Detailed Lesson

Elementary Education
Name: Jenni Davis
Title: Helping Hands, Helping Others
Grade: Kindergarten
Concept/Topic: Community Service and Empathy
Time Needed: 30 mins

Backward Design Approach: Where are you going with your students?
Identify Desired Results/Learning Outcome/Essential Question:
- Students will become active participants in their community by collecting can foods from
neighbors of the school. As a result of this lesson, students will be able to better
understand that not all children, or people in general, have enough food to get them
through the week. Students will be able to understand that it is important to speak up if
you need help. Students will gain these understandings by figuratively giving their
favorite food to a friend who may not have any food. This will be done through a drawing
exercise.
- Students will be able to answer the questions: How do you know when to help a friend?
What can you do to help someone who doesnt have enough food? When is it right to
break a promise?

Ensuring Lesson supports district and state goals

NCSCOS Standards:
- K.G.2.2 Explain ways people use environmental resources to meet basic needs and wants
(shelter, food, clothing, etc.).
- K.C.&G.1.1 Exemplify positive relationships through fair play and friendship.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with
purpose and understanding.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship
between illustrations and the text in which they appear.
 - K.CC.5 Count to answer how many? questions about as many as 20 things arranged in
a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered
configuration; given a number from 1-20, count out that many objects
- K.CC.6 Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or
equal to the number of objects in another group
Assessment Plan:
- Students will periodically answer questions posed in the group setting throughout the
read-aloud of Maddis Fridge. Students will also draw a picture of their favorite food
inside Maddis Fridge to show that they would be willing to give a friend their favorite
food to help them out. I will know that students understand the Big Ideas by asking
them to tell me what food they would give Maddi for her fridge and why. Hearing their
response will allow me to assess that they were able to grasp the concept of giving to
those who are unable to provide for themselves.

Meeting the student where they are:

Prior Knowledge/Connections:
- Prior to reading the book, ask students: Have you ever kept a promise for someone? Did
you break that promise? Did you think it was right to break that promise? How did you
know?
- Then ask students: What would you do if you knew that a friend needed help but only
told you? Would you help them?
- Asking students these questions will allow you as a teacher to understand if students will
truly be able to relate to the read-aloud. These questions will also allow the students to
think critically about their ideas and if their answers will change after listening to the
story.
- I can help students make these connections by telling them that sometimes it is okay to
break a promise if you need to help a friend out.
Lesson Introduction/Hook:
- Ask students what their favorite food is, then ask them to turn and talk to a partner about
what their answer is.
 - Next, have students imagine that they never ate that food before. If they never ate that
food, they wouldnt have known how good it was.
- Then explain to students that other people may not have been able to afford food, so
giving to these people is important so they can enjoy food just like you!

Heart of the Lesson/Learning Plans

Differentiation/Same-ation:
- Since this lesson is carried out in multiple ways, I think that it ensures engagement for all
students. Students who may be more inclined to listen to a story will be successful at
understanding what it means to give back to others through the read-aloud. Students who
may be more inclined to putting themselves in someone elses shoes will be successful at
understanding the goals of this lesson through the activity in which they draw their
favorite food inside of Maddis fridge. Lastly, students who may be more inclined to take
action will be able to understand community service through bringing bags to the
surrounding neighborhoods to collect canned foods. Since there are so many avenues for
engagement in this lesson, I believe all students will achieve the learning goals I have set.
All pieces of this lesson are accessible to all students and will ensure their knowledge of
community service.
Lesson Development:
1) Introduce read-aloud after the hook scenario.
2) Read-aloud Maddis Fridge and stop at places marked in the book to have students turn
and talk to answer questions. Questions can include: Do you think Sofia is going to help
Maddi? Do you think the fish and eggs will stay good in Sofias book bag? How many
items does Maddi have in her fridge? (lets count)
3) During turn and talk times, use cooperation sticks to ensure a single student is not
dominating conversation.
4) At the end of the book ask students if they thought Maddi did the right thing.
5) Tell students they are going to put themselves in Sofias shoes and they are going to draw
a picture of their favorite food inside of Maddis Fridge.
6) Students will go back to their tables and draw a picture of their favorite food inside of
Maddis Fridge (go around and write at the bottom of the paper what the food is).
 7) Have students come back to the carpet and share out (picking sticks) what food they
decided to draw inside of Maddis Fridge.
8) Explain to students that even though this may be your most favorite food, you should
share with people who dont have any food. Then, this food might become someone
elses favorite food and you can eat it together in the future.
9) Connect the idea of giving food to others with the service project they will do the
following morning.
10) Close by discussing that sometimes people ask you to keep promises, but sometimes
there are ways you can help that person if you tell someone else. Telling an adult is the
best way to help that friend because then they will be able to fix a situation or provide
help that you cant give by yourself. Explain to students that it is okay to ask for help
when you need it, even if it might be embarrassing.
Specific Questioning:
- Have you ever kept a promise for someone? Did you break that promise?
- Did you think it was right to break that promise (or not)? How did you know?
- What would you do if you knew that a friend needed help but only told one person (you)?
Would you help them? How would you help them?
- Do you think Sofia is going to help Maddi?
- Do you think the fish and eggs will stay good in Sofias book bag?
- How many items does Maddi have in her fridge?
- How do you know when to help a friend?
- When is it right to break a promise?
New Vocabulary:
- Community service voluntary work intended to help people in a particular area.
- Volunteer a person who freely offers to do something.
- Empathy the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
- Promise a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular
thing will happen.
Concluding the Lesson/Closure/Debriefing:
- Explain to students that it is important to know when to break a promise in order to help
someone. Also explain that this is not the only way you can participate in community
 service. Ask students if they can think of any other ways they can participate in
community service. Then give examples such as tutoring, providing for the homeless, and
picking up trash on the roads. Emphasize the importance of having empathy for others
and explain that community service is one way you can show empathy for others. Allow
time for questions and student discourse on the topic.
Materials/Resources:
- Maddis Fridge by Lois Brandt
- Maddis Fridge worksheet: See attachment in email
- Crayons
Teaching Behavior Focus:
- My teaching behavior focus is to ensure students are not sitting at the carpet or the table
for a long period of time. Sitting in one spot for a full 30 minutes will cause students in
Kindergarten to become antsy and unfocused. To combat this, I plan to break up the time
students are at the carpet and at the tables. I chose to focus on this teaching behavior
focus based on working with this group prior to this lesson. During a prior lesson, I
noticed students would become unfocused when they were sitting down listening to me
talk for a long time. I think focusing on this will create an environment for all students to
learn successfully.
Follow-Up Activities/Parent Involvement:
- The following day, students will participate in a service project as a grade-level. Students
will bring paper bags to houses in the neighborhoods surrounding the school. The bags
have a note on them and a picture on the front, decorated by the students. The students
will collect the bags 1-2 weeks later and then they will donate the food collected to a
local food pantry.
- Many of the neighbors surrounding the school are members of the school, so participating
in this is especially important for students. It gives them the opportunity to give back to
people who may be less fortunate than them. This action plan will allow students to be
actively involved with learning about what community service is about. This is an
experience that students will remember throughout their academic career.