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adapted from:
Carol Damm
Miles City, Utah
Purpose:
The students will work cooperatively in a small group.
Students will use their creative ability to describe the
pictures. The students will
learn what an adjective is and how to find it in a sentence.
INTASC:
making content meaningful, planning
S.S.
curriculum knowledge, planning
Materials
banner paper, pictures, tape, and markers
Opening:
What is an adjective? (describing word) Why do we use adjectives?
(make writing more interesting; paint a vivid picture for the
reader.)
Strategies:
modeling: on the
chalkboard, write the following phrases:
the___________girl
the________car
the________sun
What
kind of girl?
What kind of car?
What kind of sun?
The_________computer
the_______window
What
kind of computer?
What kind of window?
think/pair/share:
In your teams, choose another adjective to describe each of these
3 nouns. The person with
the biggest hands in the group can write the adjectives on the board.
brainstorm/modeling:
Use banner paper with pics.
Look
at the pic. What adjectives could describe it?
(Write student responses on banner paper.)
What makes a good adjective?
Group work: Break
up class into small groups depending on how many pictures there are.
Each group has a different color marker.
Everyone needs to be involved.
Students think of one adjective as a group to describe the pic.
Groups cannot repeat adjectives that another group has already written.
Allow 30sec.-- 1 min. each rotation.
Review all
banners. Does the word
describe the picture? Is
the word listed only once? Which
pic was the easiest to describe? Which
was hardest? Can you identify the picture?
Assessment-
Closure:
Individual Assessment.
Write a short description of your favorite animal.
Underline all of your adjectives.
Do not tell the name of the animal, just describe it.
Read your description to your neighbor.
Did they guess correct? Collect
descriptions?
Rationale for
Primary Strategy: I
chose direct instruction because the students need instruction and
information about what an adjective is.
I always use a lot of questions to find out how much they know.
I used think/pair/share because this gives a different
opportunity for sharing what the student is writing.
I used Brainstorming for the group activity because thinking
about adjectives is a creative thinking idea and they are working in
groups. Working in groups
may also ignite more ideas. I
also chose individual assessment because I would like to see how
creative the students are individually.
I also want to know if the students get the concept of using
adjectives.
Modification-Differentiation: I will give extra
attention to students who are struggling with thinking of adjectives.
I will regroup students if necessary.
The gifted students can write a longer description of their
favorite animal or also write a description of their favorite flower.
Reflection-Debriefing
This was the most engaging lesson that I have taught so far.
The students did create a big controversy over who had the
biggest hands. I was trying
to add more creativity and test some of the tricks in my bag.
They understood the main point of the beginning exercise.
Before I let them loose to their station, I modeled exactly what
they were to be doing. I
used the pic of the Grand Canyon on the board and asked the class for
adjectives to describe the canyon.
They responded with very interesting adjectives.
I had a very good feeling about this lesson from this example.
I explained the directions and directed them to their beginning
stations. However, I did
forget a few key concepts that I had written in my plan but forgot to
tell them. I clapped my
hands, just as Ms. May does and the class gave me their attention.
I told them more directions and sent them back to work. They did follow directions.
Each time we rotated, I asked them what they were supposed to be
doing. They could repeat my
directions. I took pictures
of them at their stations. These
are not posed; I snuck up behind each one of them.
The flash did not even throw them off; they were so engaged in
the fascinating pics. At
the end, I read all the adjectives out loud.
I was very impressed with words such as, intriguing.
After the lesson, I conferenced with Ms. May and she pointed out
some things to keep in mind. Next
time, I would have the students read the adjectives to the class.
This would provide even more student involvement.
As I am writing these
reflections,
I feel redundant because I have already written all of this and more in
my journal that Helene and I keep.
This way, I can reflect immediately after the fact and so can
she. We are already about 4
pages from the end of the journal! Time to get a new one!
Intelligences
MI-linguistic, bodily, interpersonal
LS-visual, kinesthetic
BT-knowledge, comprehension, application, synthesis
Classroom
Management Techniques: I will tell the class what the groups are and where to begin
before we start the brainstorming project.
I will use a rhythmic handclap to gain the attention and rotate
groups.
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