Architecture of the Minilesson by Wanda Mangum

Great minilesson!

wanda_mangum — 2016-03-15 13:11:57 UTC

Yes, this is a middle school minilesson, but notice the reading and writing flip in this lesson. First we read like a reader. Then students are asked to read like a writer and consider which moves will best support their own writing. This same type of minilessons work in high school classrooms.
https://vimeo.com/56066196

Focused Instruction- Key to Planning a Minilesson

wanda_mangum — 2016-01-27 21:35:51 UTC

When planning a minilesson, consider creating a sentence like these below. It helps us focus on teaching skills in a way where students can transfer that learning to a new text or scenario.

Readers _____(skill) by _____(strategy).

For example:

*One way readers can track the theme of a story is by looking for words of wisdom from elders in the story. (Use signposts from Notice and Note to practice this strategy)

*Readers make inferences based on historical photographs by using "I notice" and "I wonder" when studying the photographs.

*Readers look for the counterclaim of an argument by looking for transitional words and phrases that suggest contrast like "however" or "on the other hand."

Writers _____(skill) by _____ (strategy).

*Writers establish chronological order when writing procedural directions by using transitional words.

*Writers choose a side during an argument by stating a claim then providing evidence to support that claim.

*Writers include dialogue in their narratives to help propel the plot.

*Writers use first person point of view in order to let the reader into the mind of the narrator, which offers a better understanding of the internal conflict.

Examples of lessons from Argumentative Writing

wanda_mangum — 2016-02-02 19:25:54 UTC

Go to this additional padlet link for tools for argument.
http://padlet.com/kay_b_reynolds/bnlmdhrizhmh

Read Like a Reader/Read Like a Writer

wanda_mangum — 2016-02-01 16:59:04 UTC

Some LA AKS ask students to read like a reader (What does the text say? What does the text mean?). Others ask students to read like a writer (How does the text work? Why did the author make these choices?)

Clustering the reading and writing AKS in a way to build on this connection is important. If I want to teach argumentative writing, first we need to read and analyze argumentative writing for meaning then for structure.

This works for all genres of writing. It's not appropriate to assign a narrative and expect good dialogue unless we have read multiple narratives with good dialogue and understand why and how author's use dialogue in a narrative.

Gradual Release of Responsibility Lesson Plan Template

wanda_mangum — 2016-02-01 16:55:55 UTC

Focused Instruction- Architecture of a Mini-lesson

wanda_mangum — 2016-01-25 15:41:40 UTC

Focused Instruction- Viewing Guide for Mini-lessons

wanda_mangum — 2016-01-25 15:43:22 UTC

Focused Instruction- Planning Sheet for Mini-lessons

wanda_mangum — 2016-01-25 15:42:32 UTC

High School Resources

wanda_mangum — 2016-06-03 15:23:05 UTC

https://newsela.com/

http://www.kellygallagher.org/article-of-the-week/

http://www.readworks.org/

https://safari.gwinnett.k12.ga.us/SAFARI/montage/dashboard/dashboard.php