Chris Van Allsburg Unit: LAP 3 · 2018-12-07 · Learning Activity Plan Chris Van Allsburg Unit: LAP 3 ... like strong and descriptive verbs. The lesson will begin by reviewing the

Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program Learning Activity Plan

Chris Van Allsburg Unit: LAP 3 Casey Rothenberg

I. Content: Describe what it is you will teach. What is the content? During this lesson students will explore another one of Chris Van Allsburgs text and then create their own book following a similar structure. The lesson gives more opportunities for students to familiarize themselves with Van Allsburg style and his various writing components, like strong and descriptive verbs. The lesson will begin by reviewing the class anchor chart on strong verbs that we created from Chris Van Allsburg texts. Students will continue to add to this list and expand their word bank of strong and descriptive verbs after reading a Van Allsburg text, which focuses on creative verb usage. Finally students will implement their new knowledge and create their own alphabet book that uses strong descriptive words to outline creative scenarios for each letter. II. Learning Goal(s): Describe what specifically students will know and be able to do

after the experience of this class. Students will be able to…

• Build upon their understanding of Chris Van Allsburg as an author. • Continue developing their knowledge on verbs. • Use an anchor chart to help create sentences with strong verbs. • Create a model of a specific Chris Van Allsburg story and replicate one of his

general characteristics. • Create their own alphabet story using strong and creative verbs.

III. Rationale: Explain how the content and learning goal(s) relate to your Curriculum

Unit Plan learning goals. After spending time as a class investigating and pulling apart Chris Van Allsburg’s powerful usage of verbs, students will be responsible for creating their own stories with strong verbs. This lesson allows students to imitate a common characteristic found within the writing of Chris Van Allsburg, which we recently have been discussing as a class. Students have learned first hand that Van Allsburg’s powerful usage of verbs strengthens his writing and the enjoyment of readers. Now it is their turn to employ this writing strategy and see how creative and successful they can be within their stories. Students will have the verb anchor chart while creating their books, utilizing a resource they created during the last lesson and giving their work more importance. Also, during the lesson students will continue to develop their familiarity with Van Allsburg’s writing and the different components, which directly adheres to the unit’s essential question. IV. Assessment: Describe how you and your students will know they have reached

your learning goals. A lot of the lesson involves informal assessments to make sure students are reaching the learning goals regarding powerful verbs. This includes paying attention to student’s


participation during whole class discussion and as we work on our two anchor charts. The main assessment will be students alphabet book, which they will independently create. Students will know they are done once they have created a book that follows the outlined structure and used powerful verbs that make the story interesting to read. Also, during independent work time, Josh and I will be walking around talking with students to make sure they are following the structure, using the anchor chart and are overall on the right track. In the end students should have a sentence for every letter in the alphabet, which involves a powerful verb describing what is happening to the letter. Each letter gets its own page and a picture to accompany and enhance the description. V. Personalization and equity: Describe how you will provide for individual student

strengths and needs. How will you and your lesson consider the needs of each student and scaffold learning? How specifically will ELL students and students with learning disabilities gain access and be supported?

Again, this lesson fits nicely with some of the language lessons Josh has been doing. Recently students went over what nouns, verbs and adjectives were, and practiced identifying them in different texts. This added background knowledge and experience will make sure that all students have some idea of what a verb is and when/how they are used. The procedure of creating the different sentences for each letter will be modeled and practiced as a class so students will know exactly what they should be doing and what their end result will look like. Since there are two teachers in the room, if there is a group of students who are particularly struggling, one of us can pull them off to the side and create more sentences as a small group. If our two ELL’s who don’t speak or understand much English at all are present (they are normally working will an ELL specialist during this time) then Josh or I will pull them aside and help create their books together. Students will have consistent support during the independent writing time from the class anchor char on verbs as well as direct personalized teacher attention. Taking time and creating drawings that go along with each description allows students to engage in a different median. Students will be able to express their comprehension and information in a more artistic manner, which can be easier and helpful for ELL’s and students who struggle with literacy. VI. Activity description and agenda

a. Describe the activities that will help your students understand the content of your class lesson by creating an agenda with time frames for your class. Be prepared to explain why you think each activity will help students on the path toward understanding.

Time Teacher will… Student will… Materials 3 min. -Review anchor

chart on strong vs. weak verbs.

-Listen and provide responses to the teacher’s questions and review.

-Verb anchor chart

10 min. -Read aloud The Z Was Zapped -Ask students to pay

-Listen to the story and think about the different verbs and

-The Z Was Zapped


attention to the different verbs used.

how they make the book more exciting.

3 min. -Discuss with students if there are anything they would like to change or add to our anchor chart on Chris Van Allsburgs characteristics.

