Monica Beland

PLC 915 North County

December 15, 2008

ESA Assignment

Grade Level: 3rd grade

Content Area: Social Studies
Language Levels: Early Intermediate & Intermediate

Introduction:

This assignment is based off of a geography unit in a third grade Social Studies

class. Each lesson focuses on a new geography feature. In the class, there are

several students at the Intermediate and Early Intermediate English Language

Development. The lessons have been formatted and changed in order to meet the

needs of these students. The lesson addresses the needs of listening, speaking,

reading, and writing skills. Each of these sub standards has been adapted in order

to meet the needs of all students in the classroom. The first lesson is a read aloud.

This introduces a rainforests. The lesson is very visual because it uses picture

books. During this time, I ask many questions. When I ask questions, I provide the

ELL students with a sentence frame in order to respond. This provides structure

for them. On more difficult questions, I will provide choices in order for the

student to choose. By doing this, the student is able to pick the correct answer and

respond using the English that I have provided. I also ask students to pair share

and work in groups. By doing this, the children can collaborate. I also have students

speak. In order to use correct pronunciation and intonation, I have the students

prepare a paragraph to read. The students use a paragraph frame in order to help

them structure their writing and speaking.

In the next lesson, we are studying California geography. I provide the students

with pictures of all the new vocabulary. By doing this, the students can visualize the
new words. They can also use this as a reference when they are writing. I also have

the students work in groups in order to collaborate and help one another. Before

writing, we brainstorm words to use. In order to assist students, I will provide

books that they students can use as a reference. They can look in the book to try

and find words that they can include in their poem. The poem also has a structure.

The structure helps students to label. The students also have pictures. By labeling

the pictures, the students can later use the picture as a study guide or for

reference. When the students present their poem, they will practice with a partner

in order to encourage better pronunciation and intonation. The students will also

learn more about other physical features by listening to their classmates Diamante

Poem.

English Language Development Standards:

Listening
Early Intermediate:
Answer simple questions with one- to two-word responses.
Respond to simple directions and questions by using physical actions and
other means of nonverbal communication (e.g., matching objects, pointing to
an answer, drawing pictures).
Begin to speak with a few words or sentences by using a few standard
English grammatical forms and sounds (e.g., single words or phrases).
Use common social greetings and simple repetitive phrases independently
(e.g., “Thank you,” “You’re welcome”).
Ask and answer questions by using phrases or simple sentences.
Retell stories by using appropriate gestures, expressions, and illustrative
objects.
Intermediate:
Ask and answer instructional questions by using simple sentences.
Listen attentively to stories and information and identify important details
and concepts by using both verbal and nonverbal responses.
Ask and answer instructional questions with some supporting elements (e.g.,
“Which part of the story was the most important?”).

Speaking
Early Intermediate
Begin to be understood when speaking, but usage of standard English
grammatical forms and sounds (e.g., plurals, simple past tense, pronouns [he
or she]) may be inconsistent.
Orally communicate basic personal needs and desires (e.g., “May I go to the
bathroom?”).
Intermediate
Participate in social conversations with peers and adults on familiar topics by
asking and answering questions and soliciting information.
Make oneself understood when speaking by using consistent standard English
grammatical forms and sounds; however, some rules are not followed (e.g.,
third-person singular, male and female pronouns).

Reading
Early Intermediate and Intermediate
Use more complex vocabulary and sentences to communicate needs and
express ideas in a wider variety of social and academic settings.
Apply knowledge of vocabulary to discussions related to reading tasks.
Read simple vocabulary, phrases, and sentences independently.
Read narrative and expository texts aloud with the correct pacing,
intonation, and expression.
Use expanded vocabulary and descriptive words in oral and written
responses to written texts.
Recognize and understand simple idioms, analogies, and figures of speech in
written text.
Recognize that some words have multiple meanings and apply this knowledge
to written text.
Recognize the function of connectors in written text (e.g., first, then, after
that, finally).

