Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template

CAEP 2018 K-6 Elementary Teacher Preparation Standards
Reading Lesson
Teaching Date: November 20
UNIT BIG IDEA
Every voice matters – students will learn how to recognize what other people (or characters) are
feeling. Every character should be given a chance to be understood.

LESSON RATIONALE
Students generally have higher engagement levels when working in inquiry-based settings, so I
created the Big Book Puppets and Detective Work stations where students can discover and
question what feelings they see in the books that they read. In the Guided Reading and I’m a
Character, Too! stations, students are able to relate feelings that characters feel to their own
feelings. When students have an emotional response to a topic, they are more likely to remember
it.

READINESS
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s) — Students will use both words and pictures to help them to describe the feelings
of characters in books.
B. Objective — After completing two literacy stations, students will be able to describe
(orally, through writing, or through pictures) whether the character in a book is feeling
happy, sad, angry, or scared.
C. Standard(s):
a. 1.RL.1 With support, read and comprehend literature that is grade-level
appropriate.
b. 1.RL.2.3 Using key details, identify and describe the elements of plot, character,
and setting.
II. Management Plan
 Time: 50 minutes
 Materials:
o Computer ready with YouTube video
o Document camera
o Feeling cards (attached below) – 12 sets of cards (4 copies)
o Tape
o “A Big Guy Took My Ball” by Mo Willems (4 copies, with 1 photocopied for
me)
o Big books from library
 “Rosie’s Walk” by Pat Hutchins
 “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle
  “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” by Eileen Christelow
 “This is the Bear and the Picnic Lunch” by Sarah Hayes and Helen Craig
 “Moonbear’s Books” by Frank Asch
o Puppets from library
 Fox, chicken, caterpillar, monkey, and two bears
o Spinners (template attached below) – 6 (2 copies)
o I am a Character, Too! worksheets (40 copies)
o iPads
 Space:
o Students start at desks and are called to the carpet
o After mini-lesson, students are instructed to go to their stations (station locations
in chart)
o After stations, students return to the carpet for closure
 Students:
o I will leave my guided reading station when I give students the task of looking
through their books to find a certain emotion – at this time I will check on
students at Detective Work because they do not have another adult supervising. If
students seem to be off task, I will pick out a book for them, and encourage them
to continue their important detective work!
o If noise levels have risen above a productive level, I will leave my group to ask
other groups to be quiet. If I am not at a position to leave my group, I will clap a
rhythm to get the classes attention, and then remind them to be at a level 1.
o If students are misbehaving or not following directions, I will give them a verbal
warning. After the verbal warning, I will ask them to change the card on their
desk to yellow instead of green.
 Grouping:
o I will have the groups listed on a PowerPoint slide.
1st rotation
Guided Reading Big Book Acting Detective Work I’m a Character,
Too!
At kidney table At carpet at the At the library At desks
with me front of the room corner
Trammy Tazra Jonathan Sophia
Kellen Ti’Shan Jazmin Paxton
Josiah Remyia Madolyn Filomena
Shantell Kailee Kaleb Jamar
Cobain Harlee
Toby
 2nd rotation
Guided Reading Big Book Acting Detective Work I’m a Character,
Too!
At kidney table At carpet at the At the library At desks
with me front of the room corner
Tazra Jonathan Sophia Trammy
Ti’Shan Jazmin Paxton Kellen
Remyia Madolyn Filomena Josiah
Kailee Kaleb Jamar Shantell
Cobain Harlee
Toby

III. Anticipatory Set (6 minutes)

 Gather students to the carpet:
o Come to the carpet if you are wearing the color green
o Come to the carpet if you are wearing the color red
o Continue until all students are sitting on the carpet
 Raise your hand if you have seen the movie Trolls!
 I am going to show you a song from that movie. Think about how the troll who is singing
feels. Is she happy or sad? Do you think she might feel scared?
 Play the video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFuFm0m2wj0
 Raise your hand if you want to tell me what you think the character was feeling.
 Allow students to share.
IV. Purpose: Today we are going to learn about what the characters in our books are feeling.
This is important because it can help you think about a time when you have felt like the
character, and then you can better understand the story.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

V. Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners
 Because the mini lesson and description of stations may be too long of a period of time
for students to sit still, I have incorporated motions with each description of station so
students can feel more involved. This will help kinesthetic learners.
 There is no set ending point for students in each independent station, which means they
can work at their own pace.

