Grade 4 · Lesson 3 — The margin holds the topic

Unit 0 · notebook · blocked · 30 min · 17 slides · Launch → I do → We do → Read → You do → Closure
Anchor to leave them with: One word in the margin says what the block is about.
Objective Write the topic word in the red margin beside its notes.
Smallest piece A topic word in the margin lets you find anything on the page without reading it.
Spot test “Could I find this again from the margin alone?”
Why that test works Notes are written once and read many times, and children never think about the second use. Asking whether they could FIND it again makes them write for their future self, which is the whole point of a margin.
Why — in your own words What is recorded carefully today serves someone tomorrow, and that may be you.
Practice mode blocked
If it breaks Remedial 63 — margin words supplied to match to blocks
Vocabulary — pre-pointed T2 TOPIC WORD = one word naming what a block is about
Materials Mini-whiteboard + pen per student · Composition notebook · Deck — 17 slides · Writing Book 4, p.42 · Remedial 63 — margin words supplied to match to blocks

The lesson, slide by slide

Slide — what is on it What you SAY What happens, and why
Slide 1
LAUNCH
Writing — Day 3
(nothing yet — this is up as they come in and settle)
Have Writing — Day 3 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 margin holds the topic
“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
Write the topic word in the red margin beside its notes.
“Write the topic word in the red margin beside its notes.”
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
“What is recorded carefully today serves someone tomorrow, and that may be you.”
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
Words we will use T2 TOPIC WORD = one word naming what a block is about
“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 6
LAUNCH
What we will do A topic word in the margin lets you find anything on the page without reading it.
“A topic word in the margin lets you find anything on the page without reading it.”
Click once per line. Do not elaborate.
Students: Listen.
Slide 7
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 takes notes right of the margin, then goes back and writes one topic word in the margin beside each chunk.
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 8
I DO
The test “Could I find this again from the margin alone?”
“Here is the question we ask ourselves: “Could I find this again from the margin alone?””
Say it, then apply it aloud to the example already on the board.
WHY IT WORKS — you will be asked: Notes are written once and read many times, and children never think about the second use. Asking whether they could FIND it again makes them write for their future self, which is the whole point of a margin.
Students: Listen, then say the test back.
Slide 9
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 10
WE DO
Together
“Now with me.”
Class supplies the margin word for two chunks the teacher has written.
Take answers from boards, not from hands — that is how you see all thirty.
Students: Answer on boards.
Slide 11
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 12
READ
Writing Book 4, p.42
“Open Writing Book 4 to page 42.”
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 13
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 14
YOU DO
Take notes on a short passage, then add margin topic words.
“Take notes on a short passage, then add margin topic words.”
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 15
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 16
CLOSURE
Read one margin word.
“Read one margin word.”
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 17
CLOSURE
One word in the margin says what the block is about.
“One word in the margin says what the block is about.”
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