STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Margaret Essig

Date: 10/14/14

School:
Colorado State University Grade Level: Pre-K Content Area: Writing and
Composition
Title: Names and Letter Recognition
of 1

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

directly from the standard)

Lesson #: 1

(Write Content Standards

Standard 3: Writing and Composition

2. Letters are formed with accuracy

Understandings: (Big Ideas)

Students will be able to write and recognize letters in own name.
Students will be able to begin proper pencil grip for composition.

Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of

instruction, select applicable questions from standard)
1) How is the first letter of someone's name different from the other letters?
2) Why do writers use an uppercase letter at the beginning of names?
Evidence Outcomes (Learning Outcomes)
Every student will be able to: (Create your own lesson objectives from the
standard, follow the ABCD format, using student voice)
Begin to recognize, if not mastered already, the letters in their first names.
Students will also be able to recognize that the beginning of proper names start
with a capital letter. Students will also be able to trace their names on their given
envelopes to begin working on proper pencil grip and writing styles. Students will
be able to put together at least the first three letter cutouts of their name with
minimal assistance.

I can: spell my name correctly.

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

This means: that I understand the capital letter comes first in a name, followed by
smaller-lower case letters to finish my name

List of Assessments: (Write the number of the learning target associated with
each assessment)
3) Letters are formed with accuracy
a) Begin to develop proper pencil grip when drawing or writing
b) Write and recognize letters in own name

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Planned Lesson Activities

Name and Purpose of
Lesson
Should be a creative title for
you and the students to
associate with the activity.
Think of the purpose as the
mini-rationale for what you are
trying to accomplish through
this lesson.
Approx. Time and Materials
How long do you expect the
activity to last and what
materials will you need?

Anticipatory Set
The hook to grab students
attention. These are actions
and statements by the teacher
to relate the experiences of
the students to the objectives
of the lesson, To put students
into a receptive frame of mind.
To focus student
attention on the lesson.
To create an organizing
framework for the ideas,
principles, or
information that is to
follow (advanced
organizers)
An anticipatory set is used any
time a different activity or new
concept is to be introduced.
Procedures
(Include a play-by-play account
of what students and teacher
will do from the minute they
arrive to the minute they leave
your classroom. Indicate the
length of each segment of the
lesson. List actual minutes.)
Indicate whether each is:
-teacher input
-modeling
-questioning strategies

My Special Name
The purpose of this activity is to have children
(preschool aged) begin to recognize letters in their
own name as well as realize that the first letter of
each name is capitalized. Students should also
begin to work on their writing skills through this
lesson.
25 minutes approximately are needed to complete
this activity. The materials needed for this activity
are plain envelopes, printer paper, and a pencil
(writing utensil) for students to use. Before the
lesson plan, the teacher will write each students
names on printer paper and cut them out into
rectangles. The names will be written on each
envelope to contain the pieces of paper.
Ask the students about their names:
Do they know where their name came from?
Have they ever been embarrassed or made
fun of for their name?
Do they know other people with the same
name as them?
Discuss how everyone has a different name
and each one is unique.
Introduce the book Chrysanthemum and read.

1. (2-5 minutes) Begin lesson by asking the

questions above and discussing namesQuestioning strategies
2. (8 minutes) Read the book ChrysanthemumReading Aloud
3. (2 minutes) Explain how the character in the
book was at first embarrassed of her name and
then grew to like it. Relate this back to how the
students feel about their names. Introduce the
name puzzle activity-Questioning/discussion

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

-guided/unguided:
-whole-class practice
-group practice
-individual practice
-check for understanding
-other

strategies
4. (10 minutes) Each student will get an envelope
with their first name printed on the front. Inside
there are puzzle pieces each with one letter
printed on it that makes up their name. Students
will start by tracing the letters on their envelope to
help them practice spelling their name. They will
then work on putting the puzzle pieces together to
spell their names-Guided individual practice
Teachers will be facilitating the classroom
and helping students that may need help
putting together their names
5. (2 minutes) Teachers will bring class back
together and discuss the activity and what they
learned-Questioning strategies

Closure
Those actions or statements by
a teacher that are designed to
bring a lesson presentation to
an appropriate conclusion.
Used to help students bring
things together in their own
minds, to make sense out of
what has just been taught.
Any Questions? No. OK, lets
move on is not closure.
Closure is used:
To cue students to the
fact that they have
arrived at an important
point in the lesson or
the end of a lesson.
To help organize student
learning
To help form a coherent picture
and to consolidate.
Differentiation
To modify: If the activity is too
advanced for a child, how will
you modify it so that they can
be successful?
To extend: If the activity is too
easy for a child, how will you
extend it to develop their
emerging skills?

After the lesson has been completed, the teacher

will need to ask questions to assess understanding
and needs for further continuation on the topic.
Specific questions asked are as follows:
How does everyone think they did on this
project?
If we did this activity again tomorrow,
would everyone be able to remember the
steps of putting our names together?
What comes first in a name when writing
it?
Why is recognizing our names and different
letters important?
What can we use these skills for?
These questions should adequately close this
lesson plan and lead the students into their next
activity without confusion.

To Modify: This activity can be modified for

students if it is too advanced by working with
them one-on-one. If letter recognition is too
difficult for them, go back and help them work to
learn their letters by re-learning specific letters.
To Extend: If this activity is too easy for a child it
can be modified by cutting the puzzle pieces into
different shapes rather than just straight lines.
This will make it more difficult by adding an extra
element to the activity. Another idea is to add their

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

last names into the puzzle and add extra pieces to
see if they are able to sort through them for the
correct ones.
Assessment
How will you know if students
met the learning targets? Write
a description of what you were
looking for in each
assessment.

We will be able to know if a student has met the

learning targets if they are able to generally trace
their name over the already printed name on their
envelope and put their name puzzle together with
the capital letter first followed by at least part of
the rest of their name in the correct order.

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