LESSON PLAN #1: COMMUNITY BUILDING LESSON PLAN

Grade: 4/5
Subject: Writers Workshop
Duration: 40 minutes
Classroom characteristics: 22 students, Languages: Spanish, Arabic, Telugu, Mandinka, French, Albanian, Ewe
Range of language performance represented in this class:

DESIRED RESULTS
Enduring Understanding(s):
Students will understand that a name is deeply connected to a persons identity. It is unique and meaningful to each student, and
deserves to be pronounced correctly.
Essential Questions:
Where did your name come from? Why is your name important? What does your name mean to you?
Associated Standards:
CSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.4:

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3

: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
descriptive details, and clear event sequences
Content Objective:
Students will be able to explain the importance and/or meaning behind their name through writing.
Language Objective:

After the minilesson that involves direct modeling, students will fill out a graphic organizer or use sentence starters to write details
about the meaning of their name.
Students will write what their names mean to them through complete sentences in paragraph form.
Students will clearly state in oral speech how to say their name and how to spell it for the whole class.
Language Structure:
Discourse Casual, conversational, expressive, informational; writing for an unknown audience
Sentence My name is meaningful/important because
I am named after
My name means
My nickname is
My name makes me feel
I love my name because
Word Level Ancestors, immigrants, origin, heritage
Presentation:
Introduction/theme/context: Rea
Objectives:
Differentiation: Hannah
Procedure: Kat- you could share the story about your name as an example and explain the procedure?

MCEA-ESL LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Teacher: _______________________
Time Needed: __35 minutes____

Grade Level: ___4/5___

Subject Area: __Writers Workshop_______

Topic: __Writing About a Name_____

Part 1: Lesson Framework

Enduring
understandings
or essential
questions
Standard(s)

Students will understand that a name is deeply connected to a persons identity. It is unique and meaningful to each
student, and deserves to be pronounced correctly.

CSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards
1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences

Assessment/s
Evidence of
Understanding
/Learning

Think-Pair-Share
Share out your what your partner shared with you/One thing you learned about your partners name.
Writing Analysis
- The amount/type of writing that students do will vary based on their English language skills.

Content
Objective(s)

Students will
be able to
explain the
importance
and/or
meaning
behind their
name
through
writing.

Language
objective(s)

After mini-lesson,
students will use
sentence starters to
write the ending to
the sentence.

pecific
S
Language
Structures

After a mini lesson,

students will write a
paragraph that
includes two or
three complete
sentences.

Words: Ancestors, immigrants, origin,

heritage
Discourse: Casual, conversational,
expressive, informational; writing for an
unknown audience
Sentence level: My name is
meaningful/important because
I am named after
My name means
My nickname is
My name makes me feel
I love my name because

After a mini lesson,

students will write a
complete paragraph
that includes five
sentences.

Lesson
objectives for
students with
unique learning
characteristics
Prior Knowledge

Students should know how to explain in writing what their names history is, what their name represents and what
emotions they feel towards their name. This lesson promotes students sense of self. They are starting to think about
their identities and how their personal history is unique and special to who they are. All students will be able to write
about their name with added language supports that are incorporated later in our lesson plan.

Do not fill
What
previous

Cultural
Integration
&

Do not fill
What funds of
knowledge and

Trans-lang
uaging

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knowledge
do your
students
need to have
to engage
with the
content/topic
of this
lesson?

Language
Scaffolds and
differentiation

Funds of
Knowledge

relevant
experiences from
your students are
you incorporating
into this lesson?
How will you
incorporate and
build on this,
connecting to your
objectives?

What opportunities are you providing to allow

students to draw on their entire linguistic
repertoire? Please, be specific.

Do not fill
What specific scaffolds are you providing for receptive (listening, reading) and/or productive (speaking, writing)
language in this lesson? How will you ensure that input is comprehensible and that all students can fully participate in
this learning task? Consider participation patterns, visual and textual support, etc.

Part 2: Lesson Procedure

Materials &
Texts

Do not fill
List any materials (copies, books, technology) that you and the students will need to complete the lesson. Which
texts will inform this lesson?

Learning Tasks

Introduction
/
Engaging
Hook

Procedure

The class starts off on the carpet. The teacher is at the front of the group, and starts to model the start of her own
story while the students watch. The teacher will tell a funny/meaningful story that will grabbed the students
attention about their own name. Her prompt that she is using is A funny story about my name is She
demonstrates her thinking and explains how the students can write a short story about their names. ( 3 minutes)

1. The teacher explains to the class that they will be writing short stories about their names. She will explain
that each of their names are important and that it is significant to ones identity. She will then introduce the
prompts that the students can choose from, which are displayed on the Promethean Board. (2 minutes)
a. A funny story about my name is
b. A story about how I got my name/nickname is
c. My name is special to me because
d. I love my name because
2. Students now get a chance to practice. Students will turn and talk to a partner about an idea that they have
to share for their name. This is a chance for them to generate ideas for five minutes. ( 5 minutes)
3. Students will then be released to write their name story. ( 15 minutes)
a. Students who are new to the US or to English will receive the support of working with a teacher.
i.
Sentence starters for Level 1-3 students:
1. I like my name because__________.
2. My name is special because__________.
b. Students at a level 2-4 will be required to write a paragraph that includes two to three sentences.

c. Students at a level 3-5 will be required to write a paragraph that includes five sentences.
4. When students finish, and once a teacher has checked over their work, they then can draw an image to
accompany their writing.

o
o
o
o

Closure

Structured
Practice
and
Application

Formative
Assessment

Think about: How will you gradually release responsibility to students by providing scaffolds and then scaling
them back?
I Do It (Modeling)
We Do It (Guided Instruction)
You Do It Together (Collaborative Learning)
You Do It Independently ( Independent Practice and Assessment)

When everyone is finished, students will display their finished products on their desks. For five minutes, students
will do a gallery walk to read about other students name stories. ( 5 minutes)
Students will practice and apply the content and language objective through their individual work time on their
own writing. This practice will be structured with sentence starters/prompts for students to generate ideas from.
Students will be supported throughout their practice by the teacher.

Do not fill
How will you check for true understanding throughout your lesson? How will you know if your students are achieving
the learning goals? How are you considering the role of language in your formative assessment strategies so that
you can truly understand what students are learning (regardless of their English language proficiency)?

WIDA MPI Strand (Adapted)

Content
Objective:

After direct modeling, students will individually write the importance and/or meaning behind their name.

Performance
Definitions

Level 1-3

Level 2-4

Level 3-5

Language
Objective:

After mini-lesson, students will

use sentence starters to write the
ending to the sentence.

After a mini lesson, students will

write a paragraph that includes
two or three complete sentences.

After a mini lesson, students will

write a complete paragraph that
includes five sentences.

Language
structures at
the
Discourse Level

My name is special to me
because it is my grandmas name.

My name is special to me because it

is my grandmas name. Her name
was Kathryn. I feel proud to be
named after my grandma.

My name is special to me because I

was named after my grandma. Her
name was Kathryn and she came to
America from Ireland to give our
family a better life. My grandma has
been an inspiration for both my mom
and me. I feel proud to be named
after her.

Language
structures at
the
Sentence Level

Students will use the present tense

Students will use a combination of

present and past tense.

Students will use a combination of

present and past tense

Language
structures at
the
Word Level

Connecting words
Special

Nickname
Named after
Proud

Inspiration