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A WebQuest for 4th Grade (Reading & Writing)
Planned & Designed by:Mr. Sean-Michael Pfeiffer
Based on a template from The WebQuest Page
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Students, in this assignment, I will be asking you to re-construct/revise one of two very simple sentences in order to make it more descriptive, beefy, and most of all, fun. You will be guided by an activity/handout I have created that contains a Thesaurus Word Box. Your goal is to take very basic words in the sentence (the words underlined), remove them, and replace them with more “Amazing Words” or descriptive language to make the sentence not only new, but more fluid and interesting.
Use your critical thinking skills as well as the online thesaurus link I will give you http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quick to not only look up synonyms and anonyms for your removed ‘simple word’ but their replacements as well. You will notice that words are provided for you to look up and research the meaning. Remember…just because you might find a word that means the same (ex. Quick=expeditious, alacritous, or prompt), doesn’t mean the word will read well or flow in the sentence. Keep on discovering new, “Amazing Words” by plugging each into your thesaurus web link as well as back into your sentence. The worksheet should guide you through the rest. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them now or see me privately once we get started.
After completing the assignment…please evaluate the following question in a few sentences. Now that your new sentence has been constructed, do you feel as if your sentence has more meaning behind it, is more interesting to read and speak aloud, and most of all, more fun? How did using a thesaurus to find new words and new word meaning help you? That is, pick an interesting “Amazing Word” that you used and have never heard before today, and tell me why you used it and found it so interesting.
Worksheet
WS Cont.
Word Box
Student Page
Introduction
Task
Process
Evaluation
Conclusion
Credits
[Teacher Page]
I am asking students to re-construct/revise a very simple sentence in order to make it more descriptive, beefy, and most of all, fun. The students will use a Thesaurus Word Box provided, to replace basic words with more meaningful, descriptive words. They will see after the new sentence is constructed, how much better a sentence can be with the use of descriptive language. I will use Georgia Heard’s: The Revision Toolbox, from Creating Writing Through 6-Trait Writing and more specifically the introduction of Chapter 1: “Word Awareness (pg 10-11).”
After completing the assignment…students will evaluate the following questions in a few constructive sentences. Once their new sentence has been constructed, I want them to feel as if their new or revised sentence has more meaning behind it, is more interesting to read and speak aloud, and most of all, is more fun? I want the students to reflect on how using an online thesaurus helped them to find new words and new word meanings. My lesson plan/assignment mentioned above (and displayed later) will allow them to construct new, more descriptive sentences as well as find the meaning behind word that mean the same but words that are “Amazing” and haven’t heard before.
The assignment involves using If the final product involves using the link provided…
http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quick as well as the worksheet I developed…Handout 1
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Sequence: Material(s)1) Handout: two sentences with underlined adverbs, adjectives, verbs, and nouns. Handout contains step-by-step instructions2) Look at and evaluate the Thesaurus Word Box at bottom of handout page.3) Use pen provided to cross out underlined word and fill in with your new word from the “Amazing Word” Thesaurus Word Box.4) We will go to the computer/writing lab. Laptops will be provided. You will need to use this link: http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quick Activity1) Choose ONE sentence and review underlined words. The underlined words are taken out and copied for you on the first few lines (depending on which sentence you chose). 2) Circle words from the Thesaurus Word Box that you best think will plug back into the sentence in which you just removed the underlined word from.3) Go back to page one and write your new word from the word box with its corresponding number on the last few lines of page one. 4) Use the lines provided on the top of page two so you can re-write your new “Beefy” sentence using more “Amazing Words,”4) Show my students a reliable, well documented source/web site(s) that is free and easy enough for students of all ages to use. Merriam-Webster.com.***Please review and follow the step-by-step instruction in the link provided to complete your assignment/handout. Link: Handout 1 Please left click on the assignment to zoom in and out.
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Minilesson Assignment: Sentence Revision- “Amazing Words”By Sean-Michael Pfeiffer
Please Choose ONE sentence from the following:
1) The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs. (Sentence uses every letter of the Alphabet if you notice) OR2) My very educated mother just taught us how to add numbers.
The underlined words in your sentence have a corresponding number. Write these words with their matching number on lines one and two. Take each number one by one and find the “Amazing Word” in the Thesaurus Word Box to replace it. Fill that word in on line three and four.
