LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

(Include the title of each of the following sections in your written plan.)

A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON

Reading Comprehension Lesson #3: Visualization

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON

Over the last several weeks I have observed the class working individually and in groups on
learning activities in various subjects. I have observed that their focus in completing learning
activities in Language Arts is better when they work in small groups versus working by
themselves. In these small groups the teacher instructs students who are at the same
readability level. With the support of the teacher, the students seem to be able to focus better
in grasping the reading and writing material.

I have also observed that when teaching the students a new concept or an idea, the
information may need to be repeated several times in order for the students to understand and
grasp the new material. In addition to my observance of students working in small groups
versus individually, the students have demonstrated a desire to learn. The students in this
particular group are energetic, and show a passion and love for school. They all want to be
successful first graders. I have also noted the concept of teamwork amongst this particular
group of students. For example, if one student is having trouble pronouncing a word, another
student in that group will help the student read the word. This group of five students has
several strengths in both reading and writing at a first grade level.

This lesson plan works well within the first grade curriculum. Every day the students spend
about two hours working in small groups on both their reading and writing skills. The
students are grouped depending on their readability levels. The students have practiced
several skills in Language Arts so far this year, including learning how to read new words,
writing sentences, recognizing the number of syllables in a word, rhyming, and the reading
strategy of sequencing. During the week of October 14
th
, I will introduce the reading
comprehension strategy of visualizing to a group of five students who are in the highest
ability reading group. I will briefly introduce the reading comprehension strategy of
visualization. We will begin by reading a short poem from a book called The Great Frog
Race by Kristine OConnell George. I will share with the students what I was visualizing in
my head as I read the poem aloud. After sharing my thoughts, I will read the poem again, but
this time I will ask the students to close their eyes and try to visual in their heads what they
are picturing as they listen to me read the poem. Several students will share their thoughts
before I start reading a book titled The Teacher from the Black Lagoon written by Mike
Thaler. During this read aloud I will stop reading at various places to explain to the students
what I am thinking and visualizing in my head; however, the pictures in the book will not be
The following information should be included in the header of the lesson plan:
Megan Geisel
Mrs. Charity Thomas, Peak View Elementary School
November, 14 2013; 10:30 a.m.
shown to the students so the students can focus on visualizing what is going on in the story. In
addition to telling the students what I am visualizing, I will be drawing on the whiteboard
what I picture Mrs. Green to look like. The students will also be asked to describe to the
group what they think Mrs. Green may look like. This introductory lesson will allow me to
prepare the students for the understanding of visualization during the next several days of the
reading and writing activities class period.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand
The students will use oral
language to respond appropriately
in group situations to both peers
and adults.
Know
The students will be able to
express their thoughts through the
utilization of oral language.

Do
The students will be able to
verbally discuss and describe their
thoughts to their peers based on
questions asked by the teacher.
The students will understand that
they should utilize a variety of
strategies to assist with
comprehension (i.e. sequencing
and visualization).
The students will understand that
visualizing while reading is like
creating a movie in your head by
using the five senses of seeing,
feeling, touching, smelling, and
tasting what is occurring from the
words that they read.
The students will be able to
practice using the reading
comprehension strategy of
visualizing by describing what
they think Mrs. Green looks like
in The Teacher from the Black
Lagoon.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING

Because the first reading comprehension lesson mainly focuses on the teacher modeling a
reading strategy to the students, the group will be assessed and evaluated based on their
responses to questions asked by the teacher during the read aloud. The teacher will listen to
the students responses focusing on how they are describing/picturing the teacher, Mrs. Green,
in the story. For example, if a student says, I think Mrs. Green is purple, that response
demonstrates that the student isnt listening to the descriptive words in the story, and therefore
may not be comprehending and/or visualizing what is going on.

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

1.1 The student will continue to demonstrate growth in the use of oral language.
a) Listen and respond to a variety of electronic media and other age-appropriate materials.
b) Tell and retell stories and events in logical order.
c) Participate in a variety of oral language activities, including choral speaking and reciting short
poems, rhymes, songs, and stories with repeated patterns.
d) Participate in creative dramatics.
e) Express ideas orally in complete sentences.

1.8 The student will expand vocabulary.
a) Discuss meanings of words in context.
b) Develop vocabulary by listening to and reading a variety of texts.
c) Ask for the meaning of unknown words and make connections to familiar words.
d) Use text clues such as words or pictures to discern meanings of unknown words.
e) Use vocabulary from other content areas.

