LESSON #3 QAR: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY & RHODE ISLAND

 In this lesson, my partner and I created activities that connected reading, writing, vocabulary, and social studies through informational texts. Our main goal was to help students understand and use the QAR strategy (Question-Answer Relationship) while reading The Statue of Liberty by Dana Meachen Rau and Rhode Island by Carol Severin. We focused on the four types of questions—Right There, Think & Search, Author & You, and On My Own. As students practiced identifying where answers come from, they also worked on backing up their ideas with text evidence and making connections to their own experiences. Throughout the lesson, they shared ideas through discussion, partner work, and short written responses that showed their understanding of QAR.

What I loved about this lesson was how it tied different subjects together. It supported social studies as students explored American symbols and geography, language arts through reading and vocabulary work, and even art during our “Create Your Own Landmark” brain break. In that activity, students designed their own symbols to represent their communities, which gave them a chance to express creativity and connect the lesson to their personal identity. It also added a nice social-emotional learning piece—helping students feel proud of who they are and where they come from. I think blending subjects this way helped students see how reading can help them make sense of both information and the world around them.

We also made sure the lesson met the needs of all learners by building in tiered supports.

• Tier 1 students worked in together, using color-coded visuals and partner activities to identify question types.

• Tier 2 multilingual learners received extra help through visuals, gestures, and bilingual vocabulary support.

• Tier 3 students with IEPs participated in small-group instruction and used simplified question cards or verbal responses to show their understanding.

The lesson itself followed a clear structure that supported comprehension every step of the way. We started with a short warm-up to build community and review expectations, then introduced the “QAR Detective Motto”: I look for clues, I think before I answer, and I know where to find my proof! Students practiced with The Statue of Liberty first, then applied what they learned to Rhode Island. We ended the day with the creative landmark activity and an exit slip where each student wrote one Right There and one Author & You question about what they read.

We used several evidence-based strategies like modeling, think-alouds, and guided practice. Visuals, charts, and sentence frames made the content more accessible, especially for multilingual learners. We also brought in culturally responsive elements by connecting U.S. symbols to students’ backgrounds and inviting them to create their own meaningful symbols. The materials we used—books, anchor charts, and graphic organizers—helped keep students engaged, active, and thinking deeply about the text.

For assessment, we used a mix of observation, discussion, and written responses. Partner work and QAR charts gave us quick feedback during the lesson, and exit slips showed what each student understood by the end. For students who needed extra support, we adapted assessments with visuals, simplified tasks, or oral responses. These adjustments helped all students demonstrate their learning in ways that worked best for them.

My partner and I worked closely with two students, Noelle and Cynthia, during this lesson. Noelle quickly grasped the four QAR types and even created her own examples, while Cynthia needed a bit more translation and repetition to follow along. With Spanish support and visuals, she was able to identify Right There and Think & Search questions on her own. Both students showed clear progress in comprehension and confidence—especially during the creative and discussion-based parts of the lesson.

Overall, this experience taught me so much about supporting multilingual learners. I saw firsthand how helpful visuals, gestures, and bilingual vocabulary tools can be in keeping students engaged and confident. I also realized how powerful the QAR strategy is—it really helps students think about where their answers come from and encourages them to back up their ideas with evidence from the text.

This lesson made me reflect on the kind of teacher I want to be. It reminded me that every student learns differently and that flexibility and inclusion are key. Going forward, I want to keep using translation tools, visuals, and sentence frames to make learning accessible for everyone. I also learned how valuable collaboration is—co-teaching allowed us to share ideas and better support our students together. This experience reinforced my belief that inclusive teaching, language support, and teamwork truly make a difference in helping all students succeed.