Placement Assignment

Literacy Lesson
Carrie Burns
EDC 281

The book that I used was titled The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie
dePaola. This book is about a little girl named Lucida who lives in a small
village in Mexico. Her mother is asked to make a new blanket to put in the
manger. Lucidas mother gets sick and cannot finish making the blanket, so
Lucida tries to fix it and ends up ruining it. She is devastated that she will
not have anything to bring to the Christmas Procession. While hiding from
everyone in the procession, an old lady comes up to her and tells her that
the Baby Jesus will love anything that she can give. Lucida brings a bundle
of weeds to the procession that end up blooming into beautiful poinsettias.
The worksheet that I used was titled I Can Remember the Story. On
this worksheet you have to identify the setting, three main characters, and
their favorite part of the story. This worksheet supports student literacy
learning because it helped them focus on specific elements of the story.

Lesson Plan
Carrie Burns
The Legend of the Poinsettia
1st grade

Goal: I am teaching this lesson to the students so that they can learn how to
identify different
elements of a story.
Rationale: This is important because this activity helps them see what
elements must be
included to create a story. With this knowledge, they will then become
better writers
themselves.
Objective: After listening to the story The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie
dePaola, the
students will be able to identify in a large group and write down
individually the setting, three main characters, and their favorite part
of the story on a worksheet.
Standards: NAEYC standards RL:Grade 1:1 Ask and answer questions about
key details in a
Text. RL:Grade 1:3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a
story, using key details.
Developmental Prerequisites: For students to be successful in this activity,
they must be able to
write complete sentences.
Developmental Targets: This activity targets childrens literacy development
skills.

Location and Setup: This lesson will be done as a large group. I will read the
story to the
students at the meeting center (carpet). We will talk about the
worksheet at the center and then the students will complete the
worksheet individually at their seats.
Teacher Preparation: The resources that I will need to gather include the
book, The Legend of
the Poinsettia, and 21 I Can Remember the Story worksheets. To
prepare for the lesson ahead of time I need to prepare thought
provoking questions for the students.
Instructional Procedures:
1. To attract the attention of the students, I will ask if anyone knows what
a poinsettia is.
2. I will then tell the students what I will be doing with them. I will state
that I will be reading the book and after we are done we will talk about
the setting, main characters, and their favorite part of the story.
3. I will remind them to pay close attention since we will be filling out a
worksheet after the story. I will also remind them of the rules when we
are at the meeting center, which are that the students should not
interrupt when others are talking, and that they should raise their
hands if they have any questions. Also, I will remind them that they
need to keep their hands to themselves and be respectful of others
around them.
4. I will then begin reading the story The Legend of the Poinsettia. I will
ask questions like, have you ever had to think really hard about a gift

you want to give to someone? and do you have any traditions that
you and your family do every Christmas season?
5. After completing the story, I will ask the students if anyone can tell me
what the setting of the story was. I will then write their ideas on the
white board at the meeting center.
6. I will ask the students to name three of the main characters. I will also
write these names on the white board.
7. Then I will ask the students what their favorite part of the story was. I
will ask one student to help me construct a sentence on the white
board about their favorite part of the story. I will tell students that they
can choose to write the same sentence down that I wrote, or if they
had a different favorite part, they may write about that as well.
8. Before passing out the worksheets, I will remind the students to work
quietly while at their seats so they do not disturb their classmates. I
will tell them that if they finish early, they can do any activity that is on
their caf menu. Then I will instruct them to turn in their completed
worksheets on the rocking chair.
9. After passing out the worksheets, students will go to their seats, and I
will make myself available for any questions that they might have.
Experience/Exploration: Students will process these concepts in a large
group. They will then
return to their seats to individually record their ideas.
Assessment: I will assess learning formally, through the use of a worksheet
and by asking the
students questions in the meeting center. I will know that all students
were engaged

and successful by making sure each of them complete the worksheet.

Differentiation: I will most likely have to use a differentiating strategy for one
student in the
class. This student sometimes refuses to write with a pencil. I would
allow him to use his personal classroom iPad to type out the setting,
main characters, and his favorite part of the story, since the goal was
to identify the elements.
Clean-up: To clean up, I will ask students to turn in their papers on the
rocking chair.
Terminating Statement: To end the lesson, I will encourage the students to
think about these
elements of a story with every story that they read.
Transition: To transition the students to their next activity, I will ask them to
return to the
meeting center.
Reflection:
In my activity, I read the book The Legend of the Poinsetta by Tomie
dePaola to the class. Afterwards we discussed the setting, main characters,
and the students favorite part of the story. The students then completed a
worksheet about these elements. My placement teacher, Mrs. Melow, chose
this activity for me. The book that she gave me was part of her unit,
Christmas Around the World. I implemented this activity with the students
in a large group while reading and discussing, and then transitioned into

individual work time to complete the worksheets. This activity did reach my
objective. I know this because each student completed the worksheet. I
would use this activity in my classroom because I really liked the I Can
Remember the Story worksheet and I think it was very thought-provoking.
This activity fit in the time frame that I had discussed with Mrs. Melow very
nicely. If the activity was too short, I would have had the students come
back to the meeting center to discuss what they wrote, and if it was too long
I would have had the students finish their worksheets during a free-choice
work time later on in the day or week. If I were to repeat this activity I would
not change much, except I would explain the worksheet a bit more so that I
did not have to answer as many questions from the students after sending
them back to their seats. I was very prepared for the lesson. My interactions
with the students went very well overall. The students were very well
behaved and they listened to the story without any interruptions. I think part
of what contributed to this was their excitement that I was teaching a lesson
instead of who normally teaches their lessons. I feel as if this activity was a
definite success. Each student completed the worksheet by the end of the
lesson and they seemed to really enjoy the story. The best part of the
activity for me was the discussion I had with the class after we finished
reading the story and before we began on the worksheets. The questions
that I asked the students drew their attention to the specific elements we
were talking about and they had many suggestions for their peers about
what to write on their worksheets. I did plan accommodations for one

student. This student has certain days where he refuses to do some types of
work. I planned for this to happen the day I taught my lesson, just in case.
He was refusing to write with a pencil on his worksheet. Instead of
completing the worksheet, I allowed him to type up his answers on and iPad.
This worked, and he identified all of the elements. What I learned from this
experience is that even though it may seem as though a student doesnt
know how to do things, there may just be a certain part about the activity
that is holding them back. You have to look at the overall goal of the lesson
and allow your students to work towards that goal in whatever way works for
them.