Alicia Armstrong

EDU 3210
Mini-Lesson

Grade Level: 2
nd
Grade
Objective: Students will be able to discuss how the events in the story effect characters
emotions and watch them change as the story continues.
Common Core: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges

Checks for Understanding:
Page 1: How does the little girl feel about going to her Babushkas (Grandmas) house? How is
this different from her feelings about storms?
Page 2: Does Grandma appear to be afraid of storms? Describe how she is feeling.
Page 5: Describe Grandmas reaction to Thunder Cake. Turn and talk to a partner about how
you think baking a Thunder Cake will make the little girl feel?
Page 6: How did the little girl feel about Nellie Old Peck Hen? Is the counting comforting or
making it worse for her?
Page 7: When the little girl fetches the ingredients is she thinking about the storm? What is
Grandmas motive, how is she helping her?
Page 11: When Grandma talks about how far way the thunder is, does she sound excited or
scared? How is the excitement of baking the cake affecting both the girl and grandma?
Page 13: Close your eyes and think of a time when you felt brave, and the challenges you had to
overcome in order to get there.
Page 15: How did the little girls feelings about stories differ at the end from at the beginning?
What events helped her overcome her fear?

Instructional Moves:
1. I will start by discussing how a characters mood or emotion frequently changes
throughout the story due to different challenges they may face. (i.e. - A character might
be sad because its raining out but, shortly after their mood can change if the sun starts to
shine.)
2. While Im reading, I will ask the students to listen for changes such as the way the
characters act or respond when different events occur.
3. I will read the book once using stopping points, turn and talk, and visualing.
4. I will then discuss how the little girl responded to the storm and baking the cake. Did this
change during the story and why?
5. Next we will discuss how the Grandma responded to the events happening and how she
went about making her granddaughter feel better.
6. I will then say to students, Since weve been talking about how characters respond to
different events, write a journal entry about how a character in your D.E.A.R. book
responds to challenges they may be facing. We will later read these aloud to the class.