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Teaching Literacy

Signature Assignment: Reading Comprehension Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan

Name: ​Catherine Dunn

Text Title & Author: ​“Holes” By Louis Sachar

Grade Level: ​Sixth Grade

Text Description, Summary, and Analysis

1) Description: “Holes” written by Louis Sachar is a fictional chapter book with 50
chapters. It is written in third person, containing vocabulary that should be familiar to
the students. This book does not contain any illustrations. “Holes” has two main
characters, Stanley and Zero, along with other characters that tie into the story as well.
2) Summary:Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his
no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather and has since followed
generations of Yelnats’. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys detention center,
Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day,
digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green
Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize
there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. the boys are
digging hoes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried
under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in his inventive and darkly
humorous tale of crime and punishment - and redemption.
3) Text Analysis: Throughout this story, Stanley and Zero are trying to find a way to
break the curse by finding what the warden is actually searching for. Even though this
is a fictional story, the author uses realistic scenarios through the boys lives and their
families to allow the readers to stay engaged making this text appropriate for sixth
grade students. “Holes” is not a complex story and should be manageable for students
since the sentences are short and to the point giving enough information that the reader
to visualize what is happening and connect to the text. The book contains little
figurative language making the text relatively easy for sixth grade students to
understand. The language in “Holes” contains vocabulary that is familiar to the readers
but requires them to use their background knowledge to figure out some of the alternate
meanings to specific words. The lexile level of this book is 660L.
Lesson Rationale and Class Scenario:

Rationale:
1) ​“Holes” is written in third person, as an outsider looking in. It was also turned into a
movie by Disney and is rated PG which many of the students have already seen. Also,
students will find it easy to make personal connections to the story because of the
universal experience of being asked to do something that may seem pointless. This
lesson focuses on the opportunity to make observations, predictions, and connections to
the text and gain meaning from the story making “Holes” a good choice for this group
of students. Students with a low reading level will be a specific focus throughout this
reading activity to insure they are gaining the proper knowledge needed for these skills.
After a group is assigned to the students, the teacher will provide explicit instruction on
their predictions prior to the group readings. Students will use annotation skills to
demonstrate their predictions and personal connections throughout the text, if they have
any. Students will be given the opportunity to share their predictions and connections
related to the text as a reflection of their reading activity with the other students within
their group.
2) My sixth grade class is filled with 24 students, 13 boys and 11 girls. All students will
participate in the review of predicting and the purpose it serves for readers to become
more engaged in their reading experience and want to continue reading. All students
will review what a prediction is, create one, and then read to confirm their predictions.
The small group I will be working with includes a total of four students all from
diverse backgrounds, 3 girls and 1 boy. One of the four students in particular is
struggling with making predictions so this student will benefit from working with his
peers who have done this strategy before. Since this book is written for sixth-eighth
graders, I feel that the sixth grade students will benefit from the story as it is
manageable in complexity, but challenging enough to force them to use higher-level
thinking skills. I will be modeling how to make a prediction by taking what I read on
the back of the book and using my background knowledge. After using the strategy of
modeling to demonstrate my expectations for the group, we will move into silent
reading time as students will read the first 2 chapters on their own, after making their
predictions. It is expected that the students use note cards to identify the information
that goes with their predictions throughout their reading. As the students read
independently, I will be watching and taking notes, and responding to students as
needed. The students will be using the strategies questioning, re-reading, and reading
for meaning in order to meet the objectives of the lesson. This activity will allow me to
evaluate that they are understanding the text, and making/learning how to make a
prediction after each section of reading.
Objectives: ELA CCSS Standards:
SWBAT: ​read the back of the book and make RI.3.1. Ask and answer questions, and make
predictions based on prior knowledge and the relevant connections to demonstrate
text. understanding of a text, referring explicitly to
SWBAT: ​Determine the meaning of words the text as the basis for the answers
and phrases as they are used in a text.
SWBAT: ​Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners
on grade 6 topics and texts, building on
others’ ideas and expressing their own
clearly.

List of Materials:
- ”Holes” by Louis Sachar’
- Pen/Pencil
- Note cards

Lesson Procedures:

Pre-reading activity(ies): ​To begin this lesson, the students will do a turn and talk to discuss
what it means to make a prediction. Then, working in pairs, they will make a prediction about
what they think will happen next. They are required to justify their predictions by explaining
what the author said and what background knowledge they used to make their prediction. This
will continue through various sections of the text. After I model, and the students review in
pairs, I will provide the students with a handout that includes a list of vocabulary words that
they will encounter through each section of their reading. The handout provided will also
include an example of the word in a sentence that makes more sense to them. I will model
how to use context clues as well as our predictions, to figure out meanings of unfamiliar words
and ask that they do the same for the remainder of the words. A grand conversation will
follow to insure that all students are comfortable in understanding specific vocabulary that
may be troublesome. The students will be introduced to the book “Holes” as it will be used to
demonstrate the use of prediction and we will predict what we think is going to happen.

During reading activity(ies): ​To begin our first reading activity, I will read the back of the
book aloud to the group of students as they follow along using their own book. After I am
done reading the back of the book aloud to the students, I will make a prediction about what I
think is going to happen in the book. I’ll use a think aloud, explaining why I made this
prediction: what the text said and what I already know about what is probable in a story such
as this. I’ll write my prediction on the board and tell the students that they will be doing the
same. After using the strategies modeling and questioning, the students will then be asked to
read to the first post it note. They will be encouraged to partner read or read silently to
themselves. I’ll remind them to refer to their vocabulary handout when encountering
unfamiliar words. When they come to the post it note, they should use their notecard to make
their prediction as to what they think will happen next. They can use the back of the notecard
to jot down what is confusing or pose questions that they may have about the section of the
story. I’ll encourage them to also jot down any connections to the text that they may have
while reading.

Post-reading activity(ies): ​To conclude this lesson, students will be asked to participate by
reading off their prediction to the rest of the group. I will be asking them to explain how they
came up with their prediction and to read the evidence found in the text that help them
conclude this prediction. At the end of every reading section, students will hand in their
predictions to me and I will keep. When we are finished reading the book, I will hand back all
of their predictions and students will get back into their reading groups, and discuss whose
predictions were closest to the conclusion of the book.

Method of Assessment
There are several methods that should be used during this lesson in order to assess student
-learning outcomes. At the start of this lesson, a turn and talk method will be conducted during
the pre-reading activity as the students reflect on what they remember about predicting, if they
know anything at all. Throughout the read aloud, I will be using the method of modeling to
demonstrate how I would like their predictions to be done. In the during reading activity as the
group of students read individually, methods of reading, re-reading, and questioning will be
used. As the students use the methods listed throughout their reading, I will be observing their
work by taking notes, and helping/answering students questions as needed. The method of
assessment during the post-reading activity is a reflection on the lesson as students discuss
their predictions and findings throughout the activity.