I chose this book because it's one of the newer favorites that 2nd graders love. Peter Reynolds is a great author and there are LOTS of inferences to make in this story. Since the plot is clearly outlined, this is a great book to demonstrate and work with the kids on conclusions, our last idea in the inferring unit.
We'll be using a interactive organizer for making conclusions. My plan is to demonstrate quite a bit in this lesson and then let the kids be more independent with another book and create the organizer with much less help.
Underlined words below are lesson vocabulary words that are emphasized and written on sentence strips for my Reading & Writing word wall. I pull off the words off the wall for each lesson, helping students understand this key 'reading and writing' vocabulary can be generalized across texts and topics. The focus on acquiring and using these words is part of a shift in the Common Core Standards towards building students’ academic vocabulary. My words are color coded ‘pink’ for literature/’blue’ for reading strategies/’orange’ for informational text/'yellow' for writing/’green’ for all other words)
Common starting point
Give the purpose of the lesson
Introduce strategy - teacher models
There is so much discussion in our inferences about how the characters respond to challenges and events in this story. (RL.2.3) This creates a great opportunity for students to examine the text and authors' intent-Why is the girl sad? Who can help her? Encouraging students to examine and make inferences about the characters and plot allows them to delve deeper into the txt, looking for evidence in the text and illustrations and using those with their schema to deepen comprehension of the text.
Guided Practice
If students have their own computers, they can type. If not, I would suggest just having them give you suggestions and you type. Second graders typically do not type fast, so I like to put the focus on inferring and drawing conclusions and do the typing myself.
Don't finish the book - stop at the page that says 'at the school'. Save the last few pages for the project.
Teach about the Conclusion
My goal in this lesson is to encourage the students to use the evidence from the text - the words and illustrations - and their schema to demonstrate an understanding of the text. (RL.2.7) By creating inferences about what happened in the plot, they are showing that they understand the events based on the pictures and what they've read.
Share what you know
Scaffolding and Special Education: This lesson could be easily scaffolded up or down, depending on student ability.
Since this is group lesson and everyone is working together, it's an excellent opportunity to model, model, model for your lower language students and pull some higher vocabulary from your student with more ability.
Use formative assessment in your discussion. Are the kids able to inference? Is there evidence provided? Can they inference and not predict? This will give you feedback for future lessons.