COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES: LESSON PLAN 1 & 2

Lesson 1: The Things They Carried

Name Date Grade /Age Number of Students Length

Lesley Cheung Oct 19, 2016 11th grade 10 60 minutes

Purpose/Instructional Goals:
1. Students will also be able to infer from the reading by filling out the worksheet of what
the soldiers tangibly and intangibly carried.
2. Students will also verbally infer from the text by participating in class discussion.
Students will have to provide text evidence to back up their inferences.

Standards
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of After the reading, students will engage in a
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in dialogic discussion. Students will be sharing
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners their thoughts, questions and inferences. They
on grade 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, will also be responsible for the managing the
building on others ideas and express their own flow of the conversation.
clearly and persuasively (CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.SL.11-12.1 Also included in the
Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for
English Language Arts and Literacy)
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to The class will read the first part of The Things
support analysis of what the text says explicitly They Carried together. After this reading, class
as well as inferences drawn from the text, will be divided into small groups and students
including determining where the text leaves will have to infer what the soldiers are
matters uncertain. (CCSS.ELA- intangibly carrying based on the text.
Literacy.RL.11-12.1 Also included in the
Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for
English Language Arts and Literacy)

Materials:
11 copies of The Things They Carried
o Some copies will be annotated (Appendix B)
Questions teacher has prepared
Sticky notes and pens for students
Class expectations written on board
Content objectives written on board
Computer
Projector (for watching video)
Scale (for measuring things)
10 worksheets
10 Exit slips
Activity Organization:

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COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES: LESSON PLAN 1 & 2

This lesson will be taught at a therapeutic high school, where students reading levels
range from middle to high school. Most students in the class are placed in this school because of
their previous classroom behaviors. The small class size allows the teacher to provide
individualized instruction and support for students in the class. As many of these students
struggle with turn taking, all the chairs will be facing each other.
The teacher will be teaching in a dialogic style; rather than tell students what the big
ideas are, students will have to infer what the author meant. The class will be reading the first
chapter of the book together (the teacher will be reading it aloud for the class, stopping
periodically to assess student understanding). The teacher has prepared some questions and notes
for the class (see highlighted reading). The purpose of incorporating dialogic teaching is not only
to better analyze the reading, but also to further students social skills. By giving students the
opportunity to lead, think critically and engage with their peers, students will be able to
meaningfully engage with the text.
Grouping Children
Students will be working on a worksheet at the end of class. They will be grouped into
groups of 2-3. The teacher should arrange the groups to vary in English proficiency. Students in
higher WIDA levels should be grouped with students in lower WIDA levels.

Basic Procedure & Instruction

In this lesson, the teacher will teach students how to infer, or make assumptions, in the
text. The teacher will not only model this, but will also periodically stop during the reading to
ask students about the characters and what is happening. Before reading, the teacher will go
through some background information of the war. She will also support student comprehension
by bringing in a scale to measure the referred items in the book (providing visual representation).

Opening
1. Asking for stories
a. So, does anyone have any experience with the Vietnam War? Any movies, or
any family members that were in the Vietnam War?
b. If no one volunteers to share, teacher can begin sharing her own views of the
Vietnam War (I remember watching Forrest Gump when I was in high
school. Here is a little clip of what my impression of the Vietnam War was
like.)
i. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPPaZU18rUg
c. Students share their own stories.
2. Review Class Expectations
a. Okay, great! So now, lets review the class expectations. Particularly, with
our discussions. Could I get someone to read this aloud to me?
b. Student reads class expectations
i. Be respectful (that means, no interrupting or whispering while one person
is talking)
ii. Let others talk (listen!)
iii. Take chances (its not always about the right answer; rather, its about
communicating and discussing)
3. Read Content and Language Objectives
a. Teacher: Okay, could I get someone else to read our class objectives?

