Harriet Tubman Mini Lessons

8/2/2019 Harriet Tubman Mini Lessons

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Lesson Plan: Interactive Read-Aloud

Grade: 5

Time: 15 minutes

Standards:

SL.5.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, andteacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others ideas and

expressing their own clearly.

Objective: The student will listen as the teacher reads aloud, stopping to make connections to their own

life and predictions about what will happen next.

Materials:The Story of Harriet Tubman by Kate McMullan

Lesson Sequence:

Before Reading:

-Boys and girls, today I am going to begin reading a brand new book that I think is very interesting.

March is womens history month and we are learning about slavery in social studies, so we are going to

be reading a book about Harriet Tubman. Today we are just going to read one chapter. I want you to

look at the cover and tell me what you see. Based on these observations, what do you think the book

will be about? Can you make any predictions?

-Allow students to make predictions.

-Very good observations. You are right that Harriet looks as though she is hiding from people. I

wonder if she will get caught. Lets start reading to find out. While I am reading the book I want you to

determine if the predictions you made are correct. If as I am reading you feel as though the prediction

you made is incorrect, you can make a new prediction. Predictions are never wrong; because they are

what you think may occur in the story. Raise your hand while I am reading if you think one of your

predictions is being confirmed.

During Reading:

-The main character Harriet keeps talking about freedom and how it is always on her mind. What

does the term freedom mean to you?

-Harriet was just told that she is going to be sold to a different owner. Can anyone make predictions

about what they think Harriet will do based on what we already read?

-Harriets first attempt to escape towards freedom did not go well. She is now making another attempt

towards freedom. Do you think Harriets view of freedom is different than yours? Does freedom mean

more to her than it does to you? Turn and talk with a partner.


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After Reading:

-The chapter ended with Harriet talking to the Quaker woman about that Underground Railroad. I

want everyone to turn to their reading partner and make predictions about what will happen when

Harriet starts her journey.

-After two or three minutes, have students share their predictions. Write them on a piece of chart

paper so that when we read the next time we can see if our predictions were confirmed or denied.

Assessment: I will know if the students are successful if they can connect the idea of freedom to their

own life and if they are able to make predictions about the main character based on clues in the story.

Lesson Plan: Reading Mini Lesson

Grade: 5


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Time: 20 minutes

Standard:RI.5.2. Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by keydetails; summarize the text.

Objective: Students will be able to locate main ideas in a piece of literature and find supporting detailsto back up the main idea.

Materials:

The Story of Harriet Tubman by Kate McMullan Chart Paper Powerpoint with sample text

Lesson Sequence:

1. Lesson Introduction/ Anticipatory Set Boys and girls, remember the other day we read the first chapter in a book called The

Story of Harriet Tubman. Can anyone tell me what the chapter was about? Yes, it wasabout a slave name Harriet trying to escapes. Great Job remembering!

2. State Objectives and Purpose Today, we are going to learn about main idea. Main idea is important because it tells

you the overall idea of a paragraph or selection of text.

3. Teach and Model Being able to identify the main idea in a piece of literature is an important reading skill

because it helps you comprehend what you are reading. The main idea is the key

concept being expressed in a piece of writing.

The main idea is backed up by what is known as supporting details. The details can bebig or small and support the main idea by telling things like: how, what, when, where,

why, how much, or how many Here is a very simple example of a short paragraph I wrote about a boy named John. Have this example on a powerpoint slide: John loves to play games. His favorite game is

chess because it requires a great deal of thought. John also likes to play less demanding

board games that are based mostly on luck. He prefers Monopoly because it requires

luck and skill. If hes alone, John likes to play action video games as long as they arent

too violent.

Now I need to think about what the main idea of the paragraph would be. Lets see isit about John not liking violent games, about John playing games, or about John playing

thinking games. I think it is about how John likes to play games.

I could underline the main idea and highlight the supporting details, so I have a visualfor myself.

Have the example on a powerpoint slide. John loves to play games. His favorite game ischess because it requires a great deal of thought. John also likes to play less demanding

board games that are based mostly on luck. He prefers Monopoly because it requires

luck and skill. If hes alone, John likes to play action video games as long as they arent

too violent.

4. Guided Practice


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Now lets work on finding the main idea in the chapter we read about HarrietTubman.

On this chart paper I am going to write down any ideas you have about the main ideaof the chapter and then we will just focus on one to save time.

The following would be some ideas: the idea of freedom, Harriets escape, Being soldinto slavery, The Quaker woman helping Harriet

These are some great ideas! I think the main focus of the chapter is Freedom, so letsfind some supporting details. However, another good main idea that would have

supporting details would be Harriets attempts to escape.

