Lesson Plan 1 Introduction - Informative Texts and Change in Living Things i.e. Butterflies
Key Book: Flutter By, Butterfly by Densey Clyne
Students are introduced to the topic of change in living things - butterflies. They focus on aspects of non-fiction written literacy and how meaning is constructed through the elements, taking on the roles of text-user and text-analyst to analyse a variety of texts, with a focus on the book Flutter by, Butterfly.
UNIT TITLE: Life Cycles
LESSON: 1/10
Year 3 Stage 2
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Science and Technology - (Living Things) S2.3: - Identifies and describes the processes of change in some living things
ENGLISH English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1: - Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum. English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.6: -Uses efficiently an integrated range of skills and strategies when reading and interpreting written texts. English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7: - Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes. English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.8: - Discusses the text structure of a range of text types and the grammatical features that are characteristic of those text types.
ASSESSMENT: - Questioning students throughout lesson - Observe students' engagement and contributions to individual questions, group and class discussions and sharing, particularly in conclusion activity - Marking students’ ‘guessing activity’ answers in English workbooks - Marking groups’ extract analyses
PART AND TIMING
SUBJECT MATTER
Teaching practice
Resources/ Organisation
Introduction: 10 min Allowing students to activate prior schema, or pre-existing concepts of 1) change and their relation to living things and 2) text categories and types, through teacher-directed discussion that encourages higher-order thinking that is focused. This provides students with opportunities for a social, active construction of learning to take place, in relevance to concrete everyday examples that are so important for learners at this pre-operational learning stage (Piaget & Inhelder, 1974, p. 10).
TS2.1 Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum. -discusses what makes a text fiction or non-fiction -identifies key elements that distinguish a fiction from a non-fiction text, or vice versa i.e. language, picture verses real visuals, text, font, etc. - discusses own thoughts and ideas about the concept of change - gives examples of various processes of change in different living things RS2.7 Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes. -identifies writer’s intended audience.
Open up Smart Board Slide 1, with keyword CHANGE written on it. Ask students “What is change?” Brainstorm a few ideas. Write up a few ideas on the board. - Open Slide 2, with keywords CHANGE IN LIVING THINGS written on it. Discuss what this might mean. What kind of changes in living things can students think of?
-Tell students that this is the topic for our new unit of study in Science and Technology. Introduce the feature wall and mention that throughout this unit of work, we will be constructing a variety of different informative texts on the change process of a particular living thing, and that the wall will be devoted to photos and documentation of the work in progress. We will be focusing on different text types, but first, we need to know the two main text categories. - On Smart Board, write up words ‘Fiction’ and ‘Non-fiction’. Brainstorm and write on board with class what each word means, identifying the differences, and using examples. - Open Slide 3 with various different book covers on it. Have students come up and circle the covers they think are fiction, then non-fiction in a different colour. Discuss reasons why they think so.
Resources - White Board (Fiction/Non-fiction) - Smart Board (Slide 1-3: 1) Change, 2) Change in Living Things, 3) Powerpoint featuring various different non-fiction and fiction book covers)
- Feature wall set up in classroom with title “Change in Living Things”
Organisation- Students seated at front of classroom on the floor.
Body: 40 mins By taking students through a constructive process of a written factual text, students can gradually develop a connected and cohesive understanding of the different aspects of a text in achieving its function of informing readers on a topic. Teacher encouraging use through modelling and scaffolding of metalanguage in viewing and critiquing a multimodal texts allows for developed critical literacy skills that are important for students’ to become competent and critical users of literacy in the future (Callow, 2006, pp. 7-9)
RS2.8 Discusses the text structure of a range of text types and the grammatical features that are characteristic of those text types.
- Identifies the characteristics of visual and written elements in non-fiction and fiction text types i.e. narrative vs. information report
RS2.6 Uses efficiently an integrated range of skills and strategies when reading and interpreting written texts. -skims a text for overall message using headings, subheadings, layout, graphics -uses strategies to confirm predictions and to locate information (e.g key words, headings, subheadings)
Ask students: What kind of text would you usually find information about something in? (Non-fiction). Instruct students that they will be shown a variety of different things for them to do a quiet guessing game in. Move students back to tables and take out their English workbooks. Instruct no talking or looking at each other’s notes. Show the following slides (pretend book covers), and at each pausing to let students write their answers for whether they guess it is a fiction or non-fiction book, and why. - Slide 4: Blank background, Words ‘Is that a Butterfly?’ - Slide 5: Words ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ - Slide 6: Words ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ with different font. - Slide 7: Words ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ with different font, and accompanying photo of a real butterfly. - Slide 8: Words ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ with different font, and accompanying drawing of a girl with a butterfly. - Slide 9: Cover of real book, ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ by Densey Clyne. - Ask students to come back down to the floor with their books. Foster class discussion on students’ answers for each ‘cover’, from Slide 4-8, through hand voting of fiction/non-fiction, and scaffolded discussion. Ensure students learn to use metalanguage and identify key elements of the text categories i.e. font (colourful, bright, verses professional, sensible), text and image (drawing vs. real graphics), layout etc. -Show book ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ physically to students. Discuss the cover and some students’ guesses on the type of book, going through reasons e.g. font, layout etc. (Slide 9). Now have some students predict what the book would be about. Briefly look through the pages and contents. Do they think they are right? How do they know? (Looking at headings, subheadings, layout, graphics). What might it talk about in regards to our topic (changes)?
