Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Grade Level/Subject: 4th Grade ELA Central Focus: Summarizing non-fiction text.
and Social Studies
Essential Standard/Common Core Objective:
4.C.1.1 Explain how the settlement of people from various
cultures affected the development of regions in North
Carolina (languages, foods, and traditions).
4.H.1.2 Explain how and why North Carolina was established.

Date submitted:
taught:

Date

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.2 Determine the main idea of a text

and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize
the text.
Daily Lesson Objective: Students will be able to independently summarize non-fiction text about
the colony of North Carolina. Students will write a summary of what they learned about North
Carolina history with 100% accuracy.
21st Century Skills:
Academic Language Demand (Language Function and
Vocabulary):
Summarize- Students will summarize non fiction text.
Prior Knowledge: Students should know that they live in North Carolina and know that there is
history behind why our state is what it is today, students should be introduced to the book and
have read the beginning of The North Carolina Colony as a class.
Activity

1. Focus and Review

2. Statement of
Objective
for Student
3. Teacher Input

Description of Activities and Setting

Who can tell me what we read about yesterday in The North
Carolina Colony? Can someone wrap it up in about 2-3
sentences? What have we learned about main idea? Can
someone wrap it up in 1-2 sentences? Who can tell me what a
summary is? What is a summary and why is it important?
Today we are going to learn how to write a summary about
non-fiction text.
Kind of like what we did just now when we talked about what
we learned yesterday. The teacher will pick up from where
she left off in the book and read 1 page aloud to the students.
The teacher will now summarize the page by asking herself
some questions and answering them as well. What is the title
of this book and the authors name? What is the author trying
to do and say to me about what I just read? What is the main
idea of this chapter? What are three of the most important
details I just read? Now that I answered all my questions, I
need to put all of my answers together in complete sentences

Time

5
minutes

1
minute

10
minutes

4. Guided Practice

5. Independent
Practice

6. Assessment
Methods of
all
objectives/skills:

7. Closure
8. Assessment
Results of
all
objectives/skills:

on paper to form my summary. (Write the summary on chart

paper.) The teacher will talk out loud while she is writing,
making sure to let the students know which questions she is
answering. I just wrote a summary of what I just read. Did you
see how easy and simple that was? I asked myself a few
questions about the important ideas of the text and then I put
my answers into sentences.
Now we are going to summarize all together as a class. I am
going to read 2-3 pages aloud. Teacher finishes the chapter
and asks the students some questions. What is the title of
this book and the authors name? What is the author trying to
do and say to us about what we just read? What is the main
idea of this chapter? What are three of the most important
10-15
details we just read? Now that we answered all of our
minutes
questions, we need to put all of our answers together in
complete sentences on paper to form our summary. Ask
students to take turns saying the sentences we should write
and while that is happening, write the sentences on the chart
paper. Now we are going to write summaries on our own for
our independent work today.
Remember to ask yourself the questions we asked just now
and record them on your worksheet and then write your
summary on your worksheet as well. Get out your non-fiction
book and sit at your desk. Start reading your book and I will
pass out your summary worksheets. I will stop you in a little
30 -45
bit while you are reading so you can write your summary
minutes
about what you read during independent work today. Once
all students are finished with their summary worksheets, they
will talk in their groups and share their summaries with each
other.
Students will have to write a summary of what they learned in class
today about North Carolina history on their sticky note and give it to me
on the way out to lunch.

Review what students learned today about North Carolina

history from the book we read as a class during the lesson.
5
Ask students to describe what a summary is. Ask students to
minutes
summarize what they learned about North Carolina today.
Only two students did not successfully write a summary of what they
read, correctly. All students were able to discuss what they learned today
about North Carolina history, but only 15 were able to turn it in to a
proper summary.

Targeted Students
Modifications/Accommodations:

Student/Small Group
Modifications/Accommodations:
Conference with students throughout the lesson to
make sure they understand how to write a
summary. Test their knowledge of North Carolina
history by asking them questions about what we
read during the lesson.

Materials/Technology:
A hard copy of The North Carolina Colony by Kevin Cunningham (it can be accessed here online:
http://tfx.grolier.com/p/node-35053/10014745), 17 copies of the Writing a Summary worksheet
(a copy is at the end of the lesson plan), marker, chart paper, students will have their own copy
of a piece of non-fiction text to read individually.
References:
Reflection on lesson:
The lesson was successful. All students were able to complete their worksheets about what they
read during independent time. There were only two students who did not successfully write a
summary for the assessment near the end, but the other 15 students did it correctly. The
students were able to take away the order in which a summary is written and were able to apply
that criteria within their own summaries.

Copy of the Writing a Summary worksheet:

Writing a Summary
Title and
Author

Authors
Purpose

Main Idea

3 Key
Details