Teaching Literacy Strategies for Content Area Reading Lesson Plan

Your Name: Hope Mounie Grade Level: 4th grade

Content Area: Virginia Studies Theme/Topic: Civil War

Bibliographic Entry for Text Used in this Lesson

Abraham Lincoln Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved July 02, 2017, from

http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/abraham-lincoln-quotes.html

Manning, C. (2007). As the u.s. grew, the north-south dispute over slavery led to civil
war. Retrieved July 02, 2017, from https://newsela.com/articles/gl-history-
road-to-civil-war/id/30522/

Name of Technique Reference for Technique (book & page # or website)

Before Quote of the Week / Stephens, E. C. & Brown, J.E. A Handbook of Content Literacy
Strategies, 2nd ed. ( Page 66)
Vocabulary
els, H. & Zemelman, S. Subjects Matter. (Chapter 5)
Predictions
During Partner Reading els, H. & Zemelman, S. Subjects Matter. (Chapter 5)
After Turn and Talk/ els, H. & Zemelman, S. Subjects Matter. (Chapter 5)
QAR http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/question_answer_relationship

Before Reading:

Purpose?
The purpose of both of these BDA strategies are to engage the students and provide them with background
information, Students will discover the content on their own by interpreting and predicting vocabulary
and quotes during this time in history.
*The students will read and interpret a quote from the civil war time period with 90% accuracy.
 A quote from someone during this time period will really engage the students on the content.
They are also allowed to voice their views and opinions. It is a great way to open a discussion
and a great preview for the material. Once they predict and talk about the content will be more
familiar with them before they read. Students will also be able to ask questions.
*The students will understand vocabulary in the text by predicting the meanings of the words with 100%
accuracy.
 Predicting selecting a view vocabulary words that are key or unfamiliar to students will benefit
them as they are reading. As they are reading they will not stumble upon them and be familiar
with the words in the context that it is being used. Predicting the meaning of the words gets
students thinking about the vocabulary before they read it.
General Literacy Objectives

The students will dive deep into a quote from the civil war time period. They will be able to
interpret it from themselves. Students will use their writing skills to predict the meaning for the quotes
and the message it is trying to get across including the mood and whom they believe wrote it. Through
out the week students can add to the quote once they learn new material. Every day we will have a
discussion on what they believe the quote is related too and students will develop social skills by sharing
with the class. At the end of the week the teacher will read the quote and revel the author. Students will
use their context clues, differencing and making predictions skill to help solve the mystery.
The students will become familiar with vocabulary that is being used in the text by preview it
before they read the passage. This is a great way for students to help comprehend what they are reading.
Especially since this material is nonfiction and new to them. It gets them actively engaged an it triggers
prior knowledge and students can make connections with the words. Students will also use context clues
and make predictions of what they think the words mean.

Procedure: Quote of the Week

"Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive;
and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came." –Abraham Lincoln

This quote will be written on the board for students. Students will be instruction to read the quote
and think about. They are to respond in their journals by writing a response or writing down idea
about what they believe this is say. “What do YOU think this quote is saying?” What is the message
and how can you relate?”
After students have time to write down a response the teacher will call on students to share their
interpretations of the quote. Students will read their interpretations other students will provide
feedback when the teacher says, “do we agree or disagree?” or “is there anything else to add” or “is
there something different.” The teacher will also ask question like, “What time period do we think
this is and how can we tell?” After discussion the teacher will move on and introduce the Civil War.
The teacher will also ask if anyone has ever heard of this War before and what caused it.
Next, the teacher will introduce the article the class will be reading. (The articles differentiated.)
The teacher will introduce vocabulary for the article. Words include: Democrat, Republican, Divide,
Slave, and Territory. One at a time the teacher will read each word. Then the teacher will ask who
has heard any of these words before. The teacher will have the students write down each word and
predict what the meaning of the word is. The each will call upon students to share their prediction
and then the teacher will give each definition. After, the teacher will ask students again if they can
make a connection with the words and use it in a sentence.