Sentence 1: underlined words1) Quick 2) Jumped 3) Lazy4) Dogs
Sentence 2: underlined words
1) Educated 2) Taught 3) Add4) Numbers
Sentence 1:1) ________________ 2) ________________ 3) ________________ 4) ________________Sentence 2:1) ________________ 2) ________________ 3) ________________ 4) ________________
Worksheet Pg. ContinuedNow, re-write your new “Beefy” sentence on the following lines provided…
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Notice the words that might work as a thesaurus alternate for the original but don’t always fit with your other, replaced, “Amazing Words.” Keep working to make the “Amazing Words” fit together in the sentence. Now, on the remaining lines, re-write your sentence, read it, and ask yourself if this sentence doesn’t sound more descriptive, fun, and beefy!!!
“Amazing Word Thesaurus Word Box on Next Page…
“Amazing Word” Thesaurus Word Boxalacritous append expeditious
tack prompt slothfulready willing literate bound
hop leap spring vault
erudite knowledgeable learned scholarly well-read school
educate indoctrinate alert instruct
numeral train tutor pooch canine doggy hound idle
digit figure integer indolent
shiftless adjoin annex affix attach
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[Teacher Page]Evaluation: 6-Point Rubric & Questionnaire
Student Name ____________________________ Sentence Being Evaluated ______________________________ Students, I will access the following in the criteria listed below. Your grade will be evaluated by me, on a 6-Point scale based on writing traits from Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Writing by Vicki Spandel (our course book). Content: Were the Directions Followed 1 2 3 4 5 6Organization: of “New Words” & Re-written Sentences 1 2 3 4 5 6Voice: How Does the New Sentence Sound Orally When Read? 1 2 3 4 5 6Sentence Fluency 1 2 3 4 5 6Word/Dialogue Choice 1 2 3 4 5 6Conventions/Personal Appeal: Answer the Questions Below? 1 2 3 4 5 6
Please continue by answering the questions below:
1) Now that your new sentence has been constructed, do you feel as if your sentence has more meaning behind it?
2) Is the sentence more interesting to you as a reader when you speak it aloud?
3) Is the sentence more fluid, interesting, and more fun than it was before?
4) How did using a thesaurus to find new words and new word meaning help you? That is, pick an interesting “Amazing Word” that you used and have never heard before today, and tell me why you used it and found it so interesting.
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My personal assessment will be based on the following: Ask students to re-write a simple sentence into one that utilizes “Amazing Words” from the thesaurus (provided) to transform the sentence into one that evokes imagination and fun through descriptive language. This will add depth and breadth to a sentence that before, looked so simple. For younger students, this exercise will ultimately enhance student’s vocabulary by asking them to acquire knowledge of not only new, interesting, and beautiful language, but seek the definition and understanding of the new “Amazing Word(s)” as well.
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Heard, Georgia. "Word Awareness." Introduction. The Revision Toolbox : Teaching Techniques That Work. Chicago: Heinemann, 2002.
Spandel, Vicki, and Cindy Marten. Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Writing : Assessment and Instruction. 5th ed. Danbury: Allyn & Bacon, Incorporated, 2008.
2.
"Thesaurus/Dictionary." Quick. 01 Nov. 2008 <http://www.merriam-ebster.com/thesaurus/quick>.
"You Publish." Publish and Upload PDF. 02 Nov. 2008 <http://issuu.com/>.
Based on template from The WebQuest Page For more resources go to: The WebQuest Slideshare Group
Worksheet
WS Cont.
Word Box
[Student Page]
Title
Introduction
Learners
Standards
Process
Resources
Credits
Teacher Page
A WebQuest for 4th Grade (Reading & Writing)
Planned & Designed byMr. Sean-Michael Pfeiffer
Based on a template from The WebQuest Page
Evaluation
Teacher Script
Conclusion
[Student Page]
Title
Introduction
Learners
Standards
Process
Resources
Credits
Teacher Page
The lesson plan that I cam up with is one that I drew up on my own. It focuses around students learning new and “Amazing Words” through the use of a dictionary and in this case a thesaurus, in order to add more “meat” to their (students) sentences and overall paper. Using expressive language/vocabulary often enhances the writers credibility due to the confidence that is shown and read in their paper. Using “Amazing Words” was simply a catch phrase from Georgia Heard’s The Revision Toolbox. The actual assignment Handout 1 shown and linked above was an idea that came to mind from those elementary school days where we always had to do word bubbles or word diagrams/trees in English class. I simply took that idea an incorporated it into my lesson plan but more or lesson completely re-did it and had an opportunity to be creative for my students.
