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Reesha Grosso
Penn Alexander School, Fifth Grade
Lesson scheduled: 11/27/13
Partner: Michelle Ruiz (2
nd
grade): 11/19/13

Lesson Plan

Goals / Objectives

Students will be able to write a set of clear, concise instructions in order to convey how to
make a tessellation.
Students will be able to analyze instructions to discover their most important features.
Students will understand the importance of organizing events sequentially.

Standards and Assessment Anchors

Standard Area - CC.1.4: Writing: Students write for different purposes and audiences. Students
write clear and focused text to convey a well-defined perspective and appropriate content.

CC.1.4.5.A: Write informative/ explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas
and information clearly.
CC.1.4.5.D: Group related information logically linking ideas within and across
categories of information using words, phrases, and clauses; provide a concluding
statement or section; include formatting when useful to aiding comprehension.
CC.1.4.5.P: Organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally, using a variety of
transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events; provide a conclusion
that follows from the narrated experiences and events.
Assessment Anchor- E05.C.1: Text Types and Purposes
E05.C.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and
information clearly.
Materials and preparation

Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Examples of everyday instructions: recipes, assembly directions, origami, etc.
Tessellation tiles and repeats from previous lesson
Lined paper (for students to write individual instructions)
Grid paper (to test out instructions)
Pencils
Scissors/prepped tissue paper (with rectangles)
Large notepad to write Properties of Quality Instructions

Classroom arrangement and management issues



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The lesson will occur in a small multipurpose room reserved at Penn Alexander. The
room is large enough for a small group to fit comfortably but small and bare enough that there
are few distractions. The front of the room will have a large notepad or whiteboard to write
Properties of Quality Instructions on. The center of the room has one long table with chairs for
students. This will enable ease of dividing up for individual writing, pairing, and working as a
group. Materials will be stacked and in bins at the front of the room and will be placed on desks
between students when necessary for easy access.
Students will be informed of expectations, both behavioral and procedural, at the start of
the lesson. I will briefly explain the agenda and have it posted in the room. Students will be
required to communicate respectfully with one another and to raise their hands before speaking
during whole-group discussion. There will be several transitions between stages of the lesson,
and expectations will be reiterated at each juncture. There will be times when the students are
sharing with one another and working in a small group, and during this time there is a risk of
getting off track and an expectation of self-regulation. If students are not able to self-regulate,
they will be offered the option of working on the project silently and independently.

Plan

The Hook 10 minutes
Guide students through the agenda for the lesson. Outline behavioral expectations.
Read excerpt from Amelia Bedelia
What is wrong with these instructions?
How could we change these instructions so that they would be AmeliaBedelia-proof?
From discussion, teacher will begin to create a list of the Properties of Quality
Instructions on the whiteboard or large notepad.
Can anyone name some instructions that they use in daily life?
Hand out samples of good instructions and direct students to analyze them for more
essential features of Quality Instructions to add to the list.

The Body 25 minutes

Independent Work 15 min
Explain to students that they will now be working independently, using the rules that we
have just created, to write a set of instructions. If you think of any other rules as you
are writing, please raise your hand and I will add it to the list.
Tessellations from the math lesson will be handed back and students will be directed to
write a draft of their own instructions on how to make a tessellation.
Try to make your instructions AmeliaBedelia-proof!
As they work I will move around the room, assessing progress and working one on one
with students who need extra support.

Cooperative Work 10 min
Next, students will combine their instructions to a single set of Quality Instructions. They
will be told that the final product will be reproduced along with samples of their
tessellations in pamphlet form to distribute to their classmates.
Group members will be given roles: organizer, scribe, instructor & material manipulator.
user 11/24/13 10:36 PM
Comment [1]: uieat way to "hook" stuuents in
fiom the beginning. As this is aligneu with one of
youi goalobjectives, what exemplaiy iesponses
aie you expecting to heai fiom stuuents that will
uemonstiate theii pioficiency in unueistanuing
essentials featuies of quality instiuctions.
user 11/24/13 11:12 PM
Comment [2]: I'm not suie I unueistanu what
iules you aie iefeiiing to heie. Is it the list of
"essential featuies".
user 11/24/13 11:15 PM
Comment [3]: I am not suie I unueistanu how
you aie envisioning stuuents woiking togethei.
What uiiectives will they be given. I noticeu that
you bolueu what you intenueu to say to stuuents
in eailiei segments. Sciipting out youi
instiuctions is a goou stiategy, not because you
intenuneeu to ieau it as a sciipt, but because it
ensuies that you aie being cleai anu concise with
youi language.
user 11/24/13 11:16 PM
Comment [4]: Aie these ioles stuuents aie
familiai with. What instiuctions will you give to
stuuents so that they unueistanu theii ioles.


