Lessons & Units :: Plot 3rd Grade Unit

Lesson 4: Rising and Falling Actions

Lesson Plan

How My Parents Learned to Eat | 450L

How My Parents Learned to Eat
Learning Goal
Identify and describe the rising action in a plot.
Identify and describe the falling action in a plot.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: Direct Teaching Chart, Example Graphic Organizer for Guided Practice, Independent Practice Worksheet
Not Provided: How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman and The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine, chart paper, markers

  • Teacher Modeling

    will explain that in the plot of a story, there are rising actions that lead to the problem and falling actions that lead to the solution. I will give examples from books previously read in class. I will chart one example using a graphic organizer. (Direct Teaching Graphic Organizer is provided below in Teacher and Student Materials.)

  • Think Check

    Ask: How did I identify rising and falling actions? Students should respond that you read the story and identified the main events in the story that led to the problem. Then, you identified all the main events in the story that led to the solution.

  • Guided Practice

    will read aloud How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman. We will identify and describe the rising actions that lead to the problem in the story and the falling actions that lead to the solution. (Guided Practice Teacher Example is provided below.)

  • Independent Practice

    will use the book The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine and complete a Plot Graphic Organizer about the rising and falling action in the story. (Student Independent Practice is provided below.)

Build Student Vocabulary cushions

Tier 2 Word: cushions
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story At the Japanese restaurant, everyone sat on cushions around low tables.
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) A cushion is a soft pillow or pad to rest on or sit on. In traditional Japanese culture, people sit or kneel on cushions instead of sitting on chairs when they eat.
Students repeat the word Say the word cushions with me: cushions.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts Cushions are soft to sit on. My mother has cushions on her dining room chairs, so they will be comfortable.
Students provide examples Can you describe some cushions in your home or someone else’s home? Start by saying “In my home, we have cushions that are ___________.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? cushions
Additional Vocabulary Words utensils, perhaps

Build Student Background Knowledge

Before reading How My Parents Learned to Eat, explain that you are going to read a book about the culture of Japanese food. Show students where Japan is on a map. Point out that Japan is an island nation, so the Japanese eat a lot of fish, vegetables, rice, soy, and seaweed. Explain that in each culture, humans have developed practices, or ways, of eating food. Explain to students that they are going to learn about different practices for eating food in Japan.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

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

User Comments

Love this! it's super helpful in organizing how to teach rising and falling actions. Only edit I made after downloading the word document was that rising actions lead to the climax of the story as the problem or conflict is usually given at the beginning.

Submitted by aluevano1_1184571 on 2/20/16