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b. Student reads.
c. Teacher: We will be addressing more of these objectives in class. We will be
discussing the reading and Im expecting everyone to ask at least 1-2
questions about the reading!
4. Pre-Teaching: Providing background knowledge on Vietnam War
a. In this activity, the teacher will provide various photographs of the Vietnam war.
She can either take some books from the library (that have a variety of visuals) or
she can find some online and print them out.
b. So here are a couple of different pictures of the Vietnam War. I want
everyone to choose two different pictures and show why you think this is
most representative of the Vietnam War. If you do not have any background
knowledge on the war, just choose two photos in which you think that is most
representative of war.
c. Give five minutes for student to sort through photographs and choose what they
think is most representative of the Vietnam war
d. Students will then come together and share.
i. Make sure students refer back to WHY they chose the photographs.
e. Teacher will share at the end: relate it back to the reading. (refer to picture on the
right)
i. I think this is one of the more representative images of war. I think it
captures the mundane and boring moments that many soldiers face.
Many people romanticize war I always hear students say, I wish I
was born in a different time. However, there is usually nothing
romantic about war. Its a lot
of mundane moments.
ii. Here is a quote that I think
really representative of the
boredom in war: Even in the
deep bush, where you could
die any number of ways, the
war was nakedly and
aggressively boring. But it was
a strange boredom. It was
boredom with a twist, the kind
of boredom that caused stomach disorders Youd try to relax. Youd
uncurl your fists and let your thoughts go. Well, youd think, this isnt
so bad. And right then youd hear gunfire behind you and your nuts
would fly up into your throat and youd be squealing pig squeals. That
kind of boredom (OBrien, p 34).
f. The men were also very young!
i. The common age of enlisted men in the Vietnam war was 22. The
average age in WWII was 26.
ii. Lets watch a quick video on the events leading up to the Vietnam
war:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2IcmLkuhG0
5. Pre-teaching: Infer from the text

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COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES: LESSON PLAN 1 & 2

a. Disney short clip (has no sound)

i. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FI9Gw58MdA
b. So can anyone tell me what happened?
c. How do you do know this? (Make sure students back up their inferences).
d. Sample student response: The cloud was feeling sad because his bird had left. I
inferred he was feeling sad because he had tears in his eyes. He also seemed a
little upset because there was thunder.
e. Good! I liked how you provided evidence (that the cloud had tears in his
eyes). Great readers make inferences from evidence. Based on what (name of
student that answered) said, does anyone know what making inferences are?
f. Student answers.
g. Great readers make assumptions, or inferences, to look at what the author is
trying to say. It is like that short video clip that we watched! There was no
sound no character had explicitly said, I feel sad, or I feel angry. We
inferred that these characters were feeling this way based on what we saw. So
remember to keep this skill at the back of your head while we are reading the
book today!

Development
1. Introduction to worksheet
a. Hand out book and stickie notes for every student. Please turn to page 1.
b. So we will be reading The Things They Carried together today. The author,
Tim OBrien, was actually also in the war himself. He writes a series of
interconnected stories that talk about the war.
c. As we read the first chapter together, we will be focusing on what the soldiers
are carrying, either tangibly or intangibly. Can anyone tell me what
intangible means?
d. Student answers.
e. Back up answer. Intangible means something that cannot by physically
touched. Examples: emotions, memories, experiences
f. Hand out worksheet 1 (attached at end of lesson plan).
g. I will explain more of this worksheet later. For now, just keep this worksheet
on the back of your mind! If you do notice something the soldiers are
carrying intangible, please place a stickie note on the page! Mark where you
saw it, so you can refer back to it. This will also be important for the
worksheet later.
2. Modeling: Read together - Class will read pages 1-9 together.
a. Think aloud while doing-so (Refer to teacher notes: teacher will read out aloud)
b. Page 1, end of 1st paragraph. What can you tell me about how Jimmy feels
about Martha? Students will be able to identify how in love he is with her. What
made you think this way? (We inferred that he is in love with her. He never
explicitly said it. His actions and thoughts are all related to her.) Students will
be able to provide evidence of the text in which Jimmy describes his love for her.
Example answers: Love was only a way of signing and did not mean what he
sometimes pretended it meant (OBrien, 1990, pg. 1).

