Content Area Reading Lesson Title: Schedule/Routine of a Farmer Topic: Farming Grade Level: 7th grade |
Strategies: Brainstorming Graphic Organizer |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Before Reading I. Motivation: The teacher dresses up like a farmer to catch the students attention. From there the teacher will create and distribute chore responsibilities for each on of the students, so that they become actively involved. This should create some sort of curiosity or interest for this topic. II. Prior knowledge: We are going to review the topic of farming today. There will be a few of you that are experts, but not all of us grew up on farms. That is ok. I need you to take out your journals and come up and write down different questions on what they know about farming. • What do you know about farming? • What are some of the responsibilities of farming? • What kinds of animals are related to farming? • Do you know anyone that is a farmer? • If so or you are a farmer, Do you have any special stories to share? III. Purpose: Our purpose today is to introduce the basic facts of farming and give you an idea of what we will be discussing and doing for the next couple weeks. We will be going over worksheets, online activities or games, reading books, watching videos, and taking a very special field trip to a local family farm to experience first hand the joys of living on the farm. IV. Strategy instructions: BRAINSTORMING
Recorder: This person will list all the information in the shortest amount of time or as quickly as possible. This person will record the whole class data or information at the computer. Timekeeper: This student will have to be a quick thinker and have to multitask. While providing as many ideas as possible someone has to periodically check the time clock. That same individual will issue a five minute warning and a one minute warning to let the class know of the amount of time they have left. You will then call time and if they are in the middle of an idea they have to finish it and be done. Respondents: These students are the key individuals or the whole class that has to suggest ideas. You are required to be creative and logical in the ideas you come up with. You will come up with as many as possible, but be patient to relay them to the recorder for he/she can't record everyone's at once. However you still need to keep the pace moving. All: The purpose of this brainstorming activity is to this fast and record as many ideas in a shorter amount of time. The ideas aren't necessarily right or wrong, which means everyone is on the same "playing field." Everyone gets the same opportunity to participate and contribute to the brainstorming process. The important thing is not that they make sense or relate to each other, because the ideas can be related at a different time. |
||||
During Reading The Basics http://42explore.com/farming.htm Readability: 9.9 grade level using the Flesh-Kincaid . This passage contains several bigger words that seventh graders may not know the full meaning of yet, but I feel it is a good match to start the lesson on the basics of farming. For example, some words like harvested, labor-saving machinery, fertilizers, and a business enterprise will throw some students off with their reading, but it will give us a foundation to work with once the students understand what these words mean. The drawbacks of using a readability formula are well-documented, so the cueing system and other readability factors should be considered. The print legibility is easy to read and the graphics make the page simple with lots of white space, so readers can focus on what they are reading. Some students may have a good schematic background with farming while others may not, so this will be the challenge of the lesson to work with and adapt from. The text structure and syntax are a pretty good flow with each other even though there are words a little higher level for these seventh graders, I think with some help on identifying what words mean they will read through the passage with a good understanding to the basics of farming. Since this is our first lesson on farming and we are building with prior knowledge of what we already know, the students will all be using this text as a whole class discussion. In this way, the students will not get confused or feel out of place while they learn. Also here are some additional websites that give basic information on farming with differentiated text for every reading level. Life on a Chicken Farm http://www.mda.state.mi.us/kids/stories/farmlife/chickens/index.html RL: 6.0 (this is for students who haven't reached the 7th grade reading level) A Day on the Farm http://www2.kenyon.edu/Projects/Famfarm/life/dayonfar.htm RL: 7.2 (this is for those who don't have trouble reading at this level) V. Text structure:
Expository Text, Comparative Article • Background information • Lifestyle of a farmer • Daily routines • Responsibilities • Roles in the community • Apply farming to your life VI. Vocabulary
Accounting- a detailed report of the financial state or transactions of a person or farm "Today's successful farmers are expert not just in agriculture but also proficient in accounting, marketing, and finance." Breeding- to raise (cattle, sheep, etc.) Scientific livestock care and breeding have helped increase the amount of meat and products that animals produce. Business enterprise- the activity of providing foods As farming has become less important as a way of life in the United States, it has become more important as a business enterprise. Businesslike fashion- professional, dressed up, and clean Farms that are not run in a businesslike fashion have great difficulty surviving. Fertilizer- any substance such as manure or a mixture of nitrates used to make soil more fertile for growing The development of improved plant varieties and fertilizers has helped double and even triple the yields of some major crops. Finance- the management of money matters "Today's successful farmers are expert not just in agriculture but also proficient in accounting, marketing, and finance." Harvested- the act or process of gathering a crop Families barely harvested enough food for themselves. Labor- those that work for money on the farm At the same time, the use of tractors and other modern farm equipment has sharply reduced the need for farm labor. Labor-saving machinery- machinery that makes things go faster and more efficient. this is used instead of workers. Scientific methods and labor-saving machinery have made farming increasingly productive. Marketing- the act of buying or selling in a market "Today's successful farmers are expert not just in agriculture but also proficient in accounting, marketing, and finance." Meager- low amounts or poor quality Everyone worked long and hard, but the results were often meager. Plant varieties- different types of plants or crops The development of improved plant varieties and fertilizers has helped double and even triple the yields of some major crops. Productive- accomplishing something, getting it done Scientific methods and labor-saving machinery have made farming increasingly productive. Proficient- an expert or good in something Today's successful farmers are expert not just in agriculture but also proficient in accounting, marketing, and finance.
VII. Content
What do you know about farming? They would say things about barns, animals, types of crops, tractors, and trucks What is the purpose of farming? They would say things like to get milk, feed people, feed animals, make money, and fix things. How important is farming? Students would say that it is very important because farmers help feed people If there is something you don't understand reread it to focus in on what is said. If there are difficult words skip them and read ahead to figure out the meaning. |
||||
After Reading VIII. Questioning Application: What was one thing you learned about farming? Farmers have to be up early. How is farming different than City life? More chores and work Comprehension: Is farming important and is it easy? Yes it is important. It is a lot of responsibility and hard work. Farmers have daily routines and responsibilities. Analysis: How is farming different than a business or store? Its more outside type stuff. It's dirty. Explain the daily routine a farmer has? Students would provide a list of these activities in a farmers routine. IX. Writing to learn activity
I am going to have all the students fill out journals. We will be journaling about our daily experiences, the animals we take care of, routines and chores of the day, and situations we face on a daily basis. Going through this we will learn what it is like to be a farmer, and we will learn about the hardships and rewards that a farmer experiences. The students are free to decorate, color pictures, and assemble their journals however they want to personalize their learning experience. X. Closure Through the basic learning of farming we've all received more knowledge about it than before we started. What did you learn from this experience and lesson, and how does this affect farming and the community around you? How did brainstorming at the beginning of the lesson help you to think about the basic topic of farming and all the components that go along with it? Graphic organizers- The students will take a graphic organizer of a person. They will told to put themselves in the shoes of the farmer for the day. On this paper they will have to write routines, responsabilities, chores, the animals they take care of, and the obsticals and accomplishments they face. This is the assesment tool piece and the basic outline for their beginning knowledge about farming. Graphic organizer chart- http://www.edhelper.com/teachers/Storytelling_graphic_organizers.htm Next time in our learning about farming we are going to explore animals and the responsibility a farmer has to them. |
||||
| Resources | Literacy Lives | CA Reading Lesson | Reading Strategies | Index |