Jill SooyTeaching Reading With Literature

November 14, 2012

Title of Lesson: Elizabeti’s Doll: A Guided Reading Lesson

Estimated Duration of Lesson: 25 minutes (two groups can go in one class period. Students who are not taking part in the guided reading lesson at the time can listen to an audio recording, write in response journals, or review a previous guided reading lesson book)

Age Group of Students: 3rd Grade

Goal and Objectives: Students will practice using and extending their knowledge of reading with the support of the teacher to help them become more independent readers and writers.

Given the book Elizabeti’s Doll, students will demonstrate an increase in knowledge in the following objectives, which will be informally assessed by the teacher:

1. Making predictions on what the text will be about based on an examination of the book

2. Gain a better understanding of concepts in the book3. Learn challenging vocabulary words4. Develop students’ ability to use their knowledge of print to gain meaning

MaterialsSix copies of Elizabeti’s Doll, enough small pads of sticky notes for each child in the class, pencils for each child in the class.

ProceduresThe guided reading lesson will begin with a book introduction for a small group of students. The students will be asked to examine the front and back covers of the book, making predictions as to what they believe the book will be about. Talk about where the mother keeps her baby while she is doing her chores. Ask students if they know anyone named Elizabeti. What about Betty, or Elizabeth? What do they think Elizabeti has wrapped up in the red blanket? Where do you think Elizabeti might live?

Have the students move apart and read the book quietly or to themselves. They will use the sticky notes to mark parts of the book that they want to discuss. They may mark a word for which they do not know the meaning. They might mark a passage to which they can make a personal connection. They might mark a concept they do not understand. They might want to point out something about an illustration. Maybe they will find a particular part funny or touching in some way. Every two to three pages should have something marked that can then be discussed.

Once all students have completed reading the book, they will gather back into their small group with the teacher. Students will have the opportunity to give a brief summary of the story. Then, the teacher will start with the first page and allow students to state the comment or questions they may have had on a sticky from that page. If there were none for that page, the teacher can ask questions. Some students will likely have some of the same questions, which indicate extra time needs to be spend on this area. If there is an unfamiliar word brought up, the teacher can model how to use any root words or suffixes to figure out the meaning. Students can talk about the predictions they made while reading and if those predictions ended up being correct. The teacher can suggest and model her thought processes as she read through the book to give students a window into her mind for tips and tricks to gain meaning from the text and illustrations in the book.

Evaluation

Evaluation for this lesson will consist of informal assessment.

Students should be able to participate in the conversations, offer their opinions on the book, answer questions the teacher or other students ask, and understand the main ideas of the book. Since the group the teacher will be working with is small, it will be much easier to tell whether or not students are learning based on their comments and feedback. The teacher has the opportunity to offer guidance to those who need it.

Standards

Indicators for grade 3

Vocabulary1. Use root words to determine what words meaning.2. Understand what prefixes and suffixes are to determine what words

mean.

Reading Process1. Establish a purpose for reading (e.g. to be informed).2. Make conclusions or suggestions about events and possible outcomes

from information in the text.

Reading Applications1. List questions about who, why, when, where and what and be able to

answer them.2. Identify the main idea and details of the reading material

Lesson Reflection

I do not have access to a whole class of students, so I was only able to conduct this lesson with a single student. While in some ways this was good because we worked one-on-one, focusing on her level of knowledge specifically, we lacked additional students who could have contributed their ideas and offered other points of view. My session with this student went very smoothly. She is a good reader and a good student. It would be interesting to do this same lesson with five or six more students at a time, ideally from other backgrounds. In this book, Elizabeti is a little girl growing up in Africa who has almost nothing in terms of material wealth. Her prized possession is a rock that she wraps in a blanket and pretends is her baby. It entertains her for days and days. There is such a sharp contrast between Elizabeti and her beloved rock and many children in this country who have rooms full of toys and are still bored. My student and I discussed this and she was able to make a personal connection. She said that when she had only one American Girl doll, it was very, very special to her. Then she got a second one, then and third, and now has four of them. She admitted that none of them are as special as her first one was when she only had that one. She didn’t think Elizabeti’s rock would be very special if she had some other toys to play with. One thought I had after going through this lesson was that I should also read the book Too Many Toys by David Shannon as a contrast to Elizabeti’s story. The two books together show the sharp contrast between the lives of the two characters, but in the end, it is Elizabeti that seems to be the happier child. This would be a good topic for students to reflect on in response journals.

References

Stuve-Bodeen, S. & Hale, C. (1998). Elizabeti’s Doll. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books.