Writing
Early Intermediate and Intermediate
Follow a model given by the teacher to independently write a short
paragraph of at least four sentences.
Write legible, simple sentences that respond to topics in language arts, and
other content areas (e.g., math, science, history–social science).
Create cohesive paragraphs that develop a central idea and consistently use
standard English grammatical forms even though some rules may not be
followed.
Write simple sentences about an event or a character from a written text.
Produce independent writing that is understood when read but may include
inconsistent use of standard grammatical forms.
Lesson 1:
Objective:
Given information and vocabulary about rainforests, conservation, and the
importance of community, students will be able to identify these concepts in
a Read Aloud of The Great Kapok Tree. After reading the book, students will
understand how important the rainforest is to all living creatures and how to
conserve the rainforest by answering questions.

Social Studies Content Standards:

3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps,
tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about
people, places, and environments in a spatial context.
1. Identify geographical features in their local region (e.g., deserts,
mountains, valleys, hills, coastal areas, oceans, lakes).
2. Trace the ways in which people have used the resources of the local
region and modified the physical environment (e.g., a dam constructed
upstream changed a river or coastline).

Reading-Language Arts Standards:

3.4 Determine the underlying theme or author’s message in fiction and
nonfiction text.
2.2 Ask questions and support answers by connecting prior knowledge with
literal information
found in, and inferred from, the text.
2.3 Demonstrate comprehension by identifying answers in the text.

English Language Development Standards:

See above for Listening, Reading, and Speaking.

Big Idea Words: rain forest, gash, miracles, underbrush, oxygen, understory

Disciplinary Tool Words: lulled, slithered, pollinate, troupe, wither, smoldering,

ruins, piped, dappled, plodding.

Polysemous Words: “Feast Your Eyes”

Students will insert these words into their vocabulary glossary. I will print pictures
for them to paste into their glossary. By the picture, we will create a sentence that
uses this word in context.

I. Introduction
 Anticipatory Set
KWL Chart. All students will come up to the rug in the front of the class. We
will fill in information that we already know about rainforests. Then we will
fill in information that we want to learn about rainforests. At this time, we
will leave the section about what we learned blank (We will go back to this
section during the closure of the lesson).

Conduct Standards
Since the children will pair-share during the Read-Aloud, identify partners
before reading the story.
Preview the cover of The Great Kapok Tree, discussing the illustrations,
title, and who the author is. Ask students to raise their hands if they have
ever read this book before. Ask them not to give away the story. “Please
keep to yourself what happens in the story so that everyone can make
predications and learn from the story. Later, you will get to share what you
already know.”

Transfer
“Thank you!” We will be answering some of these questions in just a few
moments. First we are going to look in our textbooks and study a few
important vocabulary words. These words will help us to understand the book
that we are going to read today.
Today we are going to read about rainforests. After we read the book, we
will learn more about how important rainforests are to all living creatures,
including us, and how we can conserve, or save, the rainforests.

Purpose
This is really important to learn about rainforests because many people are
cutting the trees in the rainforests down. The rainforests provide us with
oxygen and are the homes to many animals and people. If people keep cutting
down the rainforest, many people and animals will become homeless.

Motivation
At the end of the book, we will talk about ways we can help conserve the
rainforest and save many people and animals homes. We will also get to
create drawings of our rainforests that I will hang up around the classroom
as long as they contain all the elements of the rainforest.

