Lesson Plan
Bell ringer:
Students will answer the following question in their reading journal and then share their responses with the class.
When you come across an unfamiliar word, what can you do to try and figure out the meaning?
"I do":
Teacher will read aloud Chapter 4 of Brothers in Arms.
Stop at the following points for class discussion:
*Pg. 49: "It don't take that much skill to hit someone who's half your size." What does this tell us about how Martin Luna reacts to Steve? Why is this detail important?
*Pg. 52: "Maybe Huero wouldn't have been out on the street looking for you." How does Martin Luna react to this idea? Why is this detail important?
*Pg. 59: "Just seeing her cleared the fog in my head for the first time that day." Based on this quote, how does Martin Luna react to seeing Vicky? What do you think will happen between the two of them?
***Mini lesson: Review the meaning of "context clue" using the following dialogue/example:
Students, sometimes when we don't know a word, we can use the surrounding words in the text to guess at its meaning. The surrounding words are called "context," so this process is called "using context clues."
For example, if you read the sentence: "I thought his joke was weak, even though several students chuckled" and you didn't know the word "chuckled," what might you guess it meant? Since we know the sentence is about a joke, we could guess that the word "chuckled" has something to do with laughter.
"We do":
In pairs, complete the following five questions to practice using context clues.
1. "So I hung on the sidelines with a couple other kids and watched Steve strut out onto the court.’Who wants to play me?' he challenged, bouncing a ball hard against the gym floor."
What do you think strut means? ___________________________________________________________________
What context clues did you use? ____________________________________________________________________
2. "Clarence looked a little stunned, as if he'd never heard someone speak the truth to him before."
What do you think stunned means? ___________________________________________________________________
What context clues did you use? ____________________________________________________________________
3. "My mind caught on her words, like a shirt snagged on a nail."
What do you think snagged means? ___________________________________________________________________
What context clues did you use? ____________________________________________________________________
4. "She gave me this look. I'd seen it before from snobby girls that looked down on guys like me."
What do you think snobby means? ___________________________________________________________________
What context clues did you use? ____________________________________________________________________
5. "'No,' she grumbled, giving me a playful shove. There was a tiny smile trying to break free on her face, but she was fighting it."
What do you think grumbled means? ___________________________________________________________________
What context clues did you use? ____________________________________________________________________
Review the answers to the questions above, having student volunteers explain their reasoning.
"You do":
Write five sentences, one for each new vocabulary word from the previous activity.
Students will then share their sentences. The most creative ones will be posted on the class Word Wall.
Exit slip: Define "context clue."
LINK TO BOOK: http://www.townsendpress.com/store/product/brothers-in-arms/
