Direct Instruction Clinical Lesson Plan READ 3226

Central Focus:
Subject:  Students will use and apply context clue
 Vocabulary strategies to determine the meaning of
vocabulary words.
Essential Standard/Common Core Objective:
 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.4
 Determine the meaning of words and Date submitted: 11/08/18 Date taught: 10/26/18
phrases as they are used in a text,
distinguishing literal from nonliteral
language.
Daily Lesson Objective:
 Given a grade level reading passage, students will be able to use context clue strategies to determine
the meaning of unknown vocabulary words. Students will be able to define and explain each unknown
word correctly in its context 4 out of 5 times – 80% mastery.
21st Century Skills:
 Learning and Innovation Skills:
Critical Thinking: Reasoning – students
will have to use various types of
reasoning and examination as
appropriate to the situation. Analyzing –
students will have to analyze how the
words before and after the “tricky word”
interact with the vocabulary word to help
determine the definition. Synthesize –
students will have to make connections Academic Language Demand (Language Function and
between the five context clue strategies Vocabulary):
to determine the meaning of the  Necessary Content Terms:
vocabulary word. Interpret information – Context, definitions, examples, synonyms,
students will have to draw conclusions antonyms, word parts, clues, meaning
on the meaning of the “tricky word” Students will use the context of the given
based on their analyzation. sentence/passage to determine the
 Communication Skills: definition of the tricky vocabulary word.
Reading – students will have to read Throughout the lesson plan students will
each passage presented to them and be communicating with each other and
locate the underline “tricky word” or the teacher with definitions, clues from
vocabulary word. Speaking – students the context, examples, synonyms,
will have to have dialogue back and forth antonyms, and word pats to draw
with the teacher and other students as conclusions on what the vocabulary
necessary in certain parts throughout meaning is.
the lesson plan. Technology – students
will have to interact with technology as
the teacher presents answers and
meanings on the smart board.
 Collaboration Skills:
Students will have to demonstrate the
ability to work together effectively,
flexibly, and take on shared
responsibility.

Prior Knowledge:
 Students will need to understand and recall what a vocabulary word or “tricky word” is.
  Students will need to understand how to apply strategies to determine meanings of words.
 Students will need to understand the context of the story Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.