VI. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output) (5 minutes)

Mini Lesson – Whole Group
 How could you tell what the troll was feeling? How did you know if she was sad or
happy?
  Allow students to share.
 I have some pictures here of some feelings. Raise your hand if you want to read one of
them. If you can’t read the word, you can just look at the picture
 Allow students to read the pictures aloud, and then tape them on the board (I will have
tape ready to hand to them).
 Sometimes you might feel two of these feelings at the same time! Has anyone ever felt
angry and sad at the same time?
 These are some of the ways that a character in the book you read might feel.
Describing Stations: (see management plan for grouping chart) (8 minutes)
Detective Work:
 Motion: have students hold up their hand over their eyes like they are looking for
something.
 When you are a detective, it is your job to search through books to find pictures or words
that describe characters. You are going to use these feeling cards that are taped to the
board to help you.
 You will be back in the library corner, and you can pick up one book at a time from the
shelf. You can read the book silently to yourself, or whisper read with a partner.
 After you have read the book, think about what the characters in the book are feeling.
 Each of you will have a set of feeling cards, and an iPad.
 Set your book on the ground, put the card on top of the page, and take a picture with your
iPad. Demonstrate.
 Keep looking for how characters feel in different books. You are a detective, so take your
job seriously!
Big Book Acting (Have another practicum student at this station – Bailey)
 Motion: have students make an “opening book” motion with their hands.
 When you are at the Big Book Acting station, you will be up front at the carpet. Ms.
Count will be working with you. You will have a big book to read, and a puppet to help
you act out your story
 Think about how you can make your puppet show what they are feeling! You can act out
your story for Ms. Count once you have practiced.
I’m a Character, Too! (Have Mrs. Sloan, my cooperating teacher, at this station):
 Motion: have students point at self
 You read about characters in your books, but you can be a character too! Sometimes you
might have feelings like the characters that you read about. In this station you will spin a
spinner and land on a feeling. Demonstrate.
 Then you will complete this sentence. Since I landed on the word “scared,” I write that in
this blank. Then I have to write a time when I have felt scared. Then I draw a picture of
what I have written.
 Demonstrate on document camera.
  If you finish one worksheet, you can spin the spinner again and write another sentence,
and then draw another picture. There are four sheets attached in your packet. If you
finish one worksheet, you can spin the spinner again and write another sentence, and
then draw another picture.
 You only have to complete one paper, so you can take your time on the front page if you
want. Or you can finish all the pages! If you get done early, you can draw another
picture on the back that show how you are feeling today.
Reading Group with Miss V.
 Motion: have students hold up two fingers like a V.
 If you are with me, you will be back at the table where you normally sit with Mrs. Sloan
during stations.
 You are allowed to talk quietly with other people at your station, but try to stay at a level
1.
 When you hear the bell ring, that means it is time to transition.
 If you are at your desk, put your pencils back in your box, and put your papers on this
desk.
 If you are at the library corner, put your books away and put your iPads on this desk.
 If you are with Ms. Count, or with me, you do not have to put anything away. You can
just move to your next station.
 Show PowerPoint with groups – read students names and walk around the room to each
station while saying their names.
 Now use motions to show me that you know which station you are going to!

Each station will last for 10 minutes, and there will be 2 minute in between for transitions –
including transitions before stations begin and after stations end (total of 24 minutes)

Guided Reading Groups

Group 1
Title of Text: “A Big Guy Took My Ball” by Mo Willems
Image of Text:

Text Type or Source: Fiction

Target Strategy/Teaching Points: Comprehension in fiction: thinking about how a character is
feeling
Note: I chose this book because it demonstrates each of the four feelings that we have been
discussing: happy, sad, angry, and scared
Pre-reading
 Today we are going to read the book “A Big Guy Took My Ball” by Mo Willems
 This is a story about someone who was sad because something got taken from him.
Have you ever had that happen to you? Maybe someone took your crayons or your
toys! How did you feel?
 Allow time for student responses.
 Now we are going to read the book chorally together.
 As we read, pay attention to what the characters say and how their faces look. Think
about what it tells you about the story.
Reading
 Students read chorally with teacher
 Take note of students who are struggling to keep up with the choral reading. Slow down
if needed
Responding
 What did you think about the book? Did you like it? Why or why not?
 Allow time for student free responses
Exploring
 Now I want you to go back through the book and find a page where Piggie is sad. Put
your finger on it once you have found it.
 Allow students time to flip back through their books
 Why did you pick that page? Tell me how you knew Piggie was sad?
 After receiving student responses, discuss how both words and pictures can tell you
something about how the character feels.
 Because this is a higher level reading group, I will ask students to read the sentences on
the page to me and describe what the sentence tells us about the character.
 Flip back through your book and find a place where Gerald and Piggie are happy. Put
your finger on it once you have found it.
 Can you find a page where Gerald and Piggie look sad?
 Can you find a page where Gerald looks scared?
 Can you find a page where all three characters look happy?
 Encourage student explanations after each question – how do they know that the
characters are feeling this way. Through pictures? Through words?
Applying
 As you read other books, notice how you can use the words and the pictures to tell how
the character is feeling. You can even try to think if you have ever felt like them.
Group 2
Areas that are differentiated from group 1 are marked in red.
Title of Text: “A Big Guy Took My Ball” by Mo Willems
Image of Text:

Text Type or Source: Fiction

Target Strategy/Teaching Points: Comprehension in fiction: thinking about how a character is
feeling
Pre-reading
 This is a story about someone who was sad because something got taken from him.
Have you ever had that happen to you? Maybe someone took your crayons or your
toys! How did you feel?
 Allow time for student responses.
 Now we are going to echo read. This means that I will read each “word bubble” (point
to a “word bubble” so students understand), and then you will repeat it after me.
 I want you to follow along with your finger like this. Demonstrate.
 As we read, pay attention to what the characters say and how their faces look. Think
about what it tells you about the story.
Reading
 Students echo read with teacher
 Notice whether or not students are following along with the text – redirect them if they
are not looking at the book.
Responding
 What did you think about the book? Did you like it? Why or why not?
 Allow time for student free responses
Exploring
 Now, look at pages 8 and 9 – how do you think Piggie is feeling?
 Wait for student responses.
 Look at page 25 – how do you think Gerald is feeling?
 After receiving student responses, discuss how both words and pictures can tell you
something about how the character feels.
 Flip back through your book and find a place where Gerald and Piggie are happy. Put
your finger on it once you have found it.
 Allow students time to flip back through their books
 How did you know they are happy?
 Can you find a page where Gerald and Piggie look sad?
  Can you find a page where Gerald looks angry?
 Can you find a page where all three characters look happy?
 Encourage student explanations after each question – how do they know that the
characters are feeling this way. Through pictures? Through words?
Applying
 As you read other books, notice how you can use the words and the pictures to tell how
the character is feeling. You can even try to think if you have ever felt like them.

VII. Check for understanding.

 During guided reading, scaffold students’ thinking. If students cannot explain why they
know a character is feeling sad, then ask them what their face looks like, or what they
might say if they were sad.
 During closure, use students’ work from stations to check if they can describe characters’
feelings.

VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure (5 minutes)

 Gather students back to carpet.
 Put students work from I’m a Character, Too! under the doc cam, and ask the students to
describe what they have written and drawn. Also discuss iPad pictures with the class.
 Now when you read other books, you can think about what feelings characters have!
They might be happy, sad, angry, scared, or maybe even something else. When you know
what a character is feeling, you will be able to understand the story you are reading.

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

 Note students responses during guided reading time – can they explain their thinking?
 Pictures on iPads demonstrate whether or not students accurately chose pages in books to
represent feelings. (Detective Work)
 I’m a Character, Too! worksheets demonstrate whether or not students can describe a
situation through writing where they have felt feelings like the characters they read about.

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS

1. Was the anticipatory set and mini-lesson engaging? Or were students beginning to
become distracted? What could I have done to make the direct instruction more
engaging?
The students seemed very engaged while they watched the video for the anticipatory set.
Some students were singing along, while others sat quietly. Every students was watching
and thinking about the question I had asked them to consider during the video. The direct
instruction was also engaging, but I think I could have delved a bit deeper into the four
feelings. Perhaps I could have done this by asking students to describe what they thought
each feeling met, or to give an example of when they had felt that specific feeling.
2. Based on feedback from other adults in the room, did the stations seem to be
engaging? What could I have done differently?
Yes, the other adults (Mollie, Josie, and Mrs. Sloan reported that students seemed
engaged and focused on the task at hand. I think I could have given students a little more
guidance at the “Detective Work” station. I could have asked students to find at least two
of each emotion.
3. Was there too much or too little time for each station?
I think that there was just the right amount of time for each station except my guided
reading group. I would have benefited from having about 3 minutes extra at my station,
but that would have thrown off the timing for the other stations. Next time, I would
probably want to pick a book that was a little bit shorter.
4. Based on my assessments, did my students achieve the objective? What could I have
changed to help them achieve the objective?
Yes, based on my assessments all of my students achieved the objective!
5. What were my strengths and weaknesses? Where and how do I need to improve?
My strength was managing time, space, and students effectively. My lesson ran smoothly
and students listened when needed. I also think that my energy level was effective
because students seemed excited about each of the stations that they attended.
One of my weaknesses was not asking higher level thinking questions to my students. I
need to write these before teaching the lesson so that I do not need to try to come up with
them on the spot.