-Listen, ask questions and discuss with class how their understanding of Van Allsburg changed or didn’t change from this book.

-Van Allsburg characteristics anchor chart

3 min. -Calling on students to add verbs from the story to our verb anchor chart.

-Ask questions, provide verbs they want to add to our anchor chart, and listen to other students suggestions and appropriately agree or disagree.

-Verb anchor chart

8-10 min. -Hand out book templates and divvy out letters so that the class will be making two books as a whole. -Explain the structure of the stories being created and that every student is responsible for creating pages on their two-three letters. -Model this procedure and as a class create the first couple pages.

-Listen, ask questions and participate in the ‘we do’ process.

-22 templates of alphabet verb book

10-15min. -Circulate among students answering and asking questions.

-Independently create the rest of their sentences. -Once they finish the writing they can start drawing in the photos to match the text.

-Crayons and colored pencils


b. What particular challenges, in terms of student learning or implementing

planned activity, do you anticipate and how will you address them? The most challenging part for students will be working independently to create their alphabet book. However, there are several factors supporting students who may face challenges. The structure is simple and repetitive, there will be numerous verbs to choose from our anchor chart, and there will be at least one teacher circulating providing assistance. VII. List the Massachusetts Learning Standards this lesson addresses. Writing Standards 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective

technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. • Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and

events precisely

Speaking and Listening Standards 1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and

teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

VIII. Reflection

a. In light of all areas of planning, but especially in terms of your stated purpose and learning goals, in what ways was the activity(ies) successful? How do you know? In what ways was it not successful? How might the activity be planned differently another time?

b. What did you learn from the experience of this lesson that will inform your next LAP?

I thought this lesson went pretty well, and I really enjoyed seeing student’s creativity at

work. I forgot to focus student’s attention on verbs before the read aloud, which would’ve

helped participation when adding to our list of ‘strong vs. boring verbs’. The actual read

aloud went okay. Because of the books format and the lack of a plot, students had a hard

time staying focused and acting appropriately. They did enjoy the opportunity to guess

what was happening to the letter, because the text followed its picture on the next page.

However, some of Van Allsburg’s language and vocabulary was beyond student’s

knowledge and abilities. A couple time I had to pause reading and briefly explain the

definition of a word to limit confusion and disruptions. I was pleased that students were

able to engage in the text, but I would’ve liked to limit the amount of calling out. It


would’ve been beneficial to set some ground rules about how students can appropriately

share their guess and how many students will get called on for each page. Some students

were frustrated they didn’t have an opportunity to share, but there was no way I could’ve

called on every raised hand and still gotten through the lesson within the time limit.

Because of the unusual read aloud, student’s behaviors were a little off and excitement

was a little heightened. However, they did an excellent job transitioning from the read

aloud into independent work time at tables. Students were able to make a couple

additions to our author study anchor chart, but for the most part they focused on

acknowledging re-occurring themes/characteristics or petitioning to have a previous

theme/characteristic removed. Originally I had been crossing things off students wanted

to remove, but I quickly realized putting an X mark on the side would be an easier

method. This way, if future Chris Van Allsburg texts included these elements, they would

already be there and putting a check next to the X would suffice until the last lesson when

students made final decisions.

The modeling process went well, and students quickly realized what their sentences

needed to look like. A sentence structure written on the white board outlined the simple

format of: The __(a letter)__ was (a verb starting with the same letter). During

independent work time, only a couple students didn’t realize that the verb being used

needed to start with the corresponding letter they’d been assigned. As I began opening

the modeling process up to the class, most of student’s confusion and misunderstandings

were corrected. Also I began pushing students to get as creative and as possible,

encouraging the most unique and imaginative suggestions.

During students independent work time, while creating the sentences for their letters, I

was delighted to watch students get so creative and excited about their writing. I provided

assistance for a handful of students, making them create the scenario and then providing

them with possible verb options if they were drawing blanks. However, a lot of them

were able to come up with awesome verbs that matched their letter and made their

sentences fun to read. They also did an awesome job representing their sentences through


illustrations. One student misinterpreted the instructions, and made several sentences for

one letter, some of which lacked a verb that matched the letter. As a class, students

struggled with spelling and keeping things neat and organized, which was slightly

disappointing because the books are now published in the classroom for anyone to read.

However, the main focus was on incorporating strong and creative verbs and scenarios,

which almost every student accomplished.


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Chris Van Allsburg Unit: LAP 3 · 2018-12-07 · Learning Activity Plan Chris Van Allsburg Unit: LAP 3 ... like strong and descriptive verbs. The lesson will begin by reviewing the