Fall 2014

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LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program
The following information should be included in the header of the lesson plan:
Kelsey Kennedy
Ms. Kilby, 1st Grade, W.W. Robinson
Monday, November 9, 2015
Submitted: Monday, November 2nd, 2015 via email
(All of the following sections must be included in your written plan.)
TITLE OF LESSON Read Aloud on Thanks for Thanksgiving by: Julie Markes
CONTEXT OF LESSON

Read-alouds are important for young children because read-alouds improve students language
development, comprehension skills, and vocabulary. Since the holidays are approaching, I feel
that this is a perfect time to read a story about Thanksgiving. The story focuses on the concepts
of being thankful and appreciative. The children will not only learn about what it means to be
thankful, but the students will also have an opportunity to express themselves through the arts
and craft activity.
OBJECTIVES AND ASSESSMENT
Objective One: The students will participate in the read aloud and use their comprehension skills to recall
specific things that the main character was thankful for. This will help them generate ideas for their own
paper turkey that they will complete after the read aloud is finished.
Objective Two: The students will create their own paper turkey in an orderly fashion and express their
own interests and feelings about what they are thankful for.
COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENT DATA
Attached to the back.
RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (K & 1) OR FOUNDATION BLOCKS
(Preschool)
Reading:
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.
3. h) Identify the main idea or theme.
1.
2.

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Writing

1.12 The student will print legibly.

a) Form letters accurately.
1.13 The student will write to communicate ideas for a variety of purposes.
a) Generate ideas.
b) Focus on one topic.
MATERIALS NEEDED

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes

For activity: pre-cut brown circles (the head and body of the paper turkey)
Pre-cut feathers which will be represented by pieces of colored construction paper
shaped in leaves or ovals
Googely eyes and pre-cut orange triangles (will be used for the nose)
Markers, crayons, glue (students have these supplies in their pencil boxes)
My own example of my paper turkey that shows what I am thankful for

PROCEDURE:

PREPARATION OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

I will have all pieces of construction paper cut out and placed on the students desks so the
students can get to work as soon as soon as the read aloud is finished. I will have the statement I
am thankful for written on the board so that the students will use the correct spelling.

INTRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION

I will call all of the students to the carpet so that we can begin the read aloud. To begin the
discussion I will ask questions to engage the students in the topic such as Does anyone what

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special holiday is coming up? Who can tell me the meaning of Thanksgiving? Why do we
celebrate Thanksgiving? I want to tell the students to pay attention to some of the things that the
main character is thankful for because this will help them with the activity that we will complete
after the story. During the reading, after the page, thanks for sweet puppies and soft furry cats I
will ask the students to recall some of the things that main character is thankful for. Once I have
completed reading the story, I will ask the students about some of the things the main character
was thankful for. I will then ask the students what are some of the things they are thankful for
and record these responses on the white board.
IMPLEMENTATION:
We will complete an activity to help students understand the meaning of why we celebrate
Thanksgiving. The students on the large brown circle that is already pre-cut for them I am
thankful for The students will then write all of the things they are thankful for on each feather
(or colored piece of construction paper). The students will glue the smaller brown circle to the
larger brown circle to form the body of the turkey. After the students have completed all of the
writing, the students will glue each feather to the body of the turkey. I will also have googely
eyes and triangle shapes cut out for the face of their turkey. The students can choose to use the
supplies provided to make a face for his/turkey, or draw their own face with markers. When the
students are finished, they will be instructed to clean up their desks and throw away scraps or
other unnecessary materials.
CLOSURE
After the students have completed making their paper turkey they will be directed to choose a
book from the reading shelf and read silently until the majority of the class is finished. When the
majority of the class is finished, I will ask the students to meet me on the carpet. I will then ask
for volunteers to share what they wrote on the feathers of their paper turkeys to the class.
CLEAN-UP
I will need to make sure that all scraps of paper are thrown away, and that the students have
placed their completed construction paper activity in their take home folders. The class must be
organized back to the way it was before the lesson started.
DIFFERENTIATION

I will need to be conscious of the students who may have behavior or focusing problems. I can
do so by making sure they are involved in the interaction and see if they can answer some of the
questions I pose throughout the read aloud. In addition to this, I may need to repeat the directions
to the students who struggle with comprehending multiple directions at one time, or maybe even
write the directions on the board. Finally, I may have some of the students only put three feathers
about what they are thankful for on their turkey, as oppose to five or six feathers.

