Apr 4 - Observation Lbd

Lesson Plan: “The Cat’s Pajamas” Write/Draw Grades: K/1 Big Ideas

Subject: English Language Arts Kindergarten and Grade 1:  

Learning Standards

Unit: Writing and Representing

Language and story can be a source of creativity and joy. Stories and other texts can be shared through pictures and words.

Kindergarten: -

-

Curricular Competencies:  Comprehend and connect (reading, listening, viewing): o Use developmentally appropriate reading, listening, and viewing strategies to make meaning. o Explore foundational concepts of print, oral, and visual texts. o Engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to develop understanding of self, identity, and community. o Use personal experience and knowledge to connect to stories and other texts to make meaning.  Create and communicate (writing, speaking, representing): o Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding. o Use language to identify, create, and share ideas, feelings, opinions, and preferences. o Create stories and other texts to deepen awareness of self, family, and community. Content:  Story: o Structure of story  Strategies and processes: o Reading strategies o Oral language strategies o Metacognitive strategies o Writing processes  Language features, structures, and conventions: o Concepts of print o Phonemic and phonological awareness o Letter formation

Grade 1: -

Curricular Competencies:  Comprehend and connect (reading, listening, viewing): o Use developmentally appropriate reading, listening, and viewing strategies to make meaning. o Use foundational concepts of print, oral, and visual texts.

-

Lesson Focus Questions Materials

Procedure Introduction (15 min.)

o Engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to develop understanding of self, identity, and community. o Use personal experience and knowledge to connect to stories and other texts to make meaning. o Recognize the structure and elements of story.  Create and communicate (writing, speaking, representing): o Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding. o Identify, organize, and present ideas in a variety of forms. o Create stories and other texts to deepen awareness of self, family, and community. o Communicate using letters and words and applying some conventions of Canadian spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Content:  Story/text: o Elements of story o Literary elements and devices o Vocabulary to talk about texts  Strategies and processes: o Reading strategies o Oral language strategies o Metacognitive strategies o Writing processes  Language features, structures, and conventions: o Concepts of print o Print awareness o Phonemic and phonological awareness o Letter formation o Sentence structure o Conventions      

How can we best represent our ideas through writing and drawing? How can we use our imagination to create a story of our own? Picture book: “The Cat’s Pyjamas” by Catherine Foreman Blank lined writing paper with cat drawing for all students Pencils and erasers Sticky-notes

1. At the carpet area, get the students’ attention and explain it is time for a story and a journal write/draw activity. 2. Show them the book “The Cat’s Pyjamas” by Catherine Foreman. Ask if any students know the story and take a few responses from students

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

with raised hands. Ask the students who don’t know the story what they think it might be about, and take a few student responses. Before beginning the read-aloud, remind the class to listen and look very carefully as they will be doing their write/draw activity based on the story. Read the story, pausing for some questioning where appropriate. (I.e. What do you notice about the cat’s dreams and his pajamas? Do you notice any rhyming in this story? Why couldn’t the cat sleep in the end?) After reading the story, introduce the write/draw activity. Show them the blank page with the cat sketch. Explain that they will each think of a theme for their cat’s pajamas and draw this idea. Then they will draw what his dream will be about. Grade 1’s will write about the cat’s pajamas and dream in at least 3 simple sentences/ideas. Brainstorm and share, asking a few students for ideas/suggestions of what they might draw and write about for their cat. Review these expectations for the write/draw activity: o Neatly print their name at the top of their page o All students will sketch their drawings first using pencil o All students will use at least 5 different colours in their drawing and do their best colouring job without rushing o Kindergarten students are to add some letters to label their ideas in their picture. I will encourage them to challenge themselves to sound out some words or simple sentences. o Grade 1 students are to sound out (at least) 3 sentences/ideas and to print neatly on the lines below their drawing. Dismiss the students to their table spots and pass out the pages.

Body of Lesson (25 min.)

1. As students work on this write/draw activity, circulate amongst them and make sure students are remaining on-task. Help any students who require further explanation or some encouragement with getting started. Give out any further whole-class instruction on the activity if it seems to be needed. Help Kindergarten students with sounding out letters and words as needed. Encourage Grade 1 students to try sounding out words on their own first. Carry out some formative assessment of students’ ability to sound out letter sounds independently, and to accurately write/draw what has been asked.

Closure (5 min.)

1. Closure of the lesson will take place as each individual student finishes their work and comes to have it checked by me. As students finish, they will line up at the big yellow table for me to check their work. Here, I will have them read their writing to me or tell me about their picture. I will record their ideas on a sticky note to add to the back of their work. I will ask the student to make any necessary additions to their work if they haven’t finished (i.e. Grade 1’s having less than 3

Sponge Activity

sentences/ideas). As students finish they will be asked to do a sight word hunt using a mini whiteboard with this week’s sight words. Then they may go to books and puzzles. As students finish their write/draw activity and have their work checked by me, they will be dismissed to do a whiteboard sight word hunt around the classroom, followed by books and puzzles.