II. Instruction:
Direct teaching or discovery
For the ELL students, I will have a word glossary for them with the pictures
of each of the animals next to their appropriate name. When I read, I will
also make sure to read in an animated tone appropriate for each page. For
the disciplinary words, the children insert these words in their vocabulary
glossary. They will write the word and a sentence with the word.
1. Ask the following questions to engage children in a discussion of the
book:
1. Preview the cover of The Great Kapok Tree, discussing the illustrations,
title, and who the author is.
Read the introduction from the author.
Display the map of the rainforests in the world. Where are the
rainforests located on the map? (K) Have ELL students point and identify
on the map.
What do you think the original rainforest is larger than the current
rainforest? (S) “The rainforest was larger because _________.”
2. Read page the second part of the introduction
Describe the environment or the land of the rainforest to your partner.
(C) Provide choices for the student. Does the land look green or brown?
Does the land have lots of plants or a small amount of plants? Do lots of
animals live in the rainforest or a small amount of animals?
3. Read the first page of the story
Let’s make a prediction or a smart guess. Why do you think the men were
in the rainforest? (P) “The men are in the rainforest because ________”
For Early Intermediate, provide choices.
Why do you think the birds stopped squawking (a noise- imitate) and the
monkeys stopped howling (imitate)? (P) “The animals stopped making noise
because __________.” For E.I., have the students point to the reason
that the animals stopped making the noise.
4. Why do you think the man made a gash, or a deep cut, in the tree? (S)
There is a gash in the tree because __________.
5. Share some predictions. I predict that ___________ will happen
because _______________.
In the story, the head and hum of the forest had lulled him to sleep.
Lulled means that someone or something makes you calm or sleepy. What
lulled him to sleep? Show how you lull to sleepy. Talk about Lullabies. Root
word, lull. (C) What lulls you to sleep? (Ap) “A __________ lulls me to
sleep.”
6. Read the 2nd page
A miracle is something wonderful and surprising. What do you think the
snake means when he says, “this is a tree of miracles?” (An) “_________
is an example of a miracle.”
7. There is a troupe of monkeys. A troupe is a group that travels around
together and also performs together. What else can be a troupe? Show
picture of troupe of monkeys (Ap)
The monkeys said that the man has come to chop down the tree. Put one
finger up if that was your prediction. Put 2 fingers up if you did not
predict that the man was going to chop the tree down. (E)
What are the problems that the animals see that the man doesn’t see?
(An) “________________ is a problem.” For EI students, have them
collaborate together.
Why do you think they are telling him this when he is sleeping? (S) The
animals are telling him _________.
Based on this pattern, what do you think will happen next? (S) “I think
________ will happen next.” For EI students, provide some choices.
8. Read the next page.
What do you think the animals want the man to do? (S) “The animals want
the man to ________ because _________.” Why? (An)
What do you want the man to do? (E) The man will ________.”
What do you think will happen to the animals to “ruin their lives?” (S)
Collaborate with the other ELL students.
9. Read the next page.
It says there is dappled light and shadows in the understory. Dappled
means there is some light and some darkness. What can you tell about
the understory? (An) “There is little or lots of light in the understory.”
10. Read the next page.
What do all animals need to live? (K) “The animals need _______.”
What makes oxygen? (K)
If the man cuts down all of the rainforests, how will you be affected?
(Ap)
11. Read the next page.
What does the boy mean when he says “please look upon us all with new
eyes?” (An)
What do you think the man is going to do next? (S)
What would you tell him to do next? (E)
12. Read the next page
Now that the man has awoken, what does he notice that he didn’t notice
before? (C) “He notices _________.”
What can you tell about the rainforest? (C)
13. Finish the story
Were your predictions correct? (E) “My prediction was
correct/incorrect.”
Why do you think the man stopped from cutting the tree? (E) “The man
stopped cutting the tree because _________”
 Would you have still cut the tree down? (Ap) “I would/would not cut
the tree because ___________.”