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

For all of the questions that I ask, I should be prepared for students to be quiet or possibly not
know the answers to questions that I propose. In addition, I should be prepared for students to
give answers that may not necessarily be correct. For example, when I ask the class, Why do we
celebrate thanksgiving? there may be students who participate, but give an answer that is not
correct. I need to be prepared to praise the student for participating but also, use scaffolding
techniques to guide the student in the direction of the real meaning of Thanksgiving. During the
lesson, I need to make sure that I am monitoring the behaviors that are occurring during the
lesson. I may have to ask students to keep their hands to themselves or sit up straight when
sitting on the carpet. I may even have to separate certain students who are causing a distraction to
the rest of the class. By praising students who are following directions, I may be able to get other
students attention as well. Students may have difficulty remembering the sequence of directions.
I will consistently walk around the room to make sure that I can help any students who are
struggling or have questions. I will also hang my example of my paper turkey on the board, so
that the students can use this as a model when creating their own paper turkey.

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Lesson
Objectives

Objective #1

Objective #2

The students will participate in the read aloud

and use their comprehension skills to recall
specific things that the main character was
thankful for.

The students will create their own paper

turkey in an orderly fashion and express
their own interests and feelings about
what they are thankful for.

Behavioral
Indicators

I will actively have the students participate

during the read aloud activity by asking them
questions before and during the story. I will
constantly make sure that the students are
keeping eye contact with me. I will record
this data immediately after the read aloud is
finished to see if the students could answer
my questions effectively.

Student A:
Kyle

Kyle answered many of the questions during

the read aloud. For example, when I asked
the class, Why do we celebrate
Thanksgiving? Kyle replied, Because the
pilgrims came and helped us make a lot of
food. Kyle sat criss-cross applesauce in the
front row on the carpet during the entire
lesson. His attention was constantly focused
on the story and myself.

Student B:
Jake

Jake did not answer any of the questions

during the read aloud. At the beginning of the
read-aloud he sat criss-cross applesauce in
the back row on the carpet. He had his head
tilted back and was staring at the ceiling for a
while. He then started picking at the loose
threads that were coming up from the carpet.
He continued to turn around with his back
facing me, and began to poke another one of
his classmates. I stopped reading, and said,
Jake, if you can not handle listening to the
story, then you can go back to your seat.
Jake turned back around and faced forward.

I will walk around the room to make sure

that the students are completing the
writing portion of the assignment first,
before they start gluing the pieces of their
turkey together. I will encourage the
students to decorate their paper turkeys
by using the googley eyes and nose that
are provided, as well as markers to make
their paper turkeys unique. I will also ask
for students to volunteer, so that the
students will learn to accept their
classmates interests and passions.
As I walked around the room, I noticed
that Kyle was diligently working on his
paper turkey. He followed directions
perfectly. He seemed to finish his paper
turkey before anyone else had finished. I
asked him, Can you read to me what you
are thankful for? Kyle responded by
saying, I am thankful for, my family,
my dog, Ms. Kilby, Ms. Kennedy, and
my friends. Kyle then went over to the
reading center to read a book quietly until
the remainder of the class was finished
with the activity and was ready to share.
Jake walked around the room during
almost the entire activity. He was
constantly up out of his seat whether he
was getting a drink from the water
fountain, or talking to one his classmates
about video games. I asked Jake multiple
times to please go back to his seat and get
started on his work. He would just look at
me and then return back to his seat.
However, after about a minute, I would
see Jake up walking around the
classroom again. This process continued
until I stood by Jakes desk and watched

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Unfortunately, I had to ask Jake two more

times to pay attention to the story. He
eventually ended up going back to his seat
before the read aloud was completed.

