Grade 3 · Lesson 17 — What is special about academic English? — meet the words

Academic language · What is special about academic English? · first meeting · interleaved (all) · 30 min · 25 slides · Launch → I do → We do → Read → You do → Closure
Anchor to leave them with: Same meaning, different dress.
Objective Match 5 school words to their everyday partners and use each in a sentence frame.
Smallest piece You have met these words and used them. Now you choose between them.
Spot test “Which of these two is closer to what I mean?”
Why that test works By the third year a child knows several words for nearly the same thing, and treats them as interchangeable. Forcing a comparison — which is CLOSER — is what turns a vocabulary into a set of choices. There is often no single right answer, and being able to defend the choice is the skill.
Why — in your own words The meaning is the substance; the wording is the garment.
Practice mode interleaved (all)
Interleaved with U1 sets 3+4
If it breaks Remedial 41 — two words offered, pick the closer one
Vocabulary — pre-pointed T2 CHOOSE = pick the one that fits best
Materials Mini-whiteboard + pen per student · Printed student sheet (one each) · Deck — 25 slides · Teaching page — printed at the top of the sheet (file no. 56) · Remedial 41 — two words offered, pick the closer one

The lesson, slide by slide

Slide — what is on it What you SAY What happens, and why
Slide 1
LAUNCH
Writing — Day 17
(nothing yet — this is up as they come in and settle)
Have Writing — Day 17 up before they enter. Say nothing about it.
Same slide every lesson, number only changes. It marks the transition into writing before you speak, which saves you having to.
Students: See it on the way in. Know writing is next.
Slide 2
LAUNCH
What is special about academic English? — meet the words
“We have been learning words that writers use. Today we meet three more.”
CONTEXT — say where this lesson sits: what it follows, and what it is part of. One sentence. The children should know what kind of work is starting.
Context, not a hook. A child who knows what KIND of lesson this is spends no attention working it out.
Students: Listen. Orient.
Slide 3
LAUNCH
Today ›› Launch I Do We Do Read You Do Closure
“Here is what we will do today.”
Point to Launch once. Do not explain the others.  ·  Retrieval on MWB  ·  3-5 min
Mini-whiteboards: Retrieval on MWB
Students: Look.
Slide 4
LAUNCH
Match 5 school words to their everyday partners and use each in a sentence frame.
“Match 5 school words to their everyday partners and use each in a sentence frame.”
PURPOSE — say it slowly, in these words. The teacher objective in the header is for you; this is the version the class hears.
Never read a teacher objective to children. The version in the brief header is written for you and is too long and too abstract to say to a class; this one is what they hear.
Students: Listen.
No slide
LAUNCH
WHY — SAY IT ten seconds, off screen, in your own words
“The meaning is the substance; the wording is the garment.”
Why this matters. Say it, do not read it. Ten seconds, then move on.
Your words, not these. This is the one beat of the lesson that should sound like you mean it rather than like it is written down.
Students: Listen.
Slide 5
LAUNCH
Sixty seconds — what do you remember?
“Before anything new: U1 set 2.”
Five minutes, boards out. Take answers from boards, not hands. Do not re-teach — this is retrieval, not a lesson.
The spiral. These are sets met 2, 5, 10, 20 or 35 lessons ago, and the items are DIFFERENT from the ones taught then — same category, new example. If they cannot recall it, note it and move on.
Students: Write answers on boards.
Slide 6
LAUNCH
Words we will use T2 CHOOSE = pick the one that fits best
“Two words we need before we start.”
Read each, point to it, move on. Do not drill them here.
Pre-pointed vocabulary. Naming them now stops the lesson stalling later on a word that was never the point.
Students: Listen.
Slide 7
LAUNCH
What we will do You have met these words and used them. Now you choose between them.
“You have met these words and used them. Now you choose between them.”
Click once per line. Do not elaborate.
Students: Listen.
Slide 8
I DO
Today Launch ›› I Do We Do Read You Do Closure
“Now we i do.”
Point to I Do once. Do not explain the others.  ·  3-4 min
Mini-whiteboards: NOT here — they watch, they do not write. Writing during I DO is how the model gets missed.
Students: Look.
No slide
I DO
(board — build the VIP, then leave it up)
(you are narrating each stage as you build it)
Build on the BOARD, not the slide. Teacher reveals ONE pair at a time — the school word, then its everyday partner, then the example. Pairs accumulate; nothing is erased.
Then leave it up for the whole lesson.
One click per step. The footsteps are never erased — the same strip is printed at the top of their sheet, so come back to it if anyone stalls.
Students: Watch it being built. It stays there to look at.
