AmericanStoriesTheDiamondLens

byFitz-JamesO'Brien

LessonPlanbyJillRobbins,Ph.D.

ThislessonplanistoaccompanytheAmericanStoriesseriesepisode,TheDiamondLensbyFitz-JamesO'Brien.

Atranscriptofthestoryisincludedattheendofthislessontoprintsostudentscanreadastheylisten.Teacherswhocannotplaytheaudiofromthewebsitecanreadthestoryaloudorhavestudentsreadit.

ThislessonplanisbasedontheCALLAApproach.SeetheendofthelessonformoreinformationandresourcesonteachingwiththeCALLAapproach.Thefollowingslideshowsthefivepartsofthislessonplan.

Introduction

LessonElements

PreparePresentPractice

Self-EvaluateExpand

Teachvocabularyandnewconcepts

Prepare

Introducethestory.“TodaywewillreadTheDiamondLensbyFitz-JamesO'Brien.Itisastoryaboutamanwholovesmicroscopes.Haveyoueverlookedinamicroscope?Whatcanyouseewhenyoulookinone?

Listentostudents’answers.Dependingontheexperiencesofyourstudents,somemaynothavetakenascienceclassorlearnedaboutmicroscopes.Youcanshowapictureofwhatisseenthroughamicroscopesuchastheimageonthefollowingslide.

Teachthevocabularyforthestoryshownontheslideafterthenextone.

Seawaterunderamicroscope

Vocabulary

microscope – n.adeviceusedtomakeverysmallthingslooklarger

sotheycanbestudied

lens - n. aclearcurvedpieceofglassorplasticthatisusedtomake

thingslookclearer,smaller,orbigger

magnify- v.tomake(something)appearlarger

ignorant - adj. lackingknowledgeorinformation

enormous- adj. verygreatinsizeoramount

Present

Introducethetasktostudents:“Aswereadthestorytoday,wewillpracticethestrategypredicttohelpusunderstandthestory.I’mgoingtobeginreadingandpredictorguesswhatwillhappennextinthestory.I’llshowyouhowtodothis.”

Playorreadaloudto“IdecidedtostudymedicineinNewYork.”

Modelthestrategy:“Thefirstpartofthestorydescribesthemaincharacter.Welearnthatheisveryinterestedinlookingatthingsthroughamicroscope.Hesaysheisgoingtostudymedicine.IamgoingtopredictwhatIthinkwillhappennext.Ithinkthathewilldiscoversomeimportantmedicalfactsfromlookinginamicroscope.”

Explainthetaskandmodelthelearningstrategy

Makeachartliketheoneonthenextslide.Tellthestudentsthatthestorygivesushintsaboutwhatwillhappen.Tostayengagedwiththestory(youmaysay“interested”or“involved”ifyoulike)wecanpredictwhatwillhappen,basedonthefactsofthestory.

Tellstudents,“Forexample,inthefirstparagraph,weread,“cloudsthatsurroundedmydailyliferolledaway.Isawauniverseoftinylivingcreaturesinadropofwater.Dayafterday,nightafternight,Istudiedlifeundermymicroscope.”Wecanpredictfromthisthatthemaincharacterwilltrytocontinueusingamicroscope.Wecanguessthatitmakeshimhappierthananythingelsefromthepartaboutthecloudsrollingaway.”

PredictEvents

Whatthestorytellsme WhatIpredictwillhappen

Dayafterday…Istudiedlife Hewillkeepusingamicroscope

Idecidedtospendmylifestudyingthemicroscope.

Thisconfirmsourfirstguess.Ipredicthewillstudyscience.

IdecidedtostudymedicineinNewYork.

Ipredicthewilldowellasamedicalstudent

Allowstudentstopracticethestrategywiththestory

Practice

Preparestudentsforthenextpart,“Nowit’syourturn.Let’slistentosomemoreofthestory.Aswelisten,thinkaboutwhatwillhappennextinthestory.Usethefactsyoulearnbyreadingorlistening.Takeoutapieceofpaper.Writeachartlistingwhatyoupredict.”

Playorreadaloudto“Also,Ihadspentalotofmoneyonmyexperiments.”

