Students’ age range: 08-10
Topic: Coral Reef Ecosystems
Description: To begin this lesson, the teacher will project a crossword puzzle on the whiteboard. Students will come to the board and try to find as many words as they can related to marine life. Following the introduction of the lesson, the teacher will introduce the students to the content on coral reefs. They will be instructed to preview and skim the text and circle words that they are not familiar with. After which, the students will be probed to find out what they think the text is all about. Students will volunteer responses and participate in a brief discussion. Following this, the teacher will guide the students in the reading of the text. She will instruct students to listen out for those words that they have circled so that they can hear the pronounciation. As the text is read, the teacher will stop periodically to probe the students for understanding. The text will be read two more times (repeated Reading) for the benefit of those struggling readers who may have missed anything.
Following the repeated readings of the text the teacher will turn on the Coral Reef video for students to view. They will watch the first time without interruptions. During the second viewing, the teacher will pause the video at intervals to probe the students for understanding. A discussion will ensue.
The comprehension check assignment will be used to evaluate the students’ understanding of the text. They will be expected to identify the main idea of the passage as well as supporting details. Based on information in the text, they will draw logical conclusions and be able to conclude causes and effects.