Stephanie Witherspoon

EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN STANDARDS-BASED LESSON PLAN

Elements of the Lesson
I. Standard
Common Core State Standards
Or Essential Elements
II. Objectives/Targets and I can statements
What am I going to teach?
What will the students be able to do at the end of
the lesson?
What formative assessments are used to inform
instruction?
What challenges might students encounter?

Evidence that Documents the Elements

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.9
Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of
stories written by the same author about the same or similar
characters (e.g., in books from a series)
Using Moosling the Babysitter and Footprints from the
Moosling series written by Sharon Fear, students will work on
reading comprehension. Specifically, students will be using
elements, such as settings, plots, and themes to compare two
books about the same characters. It is important for students
to understand similarities and differences in books from a
series to develop a deeper understanding of the character and
the theme and plot of the story. These books gain the students
interest because they are already familiar with the series so
they will be able to access their prior knowledge in this
lesson.
I can compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots
of two stories about the same character.
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to use Moosling
the Babysitter and Footprints, to identify similarities and
differences in settings, plots and themes (or other elements
the students notice). Students will do this by filling out a
paper plate Venn Diagram to help support organization.
Through formative assessment of questioning and observing
it was found that students needed development in comparing
and contrasting the themes, settings and plot of different
stories.

Stephanie Witherspoon

III. Lesson Management: Focus and Organization

What positive strategies, techniques and tools will
you see?
What ideas for on task, active and focused student
behavior?

Students may be challenged by the text, especially Footprints,

because it is at a higher reading level than they are used to
reading in the Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI)
curriculum. However, they are familiar with the series and the
pattern of LLI texts. Another challenge of reading two texts
and completing an activity is time, students are only in the
resource room for thirty minutes, so instructional time is
limited after transitions are factored in. Instead of rushing
through the lesson in one day, it will take place over two
consecutive days. The students are often very enthusiastic
about who get to read first or who read first the day before.
Having two books to read allows each student to choose not
only which book they want to read first, it ensures them that
they will get a chance to read one of the books first.
Students will be asked to follow along with the reading
whether they are being read to by the teacher or another
student, or reading themselves. Students have the choice to
use witchs fingers to follow along while reading and
listening. Students are also given a choice of reading a
colored copy of the text or black and white. (It is known that
some students prefer to read from the black and white copy).
Involvement strategies that will be used in this lesson include:
Picture walk of text, stating what they are seeing and
any predictions that they might have.
Reading a page of the text
Answering questions throughout the text
(comprehension questions, questions about what the
students think is going to happen next and questions
about words in the text- finding compound words and

Stephanie Witherspoon

IV. Introduction: Creating Excitement and Focus for

the Lesson Target
What will you do to generate interest?
How will you access prior knowledge?
What will you practice/review?

contractions)
Completing their own paper plate Venn Diagram
Reflecting back on the statements that they wrote
during the introduction of the lesson.
To generate interests, students will examine the title and cover
art of both Moosling the Babysitter and Footprints. Students
will use their reading/writing notebooks to write down one or
two things that come to mind after examining each book.
Prompts will be made for students to consider personal
experiences, predictions of the text and prior knowledge they
have of the character.
To access prior knowledge, students will be asked what they
know about Moosling and what else they remember from
other books in the series.

V. Input: Setting up the Lesson for Student Success

Task analysis:
What information does the learner need? If
needed, how will it be provided?
Webbs Depth of Knowledge
Recall/Reproduction
Skills/Concept
Strategic Thinking
Extended Thinking

While introducing the stories to the students, they will be

asked to keep in mind where the story takes place, the theme
and the plot of the story.
Students need to know a lot of vocabulary in this lesson
including, setting, theme, plot, Venn diagram, compare and
contrast. These terms will be reviewed before reading the
texts. If there is difficulty in answering the teacher will
provide clarification.
Task Analysis:
Day 1:
Introduce lesson objectives (read two books from
Moosling series and compare and contrast specific
elements like plot, theme and setting)
Introduce paper plate Venn diagram, explain that

