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001 08/22/14

Word Choice Lesson Plan

First Name

Mia

Last Name

UH Email

mbrandon@hawaii.ed
u

Date

Semester

1 fall

Year

Grade Level/
Subject

4/ Language Artswriting

Lesson Duration 45 min

Title

Murray
10/16/14
2014

Paint a Picture with Words

Lesson Overview
Briefly summarize your lesson plan in a few sentences.

The students will learn about word choice. We will go over what synonyms are
and how picking the right one will add life to our writing. Well read a few
passages and assess the writers word choice. We will construct a word wall
with colorful words to replace dull words with. They will have an opportunity to
work in small groups and apply their knowledge.

Central Focus (Enduring Understandings)

A brief description of the important understanding(s) or key concept(s)
edTPA Rubric 1 - Planning for Subject Specific Understandings: The
candidates plans build on each other to support learning of essential
understandings and concepts to lead students to make connections. There is a
clear connection between concepts and skills.
InTASC Standard 4. Content Knowledge

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The students will understand the impact that good word choice has on a piece
of writing. They will learn how to replace dull words with colorful words that
bring the authors thoughts to life.

Essential Question(s)
The big idea of the lesson stated as a question or questions

How can we paint a picture with our words?

How can we make the reader feel like part of the story?
How do we create excitement and suspense in our writing?
How do we make the words/images come alive?
What are Colorful words and why do we use them?

Content Standard(s)/Benchmark
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) or Hawaii Content & Performance
Standards III (HCPS III) that align with the central focus and address essential
understandings, concepts, and skills

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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.3.b
Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the
responses of characters to situations..
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.3.d
Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and
events precisely.

Prior Academic Knowledge and Student Assets

The students prior academic learning and personal/cultural/community assets that will
support their learning
edTPA Rubric 3 - Using Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching and
Learning: The candidate uses knowledge of his/her students to justify instructional
plans.
InTASC Standard 1. Learner Development

The students have had experiences with writing narratives, including personal
and fiction. They have been introduced to the writing traits of Ideas and
Organization. They have worked on those traits by writing pieces with those
traits in mind and then doing self and peer assessments based on those traits.
They are familiar with the concept of hook sentences and using details in
writing that entice your reader to read further.
We will now be introducing the trait of Word Choice.

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Academic Language Demands

The language function essential for student learning (verb), additional language
demand(s) (vocabulary or symbols, syntax, discourse), and language supports (helps
the student understand and use language)
edTPA Rubric 4: Identifying and Supporting Language Demands: The candidate
identifies and supports language demands associated with key learning tasks.

We will discuss what synonyms are and how we use them and where to find
them. We will learn synonyms for dull words such as said or good and replace
them with words like: exclaimed, shouted, cried or amazing, terrific,fabulous.

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Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks
A description of what the teacher will be doing and what the students will be doing that
1) uses clear steps that convey the use of multiple strategies, resources, and
technology and 2) offers opportunities offered for inquiry, active learning, individual
work, and pairs/small group interactions
edTPA Rubric 6 - Learning Environment: The candidate demonstrates rapport with
and respect for students. Candidate provides a challenging learning environment that
provides opportunities to express varied perspectives and promotes mutual respect
among students.
edTPA Rubric 7 - Engaging Students in Learning: The candidate actively engages
students in learning tasks that address their understanding of key content. Candidate
prompts students to link prior academic learning and personal, cultural, or community
assets to new learning.
edTPA Rubric 8 - Deepening Student Learning: The candidate elicits student
responses to promote thinking and to apply strategies and skills. Candidate facilitates
interactions among students so they can evaluate their own abilities to apply the
essential strategy in meaningful reading or writing contexts.
edTPA Rubric 9 - Subject-Specific Pedagogy: The candidate supports students to
learn, practice, and apply strategies and skills. Candidate explicitly teaches students
when to apply the strategy in meaningful contexts.
InTASC Standard 3. Learning Environments
InTASC Standard 5. Application of Content
InTASC Standard 7. Planning for Instruction
InTASC Standard 8. Instructional Strategies

Give detailed, step-by-step instructions on how you will implement the

instructional plan.
Describe exactly what students will do during the lesson.

