Karly Sachs
November 12, 2014
Professor Wilson
Reading
Secondary Lesson Plan: Visualization and Gradual Release
Name of class: 8th Grade Science
Length of class: 50 minutes
LEARNING GOALS to be addressed in this lesson (What standards or umbrella
learning goals will I address?):
Iowa Core Reading Standard: Students will employ the full range of researchbased comprehension strategies, including making connections,
determining importance, questioning, visualizing, making inferences,
summarizing, and monitoring for comprehension (IA.1).
LEARNING OBJECTIVES (in ABCD format using verbs from Blooms Taxonomy):
Students will define the term visualization and determine the importance of
the strategy while reading.
Students will practice visualizing while reading a text to construct meaning.
Students will use the strategy of visualization before, during, and after
reading to aid in the construction and enhancement of the meaning of a
text.
CONTENT (What specific
concepts, facts, or
vocabulary words will I be
teaching in this lesson?):
SKILLS: (What skills will students acquire or
practice?)
Vocab:
Comprehension
Comprehension Strategy
Visualization
None
Prerequisites:
Skills acquired from the lesson:
I can define the term visualization.
I can determine the importance of visualizing
while reading.
I can apply the strategy of visualizing while
reading a text to construct meaning of the
text.
I can practice the strategy of visualization
before, during, and after reading to aid in the
construction and enhancement of the
meaning of a text.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS NEEDED (What materials and resources will I need?):
Launch:
Website: [Link]
Yellow Sticky Notes
Activity:
Visualization PowerPoint
Blue Sticky Notes
Pink Sticky Notes
Colored Pencils
Close:
Yellow Sticky Notes
Handouts:
Pumpkins from another Planet? No, Wisconsin passage
[Link]
I do, We do, You do together, You do alone handout
321 handout for the Elmo
LEARNING PLAN (How will you organize student learning in this lesson?
ACTIVATE (How will I pre-assess my students understanding, activate their
prior knowledge, or get them excited about my lesson?)
For the launch of this lesson, the teacher will begin his or her lesson with an
audiotape. The audiotape is a relaxation clip that involves visualizing a forest.
This activity will engage students by asking them to listen to the clip and
visualize what the calm voice is saying. Students will be a little weirded out
but what they are being asked to do, but that is part of the fun!
After students listen to the audio clip, the teacher will ask the following
questions. Students will be asked to jot down a few notes on the yellow post
it note in front of them before they share out loud. The questions are:
1) What did you see?
2) What did you feel?
3) What did you hear?
4) What did you smell?
5) Describe the picture you saw in your mind
After everyone shares at least one idea, the teacher will then relate the
launch to the mini lesson on visualization for the day.
Start the clip at 1:41 min
End the clip at 4:00 min
ACQUIRE & APPLY (What instructional strategies will I choose to help my
students acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors
outlined above?
After the launch, the teacher will introduce the topic for the day as well as
share the I can statements for the lesson. These are pretty much the goals
for the lesson.
Topic:
Visualization
I can statements:
I can define the term visualization.
I can determine the importance of visualizing while reading.
I can apply the strategy of visualizing while reading a text to construct
meaning of the text.
I can practice the strategy of visualization before, during, and after reading
to aid in the construction and enhancement of the meaning of a text.
After this, the teacher will proceed with the mini visualization lesson he or she
has planned. The mini lesson will be a PowerPoint on visualization.
After the mini lesson, the students and teacher will practice this
comprehension strategy with a gradual release activity.
Gradual Release Activity:
Pass out the passage called Pumpkins from another Planet? No, Wisconsin.
Make sure to delete any pictures from the article before passing it out
though. If you leave the picture in the article, it will limit what the kids
visualize. This is an important step!
I DO: Read the section Like many of their neighborswho look like
their pumpkins super-sized out loud. Then model how one would
visualize a passage like this.
o What do I see?Humungous Pumpkins, a large crowd of
people, weirdly shaped pumpkins, scale, French Fries
o What words did I use to come up with this image?