1.9 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fictional texts.
a) Preview the selection.
b) Set a purpose for reading.
c) Relate previous experiences to what is read.
d) Make and confirm predictions.
e) Ask and answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about what is read.
f) Identify characters, setting, and important events.
g) Retell stories and events, using beginning, middle, and end.
h) Identify the main idea or theme.
i) Read and reread familiar stories, poems, and passages with fluency, accuracy, and meaningful
expression.

F. MATERIALS NEEDED

1 copy of The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler-Ms. Geisel
5 photocopies of The Teacher from the Black Lagoon-Ms. Geisel
1 copy of The Great Frog Race written by Kristine OConnell George-Ms. Geisel
1 Small Dry Erase Board-Mrs. T
Dry Erase Board Markers (All different colors)-Mrs. T
Pencils-Mrs. T
Markers-Mrs. T
Crayons-Mrs. T
Computer/Construction Paper-Mrs. T
6 copies of the worksheet labeled Visualizing-Ms. Geisel

G. PROCEDURE

Preparation of the learning environment

The students will be seated at a desk or table depending on the location in the classroom
where my cooperating teacher, Mrs. T., directs us to work. The teacher should have all
learning materials prepared beforehand.

Engage -Introduction of the lesson

I will introduce this lesson to the students by having the students recall which reading strategy
we have practiced using after reading several books this year in class. Boys and girls, over
the past several weeks we have read many books together. You have been reading books at
home and in school. While reading, we have also been practicing an important reading
strategy that has helped us remember what the story is about. Can anyone tell me the reading
strategy we have been practicing? Let several students answer. If the students answer
incorrectly, provide them with a hint. For example, you could provide the students with the
hint of drawing on the whiteboard a square with four boxes. (The students have done several
learning activities with this model). If the students continue to answer incorrectly, tell the
students that they have been practicing the reading strategy of sequencing. Can anyone tell
me what sequencing means again? I will look for an answer such as, Putting the story in
order.

After quickly revisiting sequencing, tell the students that today they will be learning a new
reading strategy to help them remember and understand everything that they read. We have
been practicing sequencing, and today I want to introduce to you a new reading strategy to
help us remember and understand everything we read. Today we will be learning about the
reading strategy of visualizing. Does anyone want to take a guess on what visualizing may
mean? Let several students answer. After several student responses, explain to the students
that visualizing is like creating a movie in your head while you read. You can see, feel,
touch, smell, and taste what is going on in the book by the words that you read.

Before reading, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon, read a short poem from the book called,
The Great Frog Race, written by Kristine OConnell George. Read the poem labeled, Winter
Spring, on page 40 of the book. The poem reads, The old wooden swing hanging from the
apple tree is pillowed with snow. Explain to the students what you see, visualize, and picture
when reading this poem. I picture that it is winter and cold outside. I can see a swing hanging
from a large, brown tree that is covered in snow. I can picture the tree having no leaves on it
because it is wintertime. I can also picture it being cloudy and gray outside. The words in the
poem allowed for me to paint a picture of the scene that the poem was describing in my head.
Now I want everyone to close their eyes. Im going to read the poem again, and I want each of
you to try and picture what the poem is describing in your head. Try your best to visualize the
scene. Read the poem very slowly to the students again. After reading have the students open
up their eyes. Quickly let the students tell you what they visualized. Explain to the students
that everyone visualizes what they hear differently, and that it is okay to picture something
that is different than what others in their group shared.

After briefly introducing and exposing the students to visualizing, tell the students that you
will be reading them a fun fictional book called The Teacher from the Black Lagoon.

Implementation of the lesson (specific procedures and directions for teacher and
students)

Today we are going to be reading a book called, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon, written
by Mike Thaler. Im going to read it to you aloud, and tonight for homework you each will
get your own copy to bring home to practice reading to your parents or to yourself. By
reading the title of the book, I wonder what the teacher from the black lagoon will look like?
Looking at the black shadow on the front cover I will guess that he or she is very tall and big.
A lagoon, the word from the title of the story, is a shallow pond near or connected to a larger
body of water like an ocean, and animals that typically live in a lagoon include birds, fish, and
alligators. Im picturing the teacher to be tall, big, and some sort of water animal from a
lagoon. Lets start reading to find out, and see if my visualization or picture of what the
teacher may look like is right.

Start reading The Teacher from the Black Lagoon to the students.