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All students will be encouraged to share their ideas.
During group-work, I will act as a moderator where necessary.

The Closure 10 minutes

Students will test what they have written using graph paper (the instructor reads while the
materials manipulator acts them out).
Students make revisions, and decide upon a final draft.
Is there anything that needs clarification?
How would these instructions be different if you were making them for someone
who didnt speak English well? For someone who already knew all of the
terminology?
Would these instructions benefit from illustrations? If so, where should they go?
Students are congratulated on their teamwork and the final product, and are told that I
will make up the instruction pamphlets for their class in the next week.

Assessment of the goals/objectives listed above

Students will be assessed both on the quality of their individual written instructions and
on their contribution to the group part of the lesson. Quality written instructions are clear,
concise, and well organized. Further, they should adhere to the Properties of Quality Instructions
that we lay out as a group at the beginning of the lesson. Students contributions to this part of
the lesson will illustrate their ability to analyze a set of informational texts and to synthesize this
analysis into a set of rules. I will also be looking at their ability to work well as a part of a group
and at their contribution to our community of learners.

Anticipating students responses and your possible responses

The final product that the students create as a group will be distributed to their class,
which should serve to give them a feeling of ownership in the project. The lesson is interactive
and though the material is consistent throughout, the format shifts several times and involves
writing, listening, talking, and the use of manipulatives, which should ensure engagement for a
variety of learners. The group-work aspect of this lesson will take the pressure off of individuals
to perform, while division of labor by task will allow each student to participate meaningfully in
the experience. Group roles can be selectively assigned to students based on either self-
assignment or their demonstration of skill and understanding during the first half of the lesson.
The format of this lesson is different from the typical structure of their literacy lessons, so
students are likely to find the process both challenging and novel. To keep the lesson moving
smoothly, I will have to be very clear in my explanation of goals and procedures for the lesson. It
will also be important to deliver clear expectations and to define the norms of the classroom both
at the start of the lesson and again during transitions between lesson segments.

Accommodations

If students find writing individual instructions too challenging I will offer one on one
support and walk them through the process again of how to make tessellations while the rest of
user 11/24/13 11:28 PM
Comment [5]: Aie theie exemplai iesponses
(i.e. steps that shoulu be incluueu) that you can
assess theii wiitten instiuctions against.
user 11/24/13 11:27 PM
Comment [6]: I like that theie is a ieal life
auuienceapplication foi the woik that stuuents
aie uoing. Assuming that theii classmates aie also
familiai with making tessalations, it woulu be
inteiesting to see how effective theii uiiections
aie when useu by otheis who have no piioi
knowleugeexpeiience with tessalations.


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the group works independently. For cooperative work, though all roles are essential, various
aspects of each may be more or less difficult for a student depending upon their needs. The
material manipulator will have to understand the vocabulary and the tessellation process, the
scribe should be a good writer, the instructor should be a good reader, and the organizer should
be good at keeping other students on task. Those who find the material challenging will be
discreetly allowed to choose their role for the group part of the assignment.

If students finish writing their individual instructions early, they will be directed to test
them for completeness and review them for conciseness. If there is still time they will be directed
to look over their instructions for topics to add to the list of properties of quality instructions.
Since students will be working in a group for the second half of the lesson and each of their task
are interdependent, there should be no issues with finishing early. Group work will also allow for
students who find the task unchallenging to engage in supporting and explaining the process to
other members of their group, which can lead to greater understanding for both students. Further,
students who need more challenge will be entrusted with a second task within the group such as
monitoring the text for continuity and ensuring the use of transitional words.

Bibliography

Calkins, L. M. (1994). The art of teaching writing, 2nd edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.