Deanna Epley

2014
Courtney French, Plains Elementary
372
February 26, 2014- 10:30 AM

Spring
ECED

READ-ALOUD LESSON PLAN

JMU Elementary Education Program
TITLE OF LESSON Abraham Lincoln
CONTEXT OF LESSON
The first graders are currently learning about biographies and money. They are being introduced
to important historic American leaders and Presidents through read-alouds and listening/writing
activities. The read-aloud will exercise their cognitive and language/literacy developmental
domains by learning through language, illustrations and logic.
OBJECTIVES AND ASSESSMENT
Developmental Objectives
1. The students will define what the
word fact means.

2. Students will distinguish between

past and present using a timeline and
by describing the life of the historic
American leader and President,
Abraham Lincoln.
3. Students will expand or enrich their
vocabularies through the identification
of unknown words or concepts.
4. The students will practice their oral
language skills by stating facts about
Abraham Lincolns life before and
after the read-aloud.

Plan for Assessment

I will make a note of who made an attempt to define fact and
have their exact words audio recorded. If their definition was
incorrect, I will ask another student, do you think it might be
something else? If their definition is correct, I might ask the class
do we all agree? Is a fact? This gives me the opportunity to
address any misunderstandings by emphasizing later that their
definition was correct and why.
I will prompt the students by asking them Whats different about
Abraham Lincolns childhood and yours? Do you work all day and
only go to school sometimes? This will allow them to identify the
difference between time periods.
I will ask the students at the end of certain sentences if they know
what a certain word means that is above their grade level
vocabulary. If they have an idea or are close to the correct answer, I
will praise them for their effort. If they are wrong, I will simply call
on the next student or help guide their answer.
I will make a note of who correctly stated facts about Abraham
Lincoln. If the student is correct, I will praise their answer by
stating absolutely, thats a great fact! If their answer needs some
help I will ask them a follow-up question like Is that something
we know for sure? Or is that maybe just what someone thought
about Abraham Lincoln?
Page
1

Deanna Epley
2014
Courtney French, Plains Elementary
372
February 26, 2014- 10:30 AM

Spring
ECED

COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENT DATA

SEE ATTACHED
RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (K & 1)
History
1.1 The student will interpret information presented in picture timelines to show sequence of events
and will distinguish among past, present, and future.
1.2 The student will describe the stories of American leaders and their contributions to our country,
with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George
Washington Carver, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Reading
1.7 The student will use meaning clues and language structure to expand vocabulary when reading.
1.9 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fiction and nonfiction.
a) Preview the selection.
b) Set a purpose for reading.
h) Identify the topic or main idea.
Oral Language
1.1 The student will continue to demonstrate growth in the use of oral language.
a) Listen and respond to a variety of media, including books, audiotapes, videos, and other ageappropriate materials.
b) Tell and retell stories and events in logical order.
1.2 The student will continue to expand and use listening and speaking vocabularies.
b) Begin to ask for clarification and explanation of words and ideas.
MATERIALS NEEDED

Read-Aloud selection: Abe Lincoln Remembers by Ann Turner (Supplied by me)

PROCEDURE
PREPARATION OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
1. Students will go to the carpet for their routine calendar and read-aloud time.
Page
2

Deanna Epley
2014
Courtney French, Plains Elementary
372
February 26, 2014- 10:30 AM

Spring
ECED

2. After calendar, transitioning into the read-aloud, I will begin my BEFORE discussion
with the students.
INTRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION
3. Students will be read Abe Lincoln Remembers by Ann Turner for their read-aloud.
4. BEFORE discussion questions:
a. Find Abraham Lincoln on our timeline.
b. What year was Abraham Lincoln born in?
c. What do we already know about Abraham Lincoln?
d. Looking at the front of this book, what might it tell us about Abraham Lincolns
life?
IMPLEMENTATION
5. DURING discussion questions correlated to stopping points in the real-aloud:
a. Do we typically live in log cabins today?
b. Did Abraham Lincoln go to school for very long? Do you all go to school for more
than one year?
c. Do you all work outside most of the day and only go to school sometimes?
d. Do you have a fireplace in your house? Does it leave soot inside?
e. Did Abraham Lincoln like working all the time, staying at home?
f. Does this picture look like the Abraham Lincoln we see on our timeline?
g. Whats the highest office that hes talking about?
h. Can you imagine riding on a cart with goats pulling you around your house for
fun?
i. What were the north and south doing if it says they were divided?
j. Did you know Abraham Lincoln kept a joke book in his desk?
k. Is war a happy thing? Whos in all those graves?
6. VOCABULARY
a. Colt
b. Shanky
c. Soot
d. Flatboat
e. Lawyer
f. Legislature
g. Wound
h. Prevail
7. AFTER discussion questions:
Page
3