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i. Teacher will facilitate the discussion. Be sure to include ask follow up

questions, such as Whats your evidence? How did you arrive at
that conclusion? (Michaels and OConnor, in press).
c. Page 2, end of 1st paragraph. Why does the author mention the weight of
everything? How much is a pound? Teacher will further explain how much
heavier things feel when one is hiking. Carrying 5 pounds of basic gear (such
as their helmets and liner cover) is actually quite heavy. On top of that, these
soldiers are carrying their diaries, comic books and illustrated New
Testament (its not just a new testament - its also illustrated!).
i. Students have previously learned how to visualize the text. In this lesson,
the teacher will reinforce the use of visualizing: Teacher will actually
bring out a scale and find things in class that measure up to 1, 2 and 5
pounds, respectively. Teacher: Can you imagine carrying all of this up a
hill? Walking for five, six even seven hours at a time?
ii. Potential student answer: author is trying to emphasize that even though
they have to carry so much stuff, they will still carry things that are most
meaningful to them.
d. Page 2, bottom (second last paragraph). Model think-aloud in finding
vocabulary. Teacher: Hm what does the word intransitive mean? Let me
read this again: In its intransitive form, to hump meant to walk, or to march,
but it implied burdens far beyond the intransitive (OBrien, pg 2). Does
intransitivity mean a form of walking?
i. What do you think it means?
ii. Why?
e. Page 5, end of 1st paragraph. Teacher: What did Jimmy feel when Ted
Lavender died? In this paragraph, students will point out examples of Jimmys
guilt. Jimmy was the lieutenant of his team, and Ted had died while Jimmy was
thinking about Martha. How do you know this?
i. Follow up question: Why is he feeling this way? Teacher should include
open-ended question to promote purposeful conversations, for students
learn vocabulary best when in conversation (Wasik & Campbell, 2012).
ii. Students should be able to cite from the text to explain the guilt that
Jimmy is feeling (Jimmy is the leader of the group and was responsible for
everyones lives in that group. He was thinking of Martha when Ted died.
He feels responsible. Maybe he thinks that he could have done something
different. Maybe he feels like he could have been paying more attention to
his men.)
iii. We know he feels guilt even though Jimmy never explicitly said so.
We can infer that he feels this way based on what his actions are.
3. Class Discussion
a. The questions below are just for the teacher to support students. In this class
discussion, students will be encouraged to ask more questions (and discuss the
text). In order to encourage students to ask more questions, the teacher should
ensure that she shares the power within the classroom. In other words, the
students should be responsible for the flow of the discussion (Reznitskaya,
2012).

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b. Potential Question: What do you think the heaviest thing that the men are
carrying?
i. Talk to the person next to you for a minute, and then lets come
together as a class and share (Michael and OConnor, in press).
ii. Be sure to ask for evidence (ask students to back up what they are saying).
This is important because you want students to
c. What do you think the heaviest tangible thing is?
d. How about the heaviest intangible thing?
i. How do you know it is guilt? Shame? Did any of the soldiers explicitly
say they felt this way? Then how do you know?
ii. Ask students to refer back to the text (back up their predictions).
Activity: Worksheet A (See worksheet attached below lesson plan)
1. Explain Worksheet
a. Teacher: Okay, I want everyone to work together in groups of 2 (or 3,
depending if the class has an odd or even number of students). We have read
pages 1 - 9. I want you and a partner to fill in what the men are carrying,
either tangible (something you can feel, touch and see) or intangible (a feeling
or emotion). Sometimes, the author may not explicitly say that the soldiers
are feeling a certain way. I want you and your partners to infer what the
soldiers are carrying based on what is described.
b. Write on board (and say out loud):
c. 1. Please go through pages 1 - 9 with a partner and write down both tangible
and intangible things that the soldiers are carrying
2. Please work quietly!
3. We will come together as a group and discuss the things that the soldiers
carried.
2. Guided practice: Model worksheet
a. Teaching will model example: For instance, we just inferred how Jimmy was
feeling guilt. That would be something he is carrying emotionally, or
something you cant see. So I would write down the word guilt under the
section Intangible Things They Carried for Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. Any
questions?
3. Students will work on worksheet
a. Students will fill in worksheet of both tangible and intangible things the soldiers
carried. This worksheet will need a lot of students to infer from the text, for the
author does not always explicitly say what the soldiers are carrying. Students will
need to explain to their peers why they think soldiers are carrying certain
intangible things, which require them to infer from the text.
b. Teacher should go around the room and help groups. Be sure to show examples of
the text.

