Grade 4 · Lesson 1 — The heading at speed

Unit 0 · notebook · blocked · 30 min · 16 slides · Launch → I do → We do → Read → You do → Closure
Anchor to leave them with: Heading in thirty seconds, then start.
Objective Produce the full heading correctly without prompting.
Smallest piece The heading is now automatic — done from memory, at speed, before the thinking starts.
Spot test “Is my page ready before I begin?”
Why that test works Setting up while composing splits attention at the worst moment. By Grade 4 the heading should cost nothing, and timing it is the fastest way to find the children for whom it still costs a great deal — they are the ones who lose two minutes and their place every lesson.
Why — in your own words A person who prepares well has already done part of the work.
Practice mode blocked
If it breaks Remedial 43 — heading traced on a pre-marked page
Materials Mini-whiteboard + pen per student · Composition notebook · Deck — 16 slides · Writing Book 4, p.40 · Remedial 43 — heading traced on a pre-marked page

The lesson, slide by slide

Slide — what is on it What you SAY What happens, and why
Slide 1
LAUNCH
Writing — Day 1
(nothing yet — this is up as they come in and settle)
Have Writing — Day 1 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
The heading at speed
“This is how we set our hand and our page up to write.”
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
Produce the full heading correctly without prompting.
“Produce the full heading correctly without prompting.”
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
“A person who prepares well has already done part of the work.”
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
What we will do The heading is now automatic — done from memory, at speed, before the thinking starts.
“The heading is now automatic — done from memory, at speed, before the thinking starts.”
Click once per line. Do not elaborate.
Students: Listen.
Slide 6
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 writes the heading once at full speed; the slide shows it complete rather than built.
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 7
I DO
The test “Is my page ready before I begin?”
“Here is the question we ask ourselves: “Is my page ready before I begin?””
Say it, then apply it aloud to the example already on the board.
WHY IT WORKS — you will be asked: Setting up while composing splits attention at the worst moment. By Grade 4 the heading should cost nothing, and timing it is the fastest way to find the children for whom it still costs a great deal — they are the ones who lose two minutes and their place every lesson.
Students: Listen, then say the test back.
Slide 8
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 9
WE DO
Together
“Now with me.”
Class writes it from memory, then checks against the slide and fixes what is missing.
Take answers from boards, not from hands — that is how you see all thirty.
Students: Answer on boards.
Slide 10
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 11
READ
Writing Book 4, p.40
“Open Writing Book 4 to page 40.”
Read it with them — FASE or teacher read-aloud, never round robin. Stop at the worked example and let them look at it.
Our own book, not a purchased one — so it can be printed, edited and improved, and there is no license on it.
Students: Follow along. Read when asked.
Slide 12
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 13
YOU DO
Set up two pages with correct headings. Time the second one.
“Set up two pages with correct headings. Time the second one.”
Set them off. Walk the rows. Correct the grip and the setup, not the content, in the first minute.
Students: Work in the notebook.
Slide 14
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 15
CLOSURE
Name any piece you had to fix.
“Name any piece you had to fix.”
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 16
CLOSURE
Heading in thirty seconds, then start.
“Heading in thirty seconds, then start.”
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.
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