Grade 2: The Rooster, the Mouse, and the Little Red Hen
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You will need to sign in (free). Scroll down to the third section: Close Reading Lesson Library. Scroll down and click on Grade 2 Close Reading Modules. Select Grade 2 Close Reading Modules: Literary Texts, and choose the above title.
Common Core Standards
Reading Literature
RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
RL.2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
RL.2.4 Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
RL.2.5 Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
RL.2.6 Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.
RL.2.7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
Speaking & Listening
SL.2.4 Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.
Language
L.2.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
Description of Lesson
This Grade 2 lesson titled “The Rooster, the Mouse, and the Little Red Hen” by Becky Nolin for LearnZillion is intended to be completed in 5 sessions of ELA/Literacy instruction. The individual close reading lesson videos focus on reading one folktale closely, going back and then rereading the folktale to answer questions based on evidence in the text. Lesson activities include: learning to find the meaning of an idiom by looking for evidence in the words and illustrations that supports their assertions, determining a character’s mood by what he or she says and does, seeing how moods can contribute to what happens to characters in the story, speaking in different voices to demonstrate the different points of view of characters, learning to tackle a multiple meaning word by using the story context and picture as support, and citing evidence from the text to show how characters change from the beginning of the story to the end. Students independently complete a culminating writing task that requires them to use details from across the text to support the main idea.
Cautions
Connecticut teachers should be aware that the website, as well as the teacher notes and preparation materials, will require familiarity to be used effectively. Writing is used in both note-taking and in the summative assessment, but there are no writing standards listed, nor any instruction given for these tasks. There is no aligned rubric to provide sufficient guidance for interpreting the degree to which a student can independently demonstrate the targeted grade-level CCSS standards.
Rationale for Selection
This lesson set is a good example of how to focus on challenging sections of a complex literary text. It engages students in a productive struggle through text-dependent questions and other supports that build toward independence. The lesson plan addresses instructional expectations and is easy to understand and use. Materials include the full text, a read-aloud video, a close reading overview video for teachers, as well as a text complexity and vocabulary analysis explanation sheet. Each day’s lesson includes tips for teachers within the video. Suggestions and materials are included for scaffolding instruction to make learning accessible to all students. Vocabulary instruction is embedded in the activities. The lessons are designed to be used in multiple ways in school and/or at home to provide appropriate supports for all students—those at grade level, as well as those who are ELL, have disabilities, or who read well below the grade level text band. The use of technology and media allows flexibility for teachers as they plan and deliver their instruction.