Closing
4. Comprehensive Review of Objectives
a. Teacher will refer back to the content objectives on the board
b. So, today, we summarized the first chapter together. We also identified how
soldiers are feeling based on what they said and thought. Sometimes, people

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may not explicitly say what they are feeling or thinking, but we can infer
based on their actions.
c. What are some strategies we used to infer from the text?
i. Maybe thinking what ideas will cause this character to feel this way?
ii. Using background knowledge to support and relation to assumptions
iii. Identify important words that support thinking

5. Exit Slip
a. Hand out exit slip
b. Before you go, I want you all to answer this question. Please hand it in before
you leave the classroom!
c. Write on Board: How do you know if someone is feeling angry or upset?
(Especially if they do not say it out loud. Relate this back to the strategy of
inferring)

Extensions:
The teacher can further the assignment by asking how the things that we carry in our lives
affect the way we interact with one another. For instance, Jimmy (towards the end of the
chapter), straightens up and becomes determined to forget Martha. His guilt for Ted
Lavenders death had completely changed the way he thought and lived. How do the
things that we carry change us?
If there is enough time, the teacher could talk about the students predictions.
o What do you think will happen to Jimmy?
o Why do you think that?

Adaptations for Special Learners:

There will be a variety of input students will be gathering. The class will not just be
reading the book, but also watching short videos in learning about inferences. In supporting all
students, the teacher will be modeling reading by saying her thought processes out loud. Students
will also be given an annotated copy of what the teacher will be modeling in class (see teacher
notes). Students will also complete a graphic organizer (the tangible and intangible worksheet).
If they like, they can complete the graphic organizer on a computer.

Opportunities for Skills/Content Development:

Students can annotate the reading as the class is reading together. They can put inferences on the
side of the page if they would like to. Students are also given stickie notes to mark their
inferences during the reading.

Evaluation of Lesson:
Students will be assessed based on their worksheets and exit slips. They will need to
demonstrate their understanding of carrying intangible things, which can come in the form of
feelings, emotions or experiences. The teacher will also informally evaluate students based on
their discussion responses. By periodically stopping during the conversation, students will be
able to express their viewpoints and interpretations of the text. The teacher can then evaluate
what the students do and do not understand.

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Appendix A - Worksheet / Graphic Organizer

Character Tangible Things They Carried Intangible Things They Carried

Jimmy Cross

Henry Dobbins

Dave Jensen

Ted Lavender

Mitchell
Sanders

Norman
Bowker

Rat Kiley

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COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES: LESSON PLAN 1 & 2

Kiowa

Lesson 2: The Things They Carried: Analyzing Characters by Inferring

Name Date Grade /Age Number of Students Length

Lesley Cheung Oct 19, 2016 11th grade 10 60 minutes

Purpose/Instructional Goals:
1. Students will be able to infer from the dialogic discussion in class. They must verbally
back up their answers from text in the book.
1. Students will be able to verbally infer and analyze personality traits of the soldiers by
presenting at the end of class.

