Tori Klier

Dr. Myers
Read 366
18 February 2016
Frederick Read Aloud Reflection
Overview of how this work reflects the course content:
In Read 366, we have learned many strategies for an effective read aloud lesson plan which I
worked to implement into my read aloud lesson with the book Frederick by Leo Lionni. I made sure that I
chose a book that was above the reading level of my Kindergarten students and that they could relate too.
I also made sure to introduce the book in an effective way, testing their knowledge on what an author and
illustrator are by asking them who Leo Lionni is and since there was only one name on the cover what that
entailed. I also made sure I gave the students something to think about throughout the story; in this case, I
asked the students to think about how all the jobs were important just like our classroom jobs. As I read
the story, I made sure to let every student see the pictures, and answer a question while also
demonstrating inflection and expression with my voice. I related the story to the lives of my students and
made sure to give them time to reflect on the story through discussion. The development of
comprehension skills that I chose to focus on is required and stated as very important in both the 5 Pillars
of Reading and the Literacy Diet. After the reading, I had both a class discussion led by me, time for
individual reflection, and group work at their tables as they filled out the worksheet I gave them to assess
their comprehension and attention to detail throughout the story.

Teaching Methods (What was your process to prepare for this lesson? What would you do similar
next time? Different?) :

My Process to prepare for this content was to prepare my Multicultural text set. When reading
these books and typing up my thoughts and reflections about the books in my Multicultural text set, I
realized there were many lessons that I could do with these books and many lessons that I believed my
class would benefit from learning. I also looked ahead into the reading books that my CT uses for each
reading lesson. The lessons in the reading books that Mrs. Webb uses build off and up from each other,
so I wanted to have my reading lesson coincide with these lessons to allow the biggest benefit to the
students. This week the topic for the reading lessons was working on comprehending details and
comparing and contrasting. I have always loved this book Frederick by Leo Lionni since my mother read it
to me from my fathers childhood edition; when I read this book as a possible text for my Multicultural text
set, I knew this was the book I wanted to read for my read aloud lesson. Frederick can teach so many
lessons, but the lesson I chose to teach my students was that all jobs are important and serve a different
purpose. I also decided to combine both the core lessons that the reading books that Mrs. Webb was
covering and had the students complete an exercise in which they worked to compare and contrast details
of the story. The students concentrated on how each job was important and then compared and
contrasted the two main jobs presented in the story by comprehending details that each job entailed.
I believe this lesson worked really well, and the students seemed to really enjoy it. I would do
pretty much everything the same as it was a very effective lesson as the students learned about
comparing and contrasting and practiced comprehending details of the story. The only thing I would do
differently in this lesson would be to ask less questions of the students throughout the story and let them
just enjoy the plot more. I had one student who was having attitude issues that day and ask me Why are
you asking us so many questions? I think maybe all my questions made the read aloud a little intense.

Student Learning (How did you assess your students progress towards meeting your objectives?
How were students engaged in the lesson and how did this impact their level of learning?):
At the end of the lesson, I assessed my students progress by having a group discussion in which
we named things that Frederick and the other mice gathered. We talked about how they were different
kinds of supplies, like Frederick brought entertainment and the other mice brought food, but both helped
them to survive the cold winter days. We also then filled out a worksheet or chart that I gave the students
about the kinds of supplies Frederick brought and the supplies that the other mice brought. I collected this
worksheet and looked them over and was impressed by their lists and drawings. I believe the students
through comparing and contrasting multiple ideas such as the supplies each group gathered, their
classroom jobs and the mices jobs, and characteristics of a good team member and a bad team member,
really drove the idea into their minds that comparing means some things can be the same and some
things can be different. Also, by asking my students questions that were very detail oriented and also
pointing out the details in the story, I believe they saw the importance of attention to detail. All of these
impacts can be seen on the worksheet I collected from them.

Future Lessons (What would you do again? What would you do differently?):
I would do this lesson again in a heartbeat because the students really enjoyed the lesson, I really
enjoyed teaching the lesson, and there was so much to take away from the story. The kids really got into
the discussion when I asked them what teams they were on in the past and how they liked to warm up on
a snow day. I saw the answers to these questions as an opportunity to get an extra insight into the lives of
my students outside of the classroom. I could use the book Frederick for many different lessons such as a
lesson on poetry, a lesson on habitats, a lesson on seasons, a lesson on art, and many more. I believe

that for future lessons, I would choose a book with bigger type, not a big book, but just a book in which
the students could see the words more easily or at least the number of words I am reading, since the
same student as before asked how the students were supposed to read the story if the letters were so
small. I believe that in future read aloud lessons, I would also ask fewer but more critical questions of my
students, so that they can enjoy the story more while still gaining good takeaways from the experience. I
found that when I sent the students to their tables to complete the worksheet the movement made the
students more receptive and attentive to the other lessons that were performed on the rug later because
they had not been sitting on the rug for as long as usual. The lessons were more broken up. I will
definitely try for more movement in my lessons in the future as my students do not have a problem
transitioning from tables to the rug. My class was not as prepared for partner talking as I thought they
were. When I asked them to whisper to their partner what they would compare the mice carrying corn to a
human carrying, they shouted it out to me just because of habit. In the future, I will have more lessons
with partner talking so they can get more familiar with this style of discussion and learning which will be
used in their future education.

What inspired the ideas in this lesson or activity? Did you hear your professor or CT suggest it?
Was it on Pinterest? Did you do something similar when you were a student? Did you read about
it in a journal, blog, wiki? Did another teacher or peer suggest such and idea? If you created it
yourself from other pieces of ideas, discuss that process that. If you have a website, name, or
journal title that led to your inspiration, please include it.:
I came up with this lesson by myself with inspiration from the topics and learning objectives
presented in the reading books that my CT uses. This story has a lot of contrasting ideas in it which make
it a good example for comparing and contrasting aspects for students just beginning to understand that

concept and idea. When I heard that the topics for the reading lesson, I knew that Frederick would be the
perfect book to do a compare and contrast lesson with. I have been reading the book Frederick with my
parents since I was in pre-school (probably) as it was one of my dads favorite books and he saved it from
his childhood. I love this book for a multitude of reasons, the main one being that it can appeal to a wide
audience and can be interpreted to accompany many different subjects and lessons. I have read this book
through many times in my life and each time I read it, I take something else away from the text. I wanted
to share this book with my students because it was such as big part of my childhood that I still hold dear
and reflect on often.