Humungous, gawkers, another planet, weigh more than 1,700
pounds, supersizedUnderline these words while pointing them
out.
o What do I smell? I smell fresh airOctober
o What do I hear? Crunching leavesOctober
The teacher will write down or draw these images out in
the graphic organizer. The students will copy down what
the teacher wrote.
WE DO: Read the section Wisconsin is a major player in this fieldto
discuss competitions and schedule pumpkin growing seminars out
loud. Then ask the students what they imagined?
o What did you see? Feel? Taste? Hear? Smell?
o What words did you use to draw these conclusions?
As students are telling you what they visualized, write their
thoughts down in the graphic organizer. If they missed
anything, add it now and explain why.
YOU DO TOGETHER: Have students read As with many things in
Wisconsingigantic pumpkins and gourds with their shoulder
partners. Have them visualize together and fill out the next section of
the graphic organizer.
YOU DO ALONE: Have the students read Giant pumpkins grow so
fastswap seeds or give them to other hopeful gardeners silently.
Have them finish up their graphic organizer.
When everyone is finished have students share their ideas and drawings.
After students have shared, show them the picture you deleted from the
article. Now they can see what the pumpkins really look like!
ASSESSMENT (How will asses student understanding?):
There will be a few different assessment pieces in the lesson
1) Check Point: Think, Pair Share
Think, Pair, Share to the question What is visualization? Why should one
visualize while reading? First think to yourself and write down some ideas on
the blue post it note in front of you. After two minutes or so, turn to your
shoulder partner and discuss your ideas. Together, write down some ideas on
the pink post it note in front of you. After three minutes or so, face front and
be ready to share your pink post it note to the class.
2) Turn in Graphic Organizer
3) Ticket Out: 321
321: At the end of the lesson students will fill out a ticket out that I will then
collect as they walk out the door. The ticket out will informally asses what
they learned. The ticket out will be a 321. They students will be familiar with
this form of a ticket out. They will be asked to write down
3: Three facts on visualization
2: Two reasons on why we visualize text
1: One aspect of the lesson they are still confused about
They may write their answers on a half sheet of paper or on the sticky note
provided. They will place this assessment on the front table before they
leave.
LESSON PLAN SEQUENCE & PACING (How will I organize this lesson? How
much time will each part of the lesson take?)
1. Launch (10 Minutes)
2. Part One of the Lesson: PowerPoint (10 Minutes)
3. Part Two of the Lesson: Gradual Release (20 Minutes)
4. Close (2 Minutes)
5. Ticket Out (3 Minutes)
Pumpkins from another planet? No, Wisconsin
By Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, adapted by Newsela staff10.26.14
COMBINED LOCKS, Wis. Like many of their neighbors on this quiet street, Glen
and Margaret Martin have put out pumpkins to decorate their front yard this
October.
But the Martins pumpkins are so humongous, they attract gawkers people
who come just to stare. These pumpkins are so big, they look like they are from
another planet.
The Martins pumpkins weigh more than 1,700 pounds each. Even so, they are
not the biggest pumpkins grown in Wisconsin this year. Glen Martin would know.
He is president of Wisconsin Giant Pumpkin Growers, a group of gardeners who
like their pumpkins super-sized.
"It's In Our Blood"
Wisconsin is a major player in this field. It ranks fifth in giant-pumpkin winners,
according to the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, which sets rules for contests.
Its in our blood here, that comes from our dairy farming background in
Wisconsin, Glen Martin said. Its like taking care of a calf you have to take
care of it every day.
Wisconsin Giant Pumpkin Growers started 20 years ago with 14 growers. The
group now has 120 members and meets regularly to discuss competitions and
schedule pumpkin-growing seminars.
As with many things in Wisconsin, it started in a bar, Martin said. A bunch of
guys standing around saying, I can grow a bigger pumpkin.
For a $25 fee, group members get a how-to booklet, a packet of seeds and a list
of growers. The group schedules a free pumpkin patch tour for the public in late
July, where gardens are covered with gigantic pumpkins and gourds.
Growing Like Crazy!
