Saturday, March 31, 2012

Reflection on Lesson Plan

                           We prepared for the lesson plan two days before hand. We had a lot of materials for the arts and crafts project and we tried to set up the classroom as if it were to have been a first grade classroom. Kristina and I also tried to come up with a guideline so as we taught we made sure to  not forget anything. It was very important for us to come into the classroom at least twenty minutes before to set up, we had everything printed out, the groups of desk were formed, the glog was displayed on the smart board and all materials were ready to go. The objectives of our lesson plan were students will be able to distinguish between the characters, setting, and main events in the story. SWBAT write a short story that consists of a least four sentences describing a character from the story, a new setting and an event. SWBAT create their own puppet of one the characters from the story. To assess these objectives we read the story A Sick Day for Amos McGee pointing out what characters, setting and events of the story were. Students then were to write their own short story consisting of a setting, characters, event and at least four sentences. Then they made a puppet of one of the animals from the book either a owl, turtle, penguin or elephant. All students had the opportunity to share with the class when they were done. 
                        Most of what was in the lesson plan was done except for we had a part in the lesson were all the students were going to be able to be one of the characters and describe what they did in the book. Then they were going to put all the events in order by standing up. We did not do this because we did not have enough space in the classroom and the students were getting out of control. Overall we did complete most our  lesson which I was very happy about. The most important thing that I taught to the students was understanding and recognizing the concepts of a story and how to create one on their own. It went very well all students participating in answering questions and creating their own story. I think what helped a lot also was reading them an example of my own short story.  I would have said the only thing we would have done differently was instead of having used four puppets we would have used only two. This way we would have had more time to explain how to make each one and helped each group. 
                     Overall the experience was great! I knew the class was going to be a little out of control and overwhelming but Kristina and I made a good pair in controlling the class. I think I would also have to speak a little louder. 

Topic: Language Arts

            “ A Sick Day for Amos McGee” by Philip C. Stead

Grade Level: 1st grade

Core Standards: RL.1.2, RL.1.7, RL.1.3, SL.1.4

Days: 1 Day (30-40 minutes)

Objectives:
·         Students will be able to distinguish between the characters, setting, and main events in the story. 
·         Students will be able to write a short story that consists of at least four sentences describing a character from the story, a new setting and an event.
·         Students will create their own puppet of one the characters from the story.

Materials:
·         Book “A Sick Day for Amos McGee” by Philip C. Stead
·         Audio of “You Have a Friend in Me”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXARdPb4YBs
·         Construction Paper
·         Crayons
·         20 Pencils
·         15 Pictures of each character and setting
·         20 Popsicle sticks
·         Google eyes
·         20 Character and setting worksheets
·         20 Scissors
·         20 Glue sticks
·         20 Story worksheet

Procedure
1.      (Anticipatory Set) Ask students to think about who they consider their very good friend. Pass out construction paper and have them draw a picture of him/her. Play the song, “You Have a Friend in Me” as they work.
2.      Have students gather all together on the rug with their drawings.
3.      Introduce the lesson by asking students to describe one characteristic of their friend of what makes them “good”.
4.      Write all the students ideas on the board.
5.      Explain to the students that today they will be reading about a person who is not only himself a good friend but has a lot of good friends.
6.      Talk to students about the many friends in the book, also called characters.
7.      Assign students to a character, (Amos McGee, Elephant, owl, penguin, rhinoceros, turtle).
8.      Explain to students that the story takes place at the zoo, also called the setting of the story where it takes place. Assign a student the zoo picture.
9.      Read, “A Sick Day for Amos McGee”.
10.   Talk to students about the story, their opinion and events.
11.  Pass out pictures of certain parts of the story.
12.  Have students line up with the pictures of the story in order. Explain its called sequence of events.
13.  Have students pick a character from the story and let them know they will make a puppet. They will also create a short story that includes the character and themselves, a setting and a main event.
14.  Pass out friend story worksheet and all materials to create the puppet.
15.  Let students know to first finish the short story. Put their thumbs up when they are done so it can be checked. Then they can start on puppet.
16.  Review the story of Amos McGee; ask questions as to name the characters, the setting and events.
17.  Ask the first three students done with their story to share with the class, pointing out the setting, what character they chose and what happened in the short story (event).


Assessment:

Informal: Walk around the classroom as students work on their story and puppets. Ask questions such as, “name me the setting of your story,” or “name me an event in your story or the setting.” Ask for the definitions such as, “What does the setting of the story mean again?”

Formal: Classwork: Students will work on writing short stories and creating puppets in class. Have students come up to teacher to have their work checked.
Homework: Students will go home and find a book. Have parents help them read and find the characters, setting and events of the story. Bring to class to share the following day. Complete worksheet of story plot also for homework.

References:

·         Philip C. Stead (2010). A Sick Day for Amos McGee. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press.
·         You Have a Friend in Me Song / http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXARdPb4YBs
·         Character and Setting homework worksheet, http://bogglesworldesl.com/character.htm

Accommodation:

Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences will be included into the lesson by,
·         Logical-mathematical, Students will count the number of characteristics they come up with on the ‘Good” friend list. Also, they will count how many sentences they each come up with on their short story assignment.
·         Linguistic, Students will create short stories consisting of at least four complete sentences.
·         Musical, Students will listen to “You Have a Friend in Me,” song as they draw.
·         Spatial, Students will create a puppet of one of the characters from the storybook.
·         Bodily-kinesthetic, Students will be able to stand up as they try to reorganize the events of the book with pictures of the scene and characters.
·         Interpersonal, Students will be able to share who their best friends are, characteristics of him or her, and also at the end share their short story.
·         Intrapersonal, Students will be able to write a short story of their own with a character from the book. They will be able to write about what they thought of the particular character in the book and what they liked about him/she.
·         Naturalist, Students will be able to explore through real pictures of a zoo, the animals in the zoo, and about zookeepers job.