Check for Understanding

• Explain the importance of the rainforest. (C)
• What would you do if you were the man in the forest? (Ap)
• Why do you think the author wrote this book? (E)
• What did she want you to learn? (An)
• Why do you think many people think rainforests are so
special? (E)
• What lesson did you learn? (Ap)

III. Guided Practice

2. Children will group together to pair share. They will answer some
questions that I have about the book.
3. After we are done pair sharing, students can come up to the class and
tell about some of their thoughts.
4. EL students will work as a group using a paragraph frame. The paragraph
frame will provide structure for them. The students will practice reading
their paragraph together working on intonation and pronunciation. They
can read their paragraph out loud when they present.
5. We will be discussing how our geography in San Diego is different from
the rainforest.
6. Students will go back to their desks. They will draw a picture of the
stories in the rainforest (emergents, canopy, middle layer, understory,
shrub layer, and herb layer).
7. For the ELL students, I will have a model of the rainforest with labels so
they can correlate the part of the rainforest with the name. They can
use my drawing as a reference and make their own matching the labels.
Check for Understanding:
Some students will come up to the class and describe their drawing and the
animals in their drawing.

IV. Independent Practice

After the students have created their drawing, they will create a narrative
story about one of the animals and the struggles of that animal in The Great
Kapok Tree. In the story, they will have to use 3 of the academic words that
we learned during the read aloud.
For Intermediate ELL students, they can write a poem or short descriptive
sentence describing the animals and jungle.
For EI ELL students, they can use a paragraph frame to complete the
writing.
V. Closure:
1. Go back to the KWL chart from the Anticipatory Set. Make sure that
everything we wrote on the know side is correct. Answer the questions from
what we wanted to learn. Then fill in the side about what we learned from
the Read Aloud.

Lesson 2
Objective: Students will use their knowledge of geography in order to
create poetry that is inspired by photography. Students will translate visual
images into words. The students will learn to use the poetry structure in a
Diamante poem.
Social Studies Content Standards:
1.0 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps,
tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about
people, places, and environments in a spatial context.
1. Identify geographical features in their local region (e.g., deserts,
mountains, valleys, hills, coastal areas, oceans, lakes).

Visual and Performing Arts Standards:

3.1 Compare and describe various works of art that have a similar theme and
were created at different time periods.
4.1 Compare and Contrast selected works of art and describe them, using
appropriate vocabulary of art.
5.2 Write a poem or story inspired by works of art

English Language Development Standards:

See above for Writing, Speaking, Listening and Reading.
Academic Language: granite, valleys, mountains, structure, noun, adjective,
verb, waterfalls, glaciers, Diamante poem.
Students will insert these words into their own glossary of words. I will have
pictures of granite, valley, mountains, waterfalls, and glaciers for them to
paste into their glossary. After they have pasted it into their glossary, they
will create a sentence that uses the word in correct context.

I. Anticipatory Set
Conduct Standards
 Today we’re going to be looking at some photographs of geography. After we
take a close look at the photographs, we’re going to discuss some of the
geographic features. Once we have done that, we will create a Diamante
Poem. I would like you to respect other peoples’ ideas even if you do not
agree with them. We will also be using the computers at the end of the
lesson. I expect that you use your time on the computer wisely and only work
on your poem while on the computer.
Transfer
Yesterday, we read called “The Great Kapok Tree.” While we read the book,
we talked about the geography of the jungle. Today we’re going to be talking
about the geography closer to where we live.
Purpose
The purpose of the lesson is to learn more about the geography of where we
live. We are going to look at artwork in order to view the geography. When
we’re done, you’re going to write a poem about the geography and
photograph.
Motivation
At the end of the lesson, a few people will stand up and read their poem to
the class. We will also be posting your poems around the classroom!

II. Instruction: Various Ansel Adams photographs of the landscape in the West.
(They are posted in the PowerPoint lesson)
Direct teaching or discovery
1. Begin by opening the PowerPoint activity. (Attached)
2. Introduce a small biography of Ansel Adams for background
knowledge.
3. Review over the possible geography terms that we have already
studied.
4. For EI and I ELL students, have a glossary with pictures and
labels about the geography terms.
5. Describe the Ansel Adams slides. In this part, we will focus on
adjective words. In the sample photographs on the slide,
students will pair share some adjectives that describe the
photograph.
6. We will list examples of nouns, adjectives, and verbs ending in –
ing about some of the photographs.
7. Next, I will describe the structure of the Diamante format. I
will show this on the doc cam so the students can have a visual
image of what a Diamante Poem will look like.
Check for Understanding (optional):
 1. I will pull sticks and ask the students to tell me each part of the poem. I
will leave the slide on the projector so they can use it for reference since
the material is dense.

