1. Observation Lesson Plan
Intern Name: Rachael Grant School: Hollywood Elementary
Grade/Subject: 4th
Grade Date/Time: Week of 11-7, Afternoon lesson
School: University of Maryland Mentor Name/Initials: Jan Oosterhous
I. Purpose of the Lesson
What will the students learn? How does this learning fit within unit goals?
Standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences
from the text
Topic: Making Inferences
Indicator: Combine text clues and background knowledge to create inferences.
Lesson Objective-The students will identify and refer to specific text examples when drawing inferences.
Big Idea/Essential Question/Enduring Understanding/Unifying Question for this lesson or unit.
How can we combine our prior knowledge with text clues to draw inferences?
Formative Assessment
Making inferences worksheet
II. Instructional Decision-Making
What knowledge of my students influences my instructional decisions in this lesson? How will my instruction
remove barriers to learning and/or build on students’ strengths?
Knowledge of Learners
-Students have been briefly introduced to the idea of making inferences. Inferences have been defined to the class
as background knowledge + text clues = inference.
- Students in OGL reading group have attempted to draw inferences from leveled reader using sticky notes. These
students shared their inferences with Ms. Grant and engaged in a conversation about inferences
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2. Instructional Materials:
Making Inferences Graphic Organizer
Political Parties by Susan LaBella
Pencil, highlighter
Timer
Technology:
Elmo
Projector
Laptop
Management Considerations (Procedures, Transitions, Materials, Behavior)
Paper passer will help distribute materials.
Students will get out what they need before the lesson starts: reading classwork folder, highlighter, pencil
Students coming from third grade have had different experiences depending on which class they were in. Specific
students were in a class that was not productive and the students were not held accountable for the majority of their
work. Because of this it is important to monitor these specific students and provide extra support if they are struggling.
Utilize team points and checks and warnings.
III. Instructional Process:
What instructional framework, strategies, and sequence will I use to ensure that every child is a successful learner?
Choose the instructional delivery method that best fits the material you are teaching. E.g. Five Es, Before,
During, After, Direct Teaching Approach, Socratic Discussion, Inquiry based learning, Cooperative Learning,
Project Based- Learning.
Warm-up/Activator: 5 Minutes
State objectives.
Start the lesson with class graffiti boards. Students have done this before and understand the steps of this opening activity.
First I will start by writing a word on the board. I will then throw a ball to a student to come up to the board to write down
a word or phrase or symbol that they relate to the topic word I have written down. We will complete two class graffiti
boards. One will have the word “Inference” and the other will have “Political Party”. Students will be engaged because they
have a chance to come up to the board and participate and they also get to pick who comes after them by throwing a ball.
After graffiti boards highlight the poster in the room that shows what an inference is.
Before Reading: 12 Minutes
After this activity is competed introduce the reading to the class. “Today we are going to read a short article on Political
Parties in the United States. We are going to use our background knowledge combined with text clues to draw inferences.
We will use this graphic organizer to help us draw inferences. Before we read we need to brainstorm our background
knowledge.”
Have paper passer pass out the graphic organizer. Tell students they will have 5 minutes to independently write down their
background knowledge on political parties. This should be silent. Make sure to monitor students and walk around the
classroom during this time. After the five minutes are over (set timer) students will work will share their background
knowledge with their shoulder buddy for three minutes. This allows all students to share their ideas and hear from their
peers.
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3. After sharing have a few partners share out what they talked about and model on the board with graphic organizer.
During Reading: 20 Minutes
Have the paper passer pass out the article to each student. Since the article is so short have students popcorn read the
article at their table. Remind students that during popcorn reading, the reader reads a sentence or two and then
“popcorns” to another person at the table. Each person at the table should participate at least once. Ask students to show
a thumb up or down to reveal if they understand popcorn reading. If students seem confused about popcorn reading,
model to the class with a few volunteer students. Give students 7 minutes to read the article. If more time is needed,
extend after coming back together.
After each team has popcorn read the article, give students time (depending on timing 7-12 minutes) to independently go
back and reread the article. Remind students that we want to use text clues to make inferences. Ask students what they
think they should look for when they go back and reread the text? They should be looking for information that stands out
to them as something new, or something they learned specifically from the text. As the students reread, they should be
filling in the next section of the graphic organizer: “What I know from the text”.
