INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY MINILESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

PRELIMINARY INFORMATION
Teacher-Learner(s) name(s): Garrett Leggett, Jadyn Minilesson Title: The Talking Maraca and The Golden Tree
Snakenberg, Will Day, Kelsie Sharp

Date developed: Content area and discipline: Advanced Spanish

10/10/17
Targeted Grade Level: 11th/12th Grades
Period/time/estimated duration: 15-20 minutes

**USE COMPLETE SENTENCES IN RESPONDING TO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING MINILESSON PLAN ELEMENTS**

RESOURCES, MATERIALS, TECHNOLOGY, EQUIPMENT FOR THE MINILESSON [Simply list all materials you/students will
use.]

For this lesson, we will use a worksheet of questions, copies of the story, maracas, and a computer with a projector.

CENTRAL FOCUS [What is the LITERACY INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY being modeled in support of content-area learning?
What strategy will you be guiding students to use? What reading/writing/listening/speaking/visualizing/hands-on doing strategy will
students practice together and alone? Explain.)

For this lesson, the central focus will be questioning and inferencing. The reading strategy will be text analysis and group discussion
using an object (a maraca) to monitor discussion without interruption. This will be done through reading a classic Hispanic text and
answering questions that are both summative and analytical. The cognitive strategy will be understanding with inferencing.

JUSTIFICATION/RATIONALE for your plan [Why are you teaching this minilesson to this group of learners? How is the central
focus of the minilesson (above) related to the content area/discipline? How is it justified by the academic standards?]

Our goal for this lesson is to model a cognitive strategy through the use of summarizing, questions, and discussing. This process
will help us understand the content and meaning behind the story, The Golden Tree. From standard four of fourth year, learning
expectation 4.1 says student can demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language
studied and ones own. From performance indicators student is able to expand on written communication through writing letters,
poetry, and persuasive passages, demonstrate knowledge of complex grammatical concepts, and analyze the nuances of meaning
of words and expressions for different contexts.

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS [What do they already know about the subject? What do you expect them to know and be
able to do before the minilesson?]

Students will have familiarity with the type of classroom setting as well as group that the story focuses on. Students will make
connections because of shared characteristics that they may have had at this age such as curiosity, jealousy, imaginative thoughts,
etc. Students will have also read other similar texts in our class and should know most of the vocabulary in the story from instruction
and assessment in other Spanish classes.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE(S)** [What will children KNOW and BE ABLE TO DO IN LITERACY that is observable/measurable at the
end of the minilesson?]

[Teacher version]: The students will (active verb) . . . by performing/demonstrating/writing . . .

Students will read along while a story is being read out loud and then answer content and critical thinking questions individually.
Students will then participate in a discussion of the text with those questions and a talking maraca that forces them to take turns
sharing.

[Students version]: I CAN (active verb) . . .

I can understand a text being read in Spanish and then answer content and critical thinking questions on my own. I can participate
in a small group discussion on the text and questions. I can show respect to my classmates with the talking maraca, which does not
allow me to talk if I am not in possession of it.

**Please limit objectives to no more than 2 and ONLY include ones that are absolutely essential, which means you are providing
EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION to support knowledge and skills articulated in the selected standard.

ACADEMIC STANDARD [List strand, grade, standard number, and write out the complete standard. Or, copy and paste the
standard directly.]

IV. Standard Number 4 (Goal Four): Develop Insight into the Nature of Language and Culture Standard Rationale: Students benefit
from language learning by discovering different patterns among language systems and cultures. Through the study of a new
language system and the way such a system expresses meanings in culturally appropriate ways, students gain insights into the
nature of language, linguistic, and grammatical concepts, and the communicative functions of language in society, as well as the
complexity of the interactions between language and culture.

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING [How will you know and document students progress toward the
objective(s)?]

Diagnostic/pre-assessment: Students will have read other texts before this one that are less difficult, thus building up to more
complex texts like The Golden Tree. They will also know most of the words in the story from previous vocabulary instruction and
assessments. We will know that they are ready for this text by their performance in previous texts and vocabulary quizzes.

Formative assessment/feedback to learners: Students will have a worksheet of questions that they will fill out and turn in. During the
discussion, we will walk around with clipboards and a rubric for each student so we can check their understanding through listening
in as they discuss. We will encourage them to not simply read from their papers. They will also be able to revise their answer as
they discuss with their peers.

PROCEDURES FOR THE MINILESSON [Describe with EXPLICIT DETAILS every step of the Gradual Release of Responsibility
Framework so that another teacher could replicate your minilesson plan exactly!]:

I DO [How will you introduce the instructional strategy? What will you say? What is the strategy? How does it work? Why is it
important? How will you demonstrate the strategy (reading aloud, thinking aloud, with overhead projector, whiteboard, shared text)?
What will you say as you demonstrate the strategy?]

We will begin by reading The Golden Tree aloud to class. Each student will have a copy of the story. Then we will ask and answer
two sample questions, one on the content of the story and the other on analysis, both while referencing the text to assist her. While
answering, we will have the maraca and explain that the questions can only be answered when holding the maraca.

WE DO TOGETHER [How will you guide students to collaboratively practice the strategy? How will students work together? In small
groups? With partners? Explain in detail what is happening.]

The teacher will be asking more questions based on The Golden Tree, and this time she will ask for student input while answering
the questions. She will still be answering herself, but she is looking for input to see if the rest of the students understand the text and
process that follows the reading. Students will be in groups of 2-3 when the teaching is asking for input. The student that is speaking
will be holding the maraca.

YOU DO [How will you prompt students to apply the instructional strategy independently? What will you say to encourage students
to apply the strategy?]

This time, a set of questions will follow that each student is expected to answer in the same manner that the teacher answered the
previous questions. They will answer the questions on the worksheet on their own first. The questions will be answered in a small
group discussion, and the student that is speaking will be holding the maraca. They will be encouraged to not simply read from their
worksheets.

DIFFERENTIATION/EXTENSION [How will you ensure students at their various ability levels can access the key concepts in the
minilesson?]

Supporting students with special needs (accommodations/modifications required by the IEPs/504 plans and other ways youll
address diverse needs):

Challenging experienced learners: Make sure a student only has the maraca a maximum of twice to let the less experienced
learners have time to speak, too.

Facilitating a classroom environment that supports student learning: Make sure each student does not speak when another student
has the maraca.

Extension: Group discussions will break into a full class to discuss answers.

WHAT IFs [Be proactive; consider what might not go as planned with the minilesson. What will you do about it?]

What if students . . . have trouble translating?

- They may ask teacher or classmate for help or use a dictionary.

What if students cannot . . . answer the questions?

- They can reread the text or ask teacher for help. They can revise their answers as they discuss.

REFERENCES [Provide an APA-formatted citation any texts or resources used or adapted for this minilesson. Cite all sources you
used in the creation of this minilesson including URLs, journals, book chapters etc.]
Groves, T. Academic discussions: Analyzing complex texts [Video File]. Retrieved from
www.teachingchannel.org/videos/analyzing-complex-texts-ells-ousd#
Matute, A. M. (1961). El bol de oro. In E. J. Mullen & J. F. Garganigo (Eds.), El cuento hispnico (pp. 42-45). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.

Developed in part from the work of Dr. D. Johnson & Dr. E. Stevens, Roberts Wesleyan College, Teacher Education Dept.