Stop at page 4. The student refers to Mrs. Green as a real monster. So we now know the
teacher is a woman. Now Im picturing in my head a woman teacher who is large, very tall,
and some sort of animal from a lagoon. I wonder what Mrs. Green will actually look like?
Hmmm, lets continue to read to find out!

Stop at page 6: The book says Mrs. Green slithers, and she is green. Im picturing in my head
that Mrs. Green is a huge, long, green snake. The word slithers made me picture a snake
because snakes typically slither around. I will then draw a picture of my visualization on the
white board with a green colored dry erase board marker for the students to see. This picture
will demonstrate to the students what you are visualizing Mrs. Green to look like in your head
based on the words green and slithers.

Stop at page 7: But she has a tail and claws? She cant be a snake then. Im not sure what
animal she could be. Im picturing some sort of animal from a lagoon that is big, tall, slithers,
has claws, is green, and has a tail. Cross out the picture you drew on the white board. In
order to keep students engaged in the story, ask students what they think Mrs. Green may look
like. Have students openly discuss aloud within the group their thoughts. What do you think
Mrs. Green looks like? What are you picturing in your heads?

Stop at page 8: Oh wow! She breathes fire in the classroom? I wonder what kind of animal
she is. This must be a make-believe animal because no real animal can spit out fire. Maybe
Mrs. Green is a dragon? I now have a different picture in my head of what Mrs. Green may
look like. I am now visualizing Mrs. Green to be green, big, tall, having a tail and claws,
slithering, and spiting out fire. When I read the words, breathes fire, I picture Mrs. Green
blowing out fire. She does sound scary! Draw on the whiteboard what you visualize Mrs.
Green to look like now. I will leave the old drawing up to compare to the new one.

Stop at page 17: I can picture in my head Mrs. Green being a teacher who is not nice to her
students. On this page it says that Mrs. Green swallowed a student in one gulp. I picture this
large, green, woman to have sharp teeth. I can picture students being scared that Mrs. Green is
their teacher. Remember boys and girls that this is a fiction book, so is Mrs. Green a real
teacher or make believe? Let several students answer. If none of the students share the correct
answer, I will remind them what the definition of a fictional book is.

Stop at page 21: Oh no! Mrs. Green turned a student into a frog. In my head I am picturing a
student turning into a frog. I think Mrs. Green is angry. She seems to have some sort of
powers that allow her to turn a student into a frog.

Stop at page 27: Im thinking that he just woke up from a dream, and that Mrs. Green was a
make-believe character. He seemed to be having a nightmare. Now I picture Mrs. Green to be
a tall lady who is smiling and nice. Draw a third picture of what you visualize Mrs. Green to
look like on the whiteboard. What do you think Mrs. Green looks like now that the boy has
woken up from his dream? Do you think she is big, green, has a tail, claws, and still breathes
fire? Let several students answer.

After reading the book tell the students that we will be working on visualizing what we read
for the next several weeks. Emphasize to the students again that picturing in our heads what
we read allows us to understand and remember what we are reading.

Closure and cleanup

Tell the students that we will continue to work on visualizing in the upcoming weeks to help
us remember what we read.
Give a photocopied copy of The Teacher from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler to each
student.
Have the students put their photocopied books into their reading folders, and tell them to read
it tonight for homework.
Have the students place their reading folders into their backpacks.
Erase the dry erase board.

H. DIFFERENTIATION

Because this lesson is one out of several mini-lessons and is focused on the teacher modeling
to students the reading comprehension strategy of visualizing, every student should be able to
meet the learning objectives. The students will mostly need their listening ears.

For any student who is struggling to meet the required objectives, I will revisit any confusion
or misunderstandings in the next mini lesson focused on this strategy before starting anything
new.

If we do finish early, I will give the students a worksheet labeled, Visualizing. The students
will be provided with markers, crayons, and pencils to draw a picture of anything they
pictured in their heads from the story, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon.

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO
ABOUT IT?

There could be an emergency drill during the comprehension lesson. If a drill does occur, I
will either complete the comprehension lesson tomorrow, or if time permits, I will finish it
during the designated time period that day.

Out of the five students I will be teaching my lesson with, one student may be absent. If a
student is absent the day I teach my introductory lesson on visualization, I will remodel the
strategy again with all of the students the following day. Instead of me explaining exactly
what visualization is however, I will ask the students to recall what visualization is from the
first lesson. The first lesson is important for all students to participate in in order to move onto
the next lessons focused on this reading strategy.




















Name________________

Visualizing

When we read The Teacher from the Black Lagoon, I
visualized