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him complete step one and two of the

activity. However, after Jake had finished
step two, most of the class was finished
with activity and was ready to share. I
returned to the carpet to have the students
share their paper turkeys, while Jake
finished his activity at his seat.

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Reflection
My lesson plan followed the basic format that I came up with. There were minor changes
that I made that were different from my original plan. For example, when I asked the students to
share their own individual paper turkeys and what they were thankful for, it seemed as though
the class became restless and started to misbehave. I had to stop the lesson and explain the
importance of being respectful to one another while others are sharing. At the end of the readaloud I asked the students what they were thankful for. I recorded this information on the
whiteboard that was placed next to the carpet. However, I realized that when the students went
back to their seats, they could not see the words that were written on the white board. Therefore,
I re-copied the things that the students were thankful for on the chalkboard in the front of the
room so that this information was clearly visible to the students.
I learned a lot about each individual student in particular while giving this lesson. I
learned that there are many different personalities and intellectual strengths and weaknesses in
the classroom. For example, there is one student in the class who is always on his best behavior.
During the read-aloud this student was clearly engaged answering questions and had his attention
on me while I was giving directions for the activity that the students were to complete. As soon
as he returned to his seat, he got right to work. He did not have to ask a teacher to repeat the
directions, nor did he get distracted and talk to his neighbors while he was working. After all of
the students had completed the activity, the sharing process began. This student sat patiently on
the carpet and raised his hand. After I called on him, he walked up to the front of the room and
shared what he was thankful for. He then returned back to his seat on the carpet. On the other
hand, there is another student in the classroom who had a very hard time paying attention
throughout the lesson. I noticed that this student was constantly moving around on the carpet,

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and poking another student during the read-aloud. I had to stop the lesson two times and ask the
student to please face forward and to keep his hands to himself. Not only did he have trouble
focusing during the read-aloud, but this student also struggled to stay focused with the activity
itself. This student constantly walked around the classroom to talk to other students. He also
asked to get a drink and go to the restroom. By the time everyone was finished with the activity,
he had only completed step two of the activity.
One way that I could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a better way if I
were to present this lesson again would be to make my paper-turkey with the students. I would
follow the step by step instruction process with the students so that I would be able to make sure
that all of the students were on task. If students had questions about a direction, their questions
would be answered right away, as oppose to having to wait for me to walk up to them and ask
them what their question was. Instead of having the model already completed for the students to
see, I think it would have been more exciting and the activity may have gone smoother for some
of the students who may need visual representation to follow directions.
If I was a teacher in this classroom in order to follow-up with the lesson, I may have the
students decorate his/her own paper turkey, with paint, markers, and/or glitter. This will allow
the students to express their own creativity help to individualize their paper turkey. In addition,
I could have the students write in their notebooks about why they are thankful for the things that
they chose to put on the feathers of their turkeys. This would allow for the students to develop a
deeper understanding of the holiday of Thanksgiving. Not only would this force the students to
develop a deeper understanding of the holiday, but also the students would work on their use of
writing, spelling, and fluency.

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Throughout my read-aloud I asked the students many questions that challenged them to
think outside the box. For example, I asked the students questions like, Does anyone know why
we celebrate Thanksgiving? One student responded by saying, We celebrate Thanksgiving
because of the pilgrims! Another student responded by saying, So we can eat food! A third
student answered this question by saying, So we can celebrate what we are thankful for!
Overall, the students provided different answers to the thoughtful question that was asked. As I
mentioned earlier, I think it would have been beneficial for me to ask the students why they were
thankful for the specific things that they chose.
In conclusion, I felt that the lesson went smoothly and that the students were genuinely
excited and engaged! I respect the ideas that my cooperating teacher gave me to present this
lesson to the class, however I wish I had more flexibility so that I could have created more of an
art activity. I still believe that the students learned a lot about their own personal values and
that they were able to compare and contrast their own personal values with their classmates.

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