Lesson Plan
Balanced Literacy
Grade Level: 3rd
Standards:
CC.1.3.3.F Determine the
meaning of words and phrases
as they are used in grade level
text, distinguishing literal from
nonliteral meaning as well as
shades of meaning among
related words.
Unit:
Tall Tales/Folk Tales
Lesson Title:
An American Tale
Text Title & Author:
American Tall Tales by Mary
Pope Osborne
Materials:
American Tall Tales
White drawing paper
Crayons/colored pencils
Pencils
Anticipatory Set/Hook:
I am so hungry I could eat a
whole horse!
Balanced Literacy Component: Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension
Objective(s): For students to understand the difference between exaggerations
and literal phrases.
Essential Question(s): How does word choice affect meaning?
Procedures:
Explain to students that not
all words and phrases in
books have the literal
meaning of how they are
written. For example, I am so
hungry I could eat a horse!
Can I really eat a horse? Talk
through a couple of these and
challenge the kids to think of
some that they have heard.
Once the kids seem to get the
hang of it, explain they are
going on a hunt through the
book of American Tall Tales.
Read the first story. Once
finsihed, ask the students if
they heard any exagerations
in the story. Have them turn
to the person next to them
and talk through a couple of
exaggerations they heard.
Once students are finished
discussing, call on a couple of
groups to share their
thoughts.
Explain that you are now
going to read the rest of the
story. Once you are finished,
the students will pick one
story and write an
exaggeration they heard from
it at the top of the page. They
should then write what the
exaggeration actually means
at the bottom of the page.
They should draw a picture in
the middle to show how crazy
Assessment(s): Teaching Strategies
_X_ Collect and grade _X_ Think-Pair-Share
___ Check for completion ___ Jigsaw
___ Rubric ___ Checklist _X_ Independent/Group
project
___ Peer/Self-Assessment
___ Integration of technology
___ Quiz ___ Test
___ Interactive Student
___ Presentation
Notebook
___ Performance
assessment
_X_ Modeling/Demonstration
___ Think aloud
___ Exit slip
___ Group activities
___ Use of video clip
Assessment data:
___ Cross-curricular connect
Student work will be Other___________________
checked for
understanding. If the
student struggles, they
may use the book to Differentiation/Strategies
look at pictures and ___ Tiered assignments
use context clues to ___ Flexible grouping
find these
___ Learning centers
exaggerations. If they
need challenged, the ___ Varying questions
student may search _X_ Independent projects
for a different book on Other ___________________
the reading shelf that
also contains
exaggerations.
it would be if the exaggeration
were true!
This is an independent
activity so students should
work quietly by themselves. If
students are struggling, help
talk them through the activity,
pulling the book out to
continue to hunt for
exaggerations. If the students
need challenged, have them
go to the reading shelf and
see if they can find their own
exaggerations in a different
book.