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Lesson Plan Outline

JMU Elementary Education Program

Teacher: Mrs. Aimee Anderson


Grade: Kindergarten
School: WW Robinson

I. TITLE OF LESSON:
Read Aloud on The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano
II. CONTEXT OF LESSON:
Read aloud lessons are important because they engage children and help them
develop their literacy skills. They are a good way to begin getting children
interested in reading, before they can necessarily read on their own. Read aloud
lessons help children with vocabulary skills, comprehension, and overall can
increase their reading level. The book I chose is about pumpkins, and given it is
almost Halloween, I thought the students would really enjoy this book.
III. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Understand: The students will understand that being different is okay, and
differences between people can be beneficial to everyone.
Know: They will know that they are unique from one another in many ways.
Do: The students will show that theyve learned that everyone has characteristics
that make them unique, and that the differences between people can be seen
positively.
IV. COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENT DATA:
Students will discuss the characters in the book, and how Spookley the Square
Pumpkin felt when his round peers rejected him. Then, they will discuss what
made all the round pumpkins come around and embrace Spookley because of his
differences. They will relate this idea to their own classroom/lives, and then draw
a picture of their own, unique pumpkin that they will label with their name to
create a colorful, diverse pumpkin patch for their class.
V. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING:
English:
Oral Language

K.2 The student will expand understanding and use of word meanings.
a) Increase listening and speaking vocabularies.
c) Use words to describe/name people, places, and things.
K.3 The student will build oral communication skills.
d) Listen and speak in informal conversations with peers and adults.
e) Participate in group and partner discussions about various texts and
topics.
g) Follow one- and two-step directions.
Reading:
K.9 The student will demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts.
c) Use pictures to make predictions.
d) Begin to ask and answer questions about what is read.
g) Discuss characters, setting, and events.
Writing:
K.11 The student will print in manuscript.
a) Print uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet independently.
b) Print his/her first and last names.
Visual Arts:
Aesthetics
K.18 The student will describe ideas, experiences, and feelings expressed in
personal and other works of art.
Visual Communication and Production
K.2 The student will create works of art that express feelings and ideas.
K.7 The student will identify and use the following in works of art:
1. Colorred, blue, yellow, green, orange, violet, brown, black, white
2. Linestraight/curved, thick/thin, long/short, up/down/across
3. Shapecircle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval
4. Texturevisual, tactile
5. Patternoccurring naturally, made by people

K.10 The student will create drawings from observation.

VI. MATERIALS NEEDED:

VII.

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano


Prepared discussion questions about the main ideas in the story
For activity: white paper, pencil, coloring utensils

PROCEDURE:
a. PREPARATION OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
I will have a sheet with key questions to ask the class during and after
reading, so that we can discuss while we are all still gathered on the carpet.
I will have the necessary materials laid out on their desks, so that after the
discussion, they can return to their seats and begin the activity.
b. INTRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION
I will have the class gather on the carpet for reading time. I will hold up the
book, read the title, and ask if anyone has read the book before.
After I read the page where the other pumpkins tease Spookley, I will pause
and ask them how they think Spookley feels about being made fun of. I will
ask if anyone has ever been teased for being different, and if they liked how
it felt.
After the page about Spookley forcing himself to flip over during the storm,
I will pause to ask the students to make predictions about what might
happen next.
After the page where all the pumpkins pile up on top of Spookley, I will ask
the class if they think Spookley will be okay or not. After turning the page
and reading, we find out Spookley is alright!
After finishing the story, I will ask the class a few overarching questions
about the main ideas and theme of the book.
Why did the pumpkins tease Spookley? Do you think they should
have done that? How could they have acted differently toward
their friend?
How did Spookleys differences help him and the other pumpkins?
Did you like all the different shaped and colored pumpkins that
grew in the pumpkin patch the next year? Do you think it is good
to be different than one another? Why?

How are you all different from one another? How can those
differences benefit each other?
What can you do to make sure no one in your class feels left out
like Spookley?

c. IMPLEMENTATION
The students will draw their own unique pumpkins to create a diverse class
pumpkin patch. I will explain the activity while everyone is still gathered
on the carpet, and then they will return to their desks to complete the craft.
First, they will write their name at the top of their paper, and then they can
draw/color their pumpkins.
d. CLOSURE
The class will look at all their pumpkins together and discuss how they are
similar and different from one another.
I will ask a wrap-up question about what we learned from the story of
Spookley, and how that can help us in the future.
e. CLEAN-UP
I will make sure that all drawing materials are put away where they belong.
VIII.

