Grade: 1

Subject: English

Length of Lesson: 45 minutes

Topic/Theme: Farming/ Never complain

Purpose:

To develop independent readers

1) Contents to be covered

• Text: Farmer Joe’s Hot Day
• Vocabulary: word cards and matching game
• Reading comprehension activity

2) Skills and Understanding

• Students should develop vocabulary knowledge by learning to recognize several new words found in the story.
• Students should be encouraged to predict and reflect on the events that take place in the story.
• Students’ recall and comprehension of the story should be tested and encouraged

3) Knowledge to be learned

• At the end of the lesson, children should know what the word complain means.
• Children should be able to recognize the following words.

Materials, Resources, Methods, Classroom procedures:

• Book: Farmer Joe’s Hot Day
• Vocabulary Matching Game Cards: 15 Cards with vocabulary words, 15 cards with matching images.
• Reading Comprehension Activity: Image of Farmer Joe, jacket, coat, scarf, mittens

• Overall Method: Read-Aloud Session
• Class Discussion: What does it mean to complain?
• Reading the Text: ask children to predict what is going to happen, ask for children’s reactions to events in the story, ask them questions about illustrations (Can you see the gopher in this picture?), practice oral cloze when the story repeats itself.
• Revision of Text (Reading Comprehension): Have children help retell the story by helping “dress” and “undress” Farmer Joe with cut outs of his jacket, scarf, mittens, and coat. (Cooperative Learning)
• Revision of Vocabulary: Matching Memory game. Match words with images.

Background Knowledge:

• Have a brief class discussion to give background to story. What is a Farmer? What kind things do farmers have to do? After working hard all day, do you think that this farmer will be tired.
• Use this opportunity to bring in some vocabulary words: corn, wheat, weeding, hot, tired. Have the new vocabulary words on display.
• Introduce the idea of complaining. Have you ever complained?

Body of Lesson:

1) Read Farmer Joe’s Hot Day

• Start by asking students to predict what will happen based on the title.
• Use oral cloze and encourage children to “read” with you when there is repetition in text.
• At several points, ask students what they think will happen next based on the pattern of events that occurs in the story.
• Ask students to respond to illustrations. Does Farmer Joe look hot in this picture? What is Farmer Joe wearing now? Etc.
• To conclude, ask students to reflect on the story. Do they think that Farmer Joe feels better now? Why? Why is he not complaining anymore? Was Farmer Joe’s wife smart?
• Assess reaction. Ask if they liked the story. Suggest/display other Farmer Joe stories.

Note: The implementation of the following activities depends on the size of the class. If the class is rather large, divide it in two; have each group do a different activity, then rotate. If the class is quite small, the entire class can participate simultaneously in each activity.

2) Reading Comprehension Activity

• Have the children help you retell the story.
• Ask leading questions using illustrations and hints. What three jobs did Farmer Joe have to do every day? How did he feel after he worked hard all day in the fields? Was he happy?
• Mount picture of Farmer Joe. Ask children what was the first thing Farmer Joe’s wife told him to put on. The child who answers gets to stick the jacket on the picture of Farmer Joe. Have children follow the sequence of events in the story by adding or removing cut outs of the clothes from Farmer Joe’s Hot Day.
• If there is extra time, have a group or a volunteer to tell the story on their own (hints from teacher or other students as necessary.

3) Vocabulary Review/Memory Game

• Set out the card game and have the class or group work on it.
• Have the students read the vocabulary words that they pick up.
• Identify “problem” words for further work.

Closure of Lesson:

• Review vocabulary words as a class using the vocabulary cards.
• Add new vocabulary words to the word bank or word wall at the back of the room.
• Leave the vocabulary memory game in an easily accessible place and encourage the students to play with it in their free time.

Assessment:

• Assessment of reading comprehension takes place following the reading of the story. This is done by asking questions, asking for reactions, and the activity for retelling the story,
• Assessment of students’ learning of vocabulary occurs when they can read the vocabulary cards and accurately match them to the corresponding image in the memory game. Understanding can also be tested in the final review of new vocabulary at the end of the class.
• Further assessment of the retention and understanding of vocabulary is visible in the long term. Do the children use the vocabulary? Can they read the vocabulary words several days later if quizzed?