Christina Zapatero

Mrs. Lamb (1st grade)

Waterman Elementary
6 December 2017
JMU LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

TITLE: Sequence of Events (Beginning, Middle, End)

CONTEXT OF LESSON: Our whole group lessons last week focused on author’s purpose, but
this week our essential question is “Why is the order of story events important?” This lesson
aligns with the SOL standard and curriculum framework. In the lessons leading up to this one,
the students will have reviewed the concept of “sequence of events”, reviewed the essential
vocabulary, and read the story How Leopard Got His Spots once. This lesson will serve as a final
review and closure for “sequence of events”. Throughout the two lessons before this one, I will
informally observe my students to gauge their understanding. This lesson, however, requires
students to complete a written assessment on the beginning, middle, and end of How Leopard
Got His Spots.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand Know
All students should…
• Understand that word
meanings can be
comprehended through
context, discussion,
connections to familiar
words, and knowledge of
vocabulary from other
content areas.
Students will know how to…
• Identify and describe characters,
settings, and important events in a
story using details.
• Use illustrations and details to
describe characters, settings, and
important events in a story.
• Use pictures as well as the
understanding of the story and topic
to predict and check for
comprehension as they read.
Do
Students will…
• Demonstrate
comprehension by retelling
stories and events orally or
in writing, using beginning,
middle, and end structure,
and demonstrating
comprehension of the
central message or lesson.
• The students will complete
a written assessment on the
beginning, middle, and end
of How Leopard Got His
Spots.

RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

Reading

1.7 The student will use semantic clues and syntax to expand vocabulary when reading.
d) Use knowledge of sentence structure.

1.8 The student will expand vocabulary.

d) Use text clues such as words or pictures to discern meanings of unknown words.
1.9 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fictional texts.
e) Ask and answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about what is
read.
f) Identify characters, setting, and important events.

1.10 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of nonfiction texts.
d) Identify text features such as pictures, headings, charts, and captions.
f) Ask and answer who, what, where, when, why, and how questions about what is
read.

Writing
1.12 The student will print legibly.
a) Form letters accurately.
b) Space words within sentences.
c) Use the alphabetic code to write unknown words phonetically.

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING EXPERIENCE: The students will be assessed through

informal observations and a summative assessment. During the beginning of the lesson we will
review the essential vocabulary and the concept of “sequence of events”. During this discussion
time I intend to prompt students to think about prior knowledge. I will informally assess students
by calling on them to answer questions or having them put a thumbs up if they understand. At
the end of the lesson the students will complete a written assessment on beginning, middle, and
end. I will review the assignment very carefully with the whole class. However, this is a
worksheet that the students have completed for another story, so they are familiar with it. After I
give explicit instructions, the students will be given 20 minutes to complete it. I will not grade
students on spelling, only on content.

VOCABULARY: been, brown, know, never, off, out, own, very

MATERIALS NEEDED
• Journey’s (Teacher edition)
• Journey’s (Student edition)- 17 copies
• Vocabulary cards
• Sequence of Events task cards
• “Beginning, Middle, End” sheet- 17 copies
• Pencils

PROCEDURE
Engage
• Yesterday, I read the story “How Leopard Got His Spots” to you. Who can remind me
what the story was about? Review story and pictures. Explain that pictures help us
understand stories. How did the story make you feel? 1:05-1:10
Implementation of the lesson
• Talk about sequence of events: the order in which things happen. What does sequence of
events mean? I know, it’s a big phrase! Talk about beginning, middle, and end.
 • Review vocabulary words (hold up cards). Review definition. Call on students to create
sentences using the vocabulary words. 1:10-1:15
• Read text with class. Call on different reading groups to read different pages. As we read
the text, think about the order of the story. What happens in the beginning, middle, and
end? 1:15-1:20
• Ask students “Why is the order of story events important?” Call on students to share a
reason. 1:20-1:25
• Hold up “retelling cards”. Have students figure out the sequence of the story. I am going
to pick on 4 students to hold a card (pick the EL students so they can participate
without having to speak) Then the whole class will have to figure out the sequence of
events (put the story in order.) Then, I will call on a friend to recite the whole story to
the class in order! 1:25-1:35
• Complete “Beginning, Middle, End” sheet 1:35-1:55
o Friends, I need everyone to listen very closely. I am going to pick on my two
quietest friends to pass out this sheet of paper (call on two students). Now, I
want everyone else to quietly go to your desks. Just because we’re moving to our
desks does not mean we can be loud!
o Put worksheet on the elmo.
o Alright friends, we have all worked on this sheet before. This is asking us to put
the story we just read in order. You will talk about what happened in the
beginning of the story, the middle, and the end. You may use your books to help
if you if you like. Remember, your dictionary will help you with words you don’t
know, but Ms. Z wants you to sound them out! I won’t be grading you on
spelling, so it’s okay to spell things wrong. Once you finish writing 2 sentences
for each section, you can draw pictures in the boxes and color it in with crayons!
• I will work with the 5 EL students in a small group. Depending on their level of
readiness/choice, students will explain the sequence of events orally, draw a picture,
write sentences, or act it out.

Closure
• Who can tell me one thing they learned about story order? 1:55-2:00

DIFFERENTIATION

Support: There are 5 EL’s in my class, three of which have very minimal English skills. I will
provide them with vocabulary cards (word & picture) to help them learn and understand the
different vocabulary words. I will provide everyone in the class with access to the picture cards,
that way no one feels singled out. I will orally explain in their native language (Spanish) to
further their understanding of the activity.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG: There are a lot of things that could potentially go wrong with
any lesson! However, I am most concerned with students not being engaged in the lesson. At
times it is very difficult to keep my first graders on track and following directions. I have,
however, included multiple little activities in this lesson to hopefully keep them on their toes! I
also worry that the concept of beginning, middle, and end might be too abstract for some
students, which would lead them to be disinterested in the lesson. I will make sure to model well
beforehand and I will have pictures of the concepts that are being discussed. My students who
speak minimal English might become distracted since majority of the lesson will be taught in
English. There are 5 EL’s in my class, three of which have very minimal English skills. I will
translate for them in Spanish in a small group afterwards.