Circle freedom on chart paper, then put bullets bellow with students supporting details,some ideas: Harriet goes to a lawyer to see if she can find something in the record book

to set her free, The Quaker woman tries to help set Harriet free, Harriet tries to escape

with her brothers but is unsuccessful

I think you now have the idea of what a main idea and supporting details are, welooked at finding the main idea of a paragraph and a chapter of text but you could also

find a main idea in an entire book and find supporting details for it.

5. Independent Practice/Assessment Boys and girls, today when you are reading your independent novel I want you to write

on a post-it note a main idea from what you read and at least three supporting details.

If you finish your book today than work on finding a main idea for the whole book or if

you finish reading a chapter today than try to locate the main idea and supporting

details for just that chapter.

6. Closure What is main idea? What are some of the things the supporting details tell you about the main idea?

7. How will you know the lesson has been successful? You will be able to determine if the lesson has been successful if students are able to

locate the main idea and at least three supporting details from either a chapter or their

entire independent novel.

Lesson Plan: Writing Mini-Lesson


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Grade: 5

Time: 15 minutes

Standard: W.5.8. Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print

and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list

of sources.

Objective: Students will be able to paraphrase a piece of previously read literature in order to

demonstrate their comprehension of the text.

Materials:

The Story of Harriet Tubman by Kate McMullan Paraphrasing chart paper Powerpoint slide with examples of paraphrasing Copied page of text

Lesson Sequence:1. Lesson Introduction/Anticipatory Set

Boys and girls, remember the other day we read the first chapter in a book calledTheStory of Harriet Tubman. Can anyone tell me what reading skill we talked about that

went along with the story? Yes, main idea and supporting details. Great Job

remembering!

2. State Objective and Purpose Today, we are going to work on paraphrasing pieces of the chapter to see if you

comprehended what was taking place while reading. Paraphrasing is a useful strategy

to be sure that you understood what you were reading or if something is important for

you to remember. When you paraphrase a text it is also very important that you put it

in the right sequence.3. Teach and Model

Have chart paper labeled Paraphrasingi. The following should already be listed to save time:

1. Means putting what you have read into words2. Steps: read something, think about what it means, reinstate in own

words

3. Helps to make sure you understood what you were reading4. If you cannot paraphrase after reading go back and reread

This chart describes what paraphrasing is, how to do it, and why it is important. Now that we know what paraphrasing is and why we use it, lets practice doing it. On our last social studies test there was information about the twenties and the

drinking law. Here is a paragraph about the twenties. Show on a powerpoint slide the

following paragraph:

i. The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the lawwas a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had.

They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police

seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while

jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong,

and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the


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twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps

more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past.

ii. Okay, now that I have read this I need to think about how to put it in my ownwords. This will help me to know that I understood it and it will help me to

remember the information later. I need to talk about crime, liquor sales, the

transition to jazz music, and what a flapper was.

iii. In order to save time I already paraphrased the paragraph. As you can see Idid not name all the jazz musicians and I compacted a lot of the sentences into

the most important details. Show powerpoint slide with the following:

During the twenties lawlessness and social nonconformity prevailed. In cities

organized crime flourished without police interference, and in spite of

nationwide prohibition of liquor sales, anyone who wished to buy a drink knew

where to get one. Musicians like Louis Armstrong become favorites, particularly

among young people, as many turned away from highly respectable classical

music to jazz. One of the best examples of the anti-traditional trend was the

proliferation of young "flappers," women who rebelled against custom by

cutting off their hair and shortening their skirts.

4. Guided Practice I am going to pass out a copy of the page where Harriet is first trying to escape to each

of you and I want each of you to work with your writing partner to paraphrase the text.

After a few minutes we will go over what everyone thought was important.

Give students a few minutes to read the text and then go over what the students foundto be important.

Okay can someone tell me what their thought process was when they started toparaphrase? (we thought about how we could put it in our own words, what was most

important to understanding the story, etc.)

What were the important ideas to put into your paraphrased paragraph? (Harriet wasgoing to be traded with her three brothers so they decided to escape at night, her

brothers became frightened and did not want to continue the journey, Harriet wantedto continue North alone but her brothers forced her to go back to the plantation)

5. Independent Practice/Assessment Boys and girls, today when you are reading your independent novel I want you to

paraphrase for me what you read. I will let you know when we have 5 minutes left in

independent reading time, so that you have time to paraphrase what you read.

6. Closure What is paraphrasing? What are the steps to paraphrasing? What is the purpose of paraphrasing?

7. How will you know the lesson has been successful? You will be able to determine if the lesson has been successful if students are able toparaphrase a piece of text they have read.

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Harriet Tubman Mini Lessons