Jessica Campbell
Final Project Lesson Plan
Shared Reading Lesson Plan – Constructing a Category Board (Day 4)
Common Core State Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.5a Sort common objects into categories (e.g., shapes, foods) to gain a sense of the concepts the categories represent.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.9 With prompting and support, identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).
Science K.2.A.1.C Describe changes in trees over time
Science K.2.E.2 Investigate and gather information about changes in weather.
Objective: Today we will classify activities by identifying in which season they occur.
Formative Assessment: Children will sort picture/word cards into four seasonal categories on a four seasons mat using Pixie.
Background Information:
This Day 4 lesson focuses on comparing seasonal information in The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree to another seasonal book, Four Seasons Make a Year. The children will categorize seasonal changes and activities on a category board.
In the lessons leading up to Day 4, the children have been reading the story, The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree. They have retold the story by recalling how an apple tree changes throughout the seasons using an interactive mural and chart. They have also had a discussion about the details in the illustrations in order to construct meaning and gain comprehension.
My kindergarten class is made up of twenty-five children. They all come from varying backgrounds and cultures. I have three students who receive ELL and seven others that speak another language at home. I also have two students that have IEP’s and receive weekly speech services.
In the past, I taught this lesson using the resources given to teachers in the shared reading guide. The students would sing a song or finger play about the seasons written on chart paper. I found a song and video on You Tube about the seasons, which is a great way to motivate the children. It also perfect for activating their prior knowledge about the four seasons in a year with a catchy tune and an engaging variety of pictures that are characteristic of each season. This meets UDL Principle I, Checkpoints 1.2, 1.3, and 3.1.
We have to look carefully at the illustrations when highlighting and comparing the important information in The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree and Four Seasons Make a Year, so I will be using the Elmo to project the pages as I read. This helps because we don’t have these books in big book form, so I can project the pages on the screen making it large enough for everyone to see the book better. This is an example of UDL Principle I, Checkpoints 1.3 and 3.2. There are also You Tube videos of someone reading the books as another alternative if you don’t have access to the books or a document camera. It is also useful if you want students to be able to hear the stories again. UDL Principle 1, Checkpoints 1.2 and 1.3.
After reading the books, the children will sort pictures of different things related to the four seasons. Instead of using the paper pictures in the pocket chart, I created a category board in pixie. Students can pass around the Mimio pad to use to move the pictures. Then the pictures are big and colorful. It is an excellent tool to keep the children focused and engaged, because they all want a turn to use it. This meets UDL Principle II, Checkpoints 4.1 and 4.2
As an assessment, they can go to the computer lab to individually sort pictures in Pixie using the template I created instead of cutting and gluing the pictures from the guide. Then, I can print their sorting mats when they are finished. This is an example of UDL Principle II, Checkpoint 5.2, because the children given another tool using Pixie to show they can classify seasonal activities.
Materials:
- Computer with an Elmo and projector
- Mimio Pad
- Pixie Software with template of Seasons Category Board and pictures for sorting
- Access to the Computer Lab with a printer
- “Four Seasons in a Year” song on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTXtSGf1VdY
- The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree Book
online version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNOqc4iJNXw
- Four Seasons Make a Year Book
online version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN4pTiKeP1Y
Procedures:
1. I will begin the lesson by motivating the students with a YouTube video of a song called Four Seasons in a Year.
2. Then I will read the books The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree and Four Seasons Make a Year. I will read these books using the Elmo to project the illustrations larger. They can also be found being read on YouTube.
3. While reading the two books, I will point out and discuss the details in the words and in the illustrations that help to characterize each of the four seasons.
4. We will also discuss the similarities and differences between the information in both books.
5. Then the students will help me to sort into categories pictures of different activities related to each season.
6. I will pass the Mimio Pad around the rug so the students can interact with it by dragging the pictures into the correct category.
7. Then the students will go to the computer lab to independently sort the pictures in Pixie.
8. I will help them to type their name in a textbox and print their category boards.
Related Centers:
Small Group Reading of Non-fiction Emergent text Apple Tree Year and sequence the apple tree by the four seasons
Bookmaking Center – Make your own Apple Tree book
Letters, Sounds, & Words Center – Stamp vocabulary words from the book with letter stamps
Following Directions Center – Follow a 4-step set of directions to make and sponge paint an apple
Math – Count mini apples into treetops to match the number on the basket.
Science Center – Label the parts of an apple, sequence the apple tree in the four seasons, sort pictures by seasons mats, books about apples
Computer Center – Watch a BrainPop Jr. movie and use the Draw about it activity to draw an apple tree then print it to take home and to complete the sequencing activity
Art Center – Make an apple puppet
Pocket Chart Center – Read the interactive pocket chart that was created on Day 1 which tells how the apple tree changes in each season
Listening Center – Listen to the book Apples, Apples, Apples