Kindergarten Story Sequencing, 4-Day Lesson Plan

Your Name:

Kathleen Barron

Subject / Course:

English / Language Arts

Topic:

Sequencing parts of a story

Lesson Title:
Level:

Materials:

Date:

Nov. 14, 2015

I can order the parts of The Rainbow Fish (Pfister, 1992) to retell the
story.
Year 1 (4 and 5 year
Lesson Duration:
4 40 minute periods
olds). 15 CLD learners.
Texts: The Rainbow Fish (Pfister, 1992), Rainbow Fish to the Rescue!
(Pfister, 1999)
Preassessment: 4 sequencing picture cards/student, writing and
drawing paper
Day 1: Picture cards
Day 2: Props (masks, flannel board pieces, etc.)
Day 3: Text-based sorting sentences, chart paper
Day 4: Summative assessment (pictures and background page)

Common Core or State Standard(s):

1Rf8 Recognize story elements, e.g. beginning, middle and end.
1Rf9 Retell stories, with some appropriate use of story language.
(Cambridge International Examinations, 2013)

Pre-Assessment

Pre-Assessment
As students arrive in the morning, T. will hand each a set of picture sequencing cards. Each set of cards
contains four scenes that depict a story when put into the correct order. These cards should not contain
text, only pictures, so they will be appropriate to assess students sequencing skills regardless of English
proficiency or current reading ability. T. will keep track of how much support each student required,
accuracy, the number of attempts required, and how long it took each student to correctly sequence his
or her pictures. After this task is complete, T. will give each student writing paper and ask him or her to
write a brief story telling what happened in his or her set of cards, including as many details as possible.
This will effectively pre-assess students abilities to retell a story based on key, sequenced events. This
pre-assessment will also mirror the summative assessment task for this lesson, which Wiggins considers
a key attribute of effective lesson planning under the backward design model (2005).
Learning Target
Essential Questions:
What makes a good friend?
Is it always good to share?
Student-set goals: On the summative assessment for this lesson, students will set a personal goal for
how many details from the story they will correctly put into boxes labeled beginning, middle, and
end.
Objective: I can retell a story, identifying beginning, middle and end details.

Kindergarten Story Sequencing, 4-Day Lesson Plan

Learning Task
Number of Days: 4

Learning Task
Throughout the week, T. will design opportunities for students to practice sequencing skills in content
areas across the curriculum. For example, sequencing pictures of the life cycle of a fish in science, using
ordinal numbers in math, related art projects, etc. Integrating content in this manner is consistent with
the Integrated Content-Based Method of instruction and fosters content-based language instruction that
supports CLD learners developing language skills (Herrera & Murry, 2011.)
Day 1
Morning Meeting: T. will display the cover of the book The Rainbow Fish (Pfister, 1992) to students and
explain that we will be reading it several times this week and doing activities based on it. T. will then ask
the class to make a few predictions about the book based on what they can see, and direct the wholegroup discussion to include pre-learned concepts such as characters, setting, and text genre. This
technique of previewing will allow students to use background knowledge and contextual clues to draw
inferences, and is advocated by Ajideh as an effective pre-reading strategy for increasing reading
comprehension for CLD students (2003).
Snack Time: T. will begin by displaying the cover of the book again and asking the essential question,
What makes a good friend? We will engage in a quick, whole-group brainstorming session to generate
responses in order to focus on higher-order thinking skills, activate prior knowledge, and engage
students. These are practices included in Herrera and Murrys description of sheltered instruction
methods that are effective for all learners, but "essential to the academic success of CLD students"
(2011, page 280). T. will read through the story for the students enjoyment.
Reading period:
10 min: T. will begin by pre-teaching the following key vocabulary words from the text: scales, proud,
and shimmering. T. will present realia to explain these concepts, as suggested by Herrera and Murry
(2011), including real fish scales, shimmering wrapping paper and shiny fingernail polish. T. will pause
frequently to have students discuss what they have learned with a partner. This serves as an age- and
developmentally-appropriate form of the think-pair-share technique.
5 min: T. will ask students to remember a few favorite parts of the book, and ask the class to help me
figure out where to draw a picture of that scene along a timeline on the whiteboard. Once we have
added several details to the story timeline, we will determine which ones happened at the beginning (up
to and including the problem, which will be introduced in a subsequent lesson) in the middle, and at
the end. T. will circle these items in different colors of markers to group them.
10 min: T. re-read the text, pausing to ask questions and gauge understanding.
15 min: In three small groups, students will collaborate to put pictures from the story in order, then take
turns retelling the story to each other. Each group will be assigned a part of the story (beginning, middle
or end) and create a poster with words and/or pictures to describe that part.
5 min: Present charts to classmates.
Day 2
Snack Time: (Warm-up: brief, whole class, informal) T. will ask if the students can add more details to our
story timeline, and ask them to tell me which section of the story that detail belongs in.
Reading period:
10 min: T. will picture walk through the book and allow students to retell what is happening. Students
will work in pairs to write additional timeline details to retell the story, then stick them on our class
timeline. In addition to the examples above, T. will further make sure all content is clearly communicated
by focusing Moras major components of comprehensible input: context, gestures and body language,
comprehensible message, and vocabulary (2013).

Kindergarten Story Sequencing, 4-Day Lesson Plan

15 min: Students will divide into small groups to sequence sentences from the story into beginning,
middle, or end categories. As they sort each detail, they will act out the event described in it. Incorporate
masks, flannel board cut-outs or other props in the story telling center to facilitate story retell.
15 min: Students will journal to draw or write what they remember from the beginning, middle and end
of the story.