Students will read two very simple sentences written in accordance with making this lesson understandable. They will target the underlined words in either sentence and use their critical thinking skills to replace these words with words from a Thesaurus Word Box. Using a thesaurus to beef-up words in a sentence is a concept I believe most all 3rd-4th grade students can utilize and benefit from. For example: a sentence I have might have the word quick (among other words in the sentence) underlined. The class will have several “Amazing” words to choose from to plug back into the sentence in order to make a more descriptive and alluring sentence.
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Context in which vocabulary is used in a sentence can drastically change or reinvent what the writer is trying to say. So often we find ourselves using words in the wrong context because we do not truly understand what they mean. This is an area where I believe we ALL struggle in; K-12, College Students, and adults alike. Too often we write a paper or a speech using language that we know or feel comfortable with. It is seldom that we read through our work and find areas where we can use more expansive and descriptive language; a thesaurus can help with this.
My minilesson assignment will show that students in my class are or will be, more than proficient in applying expansive vocabulary not only into their speaking, but writing as well. My students will start on a very easy task that asks them to look at one of two, very simple sentences. They have underlined adverbs, adjectives, and nouns that they will be replacing with words from a thesaurus word box (provided by me).
This assignment will be designed for 4th grade students of a reading and writing course taught by Mr. Sean-Michael Pfeiffer. “We never stop learning.” This lesson is designed for 4th grade students but the broad idea is to write with more descriptive language and vocabulary, all while learning the definitions and uses for these new words. Vocabulary is an ever-expanding lesson/idea that all grade levels can use in their writing.
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Colorado Department of Education Benchmarks & Standards to be Addressed:
STANDARD 6:*Students read and recognize literature as a record ofhuman experience.
In order to meet this standard, students will• know and use literary terminology;• read literature to understand places, people, events, and vocabulary, bothfamiliar and unfamiliar.
GRADES K-4:In Grades K-4, what students know and are able to do will include:
• Reading, responding to, and discussing a variety of literature and vocabulary in the content-area reading.
• Reading, responding to, and discussing literature and vocabulary as a way to explore the similarities and differences among stories and the ways in which those stories reflect the background of the dialogue as well as the culture in which they were written.
• Using new vocabulary from literature in other context.
To learn more about the CDE Reading &Writing Benchmarks & Standards, please see:http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/documents/OSA/standards/read.htm
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Teacher PagePROCEDURE 1: setting up examples of “Amazing Words” where students can read, explore, and use examples of interesting or beautiful language. Language that has either been taught, found in a reading, or used outside of the classroom. How do we do this? PROCEDURE 2: displaying a dictionary and a thesaurus prominently in the classroom and encouraging students to use these materials. My Minilesson example can be used here as well. Rationale Also Includes Literature and vocabulary records human expression in such forms as speeches, poems, novels, stories.Students will express a sense of the beauty and power of spoken and writtenlanguage. In addition, literature transmits and transforms culture; it also enables students to think as well as speak.
As a Speech Education Major with an Endorsement in English Education, I understand the importance to allow students to explore new language and expand their vocabulary. Georgia Heard http://georgiaheard.com/ points out that language found in literature doesn’t have to be the only extension for students to seek out vocabulary. Heard also refers to an instance where students were encouraged to post “Amazing Words” on a bulletin board. Children posted to the board; “Amazing Words” that they had heard over the weekend in a movie, in a conversation, from their parents or a discussion they encountered out-and-about. The following are procedures that Heard used in the classroom to encourage students to expand their vocabulary and meaning.
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To be completely honest, I used my own creative thinking process in order to come up with this minilesson. Not many resources are need or used other than the individual handouts that I would be providing. To get real specific about the resources I would use as well as the students, they would include the following:
•Printer access for my handouts (provided by the school)•Access to the schools computer lab (school)•Students will need to access this page for reference…•http://www.merriam-webster.com•Attendance is a must for peer evaluating per the rubric•Sharp minds and sharp pencils please!!!
My lesson plan would not need to be collaborated with any other instructors, but it definitely could be. As I mentioned before, my goal of this assignment is to increase the expressive language within student writing, sentence-by-sentence. I mentioned that good and creative writing usually lends a hand to good and creative speaking. Thus, I imagine that my minilesson could be paired up with a speech class and I could allow the Speech students to work on my minilesson while my students work with the Speech instructor to learn how to translate their writing into a speech. Although I haven’t heard of many Speech classes offered at a 4th grade level.