Havestudentssitwithaclassmateandsharetheirnotesandpredictions.Tellthemtosharewiththeirclassmatewhattheythinkwillhappennext.Pointoutthatitdoesn’tmatterwhethertheirpredictionactuallyhappensinthestory.What’simportantisthinkingaboutwhatmighthappen.Ithelpsustofocusasweread.

Givestudentstimetodiscusstheirpredictions.

Askseveralstudentstoshareandwritepredictionsontheboardorscreenasonthefollowingslide.

Allowstudentstopracticethestrategywiththestory

PredictEvents

Whatthestorytellsme WhatIpredictwillhappen

…myfamilywouldneverknowIwasn’tattendinganyclasses

Ipredicthisfamilywillfindouthe’snotgoingtoclasses

Ialsohadbecomemoreandmoreunhappy.

Itwillbedifficultforhimtofindhappiness

IimaginedtherewerestillsecretsinNaturethatthe

limitedpowerofmyequipmentpreventedme

fromknowing.

Heisnotgoingtobesatisfiednomatterwhathesees

Askstudentstolistenagain.“Aswereadtherestofthispartofstory,thinkaboutwhatwillhappennext.We’llhavetowaituntilthenextclasstoreadthesecondhalfofthestory.Sobesuretowriteyourpredictionscarefullysoyouremembertheminthatclass.”

Playorreadaloudtotheendofthestory.

Askstudentstowritetheirpredictionsandsharethemwiththeirclassmate.Continuetowriteonachartasshownonthenextslide.

Allowstudentstopracticethestrategywiththestory

PredictEvents

Whatthestorytellsme WhatIpredictwillhappen

Findadiamondofonehundredandfortycarats

Hewilltrytofindthediamond

Youwon’tgetmytreasure! Simonhasalargediamond

IbelievedthatIknewSimon’ssecret.

HeisgoingtotakeSimon’sdiamond

Askstudentstoevaluateforthemselveswhetherthestrategyhelpedthem

Self-Evaluate

Askstudentstostaywiththeirpartnerandaskeachother, “Whatdoyouthinkaboutthemaincharacterofthisstory?Whatdoyouunderstandabouthispersonality?”

Givestudentstimetotalkaboutthemaincharacter.Explainthatinordertopredictwhatthemaincharacterwilldo,theyhaveneededtounderstandwhatthewriteristellingusabouthispersonality.

Ask,“NowI’dliketoask– whatdoyouthinkaboutusingthisstrategy,predict,whenyouread?Didithelpyouunderstandthemaincharacter?Writeasentenceortwoonyourpapertoturninabouthowpredictinghelpedyoutoday.”

Expand

Askstudents,“Arethereothertimeswhenyoucanpredictbasedonwhatyouknow?”

Listentostudents’responses.

Continue,“Thisstrategyishelpfulinbothreadingandlistening.Predictinghelpsyoufocusoninformationyougetfromthestory.Predictingcanhelpinotherschoolsubjects,too.Inmathematicswecallitestimating.Insciencewecallitmakinganhypothesis.Tryusingthisstrategytonightwhenyoudoyourhomework,orinyournextclass.Letmeknowhowitgoes!”

Ask studentsusethestrategyinothercontexts

AbouttheCALLAApproachTheCognitiveAcademicLanguageLearningApproach(CALLA)isaninstructionalmodelforsecondandforeignlanguagelearnersbasedoncognitivetheoryandresearch.

CALLAintegratesinstructioninprioritytopicsfromthecontentcurriculum,developmentofthelanguageskillsneededforlearninginschool,andexplicitinstructioninusinglearningstrategiesforacademictasks.

ThegoalsofCALLAareforstudentstolearnessentialacademiccontentandlanguageandtobecomeindependentandself-regulatedlearnersthroughtheirincreasingcommandoveravarietyofstrategiesforlearninginschool.CALLAcanbeusedinESL,EFL,bilingual,foreignlanguage,andgeneraleducation

classrooms.

CALLAwasdevelopedbyAnnaUhlChamotandJ.MichaelO'Malley,andisbeingimplementedinapproximately30schooldistrictsintheUnitedStatesaswellasinseveralothercountries.

Seealistoflanguagelearningstrategiesbelow.

MetacognitiveStrategies

Task-BasedStrategies

Task-BasedStrategies

Task-BasedStrategies

Task-BasedStrategies

Task-BasedStrategies