LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

Meagan Brewster
Young Childrens Program 3-Year-Old Class
Ms. Guerrier and Ms. Faulconer
I. TITLE OF LESSON Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!
II. CONTEXT OF LESSON
In this lesson, a small group of children will watch an interactive Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
YouTube video that introduces them to lowercase letters and what they look like through a song. As I
have observed in the past, the students love songs and narrated books, and they are a great way to
introduce new subjects in fun and interactive way. After the children watch the video, they will match
uppercase letters to lowercase letters using paint chips. The uppercase and lowercase letters that
correspond will be the same colored paint chip. Matching the letters as well as the colors will make it
more developmentally appropriate for the students because some of them have not yet been exposed to
lower case letters.
III. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand: The student(s) will understand what a lower case letter is and what it looks like.
Know: The student(s) will know that lower case letters match with upper case letters.
Do: The student(s) will match an upper case letter to the corresponding lower case letter.
IV. COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENT DATA
While the students are matching the upper case letters to their corresponding lower case letters, I will
be noting which letters the children struggle with and which letters the children are familiar with.
I will discuss these examples in my reflection.
V. RELATED VA FOUNDATION BLOCKS
Literacy
LetterKnowledgeandEarlyWordRecognition
a) Identifyandnameuppercaseandlowercaselettersinrandomorder.
b) Begintomatchuppercaseandlowercaseletters.
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VI. MATERIALS NEEDED

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom YouTube video: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Y3qTeyZxrJA)
iPad
52 paint chips
Paper for note taking
VII. PROCEDURE
A. PREPARATION OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
I will have all necessary materials in an accessible place so that as soon as I can gather a group
together on the rug I can get started.
I will have the paint chips spread out on a table so that they can be a choice for the children
throughout the morning.
B. INTRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION
At the beginning of the day, I will ask Ms. Guerrier if she can put together a group of students
to sit with me on the rug and participate in a fun activity. When the children have settled in, Ms.
Guerrier will call the students over to sit with me.
When a group of students arrive on the rug with me, I will explain to them that we are going to
watch a video about lowercase letters. I will have two paint chips (an uppercase and a lowercase
letter) and ask the children to tell me which letter is lowercase. First, I will say, Can anyone
tell me which of these letters is uppercase and which one is lowercase? If a child can correctly
answer the question, I will continue on to the video. If the children cannot answer the question,
I will tell the children which letter is uppercase and which letter is lowercase. I will then tell the
children to look out for lowercase letters in the video that we are about to watch.
After we watch the video, I will invite the students over to the table where the paint chips will
already be set out. The uppercase letters will be in alphabetical order, but the lowercase letters
will be mixed up in random order. The students will identify the lowercase letter first, and then
match it with its uppercase letter.
When the children correctly match letters together, I will say, Great work, you did it! or Way
to go, you really paid attention to the video that we watched! If the children do not succeed at
the matching game, then I will assist them as much as possible. For example, I could first point
out a simple letter pair, such as C and c. I will say, Lets see if we can find more letter
pairs that look very similar oh look! I see one. How about this W and w!
Once the students have accomplished matching each letter correctly, we will repeat the alphabet
together in unison looking at the lowercase letters.
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C. IMPLEMENTATION
The uppercase letters will be in order while the lowercase letters will be scrambled up. We will
match an uppercase letter to its corresponding lowercase letter using the same color paint chips.
The students will repeat this process for all 26 letters. The students will be able to play the
matching game until each uppercase letter is matched correctly to its lowercase letter.
I will scaffold the children if they ask for help. For example, if a child cannot figure out what a
lowercase g looks like, I can encourage them to continue on with the ones they do know first.
For example, I could say, Look! These two letters, S and s look very similar. Do you think
they are a match? Continuing this process will make it easier for the children to decide what a
lower case g looks like, because there will be less paint chips left to choose from.
