Rutgers Teacher Preparation Program Lesson Plan Format

The lesson plan format that follows is the suggested format used by the Teacher Preparation
Program. The TPP recognizes, however, that there are many other designs and variations of
acceptable, appropriate lesson plan formats. These can vary based on subject area, type of lesson,
and/or state, district, school, or teacher preference.

Teacher’s name: Steven Holmes

Lesson Date and time: 1/31/18
Grade Level: 1st
Subject/Topic: Reading
Room number: 111
# of Students: 22

Enduring Understandings/Unit Goals: What key knowledge and skills will the students acquire as a
result of this unit?

Essential Questions: What are the over-arching questions that will stimulate thought and will be
answered in more than one word during the lesson? What part of the core content/program of
study will students be addressing through this lesson? This should be written in a way that there
are no “right” answers; they should emphasize concepts, while requiring students to use knowledge
in developing answers, and they should cause the students’ learning to uncover and recover
important ideas

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** The remainder of the lesson plan format should detail your plan for how the actual lesson will
be taught

Standards addressed: List the standards – use CCSS and write out the entire indicator.

What are the lesson objectives? After reading "The Snow Day" by Ezra Jack Keats students will work
collaboratively to identify different components of the story. Students will complete a worksheet sorting the events
depicted in "The Snow Day" and demonstrate their understanding by placing them in correct sequence with 100%
accuracy.

Materials Needed:
"The Snow Day" By Ezra Jack Keats
Markers
Tape or glue
worksheets
Sentence Strips
Scissors
Whiteboard
Projector
Dry Erase
Marker
Sentence Strips
Sequencing
Foldable
Pencils Crayons
Scissors
Chart Paper

Technology/21st Century Learning: What type of technology will you and/or the students use for
this lesson?

Teaching / Instructional Process:

Anticipatory Set: I will begin class by passing out a “sequencing icebreaker” worksheet. I will inform “my
students” that we are going to begin a new lesson that focuses on order and comprehension. To begin our
sequencing icebreaker students will choose an activity they perform on a regular basis. Some examples
include: riding bikes, playing sports or instruments, exercising, playing video games, cooking, and many more.
I will write my sequencing activity (exercise) on the whiteboard, and if you need any assistance you can look
at my example to guide you. However, I want you to try on your own first. Once students are finished their
worksheets they will cut up the (upon approval) four sentences and mix them up. Select a classmate at your
table to switch with, and then try to sequence each other’s activities. At the conclusion of our icebreaker I
will inform my class that we will be reading one of my favorite books, “The Snowy Day” and learning about
sequencing. “The good news is that we just completed a mini sequencing lesson without even learning
anything yet we still did an awesome job.”

Process: It is very important that students learn how sequencing is related to language arts and the
significant role it plays in reading comprehension. As I mentioned earlier the word “sequence” means to sort
into the correct order. Before I go any farther it’s imperative that all students understand that we are
surrounded by sequence. Everything we do and all of our surroundings to a certain degree follow a
particular sequence. I will have my students turn their papers over and write down an example of how
sequencing or order plays a role in your life. If you can I would like you to try your best to write down how
the lack of order might affect you or your family. While you guys are working on your responses I’ll
construct mine on the whiteboard. After the five minutes is up I will read my response out loud and then I
will encourage students to share their responses with the class. Think about the situation that our school
would be in if we did not have some form of sequence. Sequencing scenarios are found everywhere and most
of the times we never even stop to think about it. Again, the most important thing for us to remember is
that sequence means (choral response) “to sort things into correct order.” If something is placed into
sequential order that means it must have a beginning, middle, and end or it can be considered first, second,
or third. All books follow a sequential order and therefore when we read books such as the “The Snowy
Day” we understand that it will have a beginning, middle, and end. When students truly have a grasp on how
sequencing works they should be able to demonstrate the ability to understand and talk about a story in the
order the events occurred.

After going over sequences the teacher will introduce the following assignment. The students’ are
instructed that they will be asked to break up into four groups of four. When the students are
separated into their groups each group will receive eight sentence strips and the foursome will
have to work as a team to put these sentence strips into the correct sequential order.

The teacher will then gather students on the reading rug and introduce “The Snowy Day.” As the
students gather around the carpet to listen to the teacher read aloud its essential that he or she
does not immediately jump into the story. Elementary students, especially first graders are likely
to be confused without a brief introduction to the text and therefore the teacher will set aside
3-5 minutes before each read aloud to properly introduce the material at hand. To begin engaging
my students in “The Snowy Day” I will inform them that this book takes place in the middle of
winter and then I would instruct my students to take a moment, close your eyes for ten seconds
and imagine what it might feel like at this very moment to have our very own “Snow Day” at
Rutgers University. I will ask a few questions about snowstorms and snow days that have an
increased probability of relating to my students’ personal experiences. Some questions that will
help students remember their past experiences include: What do you like to do in the snow? Do
you enjoy sledding, throwing snowballs, making snowmen or snow angles? After a few students
have the chance to reflect on their personal experiences related to “The Snowy Day” I’ll quickly
introduce a few more specifics about the book itself including information on: the author,
characters, settings, themes, and anything else I can think of that might help students fully grasp
the story.

In terms of the worksheets It’s important for students to be able to see exactly how an assignment should be
completed. I will always make sure my students are able to "see" what they are expected to turn in. 5 minutes

Guided Practice: The teacher watches over students as they recreate the story summary with the use of
their sentence strips. 5 minutes

Check for Understanding: The teacher will walk around during group work to see if students are in fact
placing the sentence strips in the correct placement. I will ask students if they can think about a situation
where you might find a sequence. If the students are having difficulty with this rather simple request,
then I know that I need to spend more time on the subject. If I feel students are falling a little behind I
will gladly pull them aside to help them work through the same classwork as other students. 2-3 minutes

Closure: For my closure I will simply go around the room and have each student tell the class just one thing
that they learned during today’s lesson. Since each student will only say one thing he or she learned that
will enable other students a chance to respond. 1-2 minutes

Independent Practice: To finish my lesson, I will pass out computer paper to each student and have them
fold the paper to get four equal squares. Then I'll inform them to write first, (upper left) next, (upper
right) then, (lower left) and last. (lower left) on the paper. Finally, students will be informed to use their
makeshift graphic organizer to sequence the events of my lesson. This should allow me to see who
was/wasn’t paying attention

Differentiated Instruction: For this less I will differentiate instruction for two of my students who have
trouble reading and writing by providing them with partners who can read to them and help them during the
writing portions of the lesson. Student with ADHD: The teacher will ask this student to simply summarize
the book in a few short sentences to reduce the workload. The teacher will give summaries of the story to
students that have trouble reading while other students are rereading the entire book

Interdisciplinary Components: How is this lesson tied to other subject areas?

Assessment/Rubrics: To finish my lesson, I will pass out computer paper to each student and have them
fold the paper to get four equal squares.
Then I'll inform them to write first, (upper left) next, (upper right) then, (lower left) and last. (lower left)
on the paper.
Finally, students will be informed to use their makeshift graphic organizer to sequence the events of my
lesson. This should allow me to see who was/wasn’t paying attention.