Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem

Barnett, Mack. Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem (2009). Rex, Adam (Illus.). New York, New York, Disney-Hyperion

Billy never believed his parents when they would say "Billy you need to do this or we will buy you a blue whale." Until one day his parents actually bought him a whale. After this Billy is forced to take care of the whale, and begins that having a whale for a pet is not as fun as it sounds.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 L (2): Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. B: Use commas in greetings and closing of letters

•  Students will meet this standard by writing a letter asking for a whale using the correct letter format.

Grade 2 L (3): Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening

• Students will meet this standard by writing a letter asking for a whale, in their letters they will have to use the English language correctly to make sure they ask for their whale correctly.

Learning Outcomes 
After discussing the components of a letter, students will write a letter requesting a whale with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to the Classroom 
During our pre-reading this text, students will be given a chance to physically look at this book. While students are looking this text will be giving the chance to find the spot where is says they can send for a whale. Prior to reading we will also do some research about whales and learn about whales.

While reading the text, we will use some during reading skills. We will make connections to information we already know about whales and new learning. While reading we will also go over new vocabulary words that come up

After reading, I will ask students if they found anything interesting in the book. Through the use of scaffolding I will lead them to get to the point about sending for a whale. After they discover this, we will discuss letters, how to write them, and what a letter is. It is at this point I will give students a chance to draft a letter asking for a whale. Once we have received our whales we will write letters to our whales each month and students will be given a chance to call their whale as well.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
Suppose you were in Billy's shoes, how would you have reacted to receiving a whale? (Synthesis)
What would have resulted if Billy would have listen to his parents in the beginning? (Application)

Differentiation
For students with Dyslexia, they will be able to use technology to help them write their letters asking for a whale.  
For students who are finished early, they will be given the chance to do a work sheet with questions about whales on it.

And Tango Makes Three

Parnell, Peter and Richardson, Justin. And Tango Makes Three. (2005). Cole, Henry (Illus.). New York, New York: Simon & Schuster

In the Central Park Zoo, there are two male penguins who only dream of having an egg to raise. They try everything they can to get an egg to raise but are no successful. After much waiting they finally got their egg, and were able to be parents. Throughout the text you see the two grow penguins grow into amazing parents.

Connecting to the Standards
Grade 2 W (5): With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

• Students will meet this standard when they work on their paragraphs about their family and go through the writing process to get their final product. 

Grade 2 L (2): Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. A: Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names. E: Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.

• Students will meet this goal when work through writing process. After creating the rough draft they will have to go through and revise, making sure they have spelled unknown workds correctly and that they use proper capitalization in their paper.

Learning Outcomes
Students will create a paper about their family by working through the writing process with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to the Classroom
This would be used in the classroom when discussing the topic of families. When talking about families we would talk about the different traditions each family has and who makes up your family.  After reading this text students would work through the writing process to write a paper on their family. For the final draft students would be allowed to either type their paper on the computer or hand write it if they would like. After they finished writing their paper they would draw a picture of their family to go along with their paper. After students have finished their paper students would be given a chance to stand up in front of the class and read their paper. While the student is reading their paper, their picture of their family would be displayed on the board so that all students could see the visual representation of what the students family look like.

Bloom's Taxonomy 
How many members do you have in your family? (Knowledge) 
Identify one tradition that your family has. (Application)
Elaborate on what your favorite memory is with your family. (Synthesis)

Differentiation 
For students who are ELL, they would be given the option to incorporate some of their native language into their paragraphs and presentation.
For students with Dyslexia they will be allowed to use a dictionary to make sure they are spelling the words correctly.
For students who visual learners they will be given the chance to draw their family members for people to see.

So You Want to be President

St. George, Judith. So You Want to be President (2000). Small, David (Illus.). New York, New York: Philomel Books

In this text you learn all the positives and all the negatives that come with being President of the United States. While learning about the positives and the negatives, you also learn a little about each President. Not only do you learn fun facts about each President but you also learn fun facts about all the Presidents, like how many were born in long cabins and how many have the same name.

Connecting to Standards
Grade 2 W (7): Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g. read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations)

• This content standard is met by the students getting into groups and doing research on the description of the president and having to report back to the class 

Grade 2 W (2): Write informative/ explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

• This content standard is met by the students having to write paragraphs about one President of their choice. These paragraphs will be comprised on the information they found when doing research on the President of their choice

Learning Outcomes
After reading this text, students will pick a President to research and will write a paragraph biography about said President with 80% accuracy.

Adapted to Classroom
Prior to reading this text we would discuss the different Presidents of the United States. While discussing the Presidents we would make a time line so that students can visually see when the Presidents where President. While we are making a timeline we would discuss each President, whether that be by watching a video, reading a book, or doing some class research together on said President. During this discussion we would do some class research about the job's the President has, requirements to be President, and just overall important information regarding the President. This research would be done by having students break into groups and pick different categories of information to research on the President

After priming the students with all the information we would read this text. While reading this text we would start by taking a tally of how many students say "yes" or say "no" for wanting to be president. While we are reading the text we would make connections to the research that the students did.

After the read aloud is finished we would retake our poll and see who still wants to be president and who does not want to be President. After taking this poll we would discuss what we read in the text. While discussing this would be when I introduce the project to the children. For the project each student would research one particular President. They would answer research questions and would write a paragraph about the President they picked. These paragraphs would then be hung in the hall with a picture the student picked. 

Bloom's Taxonomy 
What is the name of the house the President lives in? (Knowledge)
In your opinion what is the best thing about the President you researched? (Evaluation) 

Differentiation
One way to differentiated this lesson is by allowing students to work in partners. This will allow students who are ELL or with SPED services to receive extra help from their classmate.
For students who are gifted you can require extra questions for them to answer forcing them to go in depth with research.