Slide 9
I DO
[build 1 of 3] occur
“Here is the word writers use: occur.”
CLICK 1 — the school-word word appears ALONE. Wait. Let them look at it before you give them the meaning.
Color: the target word is crimson on every slide it appears on, so the eye knows what is under the knife without being told.
Students: Read it. Say nothing yet.
No slide
I DO
[build 2 of 3] occur ≈ happen
“A word you already own that means nearly the same: happen.”
CLICK 2 — the everyday word wipes in beside it. Point from one to the other with your hand as it lands.
The partner is the hook the new word hangs on. It arrives SECOND and never separately — the pair is the unit, not either half.
Students: Say the partner back.
No slide
I DO
[build 3 of 3] Rain occurs most in spring.
“And here it is doing work: Rain occurs most in spring.”
CLICK 3 — the example sentence fades in underneath. Read it once, then ring the target word ON THE BOARD copy, not the slide.
Now the whole pair plus the sentence is on screen and stays there. Nothing comes off.
Students: Read it with you.
Slide 10
I DO
[build 1 of 3] assist
“Here is the word writers use: assist.”
CLICK 1 — the school-word word appears ALONE. Wait. Let them look at it before you give them the meaning.
Color: the target word is crimson on every slide it appears on, so the eye knows what is under the knife without being told.
Students: Read it. Say nothing yet.
No slide
I DO
[build 2 of 3] assist ≈ help
“A word you already own that means nearly the same: help.”
CLICK 2 — the everyday word wipes in beside it. Point from one to the other with your hand as it lands.
The partner is the hook the new word hangs on. It arrives SECOND and never separately — the pair is the unit, not either half.
Students: Say the partner back.
No slide
I DO
[build 3 of 3] She assisted her partner.
“And here it is doing work: She assisted her partner.”
CLICK 3 — the example sentence fades in underneath. Read it once, then ring the target word ON THE BOARD copy, not the slide.
Now the whole pair plus the sentence is on screen and stays there. Nothing comes off.
Students: Read it with you.
Slide 11
I DO
[build 1 of 3] permit
“Here is the word writers use: permit.”
CLICK 1 — the school-word word appears ALONE. Wait. Let them look at it before you give them the meaning.
Color: the target word is crimson on every slide it appears on, so the eye knows what is under the knife without being told.
Students: Read it. Say nothing yet.
No slide
I DO
[build 2 of 3] permit ≈ let
“A word you already own that means nearly the same: let.”
CLICK 2 — the everyday word wipes in beside it. Point from one to the other with your hand as it lands.
The partner is the hook the new word hangs on. It arrives SECOND and never separately — the pair is the unit, not either half.
Students: Say the partner back.
No slide
I DO
[build 3 of 3] The rules permit two tries.
“And here it is doing work: The rules permit two tries.”
CLICK 3 — the example sentence fades in underneath. Read it once, then ring the target word ON THE BOARD copy, not the slide.
Now the whole pair plus the sentence is on screen and stays there. Nothing comes off.
Students: Read it with you.
Slide 12
I DO
The test “Which of these two is closer to what I mean?”
“Here is the question we ask ourselves: “Which of these two is closer to what I mean?””
Say it, then apply it aloud to the example already on the board.
WHY IT WORKS — you will be asked: By the third year a child knows several words for nearly the same thing, and treats them as interchangeable. Forcing a comparison — which is CLOSER — is what turns a vocabulary into a set of choices. There is often no single right answer, and being able to defend the choice is the skill.
Students: Listen, then say the test back.
Slide 13
WE DO
Today Launch I Do ›› We Do Read You Do Closure
“Now we we do.”
Point to We Do once. Do not explain the others.  ·  PRIMARY MWB use  ·  5-6 min
Mini-whiteboards: PRIMARY MWB use
Students: Look.
Slide 14
WE DO
Together
“Now with me.”
Class matches each item to its partner aloud, then uses the frames in pairs. Every child says at least one frame.
Take answers from boards, not from hands — that is how you see all thirty.
Students: Answer on boards.
No slide
WE DO
Say it first The occur is ___. ___ is another way to say happen.
“Turn and say it to your partner before you write it.”
Three to five minutes. Optional — but skipping it is a decision, not a default. Walk and listen for the frame being used.
The SAME frames as the writing scaffold below. The talk is the first rehearsal of the sentence they are about to write.
Students: Say the frame to a partner. Both speak.
Slide 15
READ
Today Launch I Do We Do ›› Read You Do Closure
“Now we read.”
Point to Read once. Do not explain the others.
Mini-whiteboards: NOT here — they watch, they do not write. Writing during I DO is how the model gets missed.
Students: Look.