Standard How this standard is demonstrated in class

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the text,
including determining where the text leaves
matters uncertain. (CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.RL.11-12.1 Also included in the
Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for
English Language Arts and Literacy)
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners
on grade 11-12 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others ideas and express their own
clearly and persuasively (CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.SL.11-12.1 - Also included in the
Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for
English Language Arts and Literacy)
Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those
with multiple or conflicting motivations)
develop over the course of a text, interact with
other characters, and advance the plot or
develop the theme (CCSS.ELA-
Literacy.RL.9-10.3 - Also included in the
Teacher will periodically stop throughout the
reading to ask what the student thought of the
text. Students will answer the teachers
question as well as develop their own
questions. Students will need to refer back to
the text when asking and answering questions.
Students will engage in discussion during
class. They will also demonstrate their
opinions during discussion (again, they will
need to back up their opinions with the text).
By the end of the class, students will get into
groups of 2-3 and choose a character that they
want to analyze. They will have to include the
characters personality traits and back up their
inferences with the text.

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COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES: LESSON PLAN 1 & 2

Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for

English Language Arts and Literacy)

Materials:
11 copies of The Things They Carried
o Some copies will be annotated (provided to students who need the extra support)
Questions teacher has prepared
Sticky notes and pens for students
Class expectations written on board
Content objectives written on board
10 Exit slips

Activity Organization
Dialogic Discussion is essential in fostering understanding and discussion between
students. This classroom set up will follow the general classroom set up from the first lesson.
Students will be sitting around a round table, facing one another. The teacher will primarily be
reading the book aloud, and model her thoughts (by speaking out loud). However, she will
periodically stop and ask students to share their thoughts and inferences. After reading (which
will take around 20 minutes or so), students will come together and discuss their thoughts on the
book.
Grouping Children
Children will need to present on a character at the end of class. There will be around 3-4
children in every group. The children will work together with who they are sitting with.

Basic Procedure & Instruction

This is the second time the class will be reading The Things They Carried together. The
students have already read the first 9 pages in the first class. The class will be finishing up the
first chapter together. This lesson will be focused on analyzing (by inferring from the text) the
characters in the book.
The teacher will model inferring skills by thinking aloud. The teacher should provide
support by clarifying student ideas and asking students to provide evidence (Dwyer, personal
communication, November 1, 2016). After completing half of the first chapter, the students will
then engage in a dialogic discussion. Students will be expected to make assumptions based on
the text. Students comprehension and assessment will be measured throughout the class.
Students already have experience in engaging in dialogic discussions. They also know
how to infer from the text. In the last lesson, students had to read the text and discuss what the
soldiers tangibly and intangibly carried. Students will continue to read the book together
(however, the teacher may assign some chapters to read at home if they do not finish together as
a class).

Opening
1. Hook: Play Become a Millionaire game (re-teaching inferences)
a. https://www.quia.com/rr/332704.html

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COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES: LESSON PLAN 1 & 2

b. Sample question: Mary was standing on the sidewalk. Then, she saw a butterfly.
She got a net. She chased the butterfly. (Then the game will have several
inferences for students to choose from)
c. How do you know?
2. Review Class Expectations
a. Okay, lets review the class expectations. Particularly, with our discussions.
Could I get someone to read this aloud to me?
b. Student reads class expectations
i. Be respectful (that means, no interrupting or whispering while one person
is talking)
ii. Let others talk
iii. Take chances (its not always about the right answer; rather, its about
communicating and discussing)
3. Read Content Objectives (Purpose)
a. Okay, could I get someone else to read our class objectives?
b. Student reads.
c. We will be addressing more of these objectives in class. We will be discussing
the reading and Im expecting everyone to ask at least 1-2 questions about
the reading!
4. Pre-Teaching: (Think-Aloud, so will write on board)
h. Can anyone tell me about the Vietnam war? What did we talk about last
time? Students will recall what they remember from the previous lesson. Prior
knowledge of the war is essential for understanding the context of this book.
i. Okay, so lets read the second half together.
j. Sometimes, OBrien may not actually tell us explicitly what is happening, but
we can make assumptions, or inferences, based on the text. We made
assumptions yesterday about the war the soldiers intangible carried. Today,
we will also analyze the characters personality based on the details that
OBrien provides. Today, after the reading, I will put you all into small
groups where you choose a character to analyze, so pay attention to what
behaviors the characters are exhibiting!