During Reading:

Purpose
The students will understand and follow along when reading As the U.S. Grew, the North-South Dispute
over Slavery Led to the Civil War in partners with 100% accuracy.
I am using Newsela.com for differentiated articles. I will split the students up into groups based on
reading level (guided reading groups.) From there student will receive articles that are on their Lexile level.
They will get into partners within their group. Partner reading benefits students because they are able to listen
to others read and they are able to read out loud. They get to listen to the fluency and language of other readers
and follow along. They are also able to discuss the matter and develop social skills.

General Literacy Objectives

The students will develop social skills when reading their appropriate level article. Students will track their
article when the partner is reading and the other student will read loud with expression and use
appropriate fluency.

Procedure
The students will split up into their guided reading groups. The teacher will pass out
different articles to each student in the group. The teacher will then split the group into
smaller partner groups. Before students read the article they are to label the text feature
such as the header, bold print, italics, captions and pictures. They are also to make
prediction of what they think the article will be about and underline the title. The teacher
will bring the class back together and ask what they believe the article will be about. The
class will lead a small discussion. Next, the teacher will instruct students to highlight any of
the vocabulary terms in the article.

After Reading:

Purpose
The Students will demonstrate their understanding by leading a discussion with a peer with 100% accuracy.
 Turn and Talks are extremely important. Students are allowed to share their opinions and
understandings with their partner and they share what they learned. During the discussion
students are allowed bounce idea off one another and talk about the content. Students learn
better when they can talk about it. It helps students comprehend when they can explain it.
The students will demonstrate their understanding by completing a QAR with their partner with 90% accuracy.
 QAR’s are a great way for students to demonstrate what they learned during the reading by not
just reciting fact but also implementing critical thinking skills. The teacher will give set
questions to the partners and they will turn it in as a grade. QAR helps students think about the
text they read and improve comprehension. Students have to think critically and think about the
content.

General Literacy Objectives The students will be able to use their critical thinking skills to dissect an article
and elaborate on answers. The questions start basic and the answer is obvious and then the questions
become more abstract and force students to think about it and use their judgment. Students will also
develop their social skills and learn from sharing their perspective of the article and what they thought
about it. A huge part of literacy is being able to share what you read. When students can share they
comprehend the text.
Assessment of Objectives
Though out the lesson, the teacher will use discussions to measure to see if students understand the concept.
The teacher will take into consideration student’s responses to the questions. The final assessment will be the
QAR questions as an exit ticket. The teacher will monitor all discussions and answer questions that students
have.
QAR Questions:
1. Who was part of the Civil War? What sides?
2. What caused the Civil War?
3. What is the main idea of this article?
4. What could have people done instead of using slaves for labor?

Procedure
After the students finish reading the articles the students will get back into their bigger
groups and discuss what they learned from the article in a turn and talk. The teacher will
instruct the groups to write down at least three questions, concerns, or findings they wish
to share with the class. The teacher will read over the lower article to the class and call
upon students to share their thoughts. The teacher will then go into detail about the Civil
War. After students are to get back into the partners they were in and fill out the QAR sheet.
The QAR sheet will show the teacher what the students learned from the article and if they
understand the topic and the article they read.

Additional Sections

Other Materials Needed: Abraham Lincoln Quote

Adaptations Gifted students will receive the higher level Lexile level article. I will provide them an extend assignment
where they will come up with their own QAR questions and then exchange them with someone else in their group.

Assessment Charts Students answer fully and use appropriate answers for each of the questions.
1. Who was part of the Civil War? What sides?
2. What caused the Civil War?
3. What is the main idea of this article?
4. What could have people done instead of using slaves for labor?
Question 3 2 1 0
Question 1 The student The student The student did No answer
answered the partially not answer the
question answered the question
completely. question. appropriately
Information was but put in effort
in the text
Question 2 The student The student The student did No answer
answered the partially not answer the
question answered the question
completely. question. appropriately
but put in effort
Question 3 The student The student The student did No answer
answered the partially not answer the
question answered the question
completely. question. appropriately
Student but put in effort
provided
evidence for
answer.
Question 4 The student The student The student did No answer
answered the partially not answer the
question answered the question
completely and question. appropriately
backs up opinion but put in effort
with reasoning
from text.

