Analysis
The important writing concepts students will learn in this unit is how to utilize
comprehension and how to draw inferences. In Digging Deeper: understanding comprehension
using Thank You, Mr. Falker students will learn how to draw inferences by asking and answering
questions before, during and after reading. In day one students will use personal experiences to
model the comprehension strategy to see if their before inferences were right. The second day
students do the beginning, middle and end chart to practice character development and to help
the students understand the text better. By making the Character Change Continuum Chart,
students understood how to comprehend the text by thinking how Trisha’s character changed
from the beginning of the story to the end. Also, they explained how the character developed
throughout the story. The third day students focused on making themes and how they could
connect that to their own life, which is making personal connections.
In Let’s Read It Again: Comprehension Strategies for English Language Learners,
students will learn how to make comprehension strategies by learning new vocabulary to make
an acrostic poem. In day one the teacher read the story Con Mi Hermano/With My brother in
both English and Spanish. The teacher had the students pay attention to the everyday experiences
of the boy because they would be re-telling the story the next day. The teacher also told them to
pay attention to the main idea of the story. On the second day, student will work on the Concept
Web worksheet by placing pictures around the main idea, which things the little boy likes to do
with his brother. They would also practice their Spanish and English vocabulary by describing
the pictures in one word. This would help them in creating the acrostic poem on day four. On the
third day, students worked on creating a spanish-english dictionary that they learned the previous
day to learn new words. On the fourth day students will learn what an acrostic poem is and they
will learn how to create one of their own by using the vocabulary they put on their spanish-
english dictionaries. On the fifth day students will re-read the story to a partner and create a
stapleless book. Afterwards, they will write one sentence on each page of the book retelling the
events of the story in English.
In Family Ties: Making Connections to Improve Reading Comprehension students are
learning to make connection to text to self, text to text and text to world. In day one the teacher
works on activating students prior knowledge on their families. The teacher reads the text “Big
Mommas” and after reading the book the teacher will ask different questions that focuses on text
to self, text to text and text to world. On the second day the teacher reads the wordless book “The
Snowy Day”. The teacher will make a Making Connections poster which describes the three
types of connections. The teacher will model a personal connection with the book The Snowy
Day by writing it on a sticky note and putting it under what connection it is. Then the teacher
read a new book titled, The Relatives Came and the student made connections to it, just as the
teacher modeled, with a partner. On day three student use the Planning Web to organize the story
and to make connections to The Relative Came book. On day four the teacher gathers the
students to share their connections. On day five they review why it is important to make the three
connections when reading a book.
The relevant content students should have learned prior to this unit is how to make
predictions and how to activate background knowledge when reading and writing. This content
will help students later on by synthesizing new information to create a new understanding and
evaluate new details to determine main ideas.We focused on how to help English Language
Learners by pairing them with native English speakers. All the lessons can be modified to meet
the diverse needs of the students. 28.4 % of the students at EC Mason are ELLs and 55.6% of
students are economically disadvantaged. Our unit accommodates to the needs of ELLs and all
the materials needed are provided for the students. E C Mason Elementary provides the
communities in schools program that gives students the materials they need to succeed. They do
buddy backpacks, provide food, and clothes to meet the first level of Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs. They also provide emotional support through counseling and mentor programs for the
students in need of these services.
