University of West Alabama

COE
5E Lesson Plan
Teacher: Merri Wakefield
Date: May 25, 2016
Subject area/course/grade level: ELA/7 English/
Materials: Overhead projector, class iPads or student devices, topic sentences from previous lesson
Standards:
23. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined
in standards 20-22 above.) [W.7.4]
24. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as
needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well
purpose and audience have been addressed. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command
of the first three standards in the Language strand in Grades K-7.) [W.7.5]
25. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite
sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.
[W.7.6]
Objectives: I can compose a topic sentence that contains a subject and an attitude.
Differentiation Strategies: Partner Talk, Peer Editing, Rubric

ENGAGEMENT:
Here is your chance to catch the students attention. You must pose questions or design an activity to
help the students build on what they already know in preparation for learning something new.
Housekeeping:
Lets go ahead and log in to Google Classroom. (Project the class code on the smartboard: kj0u0y)
Review:
When we write for any reason, we have to have a topic and a purpose. We have to decide what we
want to write about and how we feel about that subject. If our topic is too broad, we may ramble
without a purpose; if our topic is too narrow, we make not be able to gather enough detail to support
our thinking. The trick is to get the topic just right: brad enough for details, but narrow enough to
keep it from rambling. Turn to your partner and discuss why we narrow topics. (Allow time for partner
talk.)
Assessment
Answer the first question on Google Classroom. Why do we narrow topics for writing?
Review and comment on responses as they are entered.

EXPLORATION:
This is it, the heart of learning. Hands-on experiences are mandatory and should include chances for
the students to collaborate and experiment and be able to discuss their learning with others.
(Project a list of topics.) These topics are way too broad. We need to get them down to a manageable
size. The first step is to decide which ones we would like to write about in the coming lessons. Take a
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moment and jot down a few that you are interested in. Give students a moment to jot down at least
five of the available topics. Feel free to jot down any topics not listed, and well evaluate them to
see if they will work in a few minutes.
Assessment
Give students time to generate lists of topics. Check them off as you monitor the room.

EXPLANATION:
This stage of the lesson is your part. You will cover vocabulary, concepts, ideas whatever is
necessary to help the students understand the lesson. Include higher order thinking questions to
help the students connect and comprehend the point of the lesson.
We need to narrow these topics down. (Project your list of topics.) How do we get these broad
topics down to a manageable size? (Allow students to popcorn answer this question for about thirty
seconds to one minute.) Excellent! I think we are on the right track. Let me demonstrate on the first
one. (Take each topic in turn. Talking through each one, so students can hear and see your thought
process while you narrow each topic as you type it into the document. This process will require the
teacher to show that there will be moments where you have to self-correct as you type and as you are
thinking out loud. Demonstrating this process is crucial to the students as they are building their own
writing skills. They NEED to see this process as honestly as possible.)
Now we have these topics narrowed. We need to organize them into actual topic sentences. When
we write topic sentences that will actually become paragraphs, we have to have a subject and an
attitude. Write that down in your writing journal. A subject is what you are writing about...An attitude
is how you feel about it. We have to have both to be able to expand our thoughts with precise details
later. A good topic sentence will contain only ONE subject and ONE attitude. Let me demonstrate.
(Once again, draft topic sentences with the narrowed topics. Talk through the process, so students can
see and hear your thought process.)
Assessment
What did you notice about my thinking as I typed these topic sentences? Answer this question in
Google Classroom.

ELABORATION:
This is your chance to plan activities for the students to apply what they learned in the lesson to their
lives and new situations. You will need to be creative and allow your students to do the same.
Now its your turn. Choose three of these narrowed topics to generate your own topic sentences.
Scribes will submit these into Google classroom. Monitor the room as the students work in their
groups. Jot down any areas where the whole group need clarification; otherwise, answer individual
questions as you go.
Assessment
One student from each group will submit the group topic sentences into Google Classroom. It is
important to walk around to monitor groups at this point to evaluate that each student is contributing
to the process. Ask individual students about the process as you go.

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EVALUATION:
Remember, assessment is part of each stage of the 5E lesson plan process. You will need to assess
each student on their participation and understanding and evaluate how close they have come to
meeting the objectives of the lesson.
Now, it is your turn. Use your list you jotted down earlier to generate your own topic sentences.
Submit them into Google Classroom. I will submit feedback for you to make any needed corrections.
References:
Bybee, R.W. et al. (1989). Science and technology education for the elementary years: Frameworks for curriculum and instruction. Washington,
D.C.: The National Center for Improving Instruction.
Bybee, R. W. (1997). Achieving Scientific Literacy: From Purposes to Practices. Oxford: Heinemann.
National Research Council. (1999). Inquiry and the national science education standards: A guide for teaching and learning. Washington, D.C.:
National Academy Press.
Polman, J.L. (2000). Designing project-based silence: Connecting learners through guided inquiry. New York: Teachers College Press.

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