Grade 6 Language Lesson Plan - Biography

GRADE 6 LANGUAGE
Biography
Expectations
Overall Expectations:
· Use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently;
· Reflect on and identify their strengths as readers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading;
Specific Expectations:
Demonstrate Understanding:
· Demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing and explaining important ideas and citing supporting details;
Making Inferences or Interpreting Texts:
· Develop interpretations about texts using stated and implied idea to support their interpretation
Teacher prompt: ``What is the story between the lines ... beyond the lines? What clues did the author give that led to your conclusion? Why do you think the author doesn`t stated these ideas directly?``
Resources: Text, biographies, chart paper/markers
Introductory Activity:
· Explain to class that effective readers read with a purpose (brief explanation)
· Have students read “Read with a purpose” (p. 9) using a “shared reading” approach
· Pose question: “How does reading about the lives of others help us to learn about our own values and beliefs?”
· Record ideas on a reference chart
Reading Strategies (p. 9)
· Predict what you will be reading about by scanning the title, headings, photos, captions, and text boxes to get a sense of the content
· Pause and check after reading each section to think about what you have read and to check your understanding
· Connect the text to personal experiences, to other texts, and to the world to develop a deeper understanding
Developmental Strategies:
· Read the text using a ``shared reading`` approach (I should read and emphasize important phrases as students follow along; discuss photographs)
· Model reading comprehension strategies using a ``think-aloud`` method (Rapping for Respect, p. 12)
Reading Comprehension Strategies Applied
1. Scan
· Predict what text will be about
· What does the above title tell us about the text?
2. Photos
3. ``Brief Bio``
· Would indicate that this is a biography
Invite students to share any predictions about text to be discussed
· The first paragraph states “for some people, it would be hard to put aside a promising career as a musician to talk to young people about fairness. For Errol Lee, the decision was easy”.
· Pose question: “Does this sentence give any indication as to what the story might be about?” (Pause and check method)
· Note sentence: “He was starting his music career, but he was also getting into trouble”
· Make connection: “Have you ever gotten into trouble, and then decided to change bad habits?”
· Explanation of “empathy”
· Pose question: “How does having empathy or the ability to empathize determine how you treat people?”
· Next heading is entitled ``Cool to Be Kind`` (predict)

· Ask students to work with a partner and discuss biographies as well as reading strategies
· Students are to discuss how reading strategies were applied to biography and record on chart paper
· Students present how reading strategies were used to gain an understanding of their biography


Concluding Activity:
Pose questions: ``Was the biography clear and easy to understand? What text features helped you understand and remember the information? What did the writer want you to learn about Errol Lee?
Method of Evaluation:
· Participation, effort, and engagement with the exercises will noted and given special consideration

Source: Literacy In Action 6 Teacher’s Guide