DIFFERENTIATED LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE
Teacher Candidate: Britannia Brascom
Grade Level: 4th grade
Date: 03/05/2022
Unit/Subject: Written Expression
Instructional Plan Title
I. PLANNING
Lesson summary and Students will write opinion pieces where they will in Students will
focus: (Central focus: continue their informational writing project by organizing the information
content/skills)
they gathered through research. They will use a graphic organizer to
organize their ideas and sort their research notes into meaningful sections.
Classroom and student
factors Demographics Dyslexia
and environment: Partially blind student
General education,
Resource, self-
contained, IEPs, 504s,
ELLs, non-labeled
challenged students
National / State plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for a particular topic, purpose,
Learning Standards: and audience using a range of strategies such as discussion, background reading,
TEKS
and personal interests.
(B) develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing by:
(i) organizing with purposeful structure, including an introduction, transitions,
coherence within and across paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Specific learning target(s) / objectives: Teaching notes/ unit of study:
(standards-based).
Students will be able to write a simple story
about one topic. Students will be able to sort and
organize their research notes for their informational
essay.
Agenda: Formative assessment:
1. opening of the lesson; Circulate during the guided practice and independent
2. learning and teaching activities; working portions of the lesson to evaluate student
3. closure understanding of how to organize their information.
4. duration After students have had enough time to complete it, review
. each individual’s Graphic Organizer: Informational Writing
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worksheet. Evaluate their main idea, supporting points, and
concluding statement, and determine next steps in supporting
revisions.
Academic Language: Key vocabulary: Function of activity: Form of activity:
Informational essay content-specific terms
research They will use a graphic
organize organizer to organize their Writing activity
ideas and sort their research
information
notes into meaningful
independently sections.
structure
Instructional Materials, Class set and teacher copy of the Graphic Organizer: Informational Writing worksheet
Equipment and Completed teacher and student copies of the Research Graphic Organizer: Note-Taking
Technology: worksheets
Index cards, each with a piece of information from the teacher copy of the Research
Graphic Organizer: Note-Taking worksheet
Index cards or sticky notes (5-10 per student)
Grouping strategy: Working with a peer when sharing writing essay progress
II. INSTRUCTION
A. Opening
Prior knowledge .
connection:
Anticipatory set: Introduce the general structure of an informational essay:
An introduction paragraph that includes a thesis statement, a sentence that summarizes the
main point or claim in the essay
Three body paragraphs, one for each supporting point
A concluding paragraph that restates the thesis and wraps up the essay
B. Learning and Teaching Activities (Teaching and Guided Practice):
I Do Students Do Differentiation
. Explain that today’s exercise will Have students take out their completed Have students start filling in
build upon the final two questions on Research Graphic Organizer: Note- their Graphic Organizer:
the Research Graphic Organizer: Taking worksheet and explain that they Informational Writing worksheet
Note-Taking worksheet. Display the are going to sort their research into
worksheet to guide the conversation. categories.
How will you organize your Give each individual three sticky notes
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information in an essay format? and 5-10 index cards.
Explain that once they have done Instruct students to identify themes in
enough initial research for their topic, their notes, and use those to come up with
they should see some common three categories that will be the
patterns and themes across their supporting points. Students should write
sources. They should use these these categories on the sticky notes.
themes to help them come up with
the main idea of their essay. Later, Instruct students to write each important
they will use this main idea to write a detail from their research on an index
thesis statement. card. Have them begin sorting these
Give an example of a main idea. If details into the relevant categories. These
using the “How does pollution affect will be the pieces of evidence for those
the ocean?” research question, share supporting points.
that the main idea is that pollution Circulate and provide support for students
negatively impacts marine animals as they work through this activity.
and their environment. Explain that
the next step is to organize the details Gather the class back together, and hold a
from their research into focused short discussion about the impact of this
paragraphs. sorting activity on the writing process.
Turn their attention to the first page Distribute a copy of the Graphic
of the Research Graphic Organizer: Organizer: Informational Writing
Note-Taking worksheet that contains worksheet to each individual, and review
your research notes. Point out that the components. Make the connection to
you can identify some common the sorting activity and remind students
themes throughout the notes, and that the sticky notes represent the
those themes highlight important supporting points and the index cards
points you can include in your essay. represent the evidence.
For example, say, “I notice that I
found a lot of information about
marine animals mistakenly eating
trash, so that information could form
one of my supporting paragraphs. I
also found a good amount of
information about garbage patches in
oceans, as well as chemical run-off
causing the growth of toxic plants.”
Use sticky notes to come up with
three categories, and jot down a word
or phrase on each sticky note to serve
as a category label (e.g., animals
accidentally consume trash, debris in
the water creates garbage patches,
chemicals cause the growth of toxic
plants). Reiterate that these
categories were developed because of
the common themes from the
research notes, and now the specific
notes can be sorted into the
categories to serve as the evidence.
Explain that for today’s exercise in
organization, each piece of
information from the example note-
taking graphic organizer has been
written on an index card. The goal is
to sort the index cards by placing
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them in the corresponding category.
Place the three sticky notes on the
board and model thinking aloud
about how you will organize your
research notes into the categories.
Invite volunteers to help you sort the
notes. For example:
Evidence: Chemicals from fertilizers
used in our yards or farms end up in
the water.
Supporting point category:
Chemicals cause the growth of toxic
plants.
Acknowledge that some information
that was gathered while researching
might not fit into the three
established categories. Explain that,
while this information is relevant to
the broader topic and research
question, it is not relevant to the
focus of the supporting points in this
informational essay, and it will not
be included.
Show the class how to jot down
information on the teacher copy of
the Graphic Organizer: Informational
Essay worksheet to reflect the sorting
activity. For example, the supporting
points for the example research
question might be:
animals mistakenly consume litter
debris creates large concentrations of
trash (garbage patches)
chemical run-off contaminates water,
promotes the growth of toxic plants
Remind the class that, while this
graphic organizer does not require
complete sentences, it does require
complete thoughts.
III. ASSESSMENT
Summative Challenge advanced writers to adjust their research question to Differentiation of assessment:
Assessment support a different nonfiction text structure, such as
linked to compare/contrast, problem/solution, or cause/effect. Ask them to Teach a pre-lesson about main
objestives: think about how their word choice and organization would change. ideas and supporting details so
students are prepared to pick out
three supporting points for their
essay.
Have students work in a small,
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teacher-led group during the
guided practice portion of the
lesson. Provide frequent
feedback and guidance to
support their organization.
Closure:
Ask students to pair with a peer and prompt them to each share their progress and next steps.
Preview the next lesson by telling students that they will use their graphic organizers as a foundation
for building their essay with an outline.
Homework:
No homework
.
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