Day 3
T. will introduce a new text for students to analyze and sequence, Rainbow Fish to the Rescue! (Pfister,
1999).
10 min: T. will present the cover of the new text and elicit predictions. Students will work in pairs to
complete KWL charts based on the title and cover art.
10 min: T. will read the story to the students, pausing to ask questions and gauge understanding.
10 min: Students will work in small groups to compare the new book with The Rainbow Fish (Pfister,
1992). Each small group will collaborate to create Venn diagrams based on the two books.
10 min: Students will work in pairs at their tables to discuss the book and retell it using picture cards
based on the storys events.
Day 4
10 min: T. will review The Rainbow Fish (Pfister, 1992) with the class by reading through one more time,
pausing to allow students to tell what will happen next.
5 min: Students will take turns explaining parts of the class-made timeline to retell the story. T. will
refocus discussion to highlight beginning, middle and end when necessary.
15 min: Students work individually to sort story details onto a graphic organizers divided into beginning,
middle and end boxes. Students will set personal goals for the number of details they plan to add to their
projects prior to beginning the task. They will have the option of cutting and pasting details or writing
their own ideas, and the option of adding extra details.
10 min: Individual reflection, journaling, or intervention

Student Differences
You have learned that differentiation consists of planning lessons in response to student
differences in one or more of the following areas: Readiness, Interest, and/or Learning
Profile/Style. Choose which area you will use to differentiate your lesson.

Readiness: The level of a students skills or understanding of a topic, do some need scaffolding and
others challenged?
Interest: Finding ways for students to pursue individual areas of interest about the topic; will choices be
given?
Learning Profile/Style: What is the intellectual preference of the student? Individual vs. group work;
multiple- intelligences, etc.

Readiness: By utilizing pre-made picture cards with sentences for students to sort, with or without
additional reading and writing support, and giving students the opportunity to choose to set high goals
for themselves and write details to recall the story, the summative assessment task is designed to be
open-ended and comprehensible to all learners regardless of their needs for additional scaffolding or
challenge. In addition, there will be a variety of grouping styles to accommodate the preferences of all
of students.

Varying Tasks
You have learned that in order to differentiate instruction the educator can vary the task in one
or more of the following areas: Content, Process, and/or Product. Choose which area you will
differentiate. Then describe in detail exactly how you will differentiate your lesson based on the

Kindergarten Story Sequencing, 4-Day Lesson Plan

area you selected.

Content: What students are to learn

Process: How students are to learn. Includes instructional strategies, adjustable assignments, and

curriculum approaches.
Product: How students show what they have learned. Includes performance tasks and assessment tools.

Process and Product: T. will conference with my CLD students individually during the assessment task
to ensure their needs are being met. If any accommodations (e.g. teacher reads the sentences and the
student sorts them) are required, T. will make a note of this on the students assessment and in
records to serve as anecdotal assessment evidence. The finished work will vary quite a bit according to
individual needs and readiness.

Approach: Communicative
Method: Sheltered Instructional Method
Strategies: Hands-On Activities, Cooperative Learning, Guarded Vocabulary, Visuals
Techniques:
Hands-On Activities: Sequencing picture cards to create a story, touching objects that illustrate
vocabulary terms, creating KWL charts, Venn diagrams, class timeline, moving characters pictures to
retell a story, acting out a story using masks and other props, moving story detail cards with sentences
and pictures into the correct order to retell the story, worksheets with pictures to sequence and glue,
physical response (e.g. Use your arms and face to show me how the Rainbow Fish reacted to the little
blue fishs request.)
Cooperative Learning: Working in heterogeneous groups, sharing new knowledge with a partner,
working in small groups to develop charts and presentations
Guarded Vocabulary: T. will carefully monitor vocabulary and sentence structure to make sure it is clear,
concise and comprehensible to all learners.
Visuals: Realia to clarify vocabulary terms, cut-out pictures to help retell the story, pictures drawn on a
timeline to help students recall details and have visual cues for ordering details.
Summative Assessment: Students will sort story details individually onto a graphic organizer separated
into beginning, middle and end sections.

Finished Work

Kindergarten Story Sequencing, 4-Day Lesson Plan

I have included three examples of student work, above, to show the range of differentiation possible
in this activity. In the upper right-hand corner, each student was encouraged to set a personal goal. I
traced each students goal in pen during this exercise in order to make their goal stand out, and also to
discourage students from changing their goals at the end of the class period. The CLD student who
required additional support worked one-on-one with an assistant teacher during this task so he could
explain his thinking as he worked and listen to, rather than read, the sentences under the pictures.

Kindergarten Story Sequencing, 4-Day Lesson Plan

References
Ajideh, P. (2003). Schema theory-based pre-reading tasks: A neglected essential in the ESL reading
class. The reading matrix, 3(1). Retrieved from
http://chc.sitecore.sbccd.org/~/media/Files/SBCCD/CHC/Current%20Students/Tutoring%20
Center/Pre-Reading%20Strategies.pdf
Cambridge International Examinations (2013). Cambridge primary English curriculum framework
(with codes). Cambridge, UK.
Herrera, S. G., & Murry, K. G. (2011). Mastering ESL and bilingual methods: Differentiated
instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Mora, J.K. (2013, May 17). Second and foreign language teaching methods. Retrieved from
http://moramodules.com/ALMMethods.htm
Pfister, M. (1992). The rainbow fish. New York: North-South Books.
Pfister, M. (1999). Rainbow fish to the rescue! New York: North-South Books.
Roiha, A. S. (2014). Teachers views on differentiation in content and language integrated learning
(CLIL): Perceptions, practices and challenges. Language and Education, 28(1), 1-18.
Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Ascd.