Daily Lesson Plan — Unit 4

What Do We Plant

Subject: English | Class: 4 | Series: Leeds (SNC 2020)

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Lesson Duration

3 periods (40 minutes each)

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Period 1: Reading and Comprehension (Poem)

Objectives:

• Use pre-reading strategy to predict the theme of the poem from the title
• Read and understand the poem "What Do We Plant" by Henry Abbey
• Identify the central idea of the poem
• List rhyming words from the poem

Materials:

• Textbook (pages 22–26)
• Whiteboard and markers
• Pictures of trees, ships, and houses made from wood

Warm-Up (5 minutes):

• Write "What Do We Plant" on the board.
• Ask: "Read the title and try to predict the theme of the poem."
• Ask: "What things can be made from trees?" Accept all answers.

Pre-Reading (5 minutes):

• Show pictures of wooden objects — a ship, a house, a flagpole.
• Explain that this poem by Henry Abbey tells us about all the wonderful things we get when we plant a tree.
• Introduce the idea that trees provide wood for building many things.

While-Reading (20 minutes):

• Read the poem aloud, stanza by stanza. Students follow in their textbooks.

• Stanza 1 (The Ship):

  • "What do we plant when we plant the tree? We plant the ship, which will cross the sea."
  • Explain: Trees give us wood to build ships. Discuss parts: mast (tall straight post), sails (material to catch wind), planks (flat timber pieces), keel, keelson, beam, knee.
  • Pause at while-reading: "What are the different parts of a house the poet is referring to which are made of wood?"

• Stanza 2 (The House):

  • "We plant the houses for you and me."
  • Parts of a house made from wood: rafters, shingles, floors, studding, lath, doors, beams, siding.

• Stanza 3 (Many Things):

  • "A thousand things that we daily see."
  • The spire (a tall conical object, like a church steeple), the staff for the country's flag, shade from the hot sun.
  • Trees are described as "kind" because they give so much.

Post-Reading (10 minutes):

• Discuss: "Why do you think it is important to plant trees?"
• Identify rhyming words: tree/sea, sails/gales, knee/tree, me/be/tree, see/free/tree.
• Discuss the central idea: When we plant a tree, we plant everything that can be made from wood — ships, houses, and a thousand other things.

Differentiation:

• Struggling learners: Provide a simplified list of what we get from trees (ship, house, shade, flagpole). Use pictures for vocabulary.
• Advanced learners: Ask them to list five more things made from wood that are not in the poem.

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Period 2: Vocabulary, Consonant Clusters, and Grammar

Objectives:

• Learn meanings of key vocabulary words (mast, sails, gales, planks, spire)
• Classify words with initial and final three-letter consonant clusters
• Provide missing letters in two/three syllable words
• Express opinions in conversation

Materials:

• Textbook (pages 24–25)
• Consonant cluster chart
• Word cards for missing letter activity

Vocabulary Activity (10 minutes):

• Teach the five vocabulary words:
  • mast — a tall straight post in a ship
  • sails — a piece of material extended on a mast to catch the wind and move a boat or ship
  • gales — a very strong wind
  • planks — a long thin flat piece of timber used in building and flooring
  • spire — a long conical object
• Missing letter exercise from the poem: m_st (mast), b_ams (beams), st_ff (staff), to_ers (towers), raft_rs (rafters), ga_es (gales), pl_nks (planks)

Consonant Clusters (15 minutes):

• Explain: A consonant cluster is a group of two or more consonant sounds that come before, after, or between vowels.
• Initial three-letter clusters: scr-, shr-, spl-, spr-, squ-, str-, thr-
  • scr: screen, screw
  • shr: shrug, shred
  • spl: split, splash
  • spr: spring, spray
  • squ: squid, squeeze
  • str: street, strong
  • thr: three, throat
• Final three-letter clusters: tch, rth, nch, nts, dge
  • tch: batch, latch, catch
  • rth: earth, worth, birth
  • nch: hunch, bunch, branch
  • nts: servants, accnts, patients
  • dge: ledge, ridge, fridge
• Activity: Colour initial clusters with pink and final clusters with blue from the word list: three, crunch, match, spring, splash, scrub, Birth, earth, split, worth, sprout, Squeeze

Expressing Opinions — Oral Communication (15 minutes):

• Read the dialogue between Arshad and Siam about planting trees:
  • Arshad thought Siam was playing in mud; Siam was actually planting a seed.
  • Siam explains it is everyone's duty to plant trees because pollution is increasing, climate is getting hotter, and birds are becoming extinct.
  • Both agree that trees can save us and they need to spread awareness.
• Key opinion expressions: "From my point of view...", "I believe...", "I feel...", "I totally agree with you."
• Students practise expressing opinions in pairs about the environment.

Differentiation:

• Struggling learners: Provide a pre-sorted consonant cluster chart with one example already filled in.
• Advanced learners: Find three more words for each initial consonant cluster.

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Period 3: Creative Writing — Poem Writing and Paragraph Writing

Objectives:

• Identify and write the central idea of the poem in simple language
• List rhyming words and write a simple poem
• Write a guided paragraph on "Advantages of Trees"

Materials:

• Textbook (page 26)
• Writing notebooks
• Rhyming word list

Central Idea of the Poem (5 minutes):

• Ask students to write the main idea of "What Do We Plant" in 2–3 sentences.
• Example: "The poem tells us that when we plant a tree, we are planting many useful things. Trees give us wood to make ships, houses, and a thousand other things we use daily. Trees also give us shade and are very kind to us."

Writing a Poem (15 minutes):

• Review tips for writing a rhyming poem:
  1. Think of a good theme (environment/nature)
  2. Give it a good title
  3. Make a list of rhyming words
  4. Think of a good opening line
  5. Use two-lined stanzas in the beginning
• Brainstorm rhyming words together: tree/free/see, flower/power/shower, green/clean/seen, grow/show/flow
• Students write a short poem (4–8 lines) on a topic related to the environment.

Paragraph Writing (15 minutes):

• Topic: "Advantages of Trees"
• Brainstorm benefits of trees: give oxygen, provide shade, give fruit, make wood for building, prevent soil erosion, home for birds, reduce pollution, make air clean.
• Students write a paragraph of 5–6 sentences.

Sharing and Revising (5 minutes):

• Two or three students read their poem or paragraph aloud.
• Class gives positive feedback.
• Students revise for spelling, grammar, and neatness.

Differentiation:

• Struggling learners: Provide sentence starters for the paragraph. Give a rhyming word bank for the poem.
• Advanced learners: Write a longer poem (8–10 lines) with at least three pairs of rhyming words.