LESSON 2

Title
Seven Chinese Brothers
Grade Level

Subject

Unit of Study

Kindergarten

Reading

Compare/Contrast

Overview
Following a read aloud of Seven Chinese Brothers, students will work together as a
class to determine the author, copyright, characters, setting, problem, and solution of
the story, in order to complete the compare/contrast matrix used in lesson 1. After
identifying these elements, students will focus on the beginning, middle, and end of
the story by using a life-sized graphic organizer to help them arrange their ideas.
Content Standard(s)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2 With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key
details.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.9 With prompting and support, compare and contrast the
adventures and experiences of characters with familiar stories.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to recognize characteristics of a story (including title, author, copyright,
character and setting). Students will also be able to identify the problem and solution of a story.
Students will use this information to assist when retelling familiar stories.
Informal and Formal Assessments
Informal Assessment:
Teacher will frequently ask questions to provoke whole group discussion to check for
understanding from individual student responses. Teacher will also check for student
comprehension with a thumbs up/thumbs down to ensure understanding of activity directions.
Students will participate in turn-and-talks with their partners to encourage discussion and
exploration. Teacher will pay close attention to responses while students are participating in the
life-sized flow chart activity. Finally, students will fill out a graphic organizer of what happened at
the beginning, middle, and end of the story independently to ensure proficiency in retelling
stories.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks
Teacher Will:

Student Will:

Lesson Introduction: Teacher will begin the

lesson by reading Seven Chinese Brothers.
Throughout the read aloud, teacher will ask
students basic comprehension questions to
ensure thinking and awareness during reading.

Students will listen attentively to story, making

sure to pay attention to the important elements
such as character, setting, and overall plot.
Students will raise hands when questions are
being asked.

Assessing Prior Knowledge: Teacher will ask

students to think back to yesterdays lesson
and define terms on matrix: author, copyright,
characters, setting, problem, solution. If
students do not know any of these vocabulary
words, teacher will address any confusion and
elaborate on previously learned terms.

Students will think back to previous lessons

and try their best to determine the definition.

Mini Lesson: After reviewing necessary

vocabulary, teacher will reintroduce the
graphic organizer that will be used throughout
the entire unit. Teacher will restate that the
purpose of the matrix is to compare and
contrast many stories. Teacher will say, Now,
we will be comparing Five Chinese Brothers to
Seven Chinese Brothers. Teacher will then go
through each category on the matrix (author,
copyright, characters, and setting) and ask
students to provide answers for each.

Students will briefly review the matrix and

recall prior knowledge from previous lessons.
After teacher goes through each category,
students will raise hands to provide answers for
each heading.

To assist students with problem and solution,

teacher will remind students to think about
what happened in the beginning, middle, and
end of the story. After brainstorming ideas,
teacher will ask for volunteers to share what
happened in the beginning of the story,
followed by the middle of the story, and finally
the end of the story. Teacher will summarize
what was said to explain the order of events.
Teacher will remind students that the problem
is something difficult that is happening to the
characters and it normally happens in the
middle of the story. Teacher will also explain
that the solution is how the characters solve
the problem, which normally happens at the
end of the story. Teacher will then ask the class
to identify the problem and solution of Seven
Chinese Brothers to complete the two
remaining categories of the matrix.

Students will think back to Seven Chinese

Brothers and identify the beginning, middle,
and end of the story. When teacher asks for
volunteers to share ideas, students will raise
hands to contribute to discussion.

Learning Activity: Teacher will explain to

students that they will be focusing on
specifically the beginning, middle, and end of
Seven Chinese Brothers. Teacher will ask,
What happened at the beginning of the
story? and have student turn and talk to their
partners about what happened first in the
story. Repeat with middle and end of the story.

Students will brainstorm ideas of what

happened at the beginning, middle, and end of
Seven Chinese Brothers and turn and talk to
their partners when prompted to.

Teacher will then introduce the life-sized

graphic organizer and explain that they will
each get a turn to stand on a box and describe
to the class what happened in the beginning of
the story, the middle of the story, or the end of
the story. Have students come up in groups of
three to demonstrate knowledge of beginning,

Students will listen attentively to directions.

After steps are told, students will come up in
groups of three to present to the class their
knowledge of beginning, middle, and end.

middle, and end by presenting to the class.

Teacher will prompt students with, In the
beginning of the story ____. In the middle of
the story ____. and At the end of the story
____. to encourage the use of vocabulary.

Students will listen attentively to directions for

independent work. If students have any
confusion, they will ask questions at the end to
clarify misunderstandings.

Teacher will introduce graphic organizer

worksheet that students will be working on
independently. Teacher will explain that they
will draw and write what they remember from
the beginning, middle, and end of Seven
Chinese Brothers. Before releasing them to
work, teacher will check for understanding with
thumbs up/thumbs down to ensure students
understand directions. If all students
understand, teacher will dismiss students to
work independently.
Closing Assessment: After providing
students with an ample amount of time to
complete the learning activity, teacher will
invite students back to the learning mat.
Teacher will ask for volunteers to share their
beginning, middle, and end worksheets. In
order to prevent unnecessary disorder, teacher
will make sure to state that only 5 volunteers
will be chosen to share (more or less
depending on time). Teacher will select
students who are politely raising their hands
and waiting their turns.

Students will come back to the learning mat

and patiently wait for all classmates to be
seated. When teacher asks for volunteers,
students will raise their hands if they wish to
share their stories with the class. If student is
chosen, student will come up to the front of the
learning mat with his or her worksheet to retell
the story of the Seven Chinese Brothers to the
entire class.

Instructional Materials and Resources

Text: Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy
Compare/contrast matrix (on chart paper)
Beginning/middle/end anchor chart
Life-sized matrix (painters tape), beginning/middle/end signs
Beginning/middle/end independent worksheet