Remind students that they can use a pencil to underline important sections of the article or highlight them.
After reading: 12 Minutes
After students finish jotting down some ideas about what they learned from the text, call on students to share what they
wrote. Model on graphic organizer using the ELMO projector. Next have a student volunteer remind the class of the
definition of inference. Tell the class to talk with their shoulder buddy about some inferences they can make by combining
the information on their graphic organizer. Before allowing students to break off into pairs model an inference using the
graphic organizer on the board. Then give students time (depending on time but approximately 10 minutes) to work with
their shoulder buddies to come up with at least two original inferences. Encourage students that have more ideas to make
more inferences. Inferences should be written in complete sentences and there should clearly be two; model on the board
how the sentence structure should look. This will be turned in and graded.
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4. Sequence of Teaching & Learning Moves: Cite research used to develop this lesson.
Students will first be engaged in the lesson through the graffiti board activity. This will allow them to start thinking about
the topic we will be discussing and learning about. Students are allowed to write or draw pictures/symbols on the graffiti
board. This helps supports all learners so that they can feel comfortable contributing and participating to the class’s
brainstorming.
Making inferences is a more abstract concept to teach students. To combat the confusion about this topic, we will utilize a
graphic organizer that easily splits up the components of making inferences. In addition to the graphic organizer, students
will be engaging is several talks with their peers, this will also help generate ideas and help students who are struggling with
the concept to see the example of their peers.
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ESOL
ESOL students sitting next to each
other to help translate the material
for each other. Depending on how
these students do with the group
discussions and following along, it
may be necessary to call these
three students to the jelly bean
table while the other students are
writing their inferences for more
guidance and help.
Below
Modeling and providing sentence
structure for drawing inferences.
Graphic organizer to help organizer
and break down the process of
making inferences.
Group discussions with OGL and
AGL to help generate ideas.
Acceleration
By phrasing the assessment as “at least
two” inferences are required, these
students have the opportunity and will be
encouraged to make more inferences.
5. Assessment:
Completed graphic organizer. Grading criteria shown in Assessment Criteria section.
How are you differentiating the assessment for the following students?
ESOL
By modeling on the board, ESOL
students will be able to copy notes
directly on to their graphic
organizers.
Below
Breaking down the steps and using
a graphic organizer will help
scaffold the concept of making
inferences. Modeling on the board
will provide extra support for
writing inferences.
Acceleration
Students are required to write at
least two inferences. Students who
are TAG/AGL will be encouraged to
write more than two.
Assessment Criteria:
Students must have: at least 2 inferences that are written in complete sentences. The inferences should be related to their
prior knowledge and text clues and written in the format modeled on the board: “Before reading I knew that… I learned
from the text that… After combing this information, I can infer that…” (Each inference will end up being three sentences)
Will be scored out of six points. One point for each sentence in each inference. If students complete more than two
inferences, then they will be graded on their best scoring two inferences.
In addition to the inferences, students will receive 4 points for having the other two sections of their graphic organizer
being filled in. Two points for each section.
The total worksheet will be graded out of 10.
Evidence Students demonstrated the objective
At least two inferences written in complete sentences that
clearly are based off of prior background knowledge and text
clues.
Evidence that suggests students need
further instruction
Inferences are not based on any background
knowledge.
Do not make sense and if asked to elaborate on their
work they cannot explain.
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6. Closure and Check for Understanding: 5 Minutes
Have students pass their completed graphic organizer to their team captains. The team captains will then raise the pile of
papers for the paper passer to collect. If students do not complete their graphic organizers, it should be completed the
following day during bathroom breaks or recess (depending on lunch/recess duty). To close the lesson and check for
understanding, students will complete the Emoji Exit ticket. Before explain exit ticket ask students to remind us of our
objective for the lesson.
Students will circle the Emoji face that best represents how they feel about making inferences. Explain that the happiest
face means that you are comfortable with making inferences and you could explain it to Ms. Grant. The middle face means
you feel pretty good but you know you could use some more practice. The frowning face means I am not comfortable with
this at all. Have paper passer pass out Emoji exit ticket.
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