Emily Hall

Mrs. Lambert Riverbend Elementary School

Lesson presented on Monday September 26 during morning centers
Submitted to Mrs. Lambert on Wednesday September 21
LESSON PLAN OUTLINE
JMU Elementary Education Program
A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON
Read Aloud Lesson and Reflection
Little Bears Little Boat and Bear Sort
B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
During the week of Monday, September 26, students learning will be focused on the theme of bears.
Little Bears Little Boat follows the story of a bear who grows too big for his little boat. Because the
main character is a bear, the story fits into the weeks theme.
Students in the class enjoy being read to, therefore they will enjoy this short sill story. Students in the
kindergarten class enjoy will enjoy the pictures in the read aloud story.
Students in the class are also learning how to sort objects. At the completion of the read aloud,
students will sort the bears and boats, practicing their math skills. In a previous class, the students
worked together to sort shapes. The students seemed to enjoy the collaboration, therefore they will
work together again to sort.
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Developmental Objectives
Assessment

The student will listen to the read aloud

story.
The student will comprehend the story
by discussing the events of the story.

The student will sort the characters in

various categories as assigned by the
teacher.

The students will work together on the

bear sort, showing teamwork.

The teacher will read the story. During the duration of the story,
the teacher will observe the students looking for students sitting
and maintaining eye contact.
At the conclusion of the story the teacher will ask basic questions
of the plot of the story, to ensure comprehension of the story. The
questions will be asked to the small group of student, and each
student must answer at least one question. If students struggle to
comprehend the story, then the teacher will read the story a second
time.
The teacher will provide images of bears, both cartoon and actual,
in various sizes and colors. The students will work together as a
group to sort the bears. The students will sort the bears in the
categories of size, color, and real vs cartoon. Each student will
help sort the bears in the categories, taking turns.
If time allows, students will complete a sorting worksheet, in
which the student will cut, color, sort, and paste different colored
bears by color.
The teacher will help facilitate the students working together,
allowing the students to share ideas collaboratively.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
Because this is a short story and center time, instead of completing a traditional worksheet, the teacher
will fill out a rubric for each student. The rubric will assess each students participation in the center
activity. Please see attached rubric for assessment.

Emily Hall
Mrs. Lambert Riverbend Elementary School
Lesson presented on Monday September 26 during morning centers
Submitted to Mrs. Lambert on Wednesday September 21
E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (and NATIONAL STANDARDS if required)
Math:
K.11b The student will compare the size (larger, smaller) and shape of plane geometric figures (circle,

triangle, square, and rectangle).

K.15 The student will sort and classify objects according to attributes.
Language Arts:
K.1a The student will demonstrate growth in the use of oral language. a) Listen to a variety of literary
forms, including stories and poems.
K.9a - The student will demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts.

F. MATERIALS NEEDED
Little Bears Little Boat me
Laminated cut outs in various sizes and colors of bears me

G. PROCEDURE
This lesson will take place during morning center time. When each center is being introduced,
this center will be introduced with the following criteria.
Location on carpet
Job listen to the story and participate in picture sort with Ms. Hall
When students arrive to center, the teacher will review with students how we look and act
during a read aloud story on the carpet.
Students are seated, criss-cross apple sauce
Students stay seated for entire story
Students look at the story and pictures, while the teacher reads the story
During the story, I will stop throughout the reading to ask the following questions:
Do you grow, like the little bear grew?
Do boats grow, why not?
What do you think Big Bear will do with the little boat?
Do you think Big Bear is happy, since he gave is boat away?
After the story is read, the teacher will ask the following questions about the story. Each
student will have a turn to answer a question. If the answer is correct, the teacher will move on
and ask the next question. If the answer is incorrect, the teacher will ask another student for the
correct answer. The teacher will record the students answer on the grading rubric.
1. What size was the bear in the beginning of the story?
2. What size was the bear at the end of the story?
3. What did little bear do in his little boat?
4. Why did the bear have to give his boat away?
5. What was the little boats destiny?
6. Who did the bear give his red boat to?
After answering the questions about the story, the teacher will take out cut outs of real bears
and cartoon bears. Students will observe the bears. The teacher will ask the student what they
observe about the bears. Observations should include
Some bears are real, some are cartoon
Some bears are brown, some bears are yellow

Emily Hall
Mrs. Lambert Riverbend Elementary School
Lesson presented on Monday September 26 during morning centers
Submitted to Mrs. Lambert on Wednesday September 21
Some bears are big, some bears are small
Etc.
The teacher will then choose one student to choose the first category of how to sort bears.
Students will sort the bears as a group by the first category.
After the bears are sorted, students will then choose another category and repeat the same
practice until bears have been sorted by color, size, and real/ cartoon.
If time allows, students will complete the sorting worksheet. Students will cut the teddy bears
apart, on the dotted lines. After cutting the teddy bears apart, they will color the teddy bears, as
instructed by the teacher. After cutting and coloring, the students will sort and glue the teddy
bears by color, on the other sheet of paper.

