Writing Lesson Plan Template

Bailey Count
4th Grade, Frances Slocum Elementary, Miss McAdams
LESSON RATIONALE
This lesson is important for students in that it highlights how even science and exploration have brought
communities together over time and have led to major discoveries that have change the way our world works.
The first man to walk on the moon was a ground-breaking accomplishment in the scientific world and people
from all communities came to watch the take off in support of this.

READINESS
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s)—Unit
a. By the end of this unit, students will have engaged in multiple learning scenarios that
promote teamwork and community development.
b. Students will acquire knowledge about a variety of social and communication skills and
understand the impact their actions have on their community.
c. Students will experiment with the writing trait of voice, practicing taking on the role as an
author to portray feeling as a character in their writing.
B. Objective(s)—(specific terms); Provide: 1.) conditions; 2.) desired learning; 3.) observable behavior;
and 4.) accuracy (as necessary)
a. After completing the lesson, students will have demonstrated their understanding of voice
by writing a response to a given prompt.
b. After completing the lesson, students will have participated in a grand discussion regarding
the importance of discovery in science for our communities.
C. Standard(s): Professional Society/State/District
a. 4.SL.2.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) on grade-appropriate topics and texts, building on others’ ideas
and expressing personal ideas clearly.
b. 4.W.3.3 Write narrative compositions in a variety of forms that –
i. Establish an introduction, with a context to allow the reader to imagine the world
of the event or experience.
ii. Use dialogue and descriptive details to develop events and reveal characters’
personalities, feelings, and responses to students.

II. Management Plan- Time per lesson element, use of space, list of materials. Describe expectations and
procedures.
A. Time
a. Anticipatory Set-10 minutes
b. Mini-lesson-10 minutes
c. Writing-20 minutes
d. Sharing-10 minutes
B. Use of space
a. Anticipatory Set-whole group at reading carpet
b. Mini-Lesson- whole group at reading carpet
c. Writing-students will write at their assigned desks
d. Sharing-whole group at the reading carpet
C. Materials
a. If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty
b. White poster paper
c. Pencils and lined paper
d. YouTube video of first rocket to take off that landed on the moon
i. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mt9znatmyQ

1 Revision Date: October, 2018

 D. Expectations/Procedures
a. Before beginning the lesson, I will communicate that I expect students to be respectful and
kind to one another, to remain quiet while the teacher is talking, to listen to all the directions
before asking questions, and that the lesson for them today is going to be fun and
explorative.
b. Procedures-use behavior management strategies already existent in the classroom

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

III. Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners-- Demonstrate your understanding of
individual differences and diverse families, culture, and communities unique to the students in this class
as you describe the specific instructional opportunities provided in this lesson.
A. Through the anticipatory set, I am building background knowledge on what students will be writing
about afterward by helping them brainstorm creative/descriptive words to describe the experience
we read about in the text. They can refer to this later if they want or create their own new words for
their writing.
a. Students are given the choice of what perspective they would like to write from (autonomy)
b. I relate the lesson to a real-life occurrence of when the first man walked on the moon
B. Many students need prompting in order to stay on task5-minute interval time check ins to remind
how much time they have left to finish their writing, so they are not surprised when it is time to
share.
C. 2-3 students struggle with sitting in their seats when working, so I will pull them aside and allow
them to lay on the whole group reading rug to write with a clipboard if they can stay on task.

IV. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

 Input
o Building background knowledge during mini-lesson
o Scaffold students to be critical thinkers and imagine a variety of perspectives
o Use think-aloud prompting to show student how to make connections between a text and
their response
 Output
o Collaborative discussion regarding the importance of the landing on the moon and how that
affected surrounding communities
o Students will be given a prompt following the mini-lesson and will be given time to write an
independent response and then share with the class
 Students that need more support are going to be the ones I conference with to make sure they are
keeping up during writing workshop and not falling behind, guiding them to use self-regulating
strategies to help implement when working independently.

o Minilesson (Whole Group)