Activity Description

 The teacher grasps the student’s attention in the whole group

class setting with students at their desks.
 “Good afternoon class. Before we begin our lesson today, we
are going to do a quick review to get our brains warmed up
and ready for new learning! For the last few days you have
been learning about context clues and how they help you
figure out “tricky words” or vocabulary words. Who can tell us
what a “tricky word” is? (Teacher allows students to respond
while recording their answers on the board). Great job, thank
you for reminding us what a “tricky word” is. You have also
1. Focus and Review been learning about different context clue strategies that help
you determine the meaning of the “tricky words” or vocabulary
words. Turn and talk with your neighbor about the different
strategies you have learned so far. See how many you can
come up with and describe how they help you determine the
meaning of the “tricky words”. (Teacher gives students a
couple minutes to talk with their partner). Who can remind the
class of a context clue strategy you have learned so far?
(Teacher allows a few students to answer). Awesome job,
thank you for reminding us of context clue strategies we have
learned so far. Now we are about to begin our lesson for
today and we are going to use context clue strategies to help
us figure out the meaning of “tricky words” in our story.”
 “Today we are going to read a story called Sylvester and the
Magic Pebble. As we read the story, we will come across
some “tricky words” that we do not know the meaning of. In
order to help us figure out the meaning, I am going to teach
you context clue strategies. There are 5 different context clue
2. Statement of Objective strategies we are going to learn. It is important for us to pay
for Student close attention to all strategies because we can use them to
help us figure out the meaning of our “tricky words”. At the
end of this lesson you will be able to use the context clue
strategies to determine and explain the meaning of “tricky
words” (or vocabulary words) in the story Sylvester and the
Magic Pebble.”
 The teacher reads Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, out loud
to the class while students sit on the carpet.
 The teacher displays reading passages from the story
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble that contain preselected
“tricky words” (the words will be underlined in the text).
3. Teacher Input  “Okay class, raise your hand if there were any words you
thought were tricky as I read the story out loud. (Teacher
pauses for student responses). While I was reading I came
across quite a few “tricky words” that I want to know the
meaning of. Knowing the meaning of these words would help
me understand the story fully. I am going to demonstrate to
you how I use context clue strategies to figure out the
meaning of these “tricky words” in our story Sylvester and the
 Magic Pebble. When we try to determine the meaning of
“tricky words” in a reading passage, it is often useful to pay
attention to what comes before and after the word. The words
that come before and after our “tricky word” are called context
clues. Context clues can give us clues about the structure and
meaning of words as well as how and when it is used. There
are five different types of context clues to help us determine
the definition of our vocabulary words and I am going to teach
you how to use all five.”
 “First let me teach you the 5 different strategies using our
graphic organizer.”
 Teacher draws the students’ attention to the graphic
organizer/anchor chart displaying the strategies and
explanations. Teacher explicitly teaches and walks the
students through the strategies on the graphic organizer.
(graphic organizer was created by the CE to use for the
purpose of this lesson):
o Definition: Keep reading closely to see if the sentence
tells you the meaning of the word.
 Example: The marsh, or swamp, was a muggy
place.
o Examples: Keep reading closely to find an example of
the word in the text.
 Example: A device, such as a iPhone or iPad,
is expensive.
o Synonyms: Read the sentence closely and look for a
word that means the same.
 Example: The fox raced swiftly through the
tress and flew out of sight.
o Word parts: Look for clues in parts of the words.
 Example: I will rewrite my rough draft.
o Antonyms: Read the sentence closely and look for a
word that means the opposite.
 Example: She knew the cup wasn’t fragile
when she felt the cups sturdy handle and thick
sides.
 “Now that I have taught you the five context clue strategies we
will be using to determine and explain the definition of “tricky
words” in the text, let me demonstrate to you how to apply
these strategies in our story Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.
 Please look and follow along with the passage I have
displayed on the board. Notice in this passage how I have the
“tricky word” underlined. When the word is underline that
means it is our “tricky word” and we want to determine its
meaning. I am going to read the sentences to you and you will
follow along reading silently to yourself. When I come across
an underlined word, I am going to demonstrate to you how to
use the context clue strategies to determine and explain the
meaning of the vocabulary word in its context. Let’s get
Started!”
 The teacher will read the following reading passage and have
it displayed on the board for students to follow along:
  “As he was studying his remarkable pebble, he began to
shiver, probably from excitement, and the rain felt cold on his
back.”
 “In this sentence the word I want to focus on is “shiver”. I am
going to look back at our graphic organizer at the 5 different
context clue strategies to see which one will be fitting to help
me determine the meaning of the “tricky word”. First, I am
going to reread the sentence and look closely at the
surrounding words. As I read closely, I notice the strategy I
want to apply in this sentence is the example context clue
strategy. The sentence gives an example of what shivering is
because it describes how Sylvester is excited but is also cold
from the rain falling on his back. Therefore, using this context
clue strategy we can determine that the meaning of shiver
means to shake slightly from being cold or excited.”
 The teacher will have a paper worksheet to fill in with the
word, its meaning, and explanation of reasoning.
 “Let’s take a look at the following worksheet. (Teacher
displays a copy of the worksheet on the board). After I use our
context clue strategies to determine the meaning of the “tricky
word” I am going to fill in the worksheet. The work sheet has a
space for me to write what I think the word means and a place
for me to explain why I think that is what it is. (Teacher
explicitly demonstrates to students how to fill in the
worksheet).
 The teacher will continue the same process of teacher input
with the following two sentences/passages and show students
how to use the other context clue strategies.
 “To his great surprise, the rain stopped. It didn’t’ stop
gradually as rains usually do. It CEASED. The drops vanished
on the way down, the clouds disappeared, everything was dry,
and the sun was shining as if rain had never existed.”
 “In all his young life, Sylvester had never had a wish gratified
so quickly. It struck him that magic must be at work, and he
guessed that the magic must be in the remarkable-looking red
pebble.”
 “Now that I have taught you how to use context clue
strategies, it is your turn to participate! You are going to
partner up with your neighbor. Each of you will have a white
board and be responsible for your own writing, however you
can work together on the questions. You will be participating
in a gallery walk around the room. There are four different
stops with passages that contain underlined “tricky words”.
Your job is to visit each station and read the passage. After
4. Guided Practice you read the passage, you will use one of the context clue
strategies to determine and explain the meaning of the word.
Once you determine the meaning of the “tricky word”, you will
write it on your white board and then write a sentence
explaining why it is that. You do not have to visit the stations
in a certain order, just make sure you visit each station before
the time is up. I am going to give you ten minutes to complete
this and then we will go over the answers together. Make sure
you save enough room on your white board for all 4 stations,
you may begin.”
  (Teacher leaves directions on the board as well as graphic
organizer to access during the gallery walk).
 The following passages and context clue strategies will be
used for the gallery walk:
o “I wish I were a rock,” he said, and he became a rock.
The lion came bounding over, he sniffed the rock a
hundred times, walked around and around it, and went
away confused perplexed, puzzled, and bewildered.”
o “After a month of searching the same places over and
over again, and inquiring of the same animals over
and over again, Mr. and Mrs. Duncan no longer knew
what to do. They concluded that something dreadful
must have happened and that they would probably
never see their son again.”
o “At dawn they went about enquiring of all the
neighbors. They talked to all the children – the
puppies, the kittens, the colts, the piglets. No one had
seen Sylvester since the day before yesterday.
 After the gallery walk is over, the teacher will call the students
back to the carpet to review their answers and reteach the
strategies if necessary before releasing students to the
independent practice.
 “Now that we have used context clue strategies together to
figure out the meanings of our “tricky words”, it is time for you
to do it on your own. I am going to give you a worksheet with
5 short reading passages from our story Sylvester and the
Magic Pebble. Your job is to read each of the passages
closely and determine the meaning of the underlined “tricky
word”. To do this, you will use one of the context clue
strategies you have learned to help you define and explain the
meaning of the “tricky words”. Once you figure out what the
word means, you will write it on the line that asks you what
you think the word means. Then you will explain why you think
that is what it is on the lines below the meaning.”
 The students will be given the following five passages on their
independent practice worksheets:
o “Nothing happened. But when he said the same thing
5. Independent Practice
holding the pebble in his hoof, the sky turned black,
there was lightning and a clap of thunder, and the rain
came shooting down.”
o “As he was crossing Strawberry Hill, thinking of some
of the many, many things he could wish for, he was
startled to see a mean, hungry lion looking right as him
from behind some tall grass. He was frightened.”
o “He could have wished the lion would turn into a
butterfly or a daisy or a gnat. He could have wished
many things, but he panicked and couldn’t think
carefully.”
o “They tried their best to be happy, to go about their
unusual ways. But their unusual ways included
Sylvester and they were always reminded of him. They
were miserable. Life had no meaning for them
anymore.”
 o They stayed up all night wondering what had
happened, expecting that Sylvester would surely turn
up by morning. But he didn’t of course. Mrs. Duncan
cried a lot and Mr. Duncan did his best to soothe her.
Both longed to have their dear son with them.”
 While the students are independently working, the teacher will
observe students work and progress. If the students are
having a difficult time with the context clue strategy, the
teacher will stop, provide additional support/instruction, and
reteach as necessary before the assessment.
 For the assessment, the students will be assessed through
6. Assessment Methods of the independent practice section of the lesson due to time and
all objectives/skills: attention span requested by CE. Students will demonstrate
mastery by receiving 80% or getting 4 word meanings and
explanations correct out of 5 on the worksheet.
 The teacher will draw student’s attention back to the original
graphic organizer that displays the five context clue strategies.
The teacher will call on and assist students in a quick review
summarizing the five strategies. The teacher will ask students
7. Closure if there are any questions about the strategies they learned
and asked them how they think it will be useful in their future
vocabulary development. Lastly, the teacher will remind the
students that it is important to pay attention to the context of
what they are reading and to use clues surrounding unknown
words to help them figure out the meanings.

