LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

Micaela Powers
Ms. Lauren and Ms. Ebony
YCP Purple class, Pre-k
Implementing: 9/27/17
A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON PLAN:
READ ALOUD – Ten Little Ladybugs By: Melanie Gerth

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON:
The students have been following the life cycle of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. They are very
interested in bugs and creatures from outside. Every Wednesday we go on nature/weather walks and
we explore various types of weather, bugs, and anything else that can be found outside. The students
are encouraged to pick up what they find and think is interesting to bring back to the science center in
the classroom.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand – what are the broad
generalizations the students should
begin to develop? (These are
typically difficult to assess in one
lesson.)
The students should begin to
understand that what they think is
going to happen next is a
prediction and there prediction
may not always be right, but is
still a good prediction. This will
happen when they predict where
they think the lady bugs are going.
Know – what are the facts, rules,
specific data the students will gain
through this lesson? (These “knows”
must be assessed in your lesson.)
They will begin to know how to
use color as a comparison between
different things, specifically the
ladybugs in the book. As well as
use different numbers to describe
differences, specifically when
looking at the different amount of
spots on the ladybugs.
Do – what are the specific thinking
behaviors students will be able to do
through this lesson? (These will also
be assessed in your lesson.)
The students well begin to use
their fingers and their words to
count backwards from 5 to 1. They
will be able to follow along with
the book, but also do it themselves
on one hand.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
The students will tell me differences they are able to see between the 10 different ladybugs on the front
of the book. They will also hold up 5 fingers from 1 hand and as we count down the last 5 ladybugs I
will see if they are putting down the correct amount of fingers until the end when we only have 1 left.
Lastly, the students will tell me their predictions regarding the final page of the book, where have all
the ladybugs gone.

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING/ FOUNDATION BLOCKS

Oral Language: Make predictions about what might happen in a story
Listen attentively to stories in a whole class setting.
Vocabulary: Use size, shape, color, and spatial words to describe people, places, and things.
Mathematics - Number and Number Sense: Count backward from 5.

F. MATERIALS NEEDED:
Ten Little Ladybugs By: Melanie Gerth

G. PROCEDURE
 Preparation of the learning environment
  Those who want to will gather around the carpet for a story before naptime or just as a
center during exploration time.
 Engage -Introduction of the lesson
 To intro the lesson I will read the title and author of the book. Then I will ask the
students to look at the cover at the ladybugs. I will ask them if they think the ladybugs
look different or if they look the same. I will ask them what makes them different or
similar. Is it the colors, the numbers of spots they each have, the size? And wait for
their responses.
 Implementation of the lesson
 I am going to read the first 3 pages and at the end of the 3 rd page ask what how many
ladybugs they think are going to be on the next page. Hopefully they will begin to see
the pattern of counting backwards.
 On the 6th page, is when there are only 5 ladybugs left. I will ask the students to put up
a hand with all five fingers up and count on my fingers 1-5 so they understand each
finger represents a number.
 Then beginning at 5, every time a new number appears (it will be one less than before)
I will show them that they can put 1 finger down to create the new number. On each
page after we will do this until we are on the 10th page which only has 1 ladybug left.
 On this page I will ask them where they think all the ladybugs have gone and where
they think this last ladybug is going.
 Closure
 On the last page, all the ladybugs are reunited with the friends that they went away
with. I will ask the students If they recognize any of the other animals and insects
from the other pages to pull together that the ladybugs were leaving to go “home”
with their other animal friends, not just disappearing.

H. DIFFERENTIATION
The students in my classroom typically want to participate in the read alouds and love sharing their
opinions, with an exception of maybe two. A great thing about the YCP is that a student is not forced
to participate in something that don’t want to. However, I would love if everyone of my friends
wanted to participate, that may not always be the case. Because our classroom is such an open forum
for ideas and expression, when I ask questions or for predictions most students want to share their
ideas. However, for some students who are more quiet or speak both English and another language, I
will try to use words that are definitive in their meaning and will not confuse anyone. I will encourage
every student to ask questions through out the reading and listen when someone starts speaking so they
know I am listening to their ideas. If I see a student struggling with the reading I will try to understand
what they are comprehending and ask questions relating to that idea.

