Primary Type: Lesson Plan
Status: Published
This is a resource from CPALMS (www.cpalms.org) where all educators go for bright ideas!
Resource ID#: 61768
Close Reading of the National Geographic article "Animal
Farm"
In this lesson, students will complete a close reading of "Animal Farm," a nonfiction article found online at National Geographic that describes the
incredible work one man accomplished as he turned a cattle ranch in Costa Rica into a national wildlife refuge. The students will conduct three close
readings of the article, each time for a different purpose. The students will create vocabulary charts and find evidence in the article to answer a set
of text-dependent questions. Students will then write an informative essay where they explain how the work of Jack Ewing changed this land.
Sample responses are provided along with a writing response rubric.
Subject(s): English Language Arts
Grade Level(s): 5
Intended Audience: Educators
Suggested Technology: Document Camera,
Computer for Presenter, LCD Projector, Microsoft Office
Instructional Time: 2 Hour(s)
Resource supports reading in content area: Yes
Freely Available: Yes
Keywords: close read, text dependent questions, Costa Rica, ecotourism, Hacienda Baru, wildlife refuge,
rainforest, habitat, ecosystem, environment
Instructional Design Framework(s): Direct Instruction, Writing to Learn
Resource Collection: CPALMS Lesson Plan Development Initiative
ATTACHMENTS
Response Rubric and Scoring.docx
Animal Farm TextDependent Questions.docx
Animal Farm TextDependent Questions and Sample Responses.docx
LESSON CONTENT
Lesson Plan Template: General Lesson Plan
Learning Objectives: What should students know and be able to do as a result of this lesson?
The students will be able to:
participate in small group and whole group discussions that accurately quote details from the article "Animal Farm" to support their ideas.
identify the effects that occurred to Hacienda Baru as a result of the work done by Jack Ewing and his staff as described in the article "Animal Farm."
determine the meaning of words and phrases as used in the article "Animal Farm."
construct a clear, well-organized, informative written response that includes an introduction of the topic, text evidence from the article "Animal Farm," use of
appropriate transitions, and a concluding statement.
Prior Knowledge: What prior knowledge should students have for this lesson?
Students should be able to:
Identify clue words that indicate cause and effect relationships
Use multiple strategies to determine meanings of unfamiliar words and phrases
page 1 of 4 Use textual evidence when answering questions about a text
Construct a focused informative paragraph response using grade level appropriate structure
Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson?
Why is it important to find text evidence when answering questions about an article or passage?
How can we use context clues to help us to determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in a text?
Teaching Phase: How will the teacher present the concept or skill to students?
Before the lesson, print and copy the article "Animal Farm" from National Geographic.
It may also be helpful to print and copy the text-dependent questions for students as well as print the sample responses for the teacher.
Consider grouping the students in pairs or small groups before starting the lesson. They will be completing most tasks independently, but will be sharing their ideas
with others.
First Close Reading of "Animal Farm":
1. Provide the students with a copy of the article "Animal Farm" and tell them that as they read the article for the first time, they should circle important words and
phrases that help them understand the text better. They will be creating a chart to organize these words and phrases in step 3.
2. Allow time for the students to read the article independently and monitor the students to make sure they are looking for and identifying important words and
phrases throughout the text. They may use a dictionary to help them if necessary.
3. Have the students share the words and phrases they found with a partner or small group. Have each group choose three important words or phrases to record on a
three-column chart. (Column 1: Word/Phrase, Column 2: Meaning, Column 3: Importance) Their discussions should be centered around why they chose the words or
phrases on their charts.
4. Create a list as a class that includes the words and phrases they found to be the most important, making sure to include words you think are important as well. The
reason may include information about the meaning as well as what it helps the reader understand. For example, if the students chose the word "prohibited," they may
explain that they chose it because it helps the reader understand Ewing's feelings on hunting the wildlife. Some words and phrases the teacher and students might
also consider working to determine the meanings of and discuss their importance to the article are: ecotourism, prohibited, wildlife refuge, maintain*, ecological
tourism, canopy, mission, recovery, poachers, ecosystem, predator, populations, and wildlife corridor.* *These terms will be addressed again in the text-dependent
questions.
5. Provide a copy of the text-dependent questions for the students to read. Have them focus on just questions 1-4.
6. Tell the students that they are going to be looking for text evidence in order to answer each question. Have them go back to the text to find details that help them
answer questions 1-4 and underline the phrases or sentences that they find. (*Since this is still the first reading, they could use the same color to identify the details
they are finding in the article.) Also, tell them to label the details that they are underlining as #1, #2, #3, or #4, depending on which question it is supporting the
answer for.
7. After the students have found details that they think support the answers for questions 1-4, project the text on the board and discuss which phrases and sentences
they should have found. Model a brief response for each and have the students respond as well, using their own words to write their response.
8. Allow time for students to read their responses to a partner or small group and compare their responses to others. They may adjust their answers as necessary.
Guided Practice: What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance?
Second Close Reading of "Animal Farm":
1. Tell the students that you are going to read the article aloud to them and together you will mark evidence in the text that is related to questions 5-6. (For this step,
they could use a second color to identify which details they are finding as support during the second close reading.)
2. Have the students read through questions 5-6 independently and underline key words in the questions that will help them find evidence in the text.