Giant pumpkins grow so fast, you can almost watch them expand.
The vines can grow 6 inches a day and the pumpkins themselves can add 2
pounds per hour.
The pumpkins begin as seeds of the Atlantic Giant variety. Many giantpumpkin owners crossbreed seeds or get seeds from prize-winning pumpkins.
Just because the pumpkins are huge doesnt mean they are filled with
thousands of seeds many have only 100 to 200.
Seeds can sell for as much as $500 each. Chris Stevens of New Richmond sold
one seed from his 2010 world record pumpkin at a charity auction for $1,600. But
growers mostly swap seeds or give them to other hopeful gardeners.
The World Record Of Pumpkins
Pockets of giant-pumpkin growers have sprouted around Wisconsin, usually
because someone sees their friend or neighbor growing them and wants to try
it. New Richmond is one city with a giant-pumpkin-growing scene. Stevens in
one of about a half dozen growers there.
Stevens grew a 1,810-pound giant in 2010 that broke the world record. The
record didnt stand for long, though. In fact, the world record has been broken
nine out of the past 10 years.
The biggest pumpkin so far this year, and the current world record holder, is a
2,096-pound pumpkin from Switzerland. Stevens biggest pumpkin this year is
about 1,400 pounds.
Thats disappointing to me. People say, What do you mean youre
disappointed? Well, when youve had 1,800 pounds, yes, its disappointing,
Stevens said.
Five Wisconsin cities feature giant-pumpkin weigh-offs: Cedarburg, Chippewa
Falls, Sturgeon Bay, Nekoosa and Mishicot. Wisconsin growers often travel to
weigh-offs in other states.
Giant Pumpkins Are Serious Business
Its not easy to grow a giant pumpkin. Seeds are planted in small pots in April
and grown indoors for two weeks before theyre put into the ground. Gardeners
have to think ahead and leave enough room for the vine to spread out and the
giant pumpkin to grow. A plot for one giant pumpkin is generally about 25 feet
by 35 feet.
Flowers are usually hand-pollinated growers move pollen from male flowers to
female flowers by hand. Then, the growers remove all flowers but one from the
plant, so all the energy can be focused on one fruit, said Irwin Goldman,
chairman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Horticulture.
Its not a simple thing to do even though to an outside observer it looks easy.
Its actually a bit of a challenge, Goldman said.
Goldman and UW-Madison horticulture professor James Nienhuis have grown
giant pumpkins for several years. Even though theirs only reach 400 pounds, that
is still big enough to carve them into boats for students to race in at the Giant
Pumpkin Regatta on Lake Mendota.
One of Nienhuis students made a chart of record-setting giant pumpkins dating
back to 1950 and learned each year the winner has gone up an average of 20
to 30 pounds.
Thats all due to selection. A big question is how much of that is due to genetics
and how much is due to environment, Nienhuis said. Wisconsin is a good
place to grow them. They grow best where you have large bodies of water with
high humidity. You have to irrigate constantly and fertilize like crazy with
nitrogen.
Don't Make Fun!
At weigh-offs, where the giant pumpkins compete, they cannot be broken,
have holes or excessive rot. Growers must use tractors and special harnesses to
lift the pumpkins onto trucks to travel to the scales.
The growers are competing for prize money, plaques and bragging rights, but
they say the true rewards are something different. They enjoy seeing the looks
on strangers' faces when they spot the giant pumpkins. Eyes grow wide. Mouths
drop open.
Put it this way I dont make fun of other peoples hobbies, Stevens said. As
dorky as it seems, this time of year when youre hauling them in your trailer
people think its just absolutely amazing. Its crazy how cool they are.
Name:_____________________________________
Date: ______________________________________
Visualization
Pumpkins from Another Planet? No, Wisconsin
I Do:
We Do:
You Do Together:
You Do Alone:
The Pumpkins
321
Write Down
3: Three facts on visualization
2: Two reasons on why we
visualize text
1: One aspect of the lesson you
are still confused about
**Turn this in at the front table before you
leave class