The Field Mouse and the Dinosaur Named Sue (Literacy Lesson)
Author: Iwona Sobczak
Date created: 02/27/2011 9:31 PM CDT ; Date modified: 02/27/2011 10:48 PM CDT
Basic Information
Summary
On February 25, 2010, students will be going on a field trip to the Field Museum. Ms. Gutierrez and I have decided that the
exhibit we will focus on is the dinosaurs specifically Sue. For the past two weeks we read non-fiction and fiction books about
dinosaurs. Students have really enjoyed the books I have chosen for them to read. This week Tuesday and Wednesday I will
read The Field Mouse and the Dinosaur Named Sue by Jan Wahl. The overlays state that the comprehension focuses for this week
are making inferences, making predictions, and making connections. On Tuesday, we will read only a short part of the story
and we will make inferences and predictions on what students think will happen next. Students have been working on
predictions for the past week now so this will help them strengthen their knowledge on how to develop predictions. On the
second day, we will finish the story. During the lesson students will be inferencing, connecting, and predicting. They will use
all their knowledge to take part in an activity called Hot Seat
Grade/Level
1st/2nd
Time Frame
February 22,2011- February 23, 2011
9:00- 9:50 each day
Subject(s)
Reading
Topic(s)
Dinosuars in the Field Museums
Notes
Once we finish if time permits, we will have an extended response. The reason we might not have time for this extended
response is because all day we will have visitors’ storytelling that focuses on African American History Month.
Standards And Key Concepts
Standards
IL- Illinois Early Learning Standards
Subject: Language Arts
State Goal: STATE GOAL 1: Read with understanding and fluency.
Learning Standard: Learning Standard C: Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.
Benchmark: 1.C.ECb Respond to simple questions about reading material.
Benchmark: 1.C.ECc Demonstrate understanding of literal meaning of stories by making comments.
State Goal: STATE GOAL 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.
Learning Standard: Learning Standard C: Communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes.
Benchmark: 3.C.EC Use drawing and writing skills to convey meaning and information.
State Goal: STATE GOAL 4: Listen and speak effectively in a variety of situations.
Learning Standard: Learning Standard A: Listen effectively in formal and informal situations.
Benchmark: 4.A.EC Listen with understanding and respond to directions and conversations.
Learning Standard: Learning Standard B: Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.
Benchmark: 4.B.EC Communicate needs, ideas and thoughts.
Understandings
Develop reasonable predictions on what will happen to the field mouse in the museum
Draw inferences that can be supported from the text
Make text-to-self connections and text-to-text connections
Develop understanding of the meanings of intrusion and paleontologist
Essential Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
What does intrusion mean?
What does paleontologist mean?
Why do you think Sue is important to paleontologists?
What will happen to mouse in the museum? (first day)
Knowledge and Skills
Making inferences
Making predictions
Making connections (self-to-text and text-to-text)
Using context clues to find meaning in a word
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Using text to support their responses
Performance Tasks And Assessment
Performance Task
Performance Prompt
1. Hot Seat: I will have about 6 students chosen to play “Hot Seat.” When students take part in Hot seat, a student plays
one of the characters while the others ask him/her questions. The three characters the students will act out are field
mouse,Sue and a paleontologist. ( checking for understanding of story)
2. Extended response (formal assessment)
3. Observations: class discussion and responses to questions given by me
Why do you think Sue is important to paleontologists?
This question will require students to inference, make connections, and use examples from the story to support their
answers
Assessment/Rubrics
Second Grade Extended Response Rubric
For District 186 Prompts
4 – Response focuses on important information and includes explanation of student’s
own ideas and text passages to support their answer.
• Includes most key ideas
• Includes some interpretation and analysis
• Text and “own thinking” are closely connected
3 – Response includes some explanation of student’s own ideas and some text passages
to support their answer.
• Includes some key ideas
• Text and “own thinking” support the answer
• Includes explanation of some (at least one) text references
2 – Response includes only explanation of student’s own thinking or only passages from
the text and may still include some minor inaccuracies.
• Answer may have to be inferred
• Could be a retelling or summary
• May include text or own thinking that does not support the answer
• May include too little explanation of student’s own thinking or text references
1 – Inappropriate response (too little information, no explanation of ideas, doesn’t answer
question, many inaccuracies)
Learning Experiences And Resources
Sequence of Activities
Day 1:
1. After the timer goes off students should be finished with their morning business and should come sit on the carpet
(Eating breakfast, handing in homework, checking out a library book, and independent reading).
