Mollie Eichenberg

Reading Lesson
Teaching Date: 11/20/2018

UNIT BIG IDEA

Finding Value

LESSON RATIONALE
I have the opportunity to work with each of Mrs. Hendey’s four reading groups each day that I attend practicum. I chose to
leave the reading groups the same and focus on addressing the needs of each group, based on what I have observed from
working with them each week. I will be using the same book, The Thank You Book by Mo Willems, for each group. The
students in the class enjoy Mo Willems’s books, so I am hoping to capture their attention with this book. Groups one and
two, from my observations, seem to view the text and illustrations in isolation. They do not see the connection between
the two. For this reason, I will be focusing on helping the students synthesize information from the illustrations and the
text to help them learn more about characters. Group three has been working on main ideas and details, so I would like to
further build upon this knowledge that they have and help them better understand main idea and details. Group four
seems to understand these topics well and could use a challenge. I am going to go further with them by talking about the
lesson they can learn from a story, or the theme. (CAEP K-6 1.a)

READINESS
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s)—Students will use text and illustrations to analyze characters and determine main idea, key details, and
theme.
B. Objective(s)—
After reading The Thank You Book, students will describe a character, providing evidence from the text and
illustrations.
After identifying the main idea of The Thank You Book, students will identify a detail as an important or unimportant
detail.
After finding the theme of The Thank You Book, students will correctly write the theme of a movie.

C. Standard(s): Professional Society/State/District (CAEP K-6 3.c)

2.RF.4.5 Know and use common word families when reading unfamiliar words (e.g., -ale, -est, -ine, -ock).
2.RL.2.1 Ask and answer questions (e.g., who was the story about; why did an event happen; where did the story happen)
to demonstrate understanding of main idea and key details in a text.
2.RL.2.2 Recount the beginning, middle, and ending of stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and
determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
2.RL.4.1 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding
of its characters, setting, or plot.

II. Management Plan- Time per lesson element, use of space, list of materials. Describe expectations and
procedures.

Time:
Students will meet in each group for approximately fifteen minutes, according to the cooperating teacher’s time. She has a
noise that signals to students when it is time for them to rotate to the next station.
Materials:
Seven copies of The Thank You Book by Mo Willems, pencils and scrap paper or notecards, glue, papers with category
labels for gluing word sorts onto, scissors
Space:
Students will begin in their seats when I mention the big idea and introduce the lesson. Students will then rotate to their
stations in the same manner that is familiar to them. All centers will be visible. The centers will be my group, Mrs.
Hendey’s group, a word work station, and a station where students read books on their iPad using EPIC.
Students:
Students will remain in the groups that they are in for their daily rotations. Students are familiar with groups and know
the expectations during them. I will use the familiar behavior management plan, asking students to sign their name in the
book if they are misbehaving. I will check on other students while the students in my guided reading group are reading
independently.

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 III. Anticipatory Set
• “I have a riddle for you today. Raise your hand if you want to guess what I am.
It is something very shiny
And is a valuable metal
If you win at the Olympics
It’s the color of your medal”
I will allow students to guess until someone guesses the correct answer.
“Some people think gold is valuable, but today we are going to look at some other things and people that are valuable.”
IV. Purpose: “We are going to read a book about a character who tells different people that she values them. This is
important because it will help us think about the people that we value.”

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

V. I differentiated the groups based on student needs that I observed. I chose different skills for each group, as
described in the lesson rationale, and choose to use the same book for all groups. I found that many of the
students in my groups get upset when they do not get to read the same text that other groups got to read.
ELL student: I have an ELL student in one of my groups. I will work closely with her, asking her to follow along
with her finger in the book so I am able to visually see when she gets stuck on a word. Then I can help her with it
and explain the words, or provide a translation of the word to help her with her understanding.
(CAEP K-6 1.b)

