Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Lesson Plan

Name: Katie Cipully

Grade: 3rd Grade
Topic/Concept: Culture
Time: 30-40 mins

Materials/Resources:
 Islandborn by Junot Díaz and illustrated by Leo Espinosa
 Paper
 Index Cards with culture questions.
 Anchor Chart
 Pencils
 Crayons/Colored Pencils

Teaching Behavior Focus:

 Whole group read aloud

o “I’ll wait until we are all ready to listen”
o “Give me a pirate patch if you…..”
o “Give yourself a pat on the back for being such good listeners”
o “Listening” or “Awesome” points awarded
o “Kapeesh” “Kaposh”
 Turn and Talk:
o Establish that “when others are talking, we are not.”
 Index Card Activity
o Establish that “when your peers are talking, you are listening”
o Flip the chip task (each student receives 3 two-sided chips, each student flips
them over as they speak, each student must flip over all their chips)
 Writing/Drawing
o Respect materials and classmates
o Quiet Conversations

Learning Objectives (measurable):

 Students will be able to define culture and compare it to their own community.
 Students will be able to write and draw an image to express their understanding of the
story and culture.

Standards:

 3.C.1- Understand how diverse cultures are visible in local and regional communities.
o 3.C.1.1- Compare languages, foods and traditions of various groups living in local
and regional communities.

Assessment Plan (How will you know that your students met the objective?):
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

 Throughout the lesson we will ask students questions to get them talking as well as assess
their understanding of the topic. Teacher will observe and listen in on student
conversations during turn and talk and index card activity. Students will participate in a
quick write at the end of the lesson. They will answer the questions, “What does culture
mean to you? What are some similarities and differences you noticed or learned about
when talking to your peers?” Students will then draw an image to go with their response.

New Vocabulary:

 Culture - Culture is a pattern of behavior shared by a society, or group of people.

Many different things make up a society's culture. These things include food,
language, clothing, tools, music, arts, customs, beliefs, and religion.
 Discuss - to consider carefully and openly by reasoning or argument, to talk about
 Compare - to examine in order to discover likenesses or differences
 Describe - to represent or give an account of in words
 Island - a piece of land surrounded by land
 Hurricane - a storm with a violent wind
 Abuela - Grandma
 Hija - Daughter
https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/culture/399913

Note: A detailed lesson plan is specific enough for another teacher to read and teach
effectively. There should not be any question regarding what to do or how to do it.

Lesson Development (hook/engage/launch, step by step in real time, include questions you will
ask in real time, closure/revisiting learning objectives):

Launch (5 minutes):
 Discussion
o Have students gather on carpet.
o Introduce culture
 Today we will be learning about culture. Has anyone ever heard this word
before? (Show of hands)
o Ask students
 “What do you think culture means?” (turn and talk)
 Culture: Culture is a pattern of behavior shared by a society, or
group of people. Many different things make up a society's culture.
These things include food, language, clothing, tools, music, arts,
customs, beliefs, and religion.
 “Does anyone have any family that speaks a different language?” (shows
of hands and call on some students to share)
 “ What is your favorite food that you eat at home?” (turn and talk)
 “What is something you feel makes you special or unique?” (turn and talk,
call on some students to share out)
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Explore (15 minutes):

 Read-Aloud
o Introduce Islandborn
 “Today we are going to read Islandborn by Junot Diaz…”
o Read book stopping at key vocabulary:
 Island - a piece of land surrounded by land
 Hurricane - a storm with a violent wind
 Abuela - Grandma
 Hija - Daughter
o Stop and ask questions during reading:
 Pg. 2 “Can anyone tell me what an island is? Does anyone know a way we
can get to an island?”
 Pg. 12 “What do you do when you do not know something? Do you think
Lola was learning about the island by asking her friends and family about
it?”
 Pg. 16 “Why do you think Lola could not remember the Island? How do
you feel when you cannot remember something?”
 Pg. 21 “Who knows what a hurricane is? Do you think Lola’s family was
scared? Why do you think that?”
 Pg . 44 “Why do you think Lola needed more than one page to tell her
story? Did she learn more about who she was by doing the project?”
 Final question: “What was Lola learning about when she asked her family
all those questions about where she came from and what it was like?”
Discuss:
 Index card pick-up (8-10 minutes):
o “Like Lola, we all have our own culture that may be different from those in our
community. We are going to talk to our 608 community about our different
cultures in small groups.”
o Give Directions: “We will use these index cards that have questions about our
culture on them. We will put them all facedown in the middle of our circle and
mix them up. Everybody in your group will pick up one card each. One person at
a time, you will answer your question and go around the circle until everybody
has answered their question. Next, you will put all the cards face down in the
middle of the circle, mix them up again, and draw again. If you have the same
question ask a classmate to trade with you.”
 “Can anybody repeat to me how we are going to play the game?”
 “Kapeesh?” “Kaposh!”
 Quickwrite (5-8 minutes):
o “Now that we’ve been playing and learning about our friends’ cultures we are
going to do a quick write about what we have learned today.”
o “What does culture mean to you? What are some similarities and differences you
noticed or learned about when talking to your peers?”
 Students will answer quickwrite
o “After you write your answers you can draw a picture to go with your response. It
can be anything that represents culture to YOU!”
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

 Students will then draw an image to go with their response.