III. Guided Practice

1. First we will create a group Diamante Poem together as a model
to the students.
2. We will list some nouns, including some geographic terms, verbs
ending in –ing, and adjectives that describe the Ansel Adams
photograph and geography within the photograph. ELL students
will contribute with their list of glossary terms that they follow
along with.
3. Then I will use the worksheet to fill in my nouns, verbs, and
adjectives.
4. I will purposely misspell some words when I write them on my
rough draft.
5. Then I will reread and check for errors in order to model what
the students should do.
6. After the rough draft is complete, I will go to the
www.readwritething.org and model how to use the template for a
diamante poem.
7. Then I will have an already prepared poem to show the class. It
will include the picture and the poem pasted onto a piece of
construction paper. Example.
Check for Understanding:
I will leave the slide that lists the instructions up on the board for the
students to use as a reference. I will ask various students the steps in order
to reinforce the steps.

IV. Independent Practice

1. Students will each receive an Ansel Adam’s photograph.
2. They will have to brainstorm some nouns, adjectives, and verbs that
describe the photograph and geography.
3. Once the student has brainstormed their words, they will fill in their
worksheet.
ELL students will work in a group with the same photo. I will provide small
books and articles that describe the landscape that they are studying. They
can use this to find words (nouns, adjectives, gerunds) that describe their
image. They will work together to create a Diamante Poem. Once the
students have brainstormed the words, they can insert the words in the
format independently in order to create their own unique poem. I will
 monitor them at this time in order to make sure that they are
comprehending and using the appropriate strategies.
The students who struggle with independent work will come up to the
circular desk in the class and complete the rough draft with me.
4. When the final draft is complete, the student will bring their poem to me
for approval before moving onto the computer station.
5. When the students are finished revising their rough draft, they can move
onto the computer. The computer will already be set to
http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/diamante/
6. The student will input their poem into the correct format listed on the
website.
7. The students will print their poem when finished
8. The student will pick a colored construction paper of their choice.
9. The student will paste the picture that they used for their poem and their
poem on the construction paper.
10. The construction paper can be decorated. All students should label their
drawing with the physical features that we have studied. The ELL students
will draw and label some of the academic language from their glossary in
their drawing.

V. Closure:
1. When the students are done, we will share the poems. The ELL students
will pair share with a fluent speaker who can help the student with their
pronunciation and intonation.
2. The students will share their poem about the geography in the Ansel
Adam’s photograph.
3. Later, I will hang the poems around the classroom.

Reflection

These lessons are very comprehensive and complete. I am sure that there are going

to be areas that the ELL students will not understand but I think that the adapted

parts will help the understand more than they would before. My goal is to ultimately

provide these students with resources that they can use later. Redundancy is key in

making sure that these student comprehend and learn the material. In order to

address this issue, I have the students create a glossary full of pictures and

context sentences that describe the new academic language. In order to encourage
ELL students to participate, I provide them with choice and frames. By doing this, I

am providing them with a stepping stone that makes them less nervous. I also try to

provide students with an environment that is rich in visual imagery. In order to

make this visual imagery useful, I have students label with academic language. I also

mixed language arts with social studies and art. This helps to meet many standards

in one lesson.

Overall, I think that these lessons would help an ELL student comprehend the

information. I have actually taught the second lesson in my student teaching. The

students created and comprehended the work. While they were creating the poem,

they were enjoying their time. It was structured to help those that needed more

help yet provide a challenge to those who are more independent. Overall, it was a

great success.