Development
1. Modeling: Read together
a. The read-aloud will be shorter today. Students will be placed in groups and
present and analyze the characters. The teacher should allocate more time for
presentations / discussion. The class will read the second half of the first chapter
together. The teacher will be modeling (thinking-aloud) while the class follows
along in the book (see appendix).
b. Page 13, end of 3rd paragraph. (Refer to notes). Why did Kiowa admire
Jimmys cross capacity for grief? Why couldnt he feel this way? Why did
he feel the way he did?
i. Was this a coping mechanism? What do you think?
ii. Potential student answer: Maybe Kiowa did not want to think about it and
preferred not to. Maybe it felt easier that way.

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c. Page 13, last paragraph. (Refer to notes) What kind of psychological and
physical struggles these soldiers go through?
i. Background knowledge: a lot of soldiers that came back experienced a
lot of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Can anyone tell me what
PTSD is?
ii. Students will share.
iii. How does this relate back to the intangible things the soldiers carried?
How do these things affect them? How do you know?
d. Page 14, middle of the page: Why did the soldiers make themselves laugh?
i. Why do you think this was necessary? How do you know?
ii. Have you ever been in a situation where you had to make yourself
laugh?
iii. Teacher will facilitate discussion. Be sure to not give any positive or
negative responses until class is ready to keep on reading (Michael and
OConnor, in press).
iv. War may not always mean that there is a lot of shooting, or being in
the excitement of it all. A lot of the time, war is mundane and includes
a lot of waiting around.
e. Page 15, second to last paragraph. How do the things they carry define these
soldiers? What did they do to these soldiers?
i. Refer to the quote: They carried all the emotional baggage of men who
might die. Grief, terror, love, longing - these were intangibles, but the
intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible
weight (OBrien, pg. 15).
ii. Potential student answer: They carried their reputations, and they did
not want to show their fear, shame and struggles. They carried these things
all the time.
iii. These were probably the most important things that the men carried.
f. Page 17, 7th paragraph. Why did Jimmy Cross hate Martha?
i. Student answer: Maybe he wanted someone to blame?
ii. Refer to quote: ... Lieutenant Jimmy Cross reminded himself that his
obligation was not to be loved but to lead. (OBrian, pg. 18)
iii. How do you know?
iv. Be sure to press students to work with reasoning of other students by
asking, Who can add onto that idea? and Do some people see it in a
different way? (Michaels & OConnor, in press).
2. Discussion
a. After reading the first chapter, the class should come together and talk about
what they felt most strongly about.
b. Big ideas:
i. The irony is that its not that the physical things that they carry. Its more
of the memories, problems and emotional burdens that they carry.
3. Explain Small Group Assignment
a. Okay, so now we are going to analyze each of the characters. (Assign groups
just pick how students are sitting)

