LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

The following information should be included in the header of the lesson plan:
First grade dual-immersion class
Angela Briggs, W. H. Keister Elementary School
2/20/17, 9:00
Submitted to participating teacher on 2/18/17

(Include the title of each of the following sections in your written plan.)

A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON
Adjectives, 1st grade language arts lesson

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
I gauged the students prior knowledge of adjectives by asking a few questions before diving
into the lesson. We brainstormed together as a class to come up with describing words, and
then I asked if theyd ever heard of an adjective before. The students responded that they did
not, but were good at coming up with descriptive words. They had the ability to recognize
adjectives but had not formally studied adjectives. I think this lesson was appropriate within
the curriculum because the students had been studying traits of leaders. Children at this level
are beginning to study explicit grammar, and a standard of learning for first grade is including
descriptive words in writing. This exercise helped students learn more about adjectives
(descriptive words) and how we use them. However, there were some things about this lesson
that were not entirely appropriate for the class, which I will discuss later.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand Students will Know Students will know how Do Students will write 3
understand that adjectives are to find appropriate adjectives to sentences about leaders enhanced
descriptive words we use in describe a person. with adjectives.
writing.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
SW complete a worksheet about leaders by filling in sentence frames with appropriate
adjectives. The worksheet included pictures of 3 leaders (MLK Jr., their classroom teacher,
and Obama) and a sentence frame, with blanks to write in 3 adjectives per person. The
students were to select appropriate adjectives to fill in the blanks in the sentence frames. If a
student filled in inappropriate adjectives or non-descriptive words, their responses would be
considered incorrect.

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (and NATIONAL STANDARDS if

required)
SOL 1.13: The student will write to communicate ideas for a variety of purposes;
C.) Revise by adding descriptive words when writing about people, places, things, and
events.

F. MATERIALS NEEDED
 White board for brainstorming, pictures of leaders (MLK & George Washington, who the
students have studied), worksheets.

G. PROCEDURE
(Include a DETAILED description of each step. Write what you will SAY and DO.)
Introduction
SW gather on the rug.
TW ask students what they have learned about leaders over the last few weeks.
TW ask for some examples of leaders they have studied or know about. Several
volunteers can share.
Implementation of the lesson
TW show several images of leaders the students may have studied (MLK, George
Washington)
TW ask students to describe these individuals. SW brainstorm with a partner to think
of more words.
TW model an answer by saying "Martin Luther King Jr. was a very brave, important
man."
TW ask students for other "descriptive words" (words that tell us more about
something) to describe MLK.
SW give examples, TW write them on the white board for students to see.
TW ask "does anybody know what we call words that we use to describe people,
places, or things?"
TW wait a few seconds for a response, then write "Adjectives" on the board. Students
may or may not know this word.
TW show a picture of George Washington and say "George Washington was a tall
man. Which word is the descriptive word or adjective? What tells us about what type of
person he was?" TW repeat sentence so students can find the adjective.
TW ask students to think about leaders in general. What are adjectives we could use
to describe leaders?
(examples) Good, important, brave, clever, smart, intelligent, famous, helpful,
powerful, calm, nice, proud, courageous, generous, passionate.
As students come up with adjectives, TW ask to make sure the group knows what
these words mean.
TW write down adjectives on board as students think of them with the title "Leaders
are"
TW ask students to think of a leader (maybe Mrs. Zook, the principal, or their table
leader), then turn to a partner and use adjectives to describe them.
TW show students the worksheet and explain the directions. SW be able to reference
the white board with adjectives while completing the assignment.
Closure
 SW return to small groups to work individually on the assignment.
TW help students as needed to understand the assignment.

H. DIFFERENTIATION
While I originally had planned on having students write entire sentences on the worksheets, I
instead decided to use a sentence frame with blanks for adjectives. Some students in this
classroom take a very long time to write, and having them write out entire sentences would
likely have frustrated them. I encouraged more advanced students to come up with their own
creative adjectives and to write more than threeseveral students wrote seven or eight
adjectives for each question! For students who struggled, I displayed the list of adjectives we
brainstormed clearly so they could reference it. Whether they struggled with the material or
the writing aspect of the activity, they could reference what we had already come up with
while completing the assignment.

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT
IT?
I am concerned that students will not fully understand the difference between an
adjective and a nounnouns can often be descriptive (i.e., shes a teacher). I will try
to give many examples of adjectives, but honestly will not be too upset if the students
include some descriptive nouns as well. Since this is just an introduction, and for the
SOL they only need to utilize descriptive words, I think this lesson will be effective as
long as they understand the big idea.
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.
a. There were admittedly a lot of differences between my lesson plan and my actual lesson!
I picked the subject of adjectives a bit hastily (whoops!) and didnt wait to get
confirmation from my classroom teacher to make sure it would be suitable. Her response
when I arrived at class was that they had never talked about adjectives before, but that the
lesson should be within their capabilities. However, I had thought the students already
had experience with adjectives! I immediately knew I had to make some changes to the
lesson plan for the lesson to be remotely successful. I extended the time for students to
come up with adjective examples, because I thought they would need as many examples
as possible to understand what an adjective is. They had some issues with this, and in
hindsight, cramming the concept of adjectives into a 15-minute lesson was ambitious.
Regardless, they helped come up with about 20 adjectives, although there were also non-
adjective suggestions (just like I anticipated). I decided to say that isnt an adjective, but
it is a descriptive word! In the end, some kids got the concept, while others didnt.

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?
a. My assessment results were all over the place. A few of the students went above and
beyond, adding their own awesome adjectives that we hadnt even discussed as a class
(one girl asked how do I spell special? when writing about her teacher! So cute!) Most
of the students copied the words wed brainstormed onto their worksheets, but they used
them appropriately (i.e., they called MLK brave but not crazy!) At least six or seven
students (out of 25) included some words out of left field. One student wrote pizza
beside the picture of his teacher. I asked her afterwards why he would think of that, and
she laughed and said her favorite food is pizza! I conclude that some of the students
benefited from the lesson by learning how to utilize adjectives to describe people, while
others didnt quite get it.

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.
a. These students needed more scaffolding in this lesson. If I were to do it over again, I
would include plenty of time for discussion and examples, as well as an activity to
differentiate adjectives from nouns (maybe a Venn diagram). Additionally, I would have
extended the lesson time to allow students more time to process the ideas and come up
with suggestions.

IV. Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if you were the
classroom teacher?
a. I would continue practicing nouns vs. adjectives with the students! I think some clear
explanations and examples, as well as plenty of practice, these students could all grasp the
difference. However, they would need time and a lot more practice.
 V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about
young children as learners?
a. I learned that prior knowledge is extremely important when teaching, as well as building
up learning gradually. Trying to dump the concept of adjectives on these kids all at once
was way too much for a lot of them. To progress, students need to work incrementally to
reach learning goals. Not providing enough background knowledge or scaffolding will
inevitably lead to students not understanding the content, through no fault of their own.

VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about
teaching?
a. As a teacher, you should have a very clear understanding of where your kids are at and
what they already have a grasp onif you dont, youll either be holding them back or
overwhelming them with new information. By understanding your students current
knowledge, you can help them progress by presenting them with appropriate and
obtainable objectives.

VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about
yourself?
a. I learned I can be a little hasty when it comes to lesson planning. I got so excited about
teaching adjectives that I didnt consider what the students might already know. I just
assumed this was something they had already coveredit wasnt. This made my lesson
plan very hard for me to follow through with and difficult for the students to understand!
I need to be more mindful of the students when preparing lessons, especially in a
classroom that Im more unfamiliar with.