Volunteer and Exercise

Common Core Connection

The standard RI1.8 asks the students to analyze an informational text and find the author's point, and they need to find the reasons that support the author's point.  Using text that is informative, but also subject to opinion is helpful for this standard. The skill is quite complex, as students need to slow down, understand the point, look deep in a text for evidence to support the point, and really be familiar with the text to fully understand this skill.

Lesson Overview

I chose Get Active by Michelle Obama's campaign to help make kids healthier for the guided practice. Then I selected Be A Volunteer from another website.  In the lesson students work with a collaborative partner through the entire lesson (Peanut Butter Jelly Partner), and they will transition about every twenty minutes to keep their minds fresh (Transitions).

Introductory Activity

This is the time I need to excite my class and make learning relevant so I can keep them engaged for the duration of the lesson. So, I do this by projecting the lesson image on the Smart board and ask the students to talk about the point of view that many author's take on exercise and volunteering. We have read many articles on exercise, so I am assessing how much they remember.  I expect most students to say, "Exercise is good for your body."  They are kids, so love to play and exercise, which also makes our topic today relevant. My class actually has a great local writer that volunteers in our class every week for an hour, so volunteering is relevant as well.

Then I share the lesson plan with my class. Last we chant the lesson goal: I can identify the author's point and reasons the author uses to explain the point.