Literary Selections

How to Teach Reading Lesson Plans: Reads and understands various types of literary selections (genres—e.g., fiction, nonfiction, biographies, poetry).

1) Utilizes prior knowledge
Have the students complete a KWL chart on each genre.

Use electronic student portfolio for students to record what is known, what I want to know before discussion and then to identify what I learned after class discussion.

2) Creates various type of genres
Read an example of a specific genre. Have the students create one of their own.

3) Connects the content of the passage to real life or current events
Read a passage and ask students to look for information in newspapers and magazines and on the computer to find real-life and current events that relate to this passage. Use electronic/online resources to find current events. See Technology Resource Guide for suggested electronic/online resources, software, and activity.
Discuss with the students “why” it is important that we learn the “values” or “lack of values” from the characters/people in the passage.

4) Determines author’s purpose (e.g., entertain, describe, persuade, inform); tone (e.g., humorous, persuasive, ominous); point of view (e.g., first person, third person, omniscient)
Divide the students into small groups. After a unit of stories, the groups will write each title on an index card and write the author’s purpose, tone, and point of view. Then display each group’s cards so they can compare.
Read short passages. Have the students hold up the correct card that identifies the author’s purpose, tone, and point of view.

5) Uses figurative language/literary devices (e.g., similes, metaphors, personification, and hyperbole)
Have students use a literary device in their journal writing.
Have students rewrite sentences using a literary device (e.g., The building is crowded. The building is packed like sardines.)

6) Understands meaning of a passage from a selection
Have students listen to an oral passage and then retell the passage . . . (oral or written).
Have the students read a passage in pairs, and discuss what it means to them.
Have the students use a process of comprehension.

Make Predictions:

Read story title and tell what story will be about.

Read beginning paragraph of story and add to title prediction.

Read the Story:

Oral/silent reading of the story

Retell the Story:

Oral/written retelling of the story

Ask Questions related to the Story Elements:

Character

Setting

Plot

Theme

Mood/tone

Conflict

Solution

Summarize the Story:

Tell what the story is about using a few sentences

Reads and evaluates persuasive text

1) Utilizes prior knowledge
Have students read title and predict the author’s position.

2) Understands the author’s position
Have the students develop a Circle Map and Frame to establish and understand the author’s position.

Example:

A. What is the author’s position?

B. Brainstorm important points

C. Did the author’s position influence your opinion?

Have the students use a Flow Map to evaluate persuasive text and understand the author’s position.

Example:

State author’s position and three ways to verify it.

Use a brainstorming/mapping tool to create a flow chart. .

3) Distinguishes between fact and opinion
Write sentences that are facts or opinions on individual strips of paper. Put sentence strips in brown paper bag. Let students come to the front of the room, draw a sentence strip, read it aloud, and tell if their sentence is a fact or opinion.

4) Recognizes persuasive and propaganda techniques (e.g., bias, slant, misinformation, propaganda)
Have students search for magazine advertisements to identify the propaganda (e.g., bandwagon, testimonial, transfer, emotional words) techniques used in each ad.
Have the students collect newspaper articles and identify bias, slant, and misinformation.
Use electronic/online resources to collect magazine and newspaper articles.