LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

Name: Abbey Blouch
Cooperating Teacher: Kelly Cash
School: Wilson Elementary School,
Grade: Kindergarten
Date presented: September 30, 2015, 1 pm
A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON
Read-Aloud; Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback
B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
The students this week are learning about the fall season. They have done several
lessons this week related to fall, from learning about fall foods such as apples and
pumpkins, to learning about the weather changing. The book Joseph Had a Little
Overcoat is the tale of a man who, as his coat grows more and more worn, fixes it
to make a new clothing item for himself. This book relates to the fall season and
weather as the children think about the kind of clothing that is worn in cold
weather. This book also addresses the issue of conservation. As a pre-assessment,
the instructor will refresh the students on the different seasons by asking leading
questions about the type of weather that is seen in winter, spring, summer, and
fall. Then, the instructor will ask the children what type of clothing they think
they might see in each season (i.e. shorts in the summer, coats in the winter).
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
UnderstandKnowAs a result of this lesson,
Children will be able to
children should learn to
identify what clothes could
generalize about several
be worn in various seasons.
different topics: first,
Also, they will be able to
children should understand think about real versus
how the temperature
nor real. They will learn
changes during different
that they can use their
seasons, meaning we need
imagination even if
to wear different clothes in
something is not right in
every season. They also will front of them.
think about conservation
and subtraction in relation
to size.

DoAs an assessment, the

students will answer
questions related to the
story as well as related to
real-life situations. They
will conceptualize about
what clothing to wear
during what season, as well
as size (for example, If you
are making a vest smaller, it
would have to become
something even smaller,
and could not be made into,
say, a coat).

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
My first assessment goal is to have students correctly identify the types of clothing
that are typically worn in each season. Secondly, they should be able to make

educated guesses on what would happen next in the story. The goal should be for
them not to necessarily get the correct item of clothing that will be made, but to
instead recognize that when the clothing is cut into a different material, it will become
smaller, not larger. Third, I will assess the childrens understanding of imagination. I
will relate the experiences they have had in real life to the experiences that the
protagonist has in the book.
E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING
Reading K.9: The student will demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts.
b) Relate previous experiences to what is read.
c) Use pictures to make predictions.
d) Begin to ask and answer questions about what is read.
Math K.10: The student will compare two objects or events, using direct comparisons
or nonstandard units of measure, according to one or more of the following attributes:
length (shorter, longer), temperature (hotter, colder).
F. MATERIALS NEEDED
Book: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback
G. PROCEDURE
Introduction:
Before introducing book, I will ask:
What season are we in right now?
Is it getting colder or warmer outside?
What kinds of clothes do you think you wear when its cold out?
What do you wear when its warm out?
I will show children the cover of the book
Without telling the title, I will ask them what they think the book might be
about.
I will tell them the title, and see if any of them had correctly guessed the title.
During:
I will start reading the book.
Book is fairly repetitive; after the clothing item gets old and worn, Joseph
makes something smaller out of it. For example, His overcoat gets old and
worn so he makes it into a jacket. Then, his jacket gets old and worn so he
makes it into a vest. After children get an idea of this pattern, I will ask:
What do you think he will make the vest into?
Is it possible for it to be something bigger than the vest, or does it have to be
something smaller?
After the handkerchief gets old and worn, do you think he could make
anything out of it?
He lost his button; what do you think he will do about this?
He lost his button, so he decided to write a story about it! Do you think that
this means that Joseph has a good imagination?

After:
Do you guys use your imagination?
It was a good thing that Joseph used his imagination to write a story about his
coat. Even though he had lost something that he cared about, he still was able
to use his imagination to remember it instead of being sad.
If you could make any kind of clothes, what would you make?
^ based upon this answer, I will ask: What season do you think you would
wear that in: winter, spring, summer or fall?
H. DIFFERENTIATION
I will make sure that children know not to blurt out answers; I will make sure to
give ample time for students to formulate responses in their minds. That way,
students who may not have English as a first language, or are more reserved, will
have more time to consider what they want to say. I will also ask a variety of
questions, both factual and opinion, so that children with different learning styles
can have different types of questions to answer.
I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU
DO ABOUT IT?
The children could get distracted and not want to pay attention to the story. To
prevent this, before starting my lesson, I will go over with the students proper
listening to a story etiquette, which they should all be familiar with. If
distraction continues to be a problem as the read-aloud is occurring, I will use
some of the management techniques that the children are familiar with (such as
class, class?) to help refocus their attention. Students could also miss the point
of the story, and not understand the questions I am asking. If this happens, I will
try to have them retell the story in their own words, to help them better think
about it. I will also rephrase questions and assist them in answering when
necessary.
J. REFLECTION
Although I had planned out my lesson the week before with my cooperating
teacher, the day that the lesson was carried out, there was a substitute in the
classroom. As a result, the children were much rowdier than normal. I had already
done several other read alouds and activities with the students (that I hadnt
planned out) as a way to help out the substitute. When I sat down to do my
planned read aloud, I had to spend a little bit extra time getting the children to sit
in their spots on the carpet and remind them to pay attention to the story. Before
showing them the cover of the book, I asked them generalized questions about
seasons and the weather. The students for the most part did a good job of
identifying what season it was. Some, however, didnt really grasp what kinds of
clothes would be worn in each season. As a result, I probed a little and prompted
them with temperature as opposed to season. For example, I said, if you were
really chilly outside, what could you put on to stay cozy and warm? They were
better able to answer this question. When I showed the students the cover and
asked them to make a guess as to what they thought the story could be about, I

heard a variety of answers. The cover shows a man wearing a long, worn coat,
holding a pair of scissors. Next to him is a cat, and on top of his head is a rooster.
Most children guessed that he was making something, or that the story would be
about winter. One child guessed that he was going to chase after the cat with
scissors. I redirected this question before it caused too much of a stir within the
students. At first, I was nervous about making sure I asked all of my questions
while reading the book and stopped at every page I had planned to stop at.
However, while reading, I found it easy to flow through and ask questions as it
came naturally. For the most part, children were able to have good answers about
the questions I asked. Many had difficulty guessing what he would make next;
some said that they thought he would make it a coat again, even when it was a
vest and there wasnt enough material to become a coat. I hadnt known what the
children knew about size and subtraction. It would have been a good idea for me
to learn more specifically what they had learned about this math subject already.
Many of them were not familiar with these concepts. Afterwards, the children did
a good job of connecting some of the concepts from the book to their own lives.
We discussed different types of clothes and the seasons that they corresponded
with.
As a whole, the students did seem really interested and focused on the
story. However, the context in which the read aloud took place was slightly
strange; the routine was not regular in the classroom as a result of having a
substitute, so the students had a much harder time focusing. This meant that I had
to spend more time than I would usually have to on classroom management
during the lesson. For the most part the students responded well to the questions
that were asked. However, next time I would make sure that I had another,
different type of activity to go along with the read aloud. I think that this would be
a better way to assess the students understanding of the story than simply having
a discussion. Next time I would also learn more about the students prior
knowledge of the subjects addressed so that I can assess them at the appropriate
level.