Substitute Teacher Lesson Plan

Grade 4 ELA: Text Features — Introduction to The Iroquois: The Six Nations Confederacy

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Objective

Students will learn to identify and describe informational text features (such as headings, glossary, captions, index, sidebar, bold, italics, and pronunciation guide) and use them to help understand the central meaning of a text about the Iroquois Confederacy.

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Materials

• The Iroquois: The Six Nations Confederacy (one copy per student)
• Approximately 15 informational texts (any classroom or library books with text features)
• Index cards
• Markers
• Chart paper (for the Text Features anchor chart)
• Learning Using Text Features Recording Form (one per student)
• A Questions about the Iroquois anchor chart (can be a blank piece of chart paper)

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Warm-up (~5 min)

1. Tell students: "Our class has been learning about the Iroquois and their traditions of oral history and peaceful society. Today we're going to learn more."
2. Ask students to think of questions they have about the Iroquois (for example: How did they use natural resources? How did men, women, and children work and play? What traditions do the Iroquois have?). Write their questions on the Questions about the Iroquois anchor chart.
3. Read the learning target aloud together: "I can describe text features of informational text that help me understand the central message." Briefly discuss as a class what "informational text" means (text meant to teach the reader something) and what "main idea" means (the basic message the author wants to convey).

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Main Activity (~25 min)

Part A: Explore Text Features (8 minutes)

• Have students browse through The Iroquois book with a partner (Think-Pair-Share). Ask them to notice how the pages are organized differently than a storybook.
• Ask volunteers to share what they noticed. As students name a text feature (heading, glossary, caption, index, sidebar, bold, italics, pronunciation guide), write the term on an index card.
• Hand out the extra informational texts to pairs. Have them look for the same features (or new ones) in their book and jot down anything they notice on scrap paper.

Part B: Create Text Features Anchor Chart (7 minutes)

• Have students share any new text features they found; add these to index cards.
• Break students into small groups and give each group one index card/text feature. In 3–5 minutes, each group should write: a definition of the feature, a sentence about its purpose, and an example (book/page number) where they saw it.
• Have each group briefly share, and write their definitions/purposes/examples onto a class Informational Text Features anchor chart.

Part C: Reading and Text-Dependent Questioning (10 minutes)

• Distribute The Iroquois books. Read aloud pages 5–8 while students follow along.
• Pause partway through page 6 and ask: "How did the Iroquois people use natural resources?" Have students Think-Pair-Share, then call on a few to answer.
• At the illustration on page 7, ask about the word "impressed." Model the strategy of reading on to figure out the meaning (point out that Thomas Jefferson used Iroquois ideas for the U.S. Constitution, so "impressed" must mean he really liked and learned from their ideas).
• Continue reading to the bottom of page 8. Ask: "Why does the author say 'the people of the longhouse have survived'?" Have students reread quietly and discuss with a partner.

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Wrap-up / Exit Ticket (~10 min)

• Have students reread from the front cover through page 9, using the text features to help them, and complete the Learning Using Text Features Recording Form (independently or with a partner, based on need).
• As a closing discussion, ask: "What should we write on our Text Feature anchor chart about the importance of using text features when reading informational text?" Have students Think-Pair-Share, then choose one strong summary statement to add to the anchor chart as the exit ticket response.

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If Time Remains

Revisit the Questions about the Iroquois anchor chart from the warm-up. Ask students if any of their questions were already answered by what they read today (for example, about natural resources). Discuss briefly as a class which questions might be answered when they finish reading Chapter 1.