-Read book to class. After reading – discuss, were their predictions right? What did they learn about change in a butterfly’s life? What kind of images were in the book to support this information? (diagrams, real-life photos) What kind of words are in it? (everyday, technical, scientific, easy, difficult). How might these elements help the writer to achieve their goal informing the reader about butterflies?
-Write these elements on the board: images (diagrams, drawings, real-life photos), language (everyday, scientific, easy, difficult), font (fun, sensible, small, big).
Resources: - Smart Board with slides - Student English Workbooks
Organisation: - Students are seated on the ground initially, and then moved to their tables with English workbooks in front of them for the activity.
Conclusion: 10 mins Having students now work independently, but in groups, on identifying and analysing the elements in their own extract allows for a learner-centred classroom that encourage autonomy and cooperative groupwork.
Teacher-directed reflection and reviewing of the key elements of the lesson are important help students refocus after having possible undirected talk in own groups, as well as to consolidate ideas, concepts and knowledge.
TS2.1Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum. -discusses and communicates with peers about the different elements in their extract, and how it achieves the main focus statement on the page.
RS2.7 Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.*
- recognises how different factual texts are organised according to their purpose.
-Place students into 6 groups of 5. Hand out an extract/page from the book to each group, and a piece of paper. Groups are to read their page. Each page has a main topic. Groups identify this topic, then discuss, identify and write down the elements in their extract on their papers, with the discussion and notes on the board as a guideline. - All groups sit on the floor together again when finished, and one or two groups share their analysis of their text. - Review: What change can be found in a butterfly’s life? What kind of elements can classify a non-fiction text? What differences might there be in these elements between fiction texts?
Resources:
- 6 different pages of book ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ photocopied separately for each group. - Piece of paper and markers for each group. Organisation: - Students are placed into groups and moved to tables for group work activity. All students then move back down to the floor for a whole class concluding and reflective discussion.
Lesson Evaluation:
Did students achieve the lesson outcomes? If not, what would need to be modified to enhance student learning?
Were students engaged in the learning throughout the process? Why/why not was this the case?
Did the students understand the relevance of the concepts explored? In what ways was this evident?
Were the concepts explored relevant for subsequent lessons? How?
Were the works finished or was there not enough time? How could this be improved?
How effectively did students contribute to editing and creating final piece of work?
How were students motivated to achieve a finished piece of work?
References: Callow, J. (2006). Images, politics and multiliteracies: Using a visual metalanguage. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 29(1), 7-23. Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1974). The child’s construction of quantities. London: Routledge.
SLIDE EXAMPLES
Slide 4: Is that a Butterfly?
Slide 5: Flutter by, butterfly.
Slide 6: Flutter by, Butterfly (in different font)
Introduction - Informative Texts and Change in Living Things i.e. Butterflies
Students are introduced to the topic of change in living things - butterflies. They focus on aspects of non-fiction written literacy and how meaning is constructed through the elements, taking on the roles of text-user and text-analyst to analyse a variety of texts, with a focus on the book Flutter by, Butterfly.
UNIT TITLE: Life Cycles
Science and Technology - (Living Things) S2.3:
- Identifies and describes the processes of change in some living things
ENGLISH
English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1:
- Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.6:
-Uses efficiently an integrated range of skills and strategies when reading and interpreting written texts.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7:
- Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.8:
- Discusses the text structure of a range of text types and the grammatical features that are characteristic of those text types.
- Questioning students throughout lesson
- Observe students' engagement and contributions to individual questions, group and class discussions and sharing, particularly in conclusion activity
- Marking students’ ‘guessing activity’ answers in English workbooks
- Marking groups’ extract analyses
Allowing students to activate prior schema, or pre-existing concepts of 1) change and their relation to living things and 2) text categories and types, through teacher-directed discussion that encourages higher-order thinking that is focused. This provides students with opportunities for a social, active construction of learning to take place, in relevance to concrete everyday examples that are so important for learners at this pre-operational learning stage (Piaget & Inhelder, 1974, p. 10).
-discusses what makes a text fiction or non-fiction
-identifies key elements that distinguish a fiction from a non-fiction text, or vice versa i.e. language, picture verses real visuals, text, font, etc.
- discusses own thoughts and ideas about the concept of change
- gives examples of various processes of change in different living things
RS2.7 Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.
