Substitute Lesson Plan: Grade 3 ELA

Reading Comprehension with Graphic Organizers

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Objective

Students will learn to identify and record the key story elements — character (Somebody), setting (in), motivation (wanted), problem (but), and resolution (so) — using a graphic organizer called the Close Read Recording Form, while listening to the story Rain School.

Materials

• "Grade 3 ELA Scaffolding Guide" (this resource) — specifically the Modeling Graphic Organizers section (pages 1–3)
• A copy of the story Rain School (read aloud by teacher)
• Chart paper or whiteboard (to display a large version of the Close Read Recording Form)
• Student copies of the Close Read Recording Form, with five boxes labeled:
• "Somebody…" (character)
• "in…" (setting)
• "wanted…" (motivation)
• "but…" (problem)
• "so…" (resolution)
• Pencils

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Warm-up (~5 min)

1. Tell students: "Today we are going to read a story called Rain School and practice picking out the most important parts of the story."
2. Write the five words on the board one at a time, saying them aloud: Somebody, in, wanted, but, so.
3. Explain briefly: "These five words will help us find the character, the setting, what the character wants, the problem, and how the problem gets solved."

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Main Activity (~25 min)

1. Hand out the Close Read Recording Form to each student. Display the large version on chart paper or the board.
2. Walk through each box on the form, explaining in your own words (read directly from the guide's script if needed):
3. Box 1 – "Somebody…" (character): This is the person or animal the story is about.
4. Box 2 – "in…" (setting): This is the place where the story happens (e.g., "If we wrote a story about our class, the setting would be our classroom.")
5. Box 3 – "wanted…" (motivation): This is what the character wants or needs.
6. Box 4 – "but…" (problem): This is the reason the character can't get what he or she wants.
7. Box 5 – "so…" (resolution): This is how the problem gets solved — how the story turns out.
8. Tell students: "As I read Rain School aloud, listen for these five things. Every time I hear one, I will stop and write it on my form. Then you write the same thing on your form."
9. Read Rain School aloud to the class, pausing at appropriate points to think aloud and fill in each box on the displayed form (character, setting, motivation, problem, resolution).
10. After each pause, give students time to copy the same information onto their own forms before continuing to read.
11. If students need more support, stop more frequently and read the story in smaller chunks that match each box on the form.

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Wrap-up / Exit Ticket (~10 min)

1. Ask students to look at their completed Close Read Recording Form.
2. On a blank sheet of paper (or the back of their form), have students write one complete sentence using the story frame structure:

"Somebody (character) in (setting) wanted (motivation) but (problem) so (resolution)."

1. Collect these sentences as the exit ticket to check understanding of the story's key elements.

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If Time Remains

• Have students turn to a partner and retell Rain School out loud using only their completed Close Read Recording Form as a guide, saying the Somebody–in–wanted–but–so sentence to each other.