5th Grade Level

Slavery grows, some whites get rich
The country certainly had religious, ethnic and social differences within itself. These differences could
be found in both the North and the South. Yet, when war came in 1861, it drew a hard line between
Northern states and Southern states. The biggest difference between these two parts of the country
was slavery. How did slavery become the problem that would split the nation in two?
Conflict began with the growth of slavery itself. In a very short time, the number of slaves exploded
from 800,000 to 4,000,000. The Southern states were very wealthy because of slave labor. In the
North, many people benefited from crops and goods produced by slaves. White Americans across the
country relied on slavery for their wealth and comfort. Rather than face the problem, they preferred
not to talk about it.
Should new U.S. territories have slaves?
The attitude changed when the United States began to expand to the west. Settlers moved into new
land west of the Appalachian Mountains, which eventually became part of the United States. The land
was divided into different regions known as territories. People were forced to debate whether slavery
should be allowed there. During the 1850s, white Northerners and Southerners came to great
disagreement over the issue. Pro-slavery forces seemed to be gaining the upper hand. The spread of
slavery looked as though it would be almost impossible to stop.
The growing power of the Southern states worried people in the North. This gave rise to a new
political group called the Republican Party. Republicans worried that Southerners were trying to take
over the federal government and spread slavery. One person who shared these ideas was Abraham
Lincoln, a leading member of the Republican Party.

3rd Grade Level (LOWEST)

Slavery: just another issue?
Slavery was not allowed in the North. In the South, slaves were very important. Slavery helped some
farmers become very rich. For years, most people in the North did not argue about slavery. Factory
owners in the North bought cotton from slave owners in the South. People around the country
disagreed about different issues. They looked at slavery as just one issue. There was little interest in
fighting about it.
This began to change as slavery grew and the country expanded. In the early 1800s, people were
starting to move west. They were settling on the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. This land
was divided into different areas known as territories. Americans had to decide if slavery should be
allowed there. Northerners did not want to allow slavery in the new territories. The Southerners did.
For a while, the Southerners seemed more powerful. It looked like slavery was going to spread to the
territories.
Slavery grows quickly
At the same time, there were many more slaves in the country. Once, there had been less than 1
million slaves. Now there were more than 4 million. Slave owners were making lots of money. They
wanted even more slaves.
This worried people in the North. They were afraid the South was becoming too strong. An anti-
slavery movement was growing and eventually some Northerners started their own political group
called the Republican Party. The Republican Party wanted to stop the spread of slavery. One of the
group's leaders was Abraham Lincoln.

Gifted High Level 6th Grade

Slavery? Just don't talk about it
The period leading up to the Civil War is known as antebellum. For most of this era, differences
between the North and South were not hostile. Legal slavery existed only in the Southern states, but
whites in both the North and South shared beliefs of white supremacy. They also shared a reluctance
to discuss the slavery question. There were bitter conflicts over business, political parties and religion.
But these conflicts divided Americans along religious, ethnic and social lines, not strictly between
North and South.
This period of U.S. history has often been told as the South always advocating for state's rights, and
the North fighting for a stronger federal government. This was not always the case, however. People in
Wisconsin and Vermont fought for state power, while Mississippians demanded a stronger federal
government. Members of the Democratic Party from Maine to Louisiana railed against economic
measures like a National Bank. Meanwhile, members of the Whig Party protested the actions leading
to the Mexican-American War. Methodists in Georgia felt closer to Methodists in New York than to
their Roman-Catholic neighbors. Yet when war came in 1861, it pitted the North against the South.
The chief difference between these two sections of the country was slavery. How did slavery, of all the
points of conflict, become the issue that would split the nation in two?
Slavery grows: What about the new territories?
One aspect that increased the conflict between the North and South was the growth of slavery itself.
In just two generations, the number of slaves exploded from 800,000 to 4,000,000. Most worked on
farms, but slaves were also employed in factories and mines. The enormous wealth of the Southern
states depended on slave labor. In the North, many people benefited from crops and goods produced
by slaves. As a result, white Americans across the country were too dependent on slavery to want to
talk about it.
This changed as the United States began to expand to the west. Settlers moved into new land west of
the Appalachian Mountains, which became part of the United States. People were forced to debate
whether slavery should be allowed in the new territories. As the 1850s progressed, white Northerners
and Southerners came to great disagreement over the issue. However, pro-slavery forces seemed to be
gaining the upper hand. The spread of slavery looked as though it would be almost impossible to stop.