-identifies writer’s intended audience.
- Open Slide 2, with keywords CHANGE IN LIVING THINGS written on it. Discuss what this might mean. What kind of changes in living things can students think of?
-Tell students that this is the topic for our new unit of study in Science and Technology. Introduce the feature wall and mention that throughout this unit of work, we will be constructing a variety of different informative texts on the change process of a particular living thing, and that the wall will be devoted to photos and documentation of the work in progress. We will be focusing on different text types, but first, we need to know the two main text categories.
- On Smart Board, write up words ‘Fiction’ and ‘Non-fiction’. Brainstorm and write on board with class what each word means, identifying the differences, and using examples.
- Open Slide 3 with various different book covers on it. Have students come up and circle the covers they think are fiction, then non-fiction in a different colour. Discuss reasons why they think so.
- White Board (Fiction/Non-fiction)
- Smart Board (Slide 1-3: 1) Change, 2) Change in Living Things, 3) Powerpoint featuring various different non-fiction and fiction book covers)
- Feature wall set up in classroom with title “Change in Living Things”
Organisation- Students seated at front of classroom on the floor.
By taking students through a constructive process of a written factual text, students can gradually develop a connected and cohesive understanding of the different aspects of a text in achieving its function of informing readers on a topic.
Teacher encouraging use through modelling and scaffolding of metalanguage in viewing and critiquing a multimodal texts allows for developed critical literacy skills that are important for students’ to become competent and critical users of literacy in the future (Callow, 2006, pp. 7-9)
- Identifies the characteristics of visual and written elements in non-fiction and fiction text types i.e. narrative vs. information report
-skims a text for overall message using headings, subheadings, layout, graphics
-uses strategies to confirm predictions and to locate information (e.g key words, headings, subheadings)
- Slide 4: Blank background, Words ‘Is that a Butterfly?’
- Slide 5: Words ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’
- Slide 6: Words ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ with different font.
- Slide 7: Words ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ with different font, and accompanying photo of a real butterfly.
- Slide 8: Words ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ with different font, and accompanying drawing of a girl with a butterfly.
- Slide 9: Cover of real book, ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ by Densey Clyne.
- Ask students to come back down to the floor with their books. Foster class discussion on students’ answers for each ‘cover’, from Slide 4-8, through hand voting of fiction/non-fiction, and scaffolded discussion. Ensure students learn to use metalanguage and identify key elements of the text categories i.e. font (colourful, bright, verses professional, sensible), text and image (drawing vs. real graphics), layout etc.
-Show book ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ physically to students. Discuss the cover and some students’ guesses on the type of book, going through reasons e.g. font, layout etc. (Slide 9). Now have some students predict what the book would be about. Briefly look through the pages and contents. Do they think they are right? How do they know? (Looking at headings, subheadings, layout, graphics). What might it talk about in regards to our topic (changes)?
-Read book to class. After reading – discuss, were their predictions right? What did they learn about change in a butterfly’s life? What kind of images were in the book to support this information? (diagrams, real-life photos) What kind of words are in it? (everyday, technical, scientific, easy, difficult). How might these elements help the writer to achieve their goal informing the reader about butterflies?
-Write these elements on the board: images (diagrams, drawings, real-life photos), language (everyday, scientific, easy, difficult), font (fun, sensible, small, big).
- Smart Board with slides
- Student English Workbooks
Organisation:
- Students are seated on the ground initially, and then moved to their tables with English workbooks in front of them for the activity.
Having students now work independently, but in groups, on identifying and analysing the elements in their own extract allows for a learner-centred classroom that encourage autonomy and cooperative groupwork.
Teacher-directed reflection and reviewing of the key elements of the lesson are important help students refocus after having possible undirected talk in own groups, as well as to consolidate ideas, concepts and knowledge.
-discusses and communicates with peers about the different elements in their extract, and how it achieves the main focus statement on the page.
RS2.7 Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.*
- All groups sit on the floor together again when finished, and one or two groups share their analysis of their text.
- Review: What change can be found in a butterfly’s life? What kind of elements can classify a non-fiction text? What differences might there be in these elements between fiction texts?
- 6 different pages of book ‘Flutter by, Butterfly’ photocopied separately for each group.
- Piece of paper and markers for each group.
Organisation:
- Students are placed into groups and moved to tables for group work activity. All students then move back down to the floor for a whole class concluding and reflective discussion.
Callow, J. (2006). Images, politics and multiliteracies: Using a visual metalanguage. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 29(1), 7-23.
Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1974). The child’s construction of quantities. London: Routledge.
SLIDE EXAMPLES
Slide 4: Is that a Butterfly?
Slide 5: Flutter by, butterfly.
Slide 6: Flutter by, Butterfly (in different font)
Slide 7: Accompanying real photo of butterfly.
Slide 8: Accompanying drawing of butterfly.
Slide 9: Real cover of book.