help them | |

|illustrate the figure. In the illustration, have them write sentences| |

|describing what the mother would say. Example: “Dear, do you want me | |

|to give you a hug?” | |

|Part 4: Share | |

|Have each group present its poster to the class to be assessed based | |

|on their understanding of the character traits of the mother. | |

|Using Visual Clues to Make Inferences About Character Traits | |

|Step 1: Introduce what the word “inference” means: Making an | |

|inference is using clues from the text and your own knowledge and | |

|experience to figure out what the author is trying to tell you. | |

|Step 2: Give a comic strip to students and ask them to infer the | |

|dialogue that is taking place between the two characters in the comic| |

|strip (See Attachment: 4.3 Performance Task – Making Inference Comic | |

|Strip 1). | |

|Step 3: Have students work in pairs as they create the dialogue for | |

|the comic strip. After everyone has completed the dialogue, have each| |

|pair read their dialogue aloud to the class. | |

|Step 4: Discuss with the class that although each pair had a | |

|different dialogue, each one is correct (i.e. each pair may have had | |

|different knowledge and experience regarding the activity that the | |

|characters in the comic strip were performing and each pair may have | |

|taken different clues from the text). | |

|Step 5: Provide a second comic strip to each student and ask them to | |

|repeat the same activity with the new comic strip (See Attachment: | |

|4.3 Performance Task – Making Inference Comic Strip 2) | |

|Step 6: Have each student present his/her dialogue to the class. | |

|Making Connections | |

|Step 1: Explain to students that they will compare and contrast a | |

|hero from a movie to someone in their life whom they consider their | |

|hero. | |

|Step 2: Tell students that they will use a Venn diagram graphic | |

|organizer to compare the two heroes or heroines (See Attachment: 4.3 | |

|Graphic Organizer – Venn Diagram) | |

|Step 3: Teacher may brainstorm a list of heroes or heroines with the | |

|class, from which they can choose. Possible examples: Superman, | |

|Supergirl, Spiderman, Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, Elektra, etc. | |

|Explain to students that the super hero or heroine in their life may | |

|not look exactly like the super hero or heroine in their lives; | |

|however, the qualities of the heroes/heroines are what they are using| |

|to compare and contrast in this activity. | |

|Step 4: Have students share their work with the class. You may want | |

|to use a gallery walk to have students share their work. Have | |

|students post their work around the room. During a Gallery Walk, | |

|students explore multiple texts or images that are placed around the | |

|room. You may want to give students sticky notes that they can use to| |

|give feedback to the class. For example, ask students to write | |

|something on their sticky note that they like about the work of | |

|another student. | |

|Stage 3 - Learning Plan |

|Learning Activities |

|Inferences & Predictions |

|Introduce inferences by showing students a visual text and asking them what they think is happening in the text (See Attachment: 4.3 Other |

|Evidence - Making Inference Visual 1). |

|Introduce predictions using visual texts (See Attachment: 4.3 Other Evidence - Making Inference Visual 2) |

|Have students compare and contrast predictions and inferences using the “think/pair/share” strategy |

|Use photos from magazines or newspapers and have students make predictions or inferences based on the images |

|Use stories with illustrations and have students write sentences to describe them, by inferring what the picture describes |

|Have students play a game where they have to make inferences (See Attachments: 4.3 Learning Activity - Inferring Card Game and 4.3 Learning |

|Activity - Inferring Card Game Rules). You can use the format of this game to create your own game on making predictions and connections. |

| |

|Parts of Speech |

|Give students a list of adjectives and a list of pictures showing everyday activities. Ask students to create sentences describing the |

|pictures using the adjectives. To extend the activity, you can also have students create different types of sentences to describe the same |

|picture. For example, “The woman is attractive.” (declarative sentence). “Is the woman attractive?” (interrogative sentence) (See |

|Attachment: 4.3 Learning Activity – Adjectives to Describe Everyday Situations) |

|Have students copy the following sentences into their notebook, underline the adjectives and draw an arrow to each adjective’s modifier. |

|A green dragon climbed into the dark castle and kidnapped the beautiful, sleeping princess. |

|A giant, fuzzy spider was crawling in Chad’s hair. |

|The tall, handsome boy wearing a brown leather jacket walked into the math classroom and smiled at Denise. |

|This European inventor hoped to make a usable, permanent photograph. |

|It was a black, white, and gray version of the window view. |

|Have students underline the adjectives in a piece of text from a book or magazine article. Then have them rewrite the paragraph without the |

|adjectives and describe the differences between the two paragraphs to understand why adjectives make writing better. |

|Sentence Types |

|Write a dialogue with a group of three or four based on vocabulary that uses all four sentence types & act it out (See Attachment: 4.3 |

|Performance Task - Write a Dialogue) |

|Perform the dialogue, reading the dialogue with fluency, gestures, and intonation to reflect the sentence type |

|So Many Questions Please: Have students work in pairs and ask them to discuss their favorite book or TV show using only questions or |

|exclamations. Discuss with students how difficult it is to have a conversation using only one type of sentence. |

|Sample Lessons |

|Lesson on teaching prediction: |

| |

|Lesson on making connections using double entry journal: |

|lesson-plans/guided-comprehension- making-connections-228.html?tab=4#tabs |

|Additional Resources |

|Useful activities to teach different types of sentences (See Attachment: 4.3 Resource – Different Sentence Types) |

|Activities for making inferences (See Attachment: 4.3 Resource – Making Inferences) |

|Useful resource for making inferences with text and with new words (See Attachment: 4.3 Resource – Making Inferences 2) |

|Gallery Walk resources (See Attachment: 4.3 Resource – Gallery Walks) |

|Character trait resources (See Attachments: 4.3 Resource – List of Character Traits, 4.3 Resource – Identifying Character Traits, and 4.3 |

|Resource – Identifying Character Traits Worksheet) |

|Literature Connections |

|Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say |

|Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora |

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4.3 Making Predictions, Inferences and Connections About Characters

4.3 Making Predictions, Inferences and Connections About Characters

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