Stephanie Witherspoon
Accommodations: Differentiating to meet students
needs
Remediation/Intervention
Extension/enrichment
Methods, Materials and Integrated Technology
Instructional techniques
Engagement strategies
Materials and Integrated Technology list

students will complete the Venn Diagram once both

texts are read at the end of day 2.
Show Moosling the Babysitter and Footprints. Ask
students to take out their notebooks, divide the page in
half and write each title at the top of the page. Ask
students to record a couple of things that come to
mind from looking at the titles and cover illustrations.
Prompt students who are having difficulty to think
back to personal experiences or predictions of what
will happen in the book. Allow time for students to
share their notes with the group.
Ask students to pay attention to plot, theme and
setting in Moosling the Babysitter.
Introduce Moosling the Babysitter.
Picture walk of Moosling the Babysitter, asking
students to state what they see and make any
predictions of what might happen in the story.
Read Moosling the Babysitters, asking questions and
other involvement strategies throughout the text.
Discuss the plot, settings, and themes of Moosling the
Babysitter.

Day 2:
Review what students remember from Footprints.
Introduce Footprints, tell/remind students that the
series is about a young moose who is always learning.
Picture walk of Footprints, asking students to state
what they see and make any predictions of what might
happen in the story.
Read Footprints, asking questions and other
involvement strategies throughout the text.
Discuss the plot, settings and themes of Footprints.

Stephanie Witherspoon

I do: To introduce students to the format of a Venn

Diagram, I will use characters from the stories. For
example, Moosling would be in the middle because he
is the main character in both stories, whereas Owl
only appears in Footprints, so it will go on the
Footprints side of the Venn Diagram.
We do: Together we will fill in the Venn Diagram,
paying special attention to the plot, theme, and setting.
You do: Independently or, students will think of any
more similarities or differences to add to their paper
plate Venn Diagram.
Students can discussion any comments or questions
they have.
Review purpose of Venn Diagram and explain that it
is an easy visual to organize similarities and
differences with.
Refer students back to their beginning
statements/predictions about the title and cover
illustration of each book to check if what they wrote
was true.
Webbs Depth of Knowledge:
Level 1- Recall
Locate the compound words/contractions on a page.
Level 2- Skills/Concept
Compare Moosling to other characters. How is he the
same or different than other characters?
Level 3-Strategic Thinking
Cite evidence from the text to support ideas about the
setting, plot, and theme from both texts.

Stephanie Witherspoon

Accommodations:
Remediation/Intervention:
Helping students sound out words that they do not
know.
Defining words that students might not know.
Only reading aloud instead of guided reading.
Model more examples if students are not grasping the
thought process involved in filling in the Venn
Diagram
Enrichment/Extension:
If students need enrichment activities, depth of knowledge
level four can be addressed. For example: create a journal
from the perspective of Moosling and the emotions he was
feeling when he realized that it was a mistake to sing in front
of baby skunks, how he felt that the little animals still liked
him even though he smelled or how he felt when he could not
find the animal who left the last set of footprints.
Methods, Materials and Integrated Technology:
Instructional Techniques:
Discussion of text, demonstration and collaboration of
completing Venn Diagram
Engagement Strategies:
Wait time to allow students to think through questions
Delving to allow students to answer questions that
they know the answer to using different strategies to
access the answer.
Thumbs up/down if they understand instructions
Materials:
Moosling the Babysitter by Sharon Fear (four copies)
Footprints by Sharon Fear (four copies)

Stephanie Witherspoon

VI. Modeling: I Do
SHOW/TELL (Visual/Verbal Input)
HOW/WHAT (Questioning and Redirecting)

VII. Checking for Understanding

Samples of questions to be asked
Ways in which students will respond and be engaged
Formative assessment strategies to be implemented

