ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 20 :

20. Establish a purpose before reading literary and informational texts to enhance comprehension, including identifying background knowledge and generating questions about the topic or characters.

Examples: reading for pleasure, application, or information; to identify a theme or an author's purpose

[ELA2021] (5) 6 :

6. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, automaticity, appropriate prosody or expression, purpose, and understanding, self-correcting and rereading as necessary.

Students will learn how to determine an author's purpose. The author may be trying to inform, entertain, persuade, or describe. Students will be better able to draw conclusions and make inferences from this lesson.

Overview
Using a 2-column chart, students scaffold their thinking and draw conclusions about the author's purpose.

Why is this an important concept?
When students can identify whether an author's purpose for writing a text is to inform, persuade, entertain, or describe, they are better equipped to evaluate its content as they make inferences and draw conclusions.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [DLIT] (3) 6 :

R6) Produce, review, and revise authentic artifacts that include multimedia using appropriate digital tools.

[DLIT] (4) 6 :

R6) Produce, review, and revise authentic artifacts that include multimedia using appropriate digital tools.

[DLIT] (5) 6 :

R6) Produce, review, and revise authentic artifacts that include multimedia using appropriate digital tools.

[ELA2021] (3) 2 :

2. Present information orally using complex sentence structures, appropriate volume, and clear pronunciation.

a. Use oral language for different purposes: to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to clarify, and to respond.

[ELA2021] (3) 3 :

3. Apply oral literacy skills by participating in a variety of oral language activities.

Examples: plays, dramas, choral readings, oral reports

[ELA2021] (3) 10 :

10. Read and reread grade-appropriate text accurately, automatically, and with meaningful expression at a rate which supports comprehension.

[ELA2021] (4) 5 :

5. Demonstrate fluency when reading grade-level text and when responding through writing or speaking.

[ELA2021] (4) 6 :

6. Read grade-level text orally with appropriate pauses, phrasing, stress, intonation, rate, and integration to support comprehension.

[ELA2021] (5) 6 :

6. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, automaticity, appropriate prosody or expression, purpose, and understanding, self-correcting and rereading as necessary.

Students have an opportunity to create an outstanding Readers Theatre performance within groups to compete for the title of Reading Idol. Students are given scripts to practice their roles within Readers Theatre. Throughout the week, groups practice repeatedly until the performance day. On the performance day, students take turns performing and evaluating their own work and the performances of other groups before voting on a winning performance. All groups are required to create a podcast of their performance. The Reading Idol winners are also recorded by video and uploaded to the teacher's website for others to view.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (4) 42 :

42. Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes, and speaking clearly with adequate volume, appropriate pacing, and clear pronunciation.

a. Articulate ideas, claims, and perspectives in a logical sequence, presenting information, findings, and credible evidence from multiple sources and modalities to enhance listeners' understanding.

[ELA2021] (5) 6 :

6. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, automaticity, appropriate prosody or expression, purpose, and understanding, self-correcting and rereading as necessary.

[ELA2021] (6) 13 :

13. Create and edit digital products that are appropriate in subject and purpose for a particular audience or occasion.

Examples: social media posts, blog posts, podcast episodes, infographics

[ELA2021] (7) -3 :

R4. Utilize a writing process to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish writings in various genres.

[ELA2021] (8) -3 :

R4. Utilize a writing process to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish writings in various genres.

In this lesson, students are given the opportunity to be imaginative and expressive through the writing of three types of poems:  acrostic, diamante, and theme. Building on their creativity, students then use Blabberize to create Blabbers of one of their poems. Sharing their Blabbers with the class and online community will make the students more excited about writing poetry as well as providing practice of technology skills.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) -3 :

R3. Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

[ELA2021] (3) 11 :

11. Read and reread grade-appropriate poetry, practicing phrasing, rhythm, rhyme, and meaningful expression.

[ELA2021] (4) 5 :

5. Demonstrate fluency when reading grade-level text and when responding through writing or speaking.

[ELA2021] (4) 25 :

25. Explain how the form of a poem contributes to its meaning.

[ELA2021] (4) 26 :

26. Analyze how rhythm and rhyme in poetry contribute to meaning.

[ELA2021] (5) 5 :

5. Demonstrate fluency when independently reading, writing, and speaking in response to grade-level literary and informational text, including stories, dramas, poetry, and cross-curricular texts.

[ELA2021] (5) 6 :

6. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, automaticity, appropriate prosody or expression, purpose, and understanding, self-correcting and rereading as necessary.

This lesson is a great way to teach both scientific and English content to a class, although the teacher can easily choose another book and subject area. In this lesson, students listen to poems in the book Science Verse by Jon Scieszka. Students then create diamante, acrostic, or theme poems with illustrations. To help increase fluency, students read their poems to the class. Finally, students create original poems using facts they have learned in the current science curriculum.