Grade 2: The Star by Jane Taylor
Rating: 
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.2.4 Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
Description of Lesson
This Grade 2 lesson set titled “The Star by Jane Taylor“ created by Beth Blacklow and cited on LearnZillion includes five lesson videos that focus on a close reading of the poem: answering a question about the poem by looking for details in the text; noticing the describing words to understand the subject; understanding the meaning by envisioning; noticing and describing repetition; determining a narrator’s feeling by noticing word choice. There are guided notes for students for each lesson.
Cautions
Connecticut teachers are cautioned that there is no independent practice, nor any assessment of student understanding included within these lessons. Some type of formative assessment will need to be developed and incorporated into the lesson materials, as well as the inclusion of an aligned CCSS rubric to elicit direct, observable evidence of the degree to which each student can independently demonstrate the targeted standards listed above.
Rationale for Selection
This lesson set is a useful example of how to target a set of grade-level CCSS ELA/Literacy standards. It includes a clear and explicit purpose for instruction and is easy to understand and use. Materials include the poem text, a video for each lesson, guided student notes, as well as PowerPoint slides. The lesson set is 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.