(books are from Leveled Literacy Intervention

curriculum).
Paper plate Venn Diagrams (idea came from searching
google images for compare and contrast activities
with students)
Pencils
Overhead projector/ document camera
Notebooks
Using the document camera, the teacher will introduce the
paper plates Venn Diagram. Explaining to students that each
side of the plate is specific to one story or the other, the space
where the plates overlap is for information that occurs in both
stories. To model an appropriate answer, the teacher will walk
through an example about the characters from each book and
think aloud to explicitly demonstrate the thought process.
For example, Moosling is the main character in both books,
so lets write his name in the middle of the Venn Diagram,
Owl only appears in Footprints, so lets write his name on the
Footprint side of the Venn Diagram.
Samples of Questions
What do you think is going to happen next?
Can you find a compound word on this page?
Can you find a contraction on this page?
What do you notice about the picture on this page?
Describe Moosling as a character
Why did Owl tell Moosling to look in the pond?
Compare Moosling to the other characters.
What were the settings in Moosling the
Babysitter/Footprints?
What was the theme in Moosling the
Babysitter/Footprints?

Stephanie Witherspoon

What was the plot in Moosling the

Babysitter/Footprints?
Students will be responding to questions verbally and in
writing.

VII. Guided Practice: We Do

What do the teacher and student do together?
How will a gradual release of responsibility be
accomplished?

IX. Collaborative (You Do Together) and/or

Independent Practice (You Do)
What practices will be demonstrated/modeled?

X. Closure
How will the I can statement(s) be reviewed?
How will students be involved?

Formative assessments such as questioning, discussion and

observation will be used to determine if the students are
understanding the text and the activity. The completed paper
plate Venn Diagram will demonstrate students understanding,
specifically the setting section. Students will also refer back
to their statements/predictions they made during the
introduction and reflect on if their notes were correct.
Together, teacher and students will complete the Venn
Diagram, especially paying attention to the plot-events in the
story, theme-main idea of the story, and setting- where the
story takes place. Explicit prompts and delving will be used
when necessary for students to answer the questions. If the
students understand the concepts of plot, theme, setting and
the Venn Diagram itself, then the prompts will decrease
gradually. If students struggle to come up with ideas, then the
teacher will continue guided practice throughout the rest of
the lesson.
Students will independently or by working together (there are
only two students in the class at this time), think of more
similarities or differences between the two stories. The
teacher will be able available to monitor discussions and give
support if needed.
After the students complete the paper plate Venn Diagram.
The teacher will lead a discussion about how Venn Diagrams
are quick visual ways to organize information based on

Stephanie Witherspoon
What connections to future learning will occur?

XI. Assessment
What evidence supports that the objective(s) were
met?
What do my students know, understand and are able
to do?
What formative assessments will be used to inform
instruction?

similarities and differences.

Finally, students will be asked to refer back to the statements
they made from the beginning of the lesson when they wrote
down a prediction or comment based on the title and cover
illustration of each book.
The paper plate Venn Diagram supports that the objectives
were met.
The students are able to use evidence from both texts to
answer questions about the texts (specifically plot, setting,
and theme) and
Formative assessments used to inform instructions will
include asking students comprehension questions about the
texts, asking students to find words that are compound or
contractions (something they have been working on in the
resource room), discussions about what information to put on
Venn Diagram and the Venn Diagram themselves all indicate
the level of understanding the students have.

Reflection
How do you know that the objective(s)/target(s) was
met? What is your
evidence?
Based on the data gathered, what will you do next?
How well did the students perform/respond? How did
students show they
were engaged?
What evidence do you have?
What aspect of the lesson was particularly
challenging for students? What
will you do to help the student(s) who struggled?

ANSWER ON A SEPARATE DOCUMENT

Stephanie Witherspoon
What will you do to extend the learning for those
students who met
target?
Were there any surprises? What would you do if you
taught this lesson
again?

(Edited by Elementary Team, 2014)

Revised July 2016