D. CLOSURE
To close the lesson, I will make sure each of the upper case letters is matched correctly to the
corresponding lowercase letters. After they are all correct, we will say the alphabet together
looking at the lowercase letters while we do so.
E. CLEAN-UP
I will make sure that the iPad is put away to its proper spot and I will put the paint chips away.
VIII. DIFFERENTIATION
For differentiation, I will make sure that I help the students who are struggling with the
lowercase
letters. For example, if a student does not recognize any lowercase letters, I could go through each
lowercase letter with that child and tell him or her what each lowercase letter is. After I have told them
the letter, then the child can match the lowercase letter with the uppercase letter. If the student is still
struggling with the letters, I can put the lowercase letters in alphabetical order directly underneath the
uppercase letters, so the student can really study what these letters look like. We could look at the
letters for a minute or two, and then I could mix the letters up and see if the student could match the
letters.
IX. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT
IT?
Opening of the Lesson:
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Some students may not want to watch the video. I will try my best to encourage as many children as
possible to participate in the lesson, but some may not be interested. If some students do not want to
watch the video but still want to play the matching game, I will allow them to do so.
Lesson:
Some students may not take the game seriously and misuse the paint chips. If one student is not taking
the matching game seriously but others are, I will ask that student to make another choice and come
back a little later to participate. If there are too many people at the table trying to participate in the
matching game at once, I will also ask some students to make another choice and return to the literacy
table in a few minutes.
Closing of the Lesson:
Some students may not be able to recite the alphabet as quickly or efficiently as their classmates, and
that might make them angry or upset. If that happens, I will encourage the children to go one at a time
reciting the alphabet so that I can hear them clearly.
Behavior:
Throughout the lesson, I need to be aware of all behaviors. If students are arguing or fighting during the
lesson, I will separate them and encourage one of the children to make another choice.
X. REFLECTION
1. AccordingtotheVirginiaFoundationBlocksbytheVirginiaDepartmentofEducation,a
preschoolagechildisexpectedtobeabletoidentifyandnameuppercaseandlowercaseletters
inrandomorder,andtheyshouldalsobeabletobegintomatchuppercaseandlowercase
letters.MylessonplanfirstrequiredthechildrentowatchashortYouTubevideowithan
interactivesongintroducinglowercaseletters,whichaidedthemtobegintoidentifylowercase
letters.Mostofthe3yearoldchildrenattheYoungChildrensProgramareabletoidentifythe
lettersintheirnames,butthatisaboutit.Istartedthelessonwiththevideotoensurethatthe
lessonwasdevelopmentallyappropriatefor3yearolds.Ialsomadethematchingportionofthe
lessonbycoloranduppercasetolowercaselettersothatthelessonwasmoredevelopmentally
appropriate.MylessonreflectsthecontentofthiscoursebecauseIincorporatedessentialearly
literacyskillsfromtheVirginiaFoundationBlockstoensurethatthelessonwasrelevantand
importanttochildrenslearninginadevelopmentallyappropriateway.
2. Earlierinthesemester,Iconductedaliteracyassessmentonaparticularchildinthe3yearold
class.Theassessmentrevealedtomethatthechildcouldnotnamelowercaseletters,buthe
couldnamehisuppercaselettersperfectly.Afterreviewinghisassessmentresults,Idecided
thatworkingonlowercaseletterswouldbethemostdevelopmentallyappropriateforthis
particularstudent.Ichosetousethepaintchipsinmylessonbecausetheywereaccessibleand
smallforthechildrentobeabletopickupandhandleefficiently.Iincludedchoiceinmy
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lessonbyswitchingupmyoriginalplanlastminute.First,Iwantedtheuppercaseletterstobe
inalphabeticalordersothechildrencouldseethelowercaselettersinalphabeticalorder.Asmy
lessonwasgoingon,oneparticularchildwantedtospellhisnameoutwiththeuppercaseletters
andmatchthelowercaselettersinhisname.Iallowedthistohappenbecauseitwasa
meaningfulwayforthechildtobeintroducedtolowercaseletters.Ithenmadethatapproacha
choicefortheotherstudentswhoparticipatedinmylesson.Byallowingthestudentstobeable
tochoosetomatchthelettersintheirname,itallowedthelessontobepurposefultothem.The
childrenwereengagedinthelessonfromthestartbecausetheyreallyenjoyedtheYouTube
videoandhummedalong,andtheyalsogotexcitedwhenItoldthemweweregoingtoplaya
matchinggame.Thechildrenseemedtoreallyenjoybothaspectsofthelesson.
