EDR 317 Reading Instruction and Practicum BDA Lesson Plan Format

Title of the Lesson: Franklin Fibs Story Elements

1.0

Details
Name: Jennifer Gill
Date: 10/14/16
Grade Level: 2
# of Students: 5
Length of Lesson: 20 minutes

1.1 Integration of Learning Outcomes

Student will be able to explain the elements of a story: setting, character, title, problem, solution, theme.
In pairs, student will be able to identify the story elements in the book Franklin Fibs.
1.2 Standards
CC.1.3.2.A Recount stories and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
CC.1.3.2.G Use information from illustrations and words, in print or digital text, to demonstrate
understanding of characters, setting, or plot.

1.3 Anticipatory Set

Now that we have read Franklin Fibs twice, we are going to take a look at the story elements of the book. The key
elements of a story are the title, characters, problem, solution, theme, and setting. Im sure all of you have heard of
these elements before, we are going to work as a team to find all of these elements in the book we have been reading!
To do this, we are going to play a fun game with dice. If you ever dont know the answer, it is always good to take a
guess!
1.4 Procedures
Before we get started with our game using elements of a story, we have to go over what each story element is
to make sure we know what we are looking for! I have here a chart with all of the story elements on it. Can
someone use their talking chip and tell me what one of them is and why it is important? Allow students to each
use talking chips until the whole graph is filled. Now that we have filled out the graph, I am going to keep it on
the table as a tool for you to use while you skim the story with a partner. Skimming means you dont need to
read every word in the story, you are just turning through the pages to refresh your memory about the key story
elements. Since the students have already read the story twice, I feel it is unnecessary to completely re-read the
book for the sake of time.
I have also handed you a sheet of paper that we are going to be using for our dice game! Next to the story
elements, I want you and your partner to write down all of the elements you see as you skim through the story,
because you are going to need your answers for our game. I want you to focus on you and your partners work
only, because Im sure you will all find different elements of the story that I want you to share with the whole
group later on. I will be talking with each group as you explore Franklin Fibs for all of its key elements! If
youre not sure of an answer, you can always take a guess or leave it blank to fill in during our game later.
Once all students have finished completing their worksheet, I will bring them back to the group. Now that you
have found all of the key elements in Franklin Fibs, lets play a game and share what we found with the rest of
our friends! On your worksheet, you will see six squares with a different number of dots on each. When you
roll the dice, look at your worksheet to figure out which story element you will be sharing about with the
group. If it is a story element that we have already talked about and you have nothing else to share about it,
you can re-roll the dice until we have shared our findings with every story element!
1.4 Differentiation
For my struggling readers, I will provide more scaffolding as they read through the story in pairs. If I find they
are struggling or not understanding, I will complete the activity with them and their partner.
For my students who have struggle staying engaged in my lesson and do not actively participate, I will give
them more than one talking chip while we are discussing key elements of a story. This way, they share more
than on idea and my students who share too much will have to think before they use their on talking chip.
1.5 Closure

You all did an amazing job on identifying the key elements of Franklin Fibs! Lets talk about how we
can apply elements of a story while we are reading independently and how it will help us become
better readers. Why is it important to know they key elements of a story? Do you think some of the
elements are easier to identify in some stories than others?
1.6 Formative and Summative Assessment
Formative Assessment- I will assess if my students can explain the key elements of a story by having
them use their talking chip to explain an element of their choosing and I will record their explanation
on the key elements chart.
Formative Assessment- I will assess student ability to apply their knowledge of key elements to
Franklin Fibs by the worksheet they fill out while they are reading, that they will later use while
playing the dice game.
1.7 Materials
Bourgeois, Paulette, and Brenda Clark. Franklin Fibs. New York: Scholastic, 1992. (5 copies)
Story Elements Chart
Marker
Roll A Story Worksheet (5)
Dice
1.9 Technology
2.0 Reflection on Planning (Complete BEFORE you teach)
I wanted to create a fun way that my students could explore the elements of a story. During my first lesson on
picture walks, my students showed little engagement. However, my second lesson I incorporated them into the
story, and I felt like I had a whole different group of students that day. They were all excited for the activity
and contributing to discussion. In my EDR 345 class, professor Nagle showed us a bunch of ways to re-tell
key elements in a story in engaging ways and almost all of them included games, so I found the dice game and
thought it would be great! The only major concern I have about this lesson is time. I dont know how well the
students remember Franklin Fibs, so if the partner activity is taking too much time, I am planning on stopping
them where they are in the worksheet, and discussing it as a whole group in the dice game later.
2.1 Reflection on Instruction (Complete AFTER you teach)
Allowing the students to work together on identifying the elements in the story really motivated them to work
collaboratively and they helped each other out a lot. After filling out the worksheet in pairs, students discussed their
findings and were writing down what their other friends were sharing in the group. Students could identify the key
elements of the story at the end of the lesson. One problem I had was I assumed the students knew more than they did
about story elements. In fact, they didnt know them much at all. Therefore, I had to assist them with making
definitions for problem, solution, and theme (which was hard for them to comprehend). After the lesson, I went over
the elements again without the definition in front of them and they remembered. Therefore, I know they understood the
elements of a story. The students were also able to apply this knowledge to Franklin Fibs. I know this by observing
them working in their pairs and the worksheets they completed. After my assessments for this lesson, I think I would
want to reassess them at a later date. I know they could retell the elements to me because they were fresh in their
minds, but I want to make sure they remember them long term as well.
Had I known the students had no prior knowledge of story elements, I would have made a sheet beforehand
with all of the definitions on it and went over it with the students. They made some good guesses about what they
might be, but it took up way too much time in my lesson. Therefore, had I made the sheet, they would have had more
time to play the dice game. The students were also really chatty in the beginning of the small group discussion. They
didnt even really get to play the dice game due to the overview of the story elements and taking way too much time to
get them to quiet down. I tried strategies I learned in power of our words, but it wasnt as effective in a small group
setting. One student was playing with the talking chip. Instead of calling him out, I said, I see some students are
playing with the talking chips. They are supposed to be used so you can all share your awesome thoughts and ideas,
but if we cant use them correctly we wont use them at all. Instead of stopping the undesired behavior, the student
started laughing and so did the rest of my group. I completely lost the focus of the lesson for a couple minutes, which

was extremely valuable in a 20- minute lesson. I think this lesson opened my eyes to being a little stricter with the
students. At this point, I think they still view me as a young teacher and they dont have to listen to me as much as their
mentor teacher. I also think I need to figure out what strategies will work for trying to quiet down my group. My goal
is to further my exploration with story elements in my small group lessons. I think it is a topic that we just skimmed
the surface of and I want them to become experts in.