WEEK 1
Goal of the week:
Introducing and reading the book to lay the foundation of what is to come pertaining to phonemes, graphemes, morphemes, and sight words.
Focus:
- introducing reading the boook
- metaphors
- vocabulary
- sight words
PREPARATION AND METAPHORS
TEACHING FIGURATIVE SPEECH
Purpose:
This learning experience will introduce students to the concept of figurative speech through the examples of metaphors.
Material:
Video, posters
As introduction, show them the a video (see above) of the Skittles commercial (https://youtu.be/B4kwXcfv7Is)
Starting the activity with showing them a real-life example of a metaphor, makes the topic interesting, funny, and appealing for students. They get confronted with a commercial of a sweet which all of them most likely know very well. This video is a good start-off point to ensure the creative, engaging atmosphere needed for figurative speech.
Ask them following questions:
Have you ever tried skittles?
Do they really taste like a rainbow?
Why not?
Are they not actually made by giraffes eating a rainbow?
How do you know?
But when it is not real, why do they always say: “taste the rainbow”? What do they mean by it?
Why do you think did they choose a rainbow as a comparison?
This classroom discussion will encourage students to make the connection between a rainbow and the colourful, positive vibe that goes with it. They will find it funny when the teacher acts like she or he takes the metaphor in the literal sense. This is very important because through that, they understand the concept of metaphors: It is a pictorial description of something.
Divide the class up into three groups and give each one metaphor. Their task is it to discuss the real meaning of it. After they are done, they present their ideas to their peers with using a poster. This activity functions as preparation for reading “Finn´s Feelings”.
FEELINGS ACTIVITY
Activity:
The students will look at different pictures of boys and girls, men and women who show various emotions. The students are asked to get into groups of 3, look at one picture and answer the following questions:
- What feeling/ emotion does this picture represent?
- Did I ever feel this way?
- What are some situations when people feel like that?
The students should then come back to the circle and present their image and what they discussed after each image all children should try to recreate the facial expressions on the image.
Purpose:
The book is covering different feelings and as an introduction to this topic and to find out the background knowledge of the students regarding feelings, the students will do a quick feelings game. It shows that boys and girls and adults express emotions.
GOING BROAD VOCABULARY ACTIVITY
Explain that going abroad means going to a country that is not your own.
Brainstorm with the children what some reasons could be to go abroad. (vacation, work, moving,..)
Children can share if they have ever been abroad and why. And then draw a picture of their experience travelling abroad.
ANTICIPITATION GUIDE AND READING THE BOOK
This is an activity for the whole class and worksheets are to be filled in individually
You can do this while having “carpet time” or sitting in desks
INTRODUCTION:
Anticipation guides have the ability to engage learners about the exploration of new topics by challenging them to think critically about what they know. They teach learners to make predictions, anticipate text and then verify the text thereafter. While building curiosity, they also a great way to set a purpose for reading.
Piaget’s schema theory states that activating prior knowledge before reading is essential, as when we can connect something “old” to something new, it helps us better understand the new. When students and teachers apply schema theory to reading comprehension readers constantly connect their background knowledge to the new knowledge in a text to help them make sense of the reading (Gunning, 2012).
OBJECTIVE:
To introduce the learners to Finn’s Feelings.
MATERIAL:
Anticipation guide worksheet, pencils
HOW IT WORKS:
The anticipation worksheet has 5 statements that the learners must read. These statements are predictions of key concepts related to what the book is about or what could happen in the story.
You can read these aloud or learners could read themselves, but the activity must be done collectively as a class.
Ask questions about each statement to create discussion. Thereafter they must indicate whether they agree or disagree with the statement.
Once you have read the book, you can revisit the statements.
ACTIVITY:
Introduce the book to the learners. Thereafter introduce the anticipation guide and explain what its purpose is. The learners (and/or you) need to read the statements and mark the columns to tick on ‘yes’, if they agree and ‘no’ if they disagree.
Start by reading the first statement.
Model your thinking process of responding to the statements and marking the columns. Use the left hand columns.
Ask questions to create discussion. The focus here is for them to share what they know and make predictions.
Read the book aloud. Stop at pages that are related to the statements and make a discussion. Reading the book can be split up over the entire week
Be cognizant of difficult vocabulary. Examples of these are marked in blue in the attachment above. Make sure you stop at these points and explain the words, so that the learners follow the story easily.
To conclude, revisit the statements and see if the learners have changed their views about them. Mark ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the right hand columns.
Differentiation:
For EAL learners, the statements can be completed orally. However, they still need to fill the “yes” or “no” columns themselves.
Although it is indicated that you must do this activity as a class, you may consider to do it in pairs or groups, if that suits your class better.
The number of statements can be modified to suit learner's needs.
You can simplify the sentences to suit your learners’ needs.
For more information about anticipation guides visit this website: https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/anticipation_guide
SIGHT WORDS ACTIVITIES (FEELING, HAPPY, FINN, RAIN, CLOUD)
MAKE A SENTENCE
This activity is to be done in pairs
Purpose:
By making their own sentences from scratch, not only do learners have to read and recognise the words, they have to demonstrate that they understand the words by making sentences. Students will learn from each other as they have to construct the sentences together. This activity gives them choice and allows for creativity, while developing not only vocabulary but fluency skills.
Material:
Worksheet, flash cards, pencils, stickers
Activity:
Give pairs of learners a pile of flash cards (see provided list)
Students must construct as many sentences as possible with these words. The same word can be used multiple sentences.
After constructing each sentence, they must write it down on the provided worksheet.
If students encounter words they don’t know, they must put a stickers on them. They can make a separate pile with these words, to show later to the teacher.
When the pairs are finished, they can choose a sentence that they want to present to the class – their best sentence. They can present two sentences if they prefer.
Towards the end of the lesson, students will present their best sentences to the class.
Differentiation:
Create mixed ability pairs
Walk around the class, asking specific questions that help the learners with sentence structures, vocabulary, sounding out words etc. , especially struggling learners.
If students don’t understand words, they need to put these flashcards in a separate pile. These words will later go on the “wonder word sheet”
ROLL, READ & DRAW
This activity is played in pairs.
Purpose:
To reinforce the new sight words, the learners will play this game where they will have to recognise the sight words in context. This is important as in real life, words are mostly in context. students have to demonstrate understanding of the sentences in a creative way – drawing a picture. The main aim of this activity is to develop fluency and comprehension skills.
Materials:
2 dice, worksheet, pencil crayons, stickers
Activity:
This game is played in pairs. Each student will get a worksheet. Pairs can share a set of pencil crayons and stickers. Pair advanced readers with low level readers OR high level readers can be paired together.
The player rolls the dice and then finds the word that matches the number of the dice on the worksheet.
The player reads the sentence that goes with that number and then draws a picture to show understanding of the sentence. Students must not take a lot of time drawing, as this is not the focus of the lesson.
If a player rolls a number that is not on the worksheet, they must give the next player a turn.
Students continue playing back and forth until one player has filled up their grid.
Students are also encouraged to help each other if they are struggling to read or understand the question.
Differentiation:
Pair advanced readers with low level readers and encourage them to help each other. This way, they learn from each other. If a student struggles, they must write down the word they don’t know and sound it out. If the student continues to struggle, he/she must ask for assistance from the teacher or write it down so that it becomes added to the ‘wonder word sheet’
If you pair high level readers together, to give them a challenge - they can ask each other ‘what is happening’ or ‘who’ the sentence is about.
For more information watch this youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T8lyowZQ8g