H. DIFFERENTIATION
Some students will find this activity to be very easy. The students who easily understand the story
and find it easy to sort the pictures will be prompted to explain their sorting and reasoning in more
detail.
For students who struggle to focus on listening to the story, they will be encouraged to sit next to
the teacher on the carpet.
Because this is a group activity, all students will be encouraged to work together.
I.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
The lesson may go much quicker than planned. If students finish in less time than the teacher
planned, students will then work on a worksheet afterwards. The worksheet uses the same concept
and stills allow students to practice the concept of sorting.
Because it is center time, students are allowed to jump from station to station, at their own pace.
The teacher will not start reading the story until there are at least 3 students at the station.
Student will not be allowed to jump into the station at random times. They must wait until each
group rotates through.

Emily Hall
Mrs. Lambert Riverbend Elementary School
Lesson presented on Monday September 26 during morning centers
Submitted to Mrs. Lambert on Wednesday September 21
Reflection:
I do consider this lesson to be successful. It was my first time writing a lesson plan and instructing children. I
was super nervous going into the lesson, but once I started it felt very natural. My cooperating teacher thought it would
be best if I worked with center groups, so each reading group (low, medium, and high), came to me, and I did the same
lesson three times. I really enjoyed working with smaller groups of students.
My biggest weakness in the implementation of this lesson plan was balancing the students. Some students are
much chattier and dominant than others. It was hard for me to encourage quieter students to speak up and chattier
speakers to slow down. I didnt want to tell the chatty students to stop, because they were talking about the academic
material. Finding a balance was very difficult for me.

Lesson Implementation Reflection

As soon as possible after teaching your lesson, think about the experience. Use the questions/prompts below to
guide your thinking. Be thorough in your reflection and use specific examples to support your insights.
I. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes and explain why
you made them.
The biggest change made in the lesson plan was learning how to go with the flow. I had a very strict
layout and format that I wanted to stick to, but teaching kindergarteners is very static. For one, I wanted
each child to answer a comprehension question, but when a question was asked, every child spoke up and
wanted to answer. In addition, I wanted to keep a rubric to record the participation of each child, but that
was not doable at all. While in the middle of teaching, it seemed to be much more of a priority to engage
the students and focus on their learning, instead of jotting arbitrary notes down on a sheet of paper.
Secondly, I added another part to my lesson plan, because of the students. I was just planning on having
the students sort the bears, but during the first reading group, one student mentioned that she could sort the
bears and then put them in a pattern. So, I added a third part to the lesson plan, and had each student make
a pattern out of the teddy bears.
II. Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your impact on student learning? Did
they learn? Who learned? What did they learn? What evidence can you offer that your conclusions are
valid?
I do not think the students necessarily learned anything new. I think there comprehension skills, listening
skills, sorting skills, and team work skills were reinforced. You can see the results of their reading time in
the rubric, as each child scored sufficiently in all categories.
III. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a better or more
thorough way if you were to teach this lesson again.
I loved the story I read to the students, and I do believe that the students also enjoyed it. My CT typically
reads nonfiction stories to her students, so I think the students enjoyed reading a different type of story.
Next time, I would like to make the sort a bit more difficult. I think instead of just sorting the bears into 2
categories, I could have students sort the bears into 3 or 4 groups. I also think my comprehension
questions could have been more specific and more difficult. I think my questions were easy, even for the
lower readers.

Emily Hall
Mrs. Lambert Riverbend Elementary School
Lesson presented on Monday September 26 during morning centers
Submitted to Mrs. Lambert on Wednesday September 21
IV. Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if you were the classroom
teacher?
I think the students have learned and understand the concept of sorting. They are comfortable and
confident in their sorting skills. If I was the teacher, I would continue the study of patterns. Some students
understand patterns completely, and are able to make very complex patterns. But, some students do not
understand the concept of patterns at all.
I also would begin reading very short chapter books during my read aloud time. These students do not
have high reading skills, but they are very intelligent when it comes to reading comprehension. They are
able to understand and retell successfully. If given a chapter book, I think students comprehension would
grow exponentially.
V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about young
children as learners?
Kids want to learn! And if given the opportunity to be interactive and participate in their learning, they are
more than willing to. My kindergarten students were so eager to listen to the story, retell the story, and
then participate in the picture sort. I think they focused well because it was a very interactive lesson, and it
did not give the kids a chance to get bored. When I begin teaching young learners, I want my lessons to be
very interactive and interesting.
VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about teaching?
Teaching is important, but my students will learn more when given an environment in which they can
learn from each other. Teachers or facilitators, and it is more important for teachers to facilitate learning
rather than forcing it.
VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about yourself?
I was so insanely nervous going into this lesson. In our carpool on the way to school, I thought I was going
to throw up. But, presenting the lesson completely confirmed that I want to be a teacher. I know teaching
is for me, because reading the story and interacting with the kids for that hour that I was in charge has
absolutely been the highlight of my semester so far.

Emily Hall
Mrs. Lambert Riverbend Elementary School
Lesson presented on Monday September 26 during morning centers
Submitted to Mrs. Lambert on Wednesday September 21