2. I will start the day by picking someone randomly using name sticks to put up the date. We will recite the date together.
Today is Tuesday, February 22, 2010. After we say the date together, we will do a shared reading. The shared reading is a
story calledPublic Manners. Students will read the story with me. We will discuss how we should act in public areas. I
will write my students responses on chart paper.
3. I will introduce the book I will be reading to them which is The Field Mouse and the Dinosaur Named Sue by Jan Wahl. I will
explain to students that we will only read a little part of the story today and the rest of the story the following day. I
will tell students that this week we will be focusing on making inferences, making connections, and making
predictions.
4. I will also introduce the juicy word from the story (Intrusion). I will ask students to think for a minute on what this word
might mean. I will pick randomly and ask students to take a guess on what they believe intrusion means.
5. I will ask students to make a prediction on what they might think this story is about by looking at the cover. (Mouse,
Dinosaur, fossils).
6. I will begin the story and I will stop at various points of the story to ask students questions like :
·
What do you think the “beautiful thing” is?
·
Why do you think these bones were “beautiful”?
·
How do you think the field mouse feels after he sees his home is destroyed?
·
Have you ever had something taken away from you?
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·
Where do you think the mouse is going?
·
Have you ever been to the field museum? If so, what did you see there?
·
Who was this man studying the bones?
·
What is Sue?
1. I will only read about 10 pages of the story and I will stop to discuss how the mouse must feel, what will happen to the
field museum, and what is this mysterious Sue.
2. I will write down the students’ predictions on chart paper so we can have them for the following day.
Day 2
1. After the timer goes off students should be finished with their morning business and should come sit on the carpet
(Eating breakfast, handing in homework, checking out a library book, and independent reading)
2. I will start the day by picking someone randomly using name sticks to put up the date. We will recite the date together.
Today is Wednesday, February 23, 2010. We will do the shared reading again which is called Public Manners. Students will
read along with me.
3. After we are done with the shared reading, I will ask a couple volunteers to help me remember what has happened in
the story so far. Field Mouse lost his home; The people took the bones to study them; Field Mouse is determined to get his home
back; The people caused an intrusion by taking the Mouse’s home.
4. Next, we will go over the predictions students made the previous day on what they think will happen to field mouse.
(On whiteboard). I will also ask someone to refresh my mind on what the word intrusion means using an example from
the text.
5. After all the review from the previous day, we will start to read the story again. I will tell them that the juicy word for
today is a paleontologist.I go back to the story to help determine what this word means. I will keep going back to the
word throughout the story. Some of the questions I will ask during the story are:
·
Why do you think he felt dizzy and lost?
·
What do they mean “he was looking at Chicago as it was-410 million years ago?”
·
How do you think he feels being in a new place?
·
Who are these people scraping at bones? Why are they scraping at the bones?
·
Do you think he will find his roof?
·
Why do you think it was best to only come out at night?
·
While field mouse is looking for his bone, what else is he doing?
·
What are some things mouse learned about the dinosaurs?
·
Who was “Sue”?
·
Do you think “Sue” might have his home?
·
How do you think mouse felt at the end of the story? Use examples from the text.
·
Were the paleontologists trying to be mean to the mouse by taking his bone?
1. Once we finish the story, I will have about 6 students chosen to play “Hot Seat.” When students take part in Hot seat, a
student plays one of the characters while the others ask him/her questions. The two characters the students will act
out are field mouse and a paleontologist. Each student will be asked 2 to 3 questions.
2. Once we finish if time permits, we will have an extended response. The extended response question will be: Why do you
think Sue is important to paleontologists? This question will require students to inference. The reason we might not have
time for this extended response is because all day we will have visitors’ storytelling that focuses on African American
History Month. If we do have time, I will model to students what I would write.
Differentiated Instruction
1st graders. 1st graders will be able to not only write their answer but draw a picture to support their understandings.
Student who can not read and write will be allowed to orally explain to me his understanding of the extended response. He
will also be able to use the book as a reference.
Resources
Materials and resources:
• The Field Mouse and the Dinosaur Named Sue
• Chart Paper/white board
• Hot seat
• Paper
• Pencil
• Vocabulary cards
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The number of computers required is ?.
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