VI. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

Groups 1 and 2:
Strategy/Teaching Point: Synthesizing Pictures and Text to Better Understand Characters
Prereading: “Thanksgiving break starts tomorrow. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because I love eating yummy food
and I love the fall but most importantly, it reminds me to reflect on all the things and people I am thankful for. Every year
at Thanksgiving my family and I take turns sharing who we are thankful for each other. In the book that we are going to
read, The Thank You Book, Piggie thinks about all the people that she is thankful for too. I want you to read the book on
your own and as you read think about how the characters are feeling and how you can tell they feel that way. Pay
attention to the text and the illustrations.”
Reading: Students will read the books independently. If students get distracted, I will gently redirect them. If students
seem stuck on a word, I will remind them of the strategies they can use to figure it out, such as looking at the pictures,
moving on, or sounding it out.
Responding:
I will ask students the following questions:
“What did you think of this book?”
“What did you like or dislike about this book?”
“What did this story make you think about?”
“How did the other characters in the story know that Piggie was thankful for them or that she valued them?”
Exploring: “I asked you to focus on how the words and pictures could both help us understand more about the characters
in this story. When we look at both we can put information together to better understand the characters. Could you pick
one character from the book and show me what in the story helped you to know how they were feeling.” If time permits, I
will ask students to pick two characters from the book.
“What in the book helped you to understand the relationships between different characters?” (Were they friends? Did
they dislike each other? Had they never met before?)
Applying: “When you are reading books with illustrations in the future, pay attention to the words and the pictures. The
text and illustrations combined help us to see characters’ thoughts, words, and actions so we can learn more about them.”

Group 3:
Strategy/Teaching Point: Differentiating Main Idea and Key Details
Prereading: “Thanksgiving break starts tomorrow. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because I love eating yummy
food and I love the fall but most importantly, it reminds me to reflect on all the things and people I am thankful for. Every
year at Thanksgiving my family and I take turns sharing who we are thankful for each other. In the book that we are going
to read, The Thank You Book, Piggie thinks about all the people that she is thankful for too. You are going to read this book
silently to yourself. As you read, I want you to think about the main idea of the story. I also want you to find some
important details in the story. Think about how you know if something is the main idea or if it is a detail.”
Reading: Students will read the books independently. If students get distracted, I will gently redirect them. If students
seem stuck on a word, I will remind them of the strategies they can use to figure it out, such as looking at the pictures,
moving on, or sounding it out.

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Responding: I will ask students the following questions:
“What did you think of this book?”
“What did you like or dislike about this book?”
“What did this story make you think about?”
“What is the main idea of this story, or what is this story mostly about? How did you know that was the main idea?” – I
will be looking for students to say something about how Piggie decided to say thank you to all of the people who were
important to her or who she valued.
Exploring: “I asked you to think about key details also. Could you show me where some of the key details are in this
book?” I will take some responses and then will ask other students to tell how they know that example is a key detail. I
will also ask, “What makes this a key or important detail?”
Applying: As you are reading stories in the future, ask yourself what the main idea is as you read. Think about what many
of the key details are about to help you figure out the main idea.

Group 4:
Strategy/Teaching Point: Determining Theme
Prereading: “Thanksgiving break starts tomorrow. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because I love eating yummy
food and I love the fall but most importantly, it reminds me to reflect on all the things and people I am thankful for. Every
year at Thanksgiving my family and I take turns sharing who we are thankful for each other. In the book that we are going
to read, The Thank You Book, Piggie thinks about all the people that she is thankful for too. As you read the book to
yourself, think about what you might be able to learn from the book.”
Reading: Students will read the books independently. If students get distracted, I will gently redirect them. If students
seem stuck on a word, I will remind them of the strategies they can use to figure it out, such as looking at the pictures,
moving on, or sounding it out.
Responding: I will ask students the following questions:
“What did you think of this book?”
“What did you like or dislike about this book?”
“What did this story make you think about?”
“What characteristics did Piggie have in this book?”
Exploring: “We’ve been talking recently about author’s purpose. Do you know what the author’s purpose might have
been in writing this book?” I expect students to say the author wrote the book to entertain us. “Even though the author
didn’t write this book to provide us with information, there is still a lesson that we can learn from the book. In nonfiction
books, especially those written to entertain us, there is often a lesson that we can take away. This lesson that the author
includes in the book is called the theme. What do you think the theme of this book is? Show me an example in the book of
this theme or lesson in action.”
Applying: “When you are reading books, even if they are written mainly for entertainment, think about what you can
learn from the book and how you can use that lesson to help you in your life.”

