Lesson

#1

Once Upon An Alphabet Writing

Date

November 18, 2014

Subject/Gra
de Level

LA Writing/Grade 2

Time
Duratio
n

70 Minutes

Unit

Teacher

Miss Davis

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

General
Learning
Outcomes:
Specific
Learning
Outcomes:

1. GLO 2: Comprehend and respond personally and critically to literary and media
texts. 2.3 Understand Forms and Techniques.
2. GLO 4: Enhance the Clarity and Artistry of Communication. 4.2 Enhance and
Improve. 4.3 Attend to Conventions.
1. Recognize key features of a story beginning, middle, and end. Development
of vocabulary. Demonstrate interest in sounds of words and word patterns
(alliteration). Create original text.
2. 4.2 Share stories and creations with peers and respond to questions. Revise
writing by adding information and ideas. 4.3 Use complete sentences. Spell
familiar words using a variety of strategies.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students
1.
2.
3.

will:
Recognize key features of a story beginning middle, end
Recognize alliteration and develop vocabulary
Create an original text using complete sentences and independently spelling familiar
words
4. Share stories and creations with peers and respond to questions
5. Revise writing by adding information and ideas

ASSESSMENTS
Observations:
Key Questions:

Products/Performan
ces:

Level of student engagement, and progress on the worksheet

Can the students recognize key features of a story?
Can the students recognize alliteration and develop their own alliterative
vocabulary?
Can the students create an original text using complete sentences and
spell independently?
Did the students share their stories with peers and respond to questions?
Did the students revise their writing by adding information and writing?
Complete worksheet

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED

Once Upon An Alphabet Oliver Jeffers

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Once Upon An Alphabet Oliver Jeffers

Letters to draw from a hat
Worksheets
SMART Board

PROCEDURE
Prior to lesson
Attention Grabber
Assessment of
Prior Knowledge
Expectations for
Learning and
Behavior

Print Worksheets, bring up worksheets and slideshow on SMART Board

Introduction
Time
Bring students to the reading corner and finish the story Once
15 Minutes
Upon An Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers.
Ask students if they remember some of the stories of the letters
from the reading yesterday.
Students must listen, and speak only during speaking time.
Students must not ask me for any spelling corrections until
specified. Students must do their best to sound words out, ask
a partner, or consult their word books for spelling. When there

Transition to Body
Learning Activity
#1

Teacher Notes:
Assessments/
Differentiation

Learning Activity
#2

Teacher Notes:
Assessments/
Differentiation

Learning Activity
#3

Teacher Notes:
Assessments/
Differentiation

Consolidation of
Learning:
Feedback From
Students:
Feedback To
Students
Transition To Next
Lesson

Sponge
Activity/Activities

is time I will provide spelling for words.

Return to your seats.
Body
Slideshow Show the first three slides. Discuss alliteration.
Discuss how the title uses a word that starts with the
specified letter. Discuss how the story uses many words
that start with the same letter. Based on the best-behaved
rows, draw letter from a bag. Hand out the worksheets and
have the students glue their letter to their worksheet. Have
students complete the first page of the worksheet.
Assessment: Observation/Questioning
Differentiation: Struggling students only need to think of five
words that start with their letter. Advanced students can move
on.
Once the students complete the first page of the worksheet,
they can then move on to brainstorming for their story. Refer
to the Slideshow again to discuss the Beginning, Middle,
and End of the story. Explain that students can brainstorm
using pictures or words. They can use one or both of the
brainstorming pages.
Assessment: Observation/Questioning
Differentiation: Student can choose how they want to
brainstorm according to their personal preference.
Once the students have been given enough time to brainstorm
for their story, they will get together with an elbow partner.
Each partner will take turns reading/expressing their idea. After
each person has shared, I will walk the pairs through the
questions as a class. Expectations: Look at the person who
is speaking and listen to the person who is speaking.
When students have completed their worksheets, they will be
given a new sheet to write the first draft of their story.
(Optional: once all of the students reach this point, the last
three slides of the slideshow can be reviewed to illustrate
rhyme if student wish to implement rhyme into their story)
Assessment: Observation/Questioning
Differentiation: Students who are struggling can move on to
brainstorming question 4.
Closure
Today we learned that short stories have a beginning, middle,
and an end. We also learned that a story can be made more
interesting by using words that start with the same letter. This
is called alliteration.

Time

15 Minutes
(5/10)

15 Minutes
(5/10)

22 Minutes
(8/2/4/4/4)

Time
2 Minute

How many people liked todays writing activities? Hands up.

Written feedback on the worksheet.
Next class we will finish up our first draft, and start on our very
neat final draft of our stories for the class storybook. When you
are finished your final draft you can start on your title-page and
illustrations!

1 Minute

Final draft, title-page, illustrations.

Once Upon an Alphabet Lesson Reflection

Overall, this class went well, but I definitely realized my expectations for this lesson were not
realistic. I definitely incorporated more activities than the students could manage in one lesson. I realized
2

this early on in the lesson, and did not move on from one activity until the students were ready. The fact
that I had too much planned is not necessarily a bad thing; now I have tomorrows lesson ready to go!
Finishing the story: The book created many opportunities for discussion and sharing, so finishing
the book took longer than expected. I debated if I should finish the story at a later date, but the students
were so engaged, I chose to finish the book.
Slideshow: The slideshow was very helpful for illustrating certain points about the lesson
alliteration, the beginning, the middle, the end of a story. Throughout this section of the lesson, I
overestimated student understanding of stories and did not realize they had not yet encountered the
concept of the beginning of a story, the middle of a story, and the end of a story. I will need to spend more
time on this tomorrow.
Drawing letters: Drawing letters from the bag went well; no change is required for this section of
the lesson plan.
Brainstorming: Students did not necessarily understand what brainstorming was or the purpose
behind brainstorming. I realize that this needs to be taught in a clear and concise manner before it can be
incorporated in story writing. More facilitation is needed.
Spontaneous group sharing and discussion: The students definitely handled this lesson
differently than I imagined. I did not expect them to have so much difficulty thinking of words that started
with their letter. For this reason, I incorporated a lot of group sharing, helping, and discussion. For the
most part, this went well.
Worksheet: I realize now that the worksheet could use some tweaking to better scaffold for the
lesson. I realize now how important it is that each student have a title to inspire their story, therefore I
need to add in a title building section to the worksheet.