Sample Reading Lesson Plan for Second and Third Grade
Based on the book Dinosaurs Before Dark from the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne
Grades: Second Grade, Third Grade
Overview: This lesson can be easily adapted for any of the Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne, and/or the Fact Tracker books that accompany them. This lesson is created for Dinosaurs Before Dark, book #1 of 55.
Materials:
- Magic Tree House book Dinosaurs Before Dark
- Plastic toy dinosaurs
- Pictures and other books about dinosaurs and volcanoes
Lesson-Specific Vocabulary Concepts:
- Syllabification: prehistoric, triceratops, herbivore, carnivore, magnolia, volcano
- Silent letters: pteranodon, kneeled, climb
- Endings: nests, flapped, stampeded, teetered, engraved, whistling
- R controlled vowels: dark, anatosaurus, herbivore, carnivore, dinosaur
Preparation: Place the materials on a table to engage students’ interest in the lesson.
Instructions for Conducting the Lesson:
|
Step |
What to do |
Component Addressed |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Have students choose a dinosaur they would like to be today and have them share why they chose that specific one. |
Oral Language Development |
|
2 |
Write some of the words they used in their discussion (and/or some from the vocabulary list) on the board. As a group, practice decoding, reading the words orally, and talking about the meaning. |
Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary |
|
3 |
Show the book and have students make predictions about what they think the book will be like. Write these predictions down for all students to see. |
Oral Language Development Comprehension |
|
4 |
Begin reading the book to the students. Have them echo read sections, repeating key sections as a group. |
Fluency, Phonics |
|
5 |
Stop periodically in the book to have students summarize and rephrase what is happening in the story. |
Comprehension, Oral Language Development, Vocabulary |
|
6 |
Ask questions of increasing complexity to differentiate the learning experience for the students. |
Comprehension, Oral Language Development |
|
7 |
Revisit and discuss the students’ predictions. Finally, let them choose and share with a partner or small group another toy dinosaur to show how they feel at the end of the lesson.
|
Comprehension, Oral Language Development |
Starter Discussion Questions:
|
Questions |
Blooms Level / DOK Level |
|---|---|
|
Where to Jack and Annie live? What did Jack and Annie use to climb into the tree house? |
Remember / Recall & Reproduction |
|
Why didn’t Jack want to go into the tree house at first? |
Understand / Recall & Reproduction |
|
Who is older, Jack or Annie and how do you know? |
Apply, Analyze / Skill & Concept, Strategic Thinking |
|
How did Annie help save Jack’s life? |
Analyze / Strategic Thinking |
|
What would you have done to help Jack? What parts of the story are real and what part are fantasy? |
Evaluate / Extended Thinking |
|
What might have happened if the tree house hadn’t taken them home? |
Create / Extended Thinking |