Word Work Center: My teacher has not gotten back to me yet about the word work center other than she wants me to
plan an activity, instead of the activity she normally has at the center. The following are tentative ideas that may change
depending on the information she gives me closer to time about the focus skill.

Vowel Sound Word Sort: I will give the students words, with pictures, of things that are of value to many people. I will
have them sort the words based on the vowel sounds. For example, they could be sorting words with short o and short a
sounds. I would have words like cat, mom, dad, dog, job, and land. If students finish, I will have them draw their own
picture and write their own word of something they value and place it in the proper category (or create a new category
for it).

Syllabication Word Sort: I will give the students words, with pictures, of things that are of value to many people. They will
have to sort the words by the number of syllables they have. I may provide words like family, house, teacher, and food.
They will have to sort the words into categories. If students finish, I will have them write words of things or people that
they value and place them in the appropriate categories.

VII. Check for understanding

I will use my assessment plan to check for understanding. I will also use a fist to five protocol at the end of each
reading group. I will say, “If you feel really confused about this new skill that we talked about and feel like you
know nothing, hold up a fist. If you feel so confident about this skill that you could teach it to someone else, hold
up five fingers. If you are somewhere in between hold up a different number of fingers to show me where you
are in your understanding.”

VIII. Review learning outcomes/Closure

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 Students will return to their seats and I will say, “I am looking for some friends to share something that stuck with
them from their group with me. What is something from The Thank You Book or our discussion that you still
remember?” I will call on three or four students and may ask more prompting questions that relate to the big idea of
Finding Value.

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

Groups 1 and 2 Guided Reading: I will informally assess students as they share in the exploring section. I will especially
take note of how they reference both the text and the illustrations in their explanations. If I was able to go further in depth
in the applying section, I would use a comic and have students look at the pictures and the captions and have them write a
character description for a character using the information from the text and illustrations.
Group 3 Guided Reading: I will assess students formatively during the exploring section. I will also assess students at
the end of the session by providing them details and asking if they are key details or minor details. I will tell the students,
“I am going to give you a detail from the story. Give me a thumbs up if you think it is a key or important detail. Give me a
thumbs down if you think it is not important to the main idea.” I will use the following details:
 Piggie thanks many people. (Key)
 There are two squirrels in the story. (Minor)
 The penguin sells ice cream. (Minor)
 Piggie forgot to thank someone. (Key)
Group 4 Guided Reading: I will assess students informally during the exploring section of the lesson. I will pay attention
to the theme idea that each student provides to see if it relates to the story and if it is a lesson that can be applied to our
lives. At the end of the session, I will also have students write down a movie they have watched recently and have them
write a theme of that movie to see if they understand how to find a theme.
Word Work Center: I will use the students’ papers as the assessment.
Develop a plan for assessing the degree to which your students have mastered the learning outcomes from this lesson.
Your plan should include formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and strengthen instruction that will
promote continuous intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development of each student. (CAEP K-6 3.a)

How will you know that your students have met the lesson objectives? Remember that not all assessments are completed
in written form. You may have mostly/only formative assessments in this lesson.

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS (CAEP K-6 3.b)

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
7. Did the goals that I addressed in each group seem appropriate?
8. Were all students able to make connections to the big idea? Did students talk about people they valued or people
Piggie valued?
9. Were students engaged in the Word Work Center and were they able to complete the assignment on their own?
10. How did students handle reading the book independently?