Life's A Buzz Module 2 LIT 5353

Life’s A Buzz! Kelly Riemesch American College of Education LIT5353 Literacy for Exceptional Learners Dr. Bridgette Davis October 15, 2023

Life’s A Buzz! Throughout this lesson, students will be immersed in vocabulary while reading the story, Buzz! A Book About Insects, by Melvin Berger. Students will work collaboratively with their peers and take part in class discussions to understand the book. Throughout the lesson students will learn new vocabulary and connect it to what they already know. Students will be immersed in literature and real-world investigations to connect what they are reading to the real world. The lesson is designed for a second-grade classroom using quality literature to learn about science: insects and their life cycles, reading, and writing based on Ohio’s Learning Standards. Vocabulary Integration Vocabulary is a large part of communication in every aspect whether conversation or reading and writing written work. Many accumulate high-quality vocabulary through extensive reading and language rich environments, although some learners need to be directly taught vocabulary ( McKeown, 2019 ). Informational texts are a great source of vocabulary and knowledge that should be used in the classroom. Knowledge is necessary for students to be able to read and write effectively (American College of Education, 2017). Within this lesson, students will read and understand an informational text to learn about insects, and their homes, lives, and life cycles. Informational texts expose students to content- rich words (Clark et al., 2020). Throughout this lesson students will learn vocabulary through discussions and writing. Writing connects texts and knowledge to show comprehension of what was read (American College of Education, 2017). Therefore, reading and writing are intertwined and should be taught together in context of what students are learning. Literature in Action

that they already know. activate their background knowledge to set up a purpose for reading (Texas Education Agency 2023). to know sections as a large group. The student will be able to describe and identify insects and their body parts. LG [pr] LG [di] • In a whole group, teacher led setting, the teacher and students will read chapter one in Buzz! A Book About Insects. Students will take part in a choral read to help them learn unfamiliar words as they read together. • While reading, the teacher will discuss the important vocabulary they read that identifies and labels insects' body parts. Students will Turn and Talk to a partner to identify each body part after talking about it to understand what they know about the body part in relation to insects. Students will read chapter one in Buzz! A Book About Insects , by Melvin Berger The student will be able to distinguish between the body parts of an insect. I [w] • Students will be given directions to label a diagram of an insect distinguishing the different body parts, using a key bank. • After labeling the insect, the student will write a sentence for each body part explaining what each part is used for in any or a variety of insects. Ex: The legs of a cricket help them hear. Writing will help students grasp the meanings of the vocabulary and the connection to what insects need them for (American College of Education, 2017). Students will label the insect diagram. Sentence building chart to write sentences for each vocabulary word (See Appendix A). The student will be able to investigate insects in their natural habitat. SG [dl] • Working with partners, the students will go outside and hunt insects. They will use their magnifying glasses to look at the insects up close. • When looking at their insects, they will use a checklist to help name the insect they are looking at. • With their partner, students will name the different body parts of the insect that they covered as part of their vocabulary. Connecting curriculum to real life promotes student interest (The President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2023). • Students can add statements to the KWL chart to share what they learned through the lesson after completing their insect investigations. Students will use magnifying glasses to look up insects up closely, and a checklist to help them identify the insects they find. Summary: (Key ideas to remember) Building background is a crucial step to help students understand a text that they read and learn. Nonfiction texts can be heavily filled with vocabulary and to comprehend what is read, vocabulary needs to be taught. Connecting vocabulary with writing, and real-world experiences help students make connections and understanding of literature.

Connections: (Transition for next lesson) Students will be able to apply the vocabulary they learned into the next lesson on insects when students dive deeper into understanding the life cycle of insects. Justification In this lesson, students are being introduced to the topic of insects. This is the first lesson in a unit of insects where students will understand the anatomy, life cycles, and habitats of insects. Throughout this lesson students are using a nonfiction text to learn about insects. Incorporating literature into multiple content areas helps make understanding of key ideas meaningful. Science and literacy will be integrated into the lesson to learn vocabulary and comprehension in the science content. Vocabulary is important to learn in primary grades, as it is a predictor to later success (Kelley & Poholik 2023). Activating prior knowledge will be the first step in this lesson to connect students to show what they already know about insects. All students benefit from activities that build background information to connect their prior experiences and knowledge to learn new content (Ness, 2019). Having direct instruction in reading and learning the new vocabulary words will help students understand the words and read them easier. Students will have the opportunity to work independently and in small groups to demonstrate what they learned during the reading. Students will show what they know by working independently and write sentences about the vocabulary words they have learned. When reading and writing are taught together, students will be able to demonstrate what they have learned (American College of Education, 2017). Students will also work in small groups and become scientists that investigate insects in the real world. When students connect their learning to real world experiences it helps make meaning to what they are learning (The Fellows of Harvard College, 2023).

References American College of Education. (2017). Linguistics and Literature: Module 2 [Part 2 Presentation]. Canvas. https://ace.instructure.com/courses/1958883/external_tools/118428 Clark, S. K., Judd, E., Smith, L. K., & Ahlstrom, E. (2020). Examining the effects of integrated science and literacy instruction to teach second-graders to write compare and contrast informational text. Early Childhood Education Journal , 49 (4), 567 – 579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01106-9 Kelley, E. S., & Poholik, O. (2023). Big words for little kids: Rare vocabulary use by preschool children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 32(4), 1705 – 1713. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_ajslp-22-00349 McKeown, M. G. (2019). Effective vocabulary instruction fosters knowing words, using words, and understanding how words work. Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools, 50( 4), 466 – 476. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_LSHSS-VOIA-18-0126 Ness, M. (2019). Leveling the playing field: Considerations to make when building background knowledge. Literacy Today , 36 (4), 36 – 37. Texas Education Agency (2023). Strategies that Promote Comprehension. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/background- knowledge/articles/strategies- promote-comprehension. The President and Fellows of Harvard College (2023). Make Real World Connections to Course Material. Harvard University . https://ablconnect.harvard.edu/make-real- world- connections-course-material

Appendix A Sentence Building Chart