 Anticipatory Set-read the book If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty
 YouTube video of first take-off
 Some of you may not know, but the United States was actually in competition with
Russia to get the first person on the moon. People from all around the United States
gathered together to watch the take-off of the rocket that took the first astronaut to the
moon. This was a tremendous victory for science and our nation, and people celebrated
everywhere. It is important to remember times like this, and to remember to celebrate with
one another when our nation works toward well and achieves it.
 Purpose Statement
 “Today, we are going to use the writing trait of voice to help us write about what it must
have been like to be an astronaut or citizen on the day the first man landed on the moon.
This way, we can show what it may have felt like to be a part of that day.”

2 Revision Date: October, 2018

  Introduce Trait
 Voice is the author’s way of using their words in powerful ways to communicate with the
reader.
 The words we use have power, they have the power to build-up and encourage or destroy
one another, and it is important to understand that you are responsible to use your voice
when you speak and write in a good way.
 What are some words in the text we read that make you think the author was excited
about something, or that she felt was important? What kind of words would you use to
describe this book and the experience of going to the moon? (write ideas on white
poster paper for students to reference later)
 Share Examples-use examples from read aloud text
 Provide Information-use the think aloud strategy if students are having trouble
identifying words that the author used to convey importance
 As I was reading this book, I noticed how the author said this, and it got an emotional
response from me, which makes me think the author was using the trait of voice right
there
 What are some words I would use to describe the moment I watched the rocket take off
into the sky to go to the moon?
 Students will then be given a choice between two characters based on the
discussions: the astronaut who went to the moon, or the citizen who watched the
rocket take off with other community members-they are to use descriptive words
that develop their own voice as a writer that will come through as someone reads
the piece
o Writing
 Students will write in response to the given prompt
 Conference with 2 students for 8 minutes during the writing time
o Sharing (Whole Group)
 At this point, I will have conferenced with students and allowed time for
independent work.
 I will then call students over to the reading carpet to have time for whole group
sharing.
 Students will stand at the front of the group and read their piece and students are to
perform the class cheer to encourage the student for sharing.

V. Check for understanding. How do you know students have learned? What strategies will you implement
if all students have not met lesson outcomes? Employ one or more strategies to determine student
learning.
 When students are sharing their writing, I will evaluate whether they have effectively incorporated
voice in their writing and highlight good examples for students to see
 During the mini-lesson, I use the think-aloud strategy to model the appropriate level of thinking for
this activity and to demonstrate how students are to analyze a text for the use of voice
 If student understanding has gone well, students are ready to complete a task with less teacher
support.
 The planned tasks or assignment relates to the desired outcome of students being able to write a
narrative that uses words and voice to create an experience that facilitates a reaction from readers
because they can connect with the story.
 For students who are working diligently or went out of their way to help another student, I will make
sure to compliment the desired behavior for the whole class to hear (in order to tie back to the big idea of
supporting one another and working toward the same goal and celebrating each other’s victories)

3 Revision Date: October, 2018

VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure
 The main focus of the closure will be for students to share their pieces of writing to the rest of the
class.
 I will compliment work from each student, focusing particularly on their use of voice or another
strength displayed in their work that I would expect to see again if this activity were repeated.
 Students will be taught a class cheer to perform once students are done sharing, in order to encourage our peers and let
them know they are an essential part of the class body

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

Formative:
o In the student conferences, I will assess what the strengths and weaknesses are of writing for my
students, using a holistic grading approach
o In the mini-lesson, I will ask questions in order to gauge students’ understanding of the given task
o Through informal observation, I will see which students are eager and have the confidence to share,
and which students remain quiet which would be a sign they may be feeling insecure about their
writing ability which could be something to work on in the future
o Students will complete the writing prompt and turn it in which will provide me evidence on students’
ability to work independently while writing

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
1. Was the mini-lesson beneficial in preparing students to work independently?
2. Did this lesson enhance or decrease my level of confidence as a developing professional and
educator?
3. Would I teach this lesson again, why or why not?

4 Revision Date: October, 2018