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b. You will be split into groups of 3 or 4 (bigger groups than yesterday). Then,
you will work together to best portray each character. You will have to
analyze that certain character (back up these analysis with various quotes in
the book). You will need to infer character traits based on what they read in
the book. Groups can use visuals if they would like to. Every member of the
group has to speak.
4. Guided practice: Teacher models small group assignment
a. So, I will talk about what I know about a character so far Lets say Jimmy.
b. Jimmy was constantly distracted at spending his time thinking about
Martha, who probably doesnt really love him (refer to quote on pg. 8:
When he kissed her, she received the kiss without returning it, her eyes wide
open, not afraid, not a virgins eyes, just flat and uninvolved (OBrian pg.
8). Here, the teacher demonstrates use of referring back to text to back up what
she is saying.
i. In some ways, Jimmy is obsessed. He constantly thinks about what he
could do differently. Then, Ted Lavender dies. He feels very guilty
and blames himself for being distracted (refer to quote: And now
Ted Lavender was dead because he loved her so much and could not
stop thinking about her (OBrien, pg. 5).
ii. I inferred that he is feeling guilty and blames himself because of what
he thought in the book. He did not explicitly say that he was feeling
guilty or sad, but I inferred he did based on what I read. Sometimes,
the author may not explicitly list traits of a character, but will instead
show the characters personality through his or her actions.
iii. Does this make sense? Does anyone have any questions?
5. Presentations
a. Give students around 5-10 minutes to work together.
b. Teacher should be sure to walk around the class and assist any students that do
not understand the material.
c. Each group will go up in front of the class and present on one character. They will
be given around 5-7 minutes.

Closing
1. Comprehensive Review of Objectives
a. So, today, we had infer what these soldiers were like. Sometimes, the author
may not explicitly say what the soldier is like, but we can draw our own
conclusions based on the evidence.
b. We also talked about our views about the text. I saw that we all felt
differently about the text, and thats okay. Discussions are really important,
not only in school, but also in the workplace (and in college!). I also liked how
we all listened for someone to finish by building on their answer.
2. Exit Slip
a. Hand out exit slip
b. Before you go, I want you all to answer this question. Please hand it in before
you leave the classroom!

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c. Write on Board: What do you infer about your best friend based on their
actions?

Extensions:
- Teacher can show a short video of the effects of war
- USA todays Watch service dog calm war vet's PTSD reaction
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y_a_V1QD3U

Adaptations for Special Learners:

- Students will need to be able to identify which WIDA level students are in. Students in
different WIDA levels will be separated. As this as an informal presentation, students in
lower WIDA levels can work with students in higher WIDA levels to develop their
vocabulary. Every student in the group has to have thorough understanding of the
material / ideas discussed because every student has to contribute to the presentation.
- Most of the book will be read out loud. Students who are struggling to read can follow
along as the teacher reads.
- There are also various ways that students can be evaluated. They will not only be
evaluated on their discussion points, but also on their presentation skills. Students who
struggle in one aspect may excel in another.

Opportunities for Skills/Content Development:

- Students can further infer from what will happen to Jimmy towards the end of the
chapter. Teacher can ask follow up question:
o Why did Jimmy decide to give up on Martha?
o Why? How do you know that?

Evaluation of Lesson:
The teacher can assess students based on their presentations. Students will have to
provide evidence of their inferences as well as articulate what they think the character is. The
teacher can also informally assess students by the class discussions. Students should be engaged
and will be evaluated on their contributions (were they asking questions? Were they listening to
others in the class? Were the building off of their peers contributions?).

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COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES: LESSON PLAN 1 & 2

References

Campbell, C. & Wasik, B. (2012). Developing vocabulary through purposeful, strategic

conversations. The Reading Teacher, 66 (2), 321-332. Doi: 10.1002/TRTR.01095

Dwyer, J. (2016). Reading development, assessment, and instruction in the elementary school.

Personal communication of J., Dwyer, Boston University, Boston, MA.

Michael, S. & OConnor, A.C. (in press). From recitation to reasoning: An overview of

academically productive talk in K-12 classrooms. In C. Schwarz, C. Passmore, & B.J.

Reiser (Eds.). Bringing Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices into our K-

12 Classrooms: Moving Beyond Knowing Science to Make Sense of the World. NSTA

Press.

Reznitskaya, A. (2012). Dialogic teaching. The Reading Teacher, 65 (7), 446-456. Doi: 1

0.1002/TRTR.01066

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