Assessment

Observational: Carry out some formative observation/conversation/ questioning at the carpet with the students while reading the story and following the story. Carry out some further formative assessments as the students work, and as the students have their work checked by me and read me their writing/tell me about their picture. Through these observations and interactions with students, I will be looking for which Kindergarten students are able to independently add letters to their drawings based on the correct letter sounds. I will also look for which Grade 1 students are able to independently sound out words for their writing, and which are able to record 3 simple sentences/ideas. This will help inform which students need more targeted instruction with phonemic awareness and with writing.

Specific Learner Considerations and Adaptations

Some students will struggle more with the steps and expectations of this activity than others. I will strive to assist all students and to encourage them to be independent and to try their best. Students H, A, R, and P, I anticipate may need some extra encouragement with thinking of an idea for their cat’s pajamas. Students A, M, H, & R may need some extra encouragement with remaining on-task throughout the activity, and may need to be moved to the big yellow table to focus. I will be aware of these students and all students, and be prepared to give them extra assistance and encouragement as needed.

Observation – April 4th, 2019 Lesson – K/1 English Language Arts I began my observation of Ms. Buchmann’s K/1 class around 10:50 am. Students were seated on their carpet spot listening to Ms. Buchmann read them a story. They were clearly engaged. They were quiet and attentive as Ms. Buchmann was reading. What became immediately apparent was Ms. Buchmann’s tone and delivery of the story being read. She read to capture the context of her audience using an appropriate pace and prosody, and made efforts to do picture ‘sweeps’ so students could capture the images more so. During this time, students eagerly asked questions. One made a connection to the one central character and how this reminded him of his grandparent. Ms. Buchmann was quick to point out that this was an excellent connection which was a great way to share this strong reading strategy. Ms. Buchmann did an

excellent job controlling the questions that came her way and maintained her control of reading the story along the way. Students remained seated on their coloured ‘dot spots’ during this time. These spots were a part of a coloured carpet in Ms. Buchmann’s room which is strategically used for classroom management. Ms. Buchmann utilized this classroom management fixture well! Around 10:57, Ms. Buchmann concluded the story and started her lesson. The story that Ms. Buchmann read to her class focused on a cat and his (or her) pajamas. Whatever pajamas the cat wore to bed, it would subsequently dream about afterwards. Ms. Buchmann used a prepared whiteboard with a template that students would be using. This was excellent anticipatory preparation. Students were tasked with reflecting on their understanding of the story by presenting their comprehension via a visual. Ms. Buchmann clearly demonstrated her expectations of what she wanted her students to do by providing a verbal explanation in congruency with a visual exemplar. In this way Ms. Buchmann was ‘hitting’ many different learning intelligences. Amidst this she also differentiated her expectations for both her K and Gr. 1 students. K students were tasked to draw a picture (or a collage of pictures) on their predrawn cat. They were then to visualize what the cat would be dreaming of and transfer this to the background of their paper. They were then supposed to draw out simple words or letters (depending on their ability level and confidence) on the lines below the image. Gr. 1’s were supposed to do all the same, except they were required to write three simple sentences that described their image in as much detail as possible. What was also explained by Ms. Buchmann was what students needed to do after they were finished. Again, another example of Ms. Buchmann’s excellent preparation. Around 11:05, students took to the task by sitting in their table groups. I took notice that Ms. Buchmann had placed post-it notes in the story she was reading as a means of stopping to question students as she was reading. This was excellent preparation on her part. Students were highly engaged with the activity. They enjoyed the task and knew exactly what was expected of them. During the activity, Ms. Buchmann checked in with every student and provided positive and supportive feedback along the way. This was a great example of Ms. Buchmann not only being a supportive presence for her students but also doing ‘check-in’s’ during the activity. This was an excellent use of formative assessment. Around 11:20 when students were finishing their work they did, in this order, a Sight Word Hunt and puzzle when the hunt was completed. The classroom was very busy but it had a structured flow to it. Student knew exactly what was expected of them.

Feedback for discussion 

Extend discussion during story reading time. Encourage students to provide personal connections to the story if they are able to.

Comments Overall Once again, Ms. Buchmann demonstrated many strong pedagogical practices during my observation. Her lesson planning was thorough and sequential and revealed a clear understanding and sense of differentiated instruction to both K and Gr. 1 students. It was clear throughout the lesson that Ms. Buchmann had a strong control of her classroom and her students. This revealed a capable classroom management set. From being situated on the ‘dot spot’ carpet, to organizing her instruction to prepare for students working on their assignment, to what they would do when they finished, clearly revealed that Ms. Buchmann had managed her classroom before she even began instructing! This was impressive to see. Students really seemed to enjoy the assignment. During the activity, not one student reveal a resistance to visualizing their thinking or (most impressively) writing their thoughts on paper. Students were immersed in what they were doing and seemed to find joy within it. This enjoyment was coupled with Ms. Bucmann’s positive and constructive feedback she provided to her students along the way. Ms. Buchmann was attentive to all of her students’ needs and made efforts to support them along the way. This was also an excellent use of formative assessment done on the spot. I observed Ms. Buchmann doing mental checks on how her students were progressing of which she later then conferenced with students individually before she released them to do their Sight Word Hunt and puzzle. Ms. Buchmann had a strong control over her classroom at all times. She was confident during her instruction and caring and responsive to the needs of her students at all times.