Lesson Plan : Making Valid Comparisons
Teacher Name: | Ms. Courtney Harbuck |
Grade: | Grade 2 |
Subject: | Literature Activities |
Topic: | Compare/Contrast |
Content: | Cooperating Learning Strategy: Think-Pair-Share with Venn Diagram. I chose to do this cooperative learning strategy because I have used it many times in my student teaching and it always goes so well for students. I really like it because it is easy to incorporate into any lesson and is appropriate for all levels. Vocabulary:Compare, contrast, similarities, differences, qualities, traits |
Goals: | (4) Listening/speaking/communication. (A) use vocabulary to describe clearly ideas, feelings, and experiences (K-3); |
Objectives: | The student will be able to compare and contrast Patty Jean and Penelope, the two main characters in "Princess Poo", through a Venn Diagram. |
Materials: | "Princess Pooh" Literature Manilla paper |
Introduction: | As an attention getter, ask students to think about what they have in common between a family member or a close friend. After you have given time for the students to think, ask them to share with a partner what they have in common with their family member or friend. Then have the students volunteer to give their responses. Write some of the responses on the board. Do this same process for differences between a family member or close friend. After writing the responses on the board, introduce the story, "Princess Pooh". Ask the students to look for similarities and differences between the two main characters. |
Development: | Depending on what level of reading your students are on, read aloud or have students read aloud the story. Make sure to check for understanding through out the story. |
Practice: | Draw a Venn diagram on the board. Explain to students that by drawing a Venn Diagram, it is easy to compare and contrast different things. As an example, compare an apple and a banana. Model where to put the characteristics of an apple, a banana, and the common characteristics that they share. Do a think-pair-share on where to put each of the characteristics. Call on volunteers to help you fill in the Venn diagram. Tell students they can use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast lots of things, but today, they are going to make their own Venn Diagram and they will be comparing and contrasting Patty Jean and Penelope. |
Accommodations: | For low level or ESL: Pair student with a higher level partner; Call upon the low level or ESL student during whole class instruction to check for understanding. Have them give examples of something that is similar to an apple or banana. For Gifted Students: Have these students compare/contrast an additional character from the story. |
Checking For Understanding: | As students work, walk around the room and make sure that students are on task. Listen to the conversation and provide examples to anything that seems unclear. |
Closure: | I had each set of students present their Venn Diagram to the class. My cooperating teacher had a comprehension worksheet about the story that she wanted the students to do as a grade, so I passed that out after the presentations. |
Evaluation: | I evaluated my students on their participation during the reading of the story and I evaluated them on their Venn Diagram. They were to include 5 similarities and 5 differences for each character. I allowed them to do more than 5, but I required at least 5. I took a grade on the Venn Diagrams. My cooperating teacher had the students complete a comprehension worksheet for "Princess Pooh". This worksheet was taken up for a reading grade. |
Teacher Reflections: | This lesson went very well. My students really enjoyed doing the Venn diagram. They got REALLY into naming similarities and differences between the two characters. After the lesson, they were still coming up with different ideas. It was great. If I were to do something different, I would not have my students do the comprehension worksheet. I think it was unnecessary. While reading the story, I stopped repeatedly and checked for understanding. It took us about 45 minutes to read the fairly short story. We probably could have finished reading the story in 10 minutes, I wanted to make sure that my students were understanding what was happening. All in all, I would definitely do this lesson again! |
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