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
1. The first thing that could go wrong is that non of my students would be interested in my read aloud
and they would not want to participate. In which case I would have to think on my feet and either
chose a different book they are more interested in or try again another day or with different students.
2. Another thing that could potentially go wrong is when I begin my lesson and the students do not want
to participate in my lesson by discussing the differences in ladybugs. If this happens I could start
suggesting differences or thanking a child who does participate in hopes that it encourages another
friend to.
3. Something else that could go wrong with my lesson is the counting down on the fingers. This has the
potential to confuse some of the students, especially if they are not familiar with counting backwards
or on their hands. If this happens, I will encourage the students who can do it to continue but let the
ones who can’t know that it is okay and the can follow along with my hand or another practicum
teacher’s hand. If it is too challenging for most students than we will all follow along on my hand.
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.
I definitely under estimated the amount of time my students would interact with me about the cover of the
book. I asked my students what they noticed about the cover and if they say similarities and differences
between the lady bugs and they were really interesting in this. I was not complaining, I was so happy they
were excited about the book, I just didn’t expect it and got a little flustered because I wasn’t sure when the
right time to start reading was because it seemed like they could have gone on talking about the ladybugs
on the front for a very long time. But I just let every kid say what they wanted and then waited for a lul
and started to read. I also had a lot of kids in the middle of my read aloud come up to the book and point at
things to talk about which stopped my reading. So I would let them make the comments they wanted,
thank them for their observation and keep reading. Also at the end, after I asked for their predications and
we were on the last page where all the ladybugs were reunited with each other and the other animals from
the book, my kids were so into pointing out all the animals and seeing all the ladybugs back together. I
think because they all thought the disappearing ladybugs were being eaten. So I had us count all the
ladybugs on the final page together to make sure that all 10 little ladybugs we accounted for. I hadn’t plan
for this but it just flowed with our conversation and was a really good closing to the book.

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?
Before doing the read aloud, I have spent most of my practicum playing with my kids during exploration
time and I wasn’t quite sure if they looked at me as a teacher to them or if I was just someone to play with.
Which is why I was a little skeptical if they would respond well to my questions during the read aloud. So
if anything I would say that this validated my impact on my students learning. I try to ask them
developmentally appropriate questions through their play and now I feel even comfortable doing that with
them. I could tell my students were learning because when I first asked them what number ladybug would
come next after 7, they all said numbers like 2 and 8 instead of the correct answer 6. However, by the time
we got to number 4 ladybugs, they were screaming the next number to me. I think it helped that I had them
put up five fingers and also did it myself. I also took the time to explain on my fingers how we took one
away from 5 to get 4 and I think that really helped them understand the pattern of counting backwards
because that is when they all started saying the correct number that would come next. It felt really good to
see my kids interacting with me and the book and wanting to know what was going to happen at the end,
that made me know that they were paying attention and understanding the book and the lesson.

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.
If I could do my lesson plan over again, or even in another classroom, I would ask the kids more questions
regarding their responses to me. I would go one step further and ask why my one student thought there
would be 2 ladybugs after 7 because then I would know his thought process and what was going through
his mind during the read aloud. When I asked at the end of the book, where the kids thought all the
ladybugs went, most of them said they were eaten. This would have been a good opportunity to ask them
why they think that and see if they were able to explain their reasoning behind their answers. But know I
know for next time to dig deeper into their thinking and make a point to ask why.

IV. Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if you were the classroom
teacher?
In our classroom at the YCP, the teacher’s don’t teach lessons necessarily but more provide the kids with
the means to learn. The kids have learned a lot about insects, bugs, and their life cycles. The opportunities
to learn about this are everywhere in the classroom. It is very science based and the kids are learning a lot
about living things. They loved the idea of ladybugs in my book. While I was reading, they were able to
 point out the bugs on each page by name, which was another thing I wasn’t anticipating but it helped to
see that they had been learning. If I were the classroom teachers, I might make a transition into other
living things like plants, it would be an easy transition because plants are food and habitats for insects. We
take the kids on nature walks where they are always collecting leaves and admiring the trees. We would
even bring a plant into the classroom and make sure the kids are keeping it in the sun and watering it
everyday like the caterpillar they watched turn into a butterfly.

V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about young
children as learners?
The biggest thing that was reinforced, for me, was that kids want to learn. I also learned that if you give
them something they are interesting in and base your lesson off of it, they will enjoy it. My students do not
really do any math in their classroom, there are not many if any stations that reinforce basic math ideas so
it is not apart of their comfort zone. When writing it in my lesson, I was afraid it was too complicated for
them or they would lose interest when I brought math into it. But they had no problem talking to me about
the numbers and counting with me. I even talked for a little bit with them about counting backwards and
they were still intrigued. However, I think if I had just started talking about it with no background to the
book or ladybugs, they would have stopped listening and not participated. This is really good to know,
especially for my case study and collecting information from my case study child.

VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about teaching?
Planning this lesson reinforced how much goes into teaching that no one else sees, even the students. I
would have never thought that when my teachers were reading to me as a student in elementary school that
so much went into thinking about the book and even planning when and on what pages to say and ask
certain questions. I basically had the book memorized before I did my read aloud because I kept looking at
it and was trying to find new things to incorporate into my lesson and also practicing because I was
nervous. I also learned how important it is to be prepared for anything when teaching and to allow ample
time for questions and observations. But also have a backup plan if your lesson doesn’t take up as much
time as you thought it would. Really just to be ready for anything.

VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about yourself?
Honestly, if anything, this reinforced how much I want to be a teacher. I absolutely loved it when I started
reading and all my kids got closer to me and started to point things out in the book or interjected when I
was reading to tell me something they liked about what I was reading. I hadn’t felt that good about
anything I had done in practicum yet. Even though it wasn’t perfect, I was so happy that it went well and
that I was doing something with the kids and making them think too.