3. Toassessthechildrenslearningthroughoutmylesson,Itookmentalnotesofwhichlettersthe
childrencouldeasilymatchandwhichonestheycouldnoteasilymatch.Thestudentswere
usuallyabletoidentifythesimilaruppercaseandlowercaseletters,suchasCandcand
Oando.ThechildthatIfocusedthelessononwasabletonamemorelowercaseletters
thanhispeers.Inotedtheseexamplesinmymind,andthenwrotethemdownonpaperafterthe
lessonwasover.ThestudentswereengagedbecauseIgotthemexcitedaboutthelessonand
continuallyreferredtothelessonasafungameandacoolsong.Thestudentswerealso
veryengagedwhentheywereabletocreatetheirnamewithbothuppercaseandlowercase
lettersinmultiplecolors.Forexample,thechildthatthislessonwascateredtocreatedhisname
firstinthepaintchips,andthenmatchedtherestofthealphabettoitscorrectpartner.Thechild
thenwasabletomatcheachletterexceptforthelettersQandqandRandr.We
practicedthoseonceortwicemorebeforeweputthepaintchipsaway.Beforewefinished,the
childsaid,Thisissofun!ItwasrewardingformethatIwasabletocreateafun,meaningful
lessonforthesesmallchildren.
4. ThislessonwassimilartomyreadaloudbecauseIusedapproximatelythesamesmallgroupof
childrenforbothprojects.IchosestudentsthatIknowcouldholdtheirattentiononsomething
forasmallamountoftimeandchildrenwhoIthoughtwouldbeinterestedintheliteracytopic.
Ialsochosestudentsthatseemedtohavealreadyshownrecognitionofuppercaselettersand
theirnames,sothatthelessonwouldbedevelopmentallyappropriatefor3yearolds.This
lessonwasdifferentbecauseIfeltlikeIknewthechildrenbettersoIwasabletoappropriately
engagethemandIknewhowtocatchtheirattention.WhenIdidmyreadaloudlesson,Ididnt
reallyknowwhattopicsinterestedmystudentssoIdidntchooseaverydevelopmentally
appropriatebook.Afterexperienceintheclassroomandfurtherknowledgegainedinthis
course,Iwasabletoreallyexpandmylessonplantoasuccessful,efficientlearningexperience.

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5. IwoulddefinitelyreplicatethisassignmentagaininmyfutureclassroomifIweretoteach
PreschoolorKindergarten.Thechildrenreallyenjoyedahandsonactivitythattheycouldall
understand,becausethecolorsmatchedaswellastheupperandlowercaseletters.Eachchild
wasabletosucceedandlearnsomethingfromtheprocessofthislessonplan.IfIreplicatedthis
lessoninthefuture,Iwouldfirstencouragethechildrentostartwiththeirnamesinsteadofthe
entirealphabet.ItisawesomethatIwasabletolearnthisnewideaforthislessonplanthrough
my3yearoldstudents.Onechildwasnotabletospellhisnamecorrectlywiththeuppercase
letters,buthewasabletofigureouthowtospellitbyfindingalowercaseletterinhisnameand
matchingittotheuppercaseletterspaintchipcolor.IlikedhowIcouldencouragemystudents
toreallythinkandactinthislesson,andIthinkthatitgotthemexcitedaboutspellingand
learningthedifferencebetweenupperandlowercaseletters.Itwasdefinitelyandeffective,
excitinglesson!

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