Slide 16
READ
The teaching page — printed at the top of today's sheet
“Look at the top of your sheet. Read it with me.”
Read it with them — FASE or teacher read-aloud, never round robin. Stop at the worked example and let them look at it.
NO BOOK. This grade works from printed sheets, and the teaching page is the top of the sheet already in front of them. The page number is for YOUR filing — it is how these pages accumulate into a Grade 3 volume later — and it is not said aloud.
Students: Follow along. Read when asked.
Slide 17
YOU DO
Today Launch I Do We Do Read ›› You Do Closure
“Now we you do.”
Point to You Do once. Do not explain the others.  ·  Written on the sheet  ·  4-5 min
Mini-whiteboards: Written on the sheet
Students: Look.
Slide 18
YOU DO
If you need it The occur is ___. ___ is another way to say happen. Use the frame as often as you need it today.
“Use the frame as often as you need it today.”
SCAFFOLD, NOT AN INSTRUCTION. Say both halves: the frame is there if they need it, AND it is better writing without it. Leave it on screen while they work — a scaffold they have to ask for is a scaffold that shames them. Walk and note WHO used it; that is your group for tomorrow, not a mark against them today.
The ration falls as the depth rises — three, two, one, none — so the class can feel the scaffold being let go rather than pulled away. A child who uses none when allowed three has told you something; so has a child who uses three when allowed one.
Students: Write. Use the frame for at most 3.
Slide 19
YOU DO
1. MATCH Draw a line from each school word to the everyday word that means about the same. Like this: occur — happen
““First, match. This is the easy one — do it fast.””
Two minutes, no more. Walk and check nobody is guessing by elimination — ask one child WHY, not just which.
Recognition only. A child can do this by elimination without meaning anything by the word, which is why it is rung one and not the whole sheet. The worked example stays on screen while they work — do not advance past it.
Students: Match every pair.
Slide 20
YOU DO
2. CHOOSE Fill each gap with the right word. Word bank: assist, construct, locate, obtain, occur, permit, produce, reduce, remove, repeat. Like this: Rain ________s most in spring. → occur
““Now the hard one. Two of these nearly fit every gap. Pick the one that fits best and be ready to say why.””
This is the rung that shows you who actually has it. Do not help for the first three minutes. Then take one gap and ask two children who chose differently to defend their choice.
PRACTICE MODE: interleaved (all). Gaps are drawn from more than one set — the words COMPETE. This is the interleaving, and it is where the skill is built. Expect it to be harder than blocked practice and do not rescue them. The worked example stays on screen while they work — do not advance past it.
Students: Fill every gap. Be ready to defend one.
Slide 21
YOU DO
3. FRAME Finish each sentence. Like this: The occur is ___. → The occur is occur.
““Use the frame.””
Scaffold level: full frame. Read the frame aloud once, then let them write.
The release to independence. Today's scaffold is “full frame”, and it shrinks each time this unit returns until there is no frame at all — the child should be able to feel it coming off. The worked example stays on screen while they work — do not advance past it.
Students: Complete each frame in the notebook.
Slide 22
YOU DO
4. PRODUCE Write your own sentences using the school words. Target: 1 paragraph (5–7 sentences). A + means more than one sentence in that slot. Use the frame as often as you need it today. Like this: Rain occurs most in spring. (uses occur — and it does real work)
““Your own sentences now. 1 paragraph (5–7 sentences) for a full answer. Use the frame as often as you need it today.””
Double-spaced, so there is room to write back to them. Walk with a pen and mark ONE thing per child — the thing this lesson taught.
The printed target is the LOTF move: the child can see what a full answer looks like instead of guessing how much is enough. The Today's frame ration is 3 — say it aloud, and say BOTH halves: the frame is there if they need it, and it is better writing without it. The worked example stays on screen while they work — do not advance past it.
Students: Write 1 paragraph (5–7 sentences) in the notebook.
Slide 23
CLOSURE
Today Launch I Do We Do Read You Do ›› Closure
“Now we closure.”
Point to Closure once. Do not explain the others.  ·  Display answers on MWB  ·  2-3 min
Mini-whiteboards: Display answers on MWB
Students: Look.
Slide 24
CLOSURE
Say one sentence using occur.
“Say one sentence using occur.”
Exit Direction. Take it from every child before anyone stands.
It belongs to today's content — it is how you know who has it.
Students: Answer, then pack away.
Slide 25
CLOSURE
Same meaning, different dress.
“Same meaning, different dress.”
Say it once. Leave it on screen as they pack away.
The anchor — the one line you want them to still have tomorrow.
Students: Hear it. Repeat it if asked.
As-Suffah Academy · Writing · run sheet