C a l if o r n ia S t a te U n i v e r s ity

N o r th r id g e

Department of Elementary Education

Lesson Plan
Candidate

Date

Grade level

Caroline Hambright

Day 1

Subject Area & Topic

Reading Comprehension: Compare

and Contrast With Students

Single-day lesson
Multi-day lesson

English Language Development levels of students in the class or group:

Emerging
ELD 1 (Beginning)
Expanding
OR
ELD 2 (Early Intermediate)
Bridging
ELD 3 (Intermediate)
ELD 4 (Early Advanced)
English Only
ELD 5 (Advanced)
IFEP (Initially Fluent English Proficient)
RFEP (Redesignated Fluent English Proficient)

Whole-class lesson
Small-group lesson
Name of instructional model
Direct instruction
Inquiry or problem-based lesson
Formal lesson evaluation?
Yes (for example rubric with criterion list)
No

Lesson Objective/s: By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to write two complete sentences using
comparative language to compare and contrast the features of two stuffed animals.
Language Objective/s for English Learners: The English learners will use comparing and contrasting language
to write three sentences comparing and contrasting visual features.
Common Core or Content Standard/s: L 2.5.a: Identify real-life connections between words and their use.
California English Language Development Standard/s: . Interacting in Meaningful Ways Standard 12: Selecting
and applying varied and precise vocabulary and language structures to effectively convey ideas
Materials/Technology/Visual Aids:
2 hula hoops
tape
2 similar stuffed animals, 1 extra stuffed animal
Venn Diagram/sentence worksheets (for each student)
Quartered lined paper with sentence stems (for intro, described below)
Triple Venn Challenge worksheet (about 10)
hat
Classroom Management Strategies, Room Arrangements, and/or Student Grouping Plan:
During guided practice, two students will be called up to the front of the room. The rest of the students will stay
in their seats while we complete the activity as a class. During independent practice, students may come up to
the front of the room, five at a time, to touch the stuffed animals.
Differentiation/Modifications/Adaptations for students with special needs or those at varied achievement levels:
Steve (IEP for Autism and EL Level 2): Steve will verbally list similarities and differences to his aide. He will
receive prompting and support to write his sentences.
Jacqueline (EL Level 1): Jacqueline will receive extra support when writing her sentences.
Advanced students (such as Omar)/fast finishers: Triple Venn Challenge worksheet. A third stuffed animal will
be added, and students must compare and contrast all three.
Note: This version of the CSUN Lesson Plan
Format if for students in classes taught by Dr. Lynn Gordon, Sept. 2014

SDAIE/ELD Strategies to be Implemented: visual/tactile subject matter, word wall, graphic organizer, TPR
Academic Language and/or Vocabulary to be Introduced: compare, contrast, the same, different, both, but
Sequence of Lesson Procedures
Opening
1. Motivation: (5:00)
Give the students the following explicit directions:
Hand out quarter paper sheets with two sentences on them:
One way I am the same as most people in the room is ____________________.
One way I am different from the students in the room is ____________________.
Give students one minute to fill out their paper, meanwhile, tape the hula-hoops on the board like a
Venn Diagram
Instruct students to fold their paper and put it in a hat (walk around)
Instruct students that you will pick one, they will have to guess the student. The student who's paper I
picked should remain silent and don't give yourself away!
Pick three papers, have the students guess. Have fun!
Explain that we are all the same and different in many ways, and that is what makes life worth living.
2.

Explanation of Objective:
There are many different ways we talk about things that are the same and things that are different
and today, we are going to learn at some ways to do this.

Body of the Lesson

Guided Practice:
(5:00)Introduce the academic language, introduce word wall. Check for understanding: See how
many of these words students already know. Can they use them in a sentence?
(0:30) Choose two students to come to the front of the classroom and write their names beside the hulahoops.
(0:30)Explain the hula-hoops (Venn Diagram), write the word compare above the middle section,
and the word contrast above both of the sides.
(7:00) Prompt students to find features of the students that are the same. What is the same about
these two students? Encourage the use of academic language. Record answers on the board in the center of
the hula-hoops.
Prompt students to find features of the students that are different. "What is different about these two
students?" Encourage the use of academic language. Record answers on the boards on the sides of the hula
hoops.
Note: This version of the CSUN Lesson Plan
Format if for students in classes taught by Dr. Lynn Gordon, Sept. 2014

 Checking for understanding: Make sure students are not confusing the words compare and contrast.
Make sure students are using the words from the word wall correctly. Take note of which students (and how
many) confuse the words.
(1:00) Instruct the two students to sit down, and thank them for being good volunteers.
(3:00) Go over the word wall again, and introduce the first few sentence strips. Make sure to explain
the grammar and syntax.
(1:00) Instruct students to pair-share with their table partner, How can we say two sentences about
our two volunteers using these sentence strips? One sentence should be comparing, one should be
contrasting.
Checking for understanding: Monitor students' conversations around the room.
(1:00) Have a few volunteers share their answers with the class.
Final Activity or Independent Practice:
(2:00) Erase the board, have a student pass out the handout. Take out the stuffed animals. Call the
class to order.
(1:00) Together, begin comparing and contrasting the two stuffed animals, record on the board in the
hula-hoops, instruct students to follow along on their handout.
Instruct the students to fill up as much of the Venn Diagram as they can with observations, then use
those to write one comparing, and one contrasting sentence independently.
Closing
8. Formal Assessment/Informal Evaluation of Objective:
Formal Assessment: The students will fill out a Venn Diagram and write two sentences using
comparative language to compare and contrast the visual features of two stuffed animals.
Day 1 Rubric
Venn Diagram

Comparative
Sentence

Contrasting
Sentence

4
Diagram has more
than three accurate
phrases in each
section

3
Diagram has at least
three accurate
phrases in each
section

2
Diagram has less
than three phrases in
each section,
phrases may not be
in correct section
Sentence is an
Sentence is an
Sentence either is
accurate comparison accurate comparison not an accurate
and correctly uses
and correctly uses
comparison or does
advanced
simple comparative not correctly use
comparative
language
comparative
language
language
Sentence either is
Sentence is an
Sentence is an
not an accurate
accurate contrast
accurate contrast
contrast or does not
and correctly uses
and correctly uses
correctly use
advanced
simple contrasting
contrasting
contrasting
language
language
language

1
Incomplete or very
inaccurate phrases

Sentence is neither
an accurate
comparison nor does
it use comparative
language correctly
Sentence is neither
an accurate contrast
nor does it use
comparative
language correctly

Note: This version of the CSUN Lesson Plan

Format if for students in classes taught by Dr. Lynn Gordon, Sept. 2014