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1. What is word choice? (take suggestions)

It refers to how writers use words to describe a story in a way that makes it possible
for the writer really be able to picture what the writer is talking about.
2. Qualities of word choice (Go over trait sheet)
3. (Show word choice scoring guide) Do yall remember when we had one of
these for ideas and organization? This is just like that but it talks about word
choice. (pass papers out and talk about the things on the page). Now were
going to read a passage and I want you to decide what score it should
get. (read dull writing sample). What do you think? (call on a few people to
share). Ok, lets try another one. (read colorful sample and repeat steps.)
4. What could have made the first writing better? (take suggestions)
They could have chosen some different words, huh? Does anyone know what a
synonym is?
(wait for response, if no one answers explain that a synonym is a word that means
pretty much the same thing as another word) For example, the word ran (write on
board)would be considered a dull word. What are some other words for ran that are
more colorful? ( take suggestions and write on board. examples: dashed, sprinted,
jogged, chased, escaped-make sure to include, galloped.) These are some colorful
words! Great job!
(Write sentence on board The dog ran after the boy.)
Could you use ANY of these to replace ran? Thumbs up if yes, thumbs down for
no. (Call on someone to explain why). Does anyone know what a thesaurus is? (if
no one answers explain that its a book kind of like a dictionary but filled with
synonyms of words)
5. Ok, so lets pick a few common dull words and then well come up with some
more colorful synonyms for those words. Think for a minute about what kind of words
we use all of the time but that we could probably choose a better word for. (Call on
some people, ask for thumbs up if they think thats a good word, write it on the poster
board)
Ok, now that we have some dull words, lets come up with some colorful words that
we could use instead! (go through each word and ask them to raise hands if they
have a good one, if everyone agrees, have them come write it on the board)
Wow! What a colorful word wall!! You guys rock!
6. Now, were going to put these colorful words to work! Lets listen to a short
reading that is in need of some colorful words. (read passage). Wow. This

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Assessment
The tools/procedures to monitor students learning of lesson objective(s) to include
formative assessments applied throughout the lesson and a summative assessment of
what students learned by the end of the lesson (include checklist or rubric)
edTPA Rubric 5: Planning Assessments to Monitor and Support Student
Learning: The candidate selects and designs informal and formal assessments to
monitor students use of essential concepts and skills. The assessments are
strategically designed to allow individuals or groups with specific needs to
demonstrate their learning.
edTPA Rubric 12 - Providing Feedback to Guide Further Learning: The candidate
gives specific feedback to address students strengths and needs related to the
learning objectives.
edTPA Rubric 13 - Student Use of Feedback: The candidate provides opportunities
for students to use the feedback to guide their further learning.
InTASC Standard 6. Assessment

Word Choice Writing Rubric

Developing
Proficient
Words are consistently
dull, repetitive, and
colorless
Language is used
incorrectly and detracts
from
writing

Does not contain vivid,

or colorful words

Exemplary

Contains some words

that are precise,
accurate,
and appropriate for
the topic

Contains words that are

precise, accurate, and
appropriate for the topic

Language is mostly
used correctly

Consistent use of dynamic, vivid or

challenging words that are used correctly.

Contains some vivid,

colorful words

Consistently uses language correctly

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Differentiation and Accommodations
Instructional strategies and planned supports for individuals, and/or groups of students
with specific learning needs that provide adaptations connected to instructional
strategies, the learning environment, content, and/or assessment/performance task for
individuals and/or small groups (e.g., ELL/MLL, struggling, accelerated, 504/IEP, etc.)
edTPA Rubric 2 - Planning to Support Varied Student Learning Needs: The
candidate uses knowledge of his/her students to target support for students learning.
Supports include specific strategies to identify and respond to common developmental
approximations or misconceptions.
InTASC Standard 1. Learner Development
InTASC Standard 2. Learner Differences

We will work together and learn through discussion (speaking and listening), as well
as creating a word wall (visual).
The students will be working in small groups designed in a way where more advanced
students can offer support to those who are struggling. They will be given a piece of
writing to improve upon instead of having to come up with new ideas, which can be
challenging for some of the students.

TYPE OF LEARNER

List the type of accommodation or differentiation (learning

environment, content, process, or performance task) and
describe how you will differentiate.

ELL/MLL

Struggling

The students will be working in small groups designed in a

way where more advanced students can offer support to
those who are struggling. They will be given a piece of writing
to improve upon instead of having to come up with new ideas,
which can be challenging for some of the students.

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Accelerated

504/IEP

Others (describe)

Materials (Optional)
Please note and/or paste any supporting materials (i.e., teaching materials, custom
lesson plans, etc.) into the space below. You may use as many pages as needed
beyond the space below to paste your materials.
White board
Dry erase markers
Poster board
Markers
Thesaurus
Writing samples- dull and colorful options
(Mentor text or previous student writing )

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Lesson Plan Reflection
An analysis of what worked, what could be changed, and the next steps for teaching.
edTPA Rubric 10 Analyzing Teaching Effectiveness: The candidate uses
evidence to evaluate and change teaching practice to meet students varied learning
needs.
edTPA Rubric 15 Using Assessment to Inform Instruction: The candidate
uses the analysis of what students know and are able to do to plan next steps in
instruction.
InTASC Standard 9. Professional Learning and Ethical Practice

What changes would you make to your instructionfor the whole class and/or
for students who need greater support or challengeto better support student
learning of the central focus (e.g., missed opportunities)?
Based on your reflection and your assessment of student learning, describe the
next steps to support students learning related to the central focus and student
learning objectives.