DIFFERENTIATION
Through discussion questions during and after the reading, I can assess student
comprehension. It will be clear by the end of the discussion if students understand
the meaning of the story, and hopefully those who do not understand at first will
gain an understanding through listening to their peers thoughts. If some students
are still having trouble, I can explain the meaning to them using examples from the
story. I can also be aware of students who have behavioral problems. I will try to
keep them focused and involved in the discussion by asking them to share their
ideas, and during the art activity I can monitor the room to make sure students are
staying on task.

IX. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU
DO ABOUT IT?
During the lesson, students may not be focusing on my read aloud. If a student is
talking or being disruptive, I can ask them to please sit quietly, or I can separate

them from whoever they might be talking to. I can also praise students who are
acting appropriately so that other students will model after them.
If students are shy to answer my discussion questions, I can try to make them more
comfortable by sharing an idea of my own first. This may also help if students
dont quite understand my questions. In that case, I will be prepared to ask the
same question, or a similar question, in a simpler way.
Some students may have trouble following directions for the activity at the end, so I
can walk around the classroom and make sure students remember to write their
names on their papers, and I can remind them of what they are supposed to be
drawing, if needed.
I can also point out students who are doing an excellent job and following
directions, if some students are fooling around.
X. REFLECTION
The book I chose for my read aloud went along very well with what my
cooperating teacher has been doing with her class. My book, The Legend of
Spookley the Square Pumpkin, was about an oddly shaped pumpkin who saves all
the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch just in time for Halloween. For the past few
weeks, my teacher has been using pumpkin-shaped name tags to take attendance in
her class every morning; every day, the students come in, unpack, and go to the wall
where all their labeled pumpkin name tags are hanging to move their name from
home to school to show that they are there. In addition, this whole week my teacher
is reading the class Halloween stories in anticipation of the holiday coming up this
weekend. Because of this, my book fit in perfectly with her read aloud theme this
week.
To prepare for this lesson, I read through my book multiple times. I did this to
ensure that I knew the plot of the story, and so that when I read it aloud to the class, I
would speak more fluently and have less chance of tripping over my words. I also
used my read-throughs to figure out when the best times would be in the story to stop
and ask questions during the lesson. I brought the lesson plan, my book, and the
materials for the activity with me to practicum to prepare, as well. If I did this lesson
again, I would practice reading through it just like I did this time around. I found it
very helpful. It allowed me to feel more confident when reading to the class, and I
was able to read with more enthusiasm since I knew the story well and understood the
characters. However, I would try to be a little more organized next time. Although I
picked out areas that would be good places to stop and ask questions, I forgot once or
twice to do that while reading. I got caught up in reading the story, and I skipped
over a couple places that I had been planning to pause at. I did remember to stop at

certain points, just not at all of them, so maybe next time I might put a little tab on the
pages where I want to pause to ask questions or discuss, as a little reminder.
To assess the students progress during my lesson, I asked them questions before
and during the reading about important ideas, possible predictions, and personal
connections. After I had finished reading the story, I asked them similar questions
again, and a few wrap up questions to make sure they understood the message in the
story. For example, while reading about Spookley being teased for being different, I
asked the class if they thought he should be made fun of just because he looks
different from his friends, and they all responded no, and one boy even added, looks
shouldnt matter. After the story ended, I asked the class if they enjoyed it and
understood why it was an important story. Most of them responded yes, and when I
asked them why, they mentioned that we should accept everyone and like everyone
even though we might not be the same as them. After that, I had the class go to their
seats and draw their own unique pumpkins. They were all very excited and drew
pumpkins of many different shapes, sizes, and colors, which showed me that they
understood the story and the activity, and were embracing their creativity. The
students seemed to really enjoy the story, and the excitement for creating their own
pumpkin drawings definitely helped their level of learning. They were very engaged
during the story, and I was surprised by the amount of participation I had during
discussion, because they usually seem like a pretty quiet group. I think their
enjoyment helped keep them engaged throughout the lesson, and when it was time to
make their drawings at the end, they all jumped at the chance to exclaim what shape
they wanted theirs to be. They couldnt wait to show off their colorful creations to
me and my CT once they were finished. I think this shows that they definitely paid
attention throughout my lesson, and were able to take something away from it.
In the future, I would use this story again with another class. I think it has a very
good message in it that can be understood by young children, and the class really
seemed to enjoy it. My class is at a very early level right now, so although I had a
discussion with them, I didnt have them write anything on their own afterwards,
since I knew it would be too challenging for them at this point in the year. I would
want to add some sort of writing into the lesson if I did it again. If the kids were a
little older, or a little more advanced I might have them write down why differences
between pumpkins (or people) are a good thing, and something about themselves that
makes them unique. I would still have them draw pictures of their own pumpkins
because they seemed to get a lot of joy out of doing so, and it allowed them to be
creative while also working on learning their shapes, which has been a major part of
their curriculum so far this year.

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