Title of Text: The Washington Monument
Author/Illustrator: Kristin L. Nelson GRL: K Series: Lightning Bolt Genre: Nonfiction, Social Studies Standard: Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. Lesson Objectives: To identify the sequence of historical events, to determine key ideas and details, to determine cause and effect of events, to understand historical decisions. Comprehension Strategy: Key Ideas/Determining Importance Skill: Cause and Effect Fluency: Appropriate Speed Academic Vocabulary: explain or research the meanings of the words below. Discuss the morphology of the words: suffixes, taking a root word and adding to it to change the meaning of the word. Have students talk about the meaning of each word, using antonyms, synonyms and situations where each word can be used correctly. a. symbol b. marble c. obelisk d. country e. reflecting pool Before Reading: ENGAGE! THINK! 1. Build Background Knowledge a. Let’s look at the front and back cover. What do you know about this topic? b. What would you like to learn about the Washington Monument? c. Why was it important to build the Washington Monument? d. In the table of contents, what chapter would you find information on the choice of location for the monument? 2. Skill Introduction: a. Cause and Effect – on page 17, why was the monument different colors? When we read, we will find the cause of the having different colors. 3. Strategy Introduction: a. Key Ideas/Determining Importance – as we read today, what information is important to remember and what can be discarded? 4. Fluency: Appropriate Speed – read page 4 at a faster, inappropriate speed and again at an appropriate speed and ask the students which speed was best and why? Standard ‐ Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. When we read today, we will connect the events that help build the monument. Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™ are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com During Reading: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late! Check for Understanding (Stop Midway through the Book) 1.
2.
Tell me about a part you didn’t understand? Turn and Talk: how is using the strategy of Key Ideas/Importance helpful in your reading? Read to page 15 and ask students which pieces of information can be discarded. 3. Cause and Effect – how did they name the monument and why was the name chosen? 4.
Standard – let’s connect some of the events leading up to page 15. (naming of monument, naming the capital, hiring the planner, first plan, building materials chosen)
After Reading: EVALUATE! 1. What is the most important thing to remember from this book? What are the details that can help you remember this? 2. What did you learn? What more do you want to learn about the Washington Monument? Where can you go to find out what books you could read for more information? (Text feature) Standard 3.
Standard: Determining connection between historical events – starting from page 15, finish listing the series of events that took place (building stopped, building started again, they couldn’t find the matching marble so they used another marble, built an obelisk tower, built a stairway to the top and an elevator, added memorial stones in the walls, it was finished and people could visit the monument) 4.
Standard: Cause and Effect – why was the monument different colors (they had to use different marble). So the effect is having a monument with different colors and the cause not being able to find matching marble. Writing Standard: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section. Task: Write an opinion piece about the different colors of the monument. Do you think it looks okay with different colors or not? Why do you think this? Would you have torn it down and started all over again or not? IF/THEN: Key Ideas/Determining Importance – work on discarding information. Tell this story: A football player’s dream came true when he became an NFL player. He was a quarterback who worked very hard. He broke throwing records. His parents loved to watch him on television. He inspired other players to work hard by staying after practice and running the field. Ask students to pick out the one sentence that isn’t important. Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™ are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com