Lessons & Units :: Sequence 2nd Grade Unit

Lesson 2: Summarize Important Events

Lesson Plan

First Day Jitters | 210L

First Day Jitters
Learning Goal
Summarize the important events of a story in sequence.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials

Provided: Direct Teaching Example Chart; Independent Practice Passage, “Clara and Phillip the Turtle;” Independent Practice Worksheet
Not Provided: First Day Jitters by Julie Danneburg, The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen, Retelling Chart from Lesson 1, chart paper, markers

 

  • Activation & Motivation

    Retell a personal story to students that includes a lot of small details. Highlight that this type of retelling is often boring for the listener. Retell the story to students a second time including only the important events so that they can clearly hear the difference in the retellings.

  • Teacher Modeling

    will explain to students that when summarizing a story, the listener does not need to know every detail of the story. Instead, the audience probably just wants to know the important events in the story and the order in which they occurred. I will explain that today we are going to choose which details in a story are important and which are minor or unimportant in order to better summarize the story. (Refer back to the chart of the familiar story retold in Direct Teaching in Lesson 1). I will model distinguishing between important events and minor details by looking at each detail in my chart from yesterday’s retell. I will summarize the story based on the important events we identified. (Direct Teaching Example Chart is provided in the Texts & Materials tab.)

  • Think Check

    Ask: How did I summarize the story? Students should respond that you looked at all the details in the story and identified only the most important details. Then, you retold only the most important details in the order in which they occurred.

  • Guided Practice

    will read The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen and chart the events from the story. We will review the events we charted and distinguish important events from minor details. We will practice summarizing the story to a partner, including only the important events and telling these events in sequence.

    TIP: The example chart for the Guided Practice is intended only as an example. Let students guide you in charting events from the story to make the experience more authentic to your class.

  • Independent Practice

    will follow along as we reread together the passage “Clara and Phillip the Turtle.” You will choose the three most important events from the story and retell them in order. (Student Independent Practice is provided in the Texts & Materials tab.)

Build Student Vocabulary dawn

Tier 2 Word: dawn
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story “On the last day before winter vacation, Sarah awakened before dawn.”
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) Dawn is the first light of day that can be seen in the morning. When Sarah awakened before dawn, she awakened before any light of day could be seen. It was still dark outside when she woke up.
Students repeat the word Say the word dawn with me: dawn.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts Everyday, my dad wakes up at dawn. I enjoy waking up at dawn to see the sunrise.
Students provide examples Have you or someone you know ever woken up at dawn? Why did you get up at dawn? Start by saying, “I woke up at dawn because __________________________.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? dawn
Additional Vocabulary Words lane, hedge

Build Student Background Knowledge

After reading The Mitten Tree, explain that knitting is the process of connecting little loops of yarn to make fabric. Explain that to connect the loops, you need two long knitting needles (they aren't very sharp). Knitting is a very old form of art. Small knitted socks were discovered in Egypt and found to have been knitted over 700 years ago! Knitting is easy, once you know how. Look for knitting books at the library and work with an adult to learn how to make your very own scarf or pair of mittens.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

(To see all of the ReadWorks lessons aligned to your standards, click here.)

User Comments

Great Lesson!!

Submitted by rkliegman on 12/4/16

Excellent examples.

Submitted by monica.boler_2349269 on 10/24/16

Could Readworks be any better!?!? Love it!

Submitted by rmccuen_1609204 on 3/31/16

It is wonderful Love it! Thanks

Submitted by ttm_21_1192605 on 2/26/15

Love the variety of books you use to teach the skills.

Submitted by lweinschenk on 1/23/15

THis is great stuff! Just what I needed! Thanks

Submitted by williekiel_1116132 on 12/7/14