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Evaluation: 6-Point Rubric & Questionnaire
Student Name ____________________________ Sentence Being Evaluated ______________________________ Students, I will access the following in the criteria listed below. Your grade will be evaluated by me, on a 6-Point scale based on writing traits from Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Writing by Vicki Spandel (our course book). Content: Were the Directions Followed 1 2 3 4 5 6Organization: of “New Words” & Re-written Sentences 1 2 3 4 5 6Voice: How Does the New Sentence Sound Orally When Read? 1 2 3 4 5 6Sentence Fluency 1 2 3 4 5 6Word/Dialogue Choice 1 2 3 4 5 6Conventions/Personal Appeal: Answer the Questions Below? 1 2 3 4 5 6
Please continue by answering the questions below:
1) Now that your new sentence has been constructed, do you feel as if your sentence has more meaning behind it?
2) Is the sentence more interesting to you as a reader when you speak it aloud?
3) Is the sentence more fluid, interesting, and more fun than it was before?
4) How did using a thesaurus to find new words and new word meaning help you? That is, pick an interesting “Amazing Word” that you used and have never heard before today, and tell me why you used it and found it so interesting.
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Teacher PageStep-by-step Processes: “Parentheses” illustrate myself as the teacher speaking.
“Please Choose ONE sentence from the following:” (1 min) 1) “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs.” (Sentence uses every letter of the Alphabet if you notice)
OR 2) “My very educated mother just taught us how to add numbers.”
“The underlined words in your sentence have a corresponding number. Write these words with their matching number on lines one and two. Take each number one by one and find the “Amazing Word” in the Thesaurus Word Box to replace it. Fill that word in on line three and four.” *Refer back to Handout 1 regarding the steps the students will then follow…
“Now, re-write your new “Beefy” sentence on the following lines provided.” *Refer back to Handout 1 regarding steps the students will then follow…
“Notice the words that might work as a thesaurus alternate for the original but don’t always fit with your other, replaced, “Amazing Words.” Keep working to make the “Amazing Words” fit together in the sentence. Now, on the remaining lines, re-write your sentence, read it, and ask yourself if this sentence doesn’t sound more descriptive, fun, and beefy!!!” *Refer back to Handout 1 regarding steps the students will then follow…“Class, you will see after the new sentence is constructed, how much better a sentence can be with the use of descriptive language…Q&A.”
This page is linked to the Process segment off of the Teacher Page
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My main interest of teaching this theoretical class was to engage students in critical thought about the sentences they are writing, more specifically, the word use and verbiage. I believe you have to be a good writer to be a good speaker. Since I am a Teaching Licensure students who will have his credentials/endorsements in Speech as well as English, I thought I would try to incorporate the two in my minilesson.
This minilesson will prove to the students that there writing can always be improved, especially at a 4th Grade level. This assignment shows them how simple and plain a sentence can be. The assignment then goes on to show the students that by simply using a hardback/paper-bound thesaurus or in this case, an on-line thesaurus, they can transform there simple sentence into one that expresses fun, creativeness, voice, and precise-clear ideas. When a students can explore new words and their meanings, I believe a whole new world of vocabulary opens up to them. When students takes the time to use “Amazing Words” and expansive language in their writing, it will directly correlate over to speaking. That is for a different lesson plan on a different day, but altogether, I know that my students will understand the importance of learning tools such as the thesaurus as well as how to incorporate new and expansive language into their papers after completing my minilesson. The run-off from my minilesson will also allow my students to not only learn a new word but explore its use and definition as well. This way they know what sequence a word can be plugged into a sentence. One can see how this works by completing my minilesson as not all words provided in the “Thesaurus Word Box” fit back into the original sentence.
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[Student Page]
Title
Introduction
Learners
Standards
Process
Resources
Credits
Teacher Page
Evaluation
Teacher Script
Conclusion
Heard, Georgia. "Word Awareness." Introduction. The Revision Toolbox : Teaching Techniques That Work. Chicago: Heinemann, 2002.
Spandel, Vicki, and Cindy Marten. Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Writing : Assessment and Instruction. 5th ed. Danbury:
Allyn & Bacon, Incorporated, 2008. 2.
"Thesaurus/Dictionary." Quick. 01 Nov. 2008 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quick>.
"You Publish." Publish and Upload PDF. 02 Nov. 2008 <http://issuu.com/>.
Thank You to all the support from http://georgiaheard.com/
Based on template from The WebQuest Page For more resources go to: The WebQuest Slideshare Group
