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A Lesson on See Our Progress Export Lesson as PDF | Save As Favorite

A Lesson on See Our Progress Grade: Grade 3
Subject: English Language Arts
Created by: Elena Ballard
Lesson Length: 1 hour
Keywords/Tags: reading, writing, garden, school
Lesson Description: In this lesson, students will read a story about a school whose garden was featured on the local news. Students will be asked to read the passage and answer questions about vocabulary words introduced in the story. Students will also participate in discussion forums where they will answer questions using details from the story and their own thoughts/opinions. The final part of the lesson is a writing activity that will require the students to examine their school experience and determine if anything they do is news worthy. If there is nothing, what could them start at their school that would make the news want to come out and interview them.
Common Core Standards Covered with This Lesson
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.6: Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.3: Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
 
     
     
 
Lesson Content: Reading
Instructions: Please read the following reading passage as many times as needed (aloud and silent) before starting to go through other lesson pages. Understanding the content of this passage is very important since the lesson activities will be all about this content. Feel free to print the passage if needed.

See Our Progress

My school was on the news last week. We had made a big change in our community. We had planted a big garden where there had been a vacant lot. 

I learned a lot about television news. First, our principal called the TV station. She told them what we were doing. She talked with a producer. That is a person who sends reporters to do stories. 

The producer checked with the director. He said there were lots of stories like this, so he wanted to know what was special about our garden. 

The principal explained that we had made a prairie garden. She told how we had gone on the Internet to learn about the prairie. Then we had gone to a prairie and gotten seeds. We got the seeds from the plants. Then we planted them. We did not water the garden, but we did weed it. We let nature water it with rain because that was how prairies grew in the past. We sent a picture of the garden. In the picture the grass was so high it was taller than the fourth grade students. 

The director thought this was interesting. It was not just a garden. It was a history lesson. It was a science lesson, too. So they sent a reporter. A camera man came, too. 

They interviewed the principal. They asked questions about the garden. Then they interviewed us. We told what we had learned. They interviewed a person on the street, too. They asked what he thought about the garden. 

They were at our school for two hours. We were excited. Then that night we watched the news. There we were. They told our story. It was only two minutes long. But it was us. We were famous.

 
     
     
 
Task 1: Vocabulary Activity (40 points)
Instructions: Please complete the following vocabulary activity by choosing the correct meaning of each word selected from the passage and use of each word correctly in a sentence.

Vocabulary Questions

Word/Phrase: interesting | Tier: 2 | Points: 10
Q1 In the story, the author says "The director thought this was interesting." What does the word "interesting" mean?
A. sad
B. exciting *
C. boring
D. bad

Which one of the sentences below uses the word "interesting" correctly?
A. She was interesting after her team lost the big game.
B. He always falls asleep in his interesting class
C. She was so interesting when she was home alone all day.
D. The lesson that I learned in school was interesting, so I read more about it at home. *

Word/Phrase: vacant | Tier: 2 | Points: 10
Q2 In the story, the author says "We had planted a big garden where there had been a vacant lot." What does the word "vacant" mean?
A. empty *
B. full
C. old
D. busy

Which one of the sentences below uses the word "vacant" correctly?
A. I waitied in line to use the restroom because it was vacant.
B. There were so many people at lunch, the room was vacant.
C. After dismissal, the classroom was vacant. *
D. She went to get the last piece of pizza, but it was already vacant.

Word/Phrase: producer | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q3 In the story, the author says "She talked with a producer." What does the word "producer" mean?
A. Someone who films a television show
B. Someone who interviews people
C. Someone who sends reporters to news stories *
D. Someone who writes for the newspaper

Which one of the sentences below uses the word "producer" correctly?
A. The producer had a large camera to film with.
B. The producer loved the story, he sent someone out to report on it. *
C. This article in the paper was written by a great producer.
D. The producer asked the students many questions for the camera.

Word/Phrase: prarie | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q4 In the story, the author says "We had made a prairie garden." What does the word "prairie" mean?
A. A type of small plant
B. A place up in the sky
C. A body of water
D. A large open area of grassland *

Which one of the sentences below uses the word "prairie" correctly?
A. We went to the prairie to go boating.
B. He had a prairie growing in a pot.
C. The horses ran free on the prairie. *
D. She looked up in the sky to see the prairie.

Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4,
 
     
     
 
Task 2: Discussion Activity (30 points)
Instructions: This discussion forum will have questions for students to respond. Read the posted questions, and respond to each. Students are responsible for posting one initial and and two peer responses for each topic.

  Topic Title Replies

Message What did the garden teach the students?
In the story, it says "it was not just a garden. It was a history lesson. It was a science lesson, too." Give two examples of what the students might have learned from the garden.  All answers should be written in complete sentences.
Sent on: Sep 14, 2015 by: Elena Ballard
0

Message What happened after the news report?
At the end of the story it says "we were famous." What do you think happened after the news report? Do you think anything changed for the students? How did it benefit the school and it's garden? Please respond in complete sentences.
Sent on: Sep 14, 2015 by: Elena Ballard
0

Message If our school had a garden...
If our school had a garden, what kind of garden would it be? How would your school day change if you also had to take care of a garden?
Sent on: Sep 14, 2015 by: Elena Ballard
0

Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.6, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.10, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2,
 
     
     
 
Task 3: Writing Activity (30 points)
Instructions: In your opinion, is there anything going on at our school that is "news worthy"? Why might reporters come out to JHH to interview the students? If you can't think of anything currently taking place, what sort of project could we start that would be so interesting that the producer would send out reporters to interview our students?
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.3,
 
     

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