Deanna Epley
2014
Courtney French, Plains Elementary
372
February 26, 2014- 10:30 AM

Spring
ECED

a. How Did Abraham Lincoln die?

b. If he and Mary, his wife, are getting ready to go to a play, what do you think might
happen next?
c. What is something that you learned that you didnt know before?
CLOSURE
Their next activity will be to start math. I will help them transition by allowing for any last
comments before handing control back to their teacher. I will have the students remain on the
carpet while their teacher gives them instructions on what they are going to do for math class.
CLEAN-UP
There is no clean-up required for the read-aloud.
DIFFERENTIATION
I plan to meet the needs of all students in the classroom by providing them with information and
exemplary reading fluency through a read-aloud. My read-aloud lesson should reach out to
auditory and visual learners the most based on my reading of the read-aloud book and its
illustrations. I will need to be mindful of the students behavior and attention spans to gage the
speed and flow of my read-aloud.
In the back of the read-aloud book, there is a mini history lesson that states and elaborates a
little more dryly the facts about the content in the book. If there is time, and the students
comprehended everything well, I may read them some of the real history that is within the
book. If the opposite occurs and the students have not understood what I have read them and they
cannot answer my discussion questions, I will need to adapt and maybe review it in summarized
sentences or use simpler vocabulary.
WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

Students may be unable to answer my BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER discussion questions.
I will help prompt the students by asking them more simple questions about the book or
something in the text before giving them the answer. I can also utilize the illustrations to help
them answer the questions in some cases.
Students may begin to get restless.
If more than a few students become restless, I will ask them all to stand up and shake out their
wiggles before continuing on. If I need to do this, this may be an indication that the students are
not engaged/interested or the book is too long.
A behavioral problem may occur.
Page
4

Deanna Epley
2014
Courtney French, Plains Elementary
372
February 26, 2014- 10:30 AM

Spring
ECED

I will address the problem very quickly so as not to disrupt the other childrens thinking for very
long. I will follow the classroom behavior procedures and ask students to change their color or
separate from another student depending on the issue.
LESSON IMPLEMENTATION REFLECTION
My read-aloud lesson went very well and the children reacted and participated even better than
I expected! I practiced reading my read-aloud multiple times, stopping to ask the discussion questions I
planned on implementing so as not to forget about them when reading to the students. A wide variety of
the students volunteered to discuss and answer my questions before, during, and after reading. The
majority of students did not know the vocabulary I introduced to them, so I felt confident that I had
chosen these words well and in the end, enhanced their comprehension and vocabulary. If I were to
teach the lesson again, I would have asked the children what they think might happen next more often
to allow them to utilize their imaginations or exemplify what they may already know.
If I were the classroom teacher, I may not have stopped the lesson on Abraham Lincoln and
transitioned to math just yet. I would have tried to implement a hands-on activity to supplement what
they learned from the read-aloud. I find that they enjoy the read-aloud time because it is such a
language based activity compared to a written or paper and pencil assignment. However, if that kind of
activity must come next, I would transition by getting the students talking about math first before
handing them an activity where they may no longer talk or discuss.
I have learned a lot about teaching and myself as a teacher throughout this lesson. I learned that
it is important to have effective and meaningful transitions for students so that they are learning and
retaining the maximum amount of information that I am supplying. They feed off of the energy and
excitement, or lack there of, that is supplied by the teacher. Therefore, it is important to be comfortable,
well-rehearsed, and well versed in the topic that I am reading about in a read-aloud. Students always
come with questions and wonder, and it is important to address this so that they remain engaged.

Page
5