Lesson Planning and Samples

Making the Most of Instructional Time
Planning the content, structure, and embedded skills of the Message Time Plus message is at the very heart of the difference between merely writing "morning news" and creating a highly-effective instructional tool. Research has shown that the most effective teachers, whether in urban, suburban, or rural settings, do twice as much focused literacy instruction each day than their less-effective peers. They do this not by adding more hours to the school day, but by carefully planning how, why, and what they want to teach, and by grabbing every opportunity for instruction. Planning messages is one way to build time for both focused, purposeful instruction and for teachable moments.

Comprehension and the Life of the Classroom
Having good comprehension skills will ultimately be the difference between successful and unsuccessful readers. In addition to the explicit instruction of comprehension strategies, teachers can also support reading comprehension through careful planning. If students encounter the same vocabulary, skills, or ideas throughout their day, in varied but clear contexts, they will be more likely to make these words and ideas their own.

Reading comprehension is also supported by choosing message subjects or content which are relevant and immediate. A message which is relevant contains information about events occurring in the classroom, community, or home life of the students. Using current topics in your message demonstrates to the children that writing is a way of communicating information, and models how writers find topics in their daily lives. Relevant messages might be about:

• a book being read aloud
• author(s) being studied
• animals in the classroom
• ideas being studied in content areas such as math or science
• classroom events such as field trips
• events in children’s lives such as new siblings

Bringing It All Together—
Samples of Completed Message Time Plus® Planning Forms
Below are samples of completed planning forms. While all messages grow from books read aloud in the classroom, how the books are used varies. Some messages are about the books themselves, some use a book’s content as a springboard for personal writing, and others use a book’s vocabulary, but describe events or ideas entirely different from the story. More examples and a reproducible planning form are found in the Message Time Plus Manual.