 In order for the students to achieve mastery on the

assessment, they needed to get 4 out of 5 word meanings
correct on the worksheet. The worksheet included 5 questions
total regarding a passage from Sylvester and the Magic
Pebble. The 5 questions consisted of two parts – the word
meaning, and explanation of reasoning. When grading the
worksheets, I graded more for the word meaning since that
was the objective of the lesson. Therefore, if the student
correctly determined the meaning of the word I gave them
credit.
 Assessment Results: Out of the 20 students in the classroom,
16 students received mastery on the lesson and 4 students
did not receive mastery on the lesson.
8. Assessment Results of
 Overall, students showed strengths in describing what they
all objectives/skills:
think the meaning of the word is. They used precise
descriptive words of what they think the underlined “tricky
word” means.
 Students could improve upon the area of justifying their
answer (which could be improved through deeper explicit
instruction of how to explain and justify an answer). For
example, some students would not put full sentences
explaining why they were correct and some students would
simply say “I know I am right because the text says so.”
However, some students did show skills in justifying their
answer but this is an overall area of improvement for the
class.
 Students who did not receive mastery on the lesson wrote
meanings for the underlined words that were unrelated or not
 close to the actual meaning of the word. Sometimes the
students would write another word in the same sentence to be
the meaning of the underlined word. These students could
improve by accessing and applying each context clue strategy
slowly to figure out which one can assist them in discovering
the meaning of “tricky words” (not rushing or guessing on their
word).

Targeted Students Modifications/Accommodations Student/Small Group Modifications/Accommodations

 Students with physical disabilities such as  Students who are facing difficulties while
hearing or visual impairment will have their using context clue strategies to define
choice of seating in the classroom to best fit vocabulary words, can be split into small
their needs. Students with learning groups. Students can be taught each of the
disabilities who need additional support can five strategies separately. They can be given
be provided with manipulatives or necessary a sentence/passage from Sylvester and the
materials to guide them through the lesson. If Magic Pebble that has tricky vocabulary
they still need additional assistance after the words requiring only one of the strategies to
manipulatives or necessary materials, they figure out the meaning. Then they can have
can work one on one with a resource teacher more practice with the separate strategies
using the same lesson but receiving before being released to combine all five
additional assistance on how to best strategies and selecting the appropriate one.
complete the lesson with mastery. English
language learners can be paired with a peer
fluent in their language as well as English to
help them translate words as necessary. If
there is no access to student peers, they can
be given access to an online dictionary in
their native language to assist them in
vocabulary development. Advanced students
will be given additional sentences/passages
to complete containing more difficult words
from the reading.
Materials/Technology:
 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble book.
 Various lists of sentences/passages with tricky vocabulary words from Sylvester and the Magic
Pebble.
 Smart board for displaying worksheets and work examples.
 Graphic organizer chart to display the five context clue strategies.
 Worksheets for students to complete their work.
 Gallery walk passages.
 Whiteboards and markers for student use.

CT signature: ________________________ Date: ______ US signature: ___________________Date: ____