3. Project a copy of the article on the board for modeling. As you read, underline details from the text that are related to questions 5-6.
4. Model how to construct a response for question 5, using the details you underlined in the article. Students should formulate a response as well, using their own
words to write their response.
5. Have students work together to complete question 6, using the same techniques that were modeled. Have students share their responses with the class.
6. Provide feedback on their responses for question 6, modeling for the class or small groups as needed. The students should adjust their responses as necessary
before moving on to Independent Practice.
Independent Practice: What activities or exercises will students complete to reinforce the concepts and skills developed in the
lesson?
Third Close Reading of "Animal Farm":
Note: This independent practice will serve as the summative assessment for the lesson.
1. Provide the students with the grading rubric and have them prepare to construct their written response to the question for the third close reading. Tell students that
they will be using evidence from the article to construct their response, using appropriate 5th grade writing expectations.
2. Allow time for the students to complete a third reading of the article independently, making note of support they will be able to use to address the writing prompt.
3. The students should construct their responses using appropriate text evidence. They should compare their response to the explanations on the rubric in order to
adjust their work as necessary before they turn in a final draft.
4. The teacher will collect students' written responses and use the grading rubric to assess their work.
Closure: How will the teacher assist students in organizing the knowledge gained in the lesson?
1. Have students share their paragraph responses from the summative assessment with a partner or small group.
2. Allow time to discuss similarities and differences between their responses, including the support they chose and why they chose it.
Summative Assessment
page 2 of 4 The students will construct a written informative response to the following: Using evidence from the text, describe how Hacienda Baru has changed as a result of Jack
Ewing's efforts. Student papers will be assessed using the attached rubric.
Formative Assessment
Teaching Phase: The teacher will be able to gather information about the students' initial understanding of the text based on the important words or phrases they
select for their three-column chart, the meanings they have determined, and their explanations as to how these words are important to understanding significant
aspects of the text. The teacher will also be able to gather information about students' initial comprehension of the text through their written responses on the first
four text-dependent questions.
Guided Practice: During the second close reading, the teacher will gather information about students' understanding of the text based on the next two textdependent questions for the article. At this time, based on students' written responses, the teacher should determine the need for further instruction based on the
students' ability to use appropriate text evidence to support their answers to the text-dependent questions.
Feedback to Students
While students are working together during the Guided Practice, the teacher can monitor comprehension and task completion using any of the following questions:
What made you choose those words from the text to support your answer?
Where did you find the text evidence for this question?
What words did you think best support your answer to this question?
What do you think the author meant by _____________? (specific words or phrases from the text) How do you know? What evidence from the text can you use to
support your inference?
The students should use the teacher's feedback to immediately evaluate their responses and adjust as needed.
ACCOMMODATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Accommodations:
ELL students may be provided with a Spanish-English dictionary (or other translating dictionary as appropriate) in order to determine the meanings of unfamiliar
words.
Students working below grade level may require additional guidance from the teacher during Guided Practice, including help with specific vocabulary instruction.
Teachers may provide a graphic organizer and create a writing frame to help students plan and organize their essay.
Teachers may provide written feedback on their essays, allow them to revise their work, and resubmit for a new grade.
Extensions:
Students working above grade level may require less guidance during Guided Practice and may be encouraged to work at their own pace to complete their
responses independently.
Students can view the photos on the National Geographic website that are included with the article and compare the details they observe in the photographs to the
description provided by the author of the article.
As other follow-up activities, students could find more information on the history of other wildlife refuges, or other wildlife corridors. (Additional links can be found
on National Geographic's website.)
Suggested Technology: Document Camera, Computer for Presenter, LCD Projector, Microsoft Office
Special Materials Needed:
Necessary materials include:
handouts provided throughout the lesson
notebook paper and pencils
Other materials you may want to use include:
highlighters
colored pencils
sticky notes
chart paper and markers
Further Recommendations:
The text passage, questions, and sample responses should be read by the teacher prior to implementing the lesson.
The text passage, questions, and grading rubric should be printed for each student prior to starting the lesson.
Additional Information/Instructions
By Author/Submitter
The article "Animal Farm" has a Lexile of 1070 and can be accessed at National Geographic: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/news/animal-farm
Note: The article is accompanied by a list of defined vocabulary words as well as multiple links to related articles that can be used for additional extension activities.
As a close reading activity, this lesson focuses on the application of the targeted skills, not as an introduction.
SOURCE AND ACCESS INFORMATION
Contributed by: Brandi Derstine
Name of Author/Source: Brandi Derstine
page 3 of 4 District/Organization of Contributor(s): Osceola
Is this Resource freely Available? Yes
Access Privileges: Public
License: CPALMS License - no distribution - non commercial
Related Standards
Name
LAFS.5.L.3.4:
LAFS.5.RI.1.1:
LAFS.5.RI.2.4:
LAFS.5.RI.4.10:
LAFS.5.W.1.2:
LAFS.5.W.3.9:
Description
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and
content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
a. Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or
phrase.
b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g.,
photograph, photosynthesis).
c. Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the
pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5
topic or subject area.
By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and
technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically; include
formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to
the topic.
c. Link ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., in contrast,
especially).
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or
events in a story or a drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., how characters interact]”).
b. Apply grade 5 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., “Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to
support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point[s]”).
page 4 of 4