Jacquelyn Gamble

1. Lesson Name/Title: Ruby the Copy Cat Sequencing Activity

2. SOLs/Foundation Blocks
English:
1.1 Oral language
b) tell and retell stories and
events in logical order

3. Objective(s)
The student will be able
to orally identify when
events occurred in a
story.

Science:
1.1 Students will demonstrate
an understanding of
scientific reasoning
c) Objects or events are
classified and arranged
according to characteristics or
properties

The student will be able

to arrange events in the
appropriate order
according to the events
that occurred by using
scientific reasoning

History:
1.1 The student will interpret
information presented in
picture timelines and show
sequence of events.

The student will be able

to sequence several
events in the
appropriate timeline of
the story.

Technology:
K-2.1 Use a keyboard, mouse,
touchscreen, touchpad, and
other impute devices to
interact with the computer.

The students will be

able to use the
smartboard properly to
move and drag events
to the correct place on
the timeline.

4. Assessment of Objective(s)
If the student is able to orally identify where the
event occurred in the story this would show they
have an understanding of the sequence of a story
and be able to meet this objective by verbally
saying whether the event occurred in the
beginning, middle, or end of the book
As the students come up to the smartboard I will
assess to see if the student can identify based on
the event where the event should be placed in the
timeline. The student will have to think back to the
story we read and think about all the many things
that occurred in this book and use their scientific
reasoning to determine where each even should
be placed. If the student is able to correctly drag
the event to the proper place this shows an ability
to classify events based on if they occurred in the
beginning, middle, or end.
If the student is able to correctly identify the
proper place in the timeline based on the events
already placed, this student would be able to
understand how events can be placed in the time
line from the story. This objective might be met by
a student physically pointing to the appropriate
place or by verbally saying the location.
If the students after coming up to the smartboard
had little difficulty using either their finger or
pointer to drag and move events would have met
this objective.

5. Materials
For this activity you would need the book, Ruby the Copy Cat. It would also be important to have the
smartboard sequencing activity. The teacher should also have a smartboard and a pointer and stool for
children who might need to get taller to move the event blocks. Having the answer key for this activity is also a
good idea.
6. Optimal Students/Seating Arrangement for the Lesson
All students should be seated on the carpet about 2 feet away from the smartboard. Students should be in self
space and all should be able to see the smartboard. Students will also need to take turns coming up to the
smartboard, so it is important that students have some walking room in-between in which other classmates can
walk safely through.

7. Lesson Sequence
Introduction (2 minutes)
What you will do/say
After finishing reading the book Ruby the Copy Cat the
teacher would need to position her students so that
they are all facing the smartboard. There should be a
good 2 feet of empty space in front of the smartboard.
The teacher also needs to make sure that the
smartboard sequencing activity is up.
Please rotate you bodies so that you are facing the
smartboard Remember to leave about 2 feet of empty
space, so that our friends have room to use the
smartboard Once students are in correct position say,
I like how you remembered to leave space for me and
your friends Thank you
Boys and girls we are going to do a little sequencing
activity Raise your hand if you know what that word
means
If students are still not raising their hand say again,
What do you think sequencing means As a teacher
you are reinforcing whether they have thought of a
definition for this new word. Sequencing is putting
things in order So we are going to talk about what
happened in the begging of the book, what happened in
the middle, and what happened at the end of the story
Do you guys think you can help me put the events in
the right order?
If I had a student who doubted their ability and said no
I would say, I know as a class we can work together to
sequence these events
At this time the teacher should have the sequencing
activity on the board so that all students can see the
long page with the several events scrambled in the
middle of the page.

What the student(s) do/say

Sequencing is a big word and I expect many

students will not be raising their hands. If a student
does raise their hand I will call upon them and see if
they have the correct child friendly definition.

Hopefully students will feel confident in their abilities

and provide verbal affirmation that they think they
can do this task successfully.

Procedures (10 minutes) Begin the actually sequencing activity and put the events in the correct order
using the smartboard activity document.

What you will do/say

Pointing to the top of the board to the word (Beginning)
What do you think this word is? It starts with a /b/
sound
If no students attempt the word I will say, the word here
is beginning
Pointing again and the top I would say, this is the
beginning of the story
Moving my hand to the word (Middle) I would say, this
is the middle of the story
Moving my hand to the phrase (End of the story) I
would say, this is the end of the story
I would like for a volunteer to raise their hand if they
think they are ready to do this

What the student(s) do/say

It is likely that once I tell the students it starts with
a /b/ sound that one or maybe two students might
attempt to say the word.

Since students are given the opportunity to work on

a smartboard it is likely that many students will raise
their hand because they want to participate.
If no students raiser their hand I would do a sample

event placement first and demonstrate how it is

done.
Thank you (insert childs name) for raising your hand
I want you to come up here and pick one of these
events Then we are going to read it and then think in
our heads and as a class decide where we think it
should go Looking at the student I would say, please
pick one Once the event has been selected by the
student I would click the event and enlarge it just a tad
so that is a little easier to read. I would then read each
event. This one says, ruby tells the class that she
hopped over the weekend Do we think that this
happened at the beginning, the middle, or the end of
the story As I say each section of the book I would
motion to the appropriate spot on the smartboard. At
this time I could either let the student who selected the
event give his own option or let a student who is waiting
quietly give their idea.
What do you think (insert childs name)? Asking the
class say, thumbs up if you agree with (insert childs
name) that this should go between the middle and the
end this event can go between the middle and the
end Once we get some other ones we can rearrange
previous events if we need to
Turning back to student at front say, (insert childs
name) can you please drag this down towards the
bottom
As the student is dragging the item on the smartboard I
would say, I am looking for another good listener
(insert childs name) you have been sitting quietly you
may come up
As the previous student is returning to their seat the
teacher should make sure to thank each student for
their good work and participation.
To the next student I would say, Ok go ahead and pick
one tap it pick whichever one you want
Once the student has selected the event I would say,
this one says, Ruby starts to copy Angela
(insert childs name) where do you think I would go
At this part of my lesson I can evaluate whether my
students are able to identify where this event goes in
respect to on the timeline of the story. If the students
are able to correctly move the event to the appropriate
place on the timeline they would be meeting the history
objective for this lesson. Along with this section I can
identify which students are struggling using the
smartboard. Students who are able to successfully drag
and move the events to the correct place on the
smartboard would be meeting the technology objective
for this lesson.
After the student moves the event to the correct
position I would give a positive reinforcement such as
excellent job
(insert childs name) thank you for sitting quietly Ok

Students who are egger to participate will most

likely raise their hand. I would call only on students
who are sitting quietly and are simply just raising
their hands.

Students are likely to point at the place it should go

on the smartboard. Some might verbally say
beginning middle, or end. If a student does not know
where it goes I would say, why dont you pick on
one of our friends who has been a good listener and
see if they can help you out

pick one Once the student has selected the event the
teacher would again enlarge the event and read it to the
class. I would say, the class does the Ruby hop
(insert childs name) where do you think this is going to
go
I would stop and say at this point because I noticed that
there was already an event at the end. At this part of
this lesson the students will be asked to use their
scientific reasoning skills and deduct where they think
the event will go if there is already an event that is at
the end of the story. I would re-read this event with a
puzzled look on my face showing my class that I am
also using my brain and thinking. I would say, Ruby
told the class at she hopped over the weekend. What
do you think boys and girls do you think Ruby does the
hop before she tells the class or do you think that
Ruby told the class then hopped At this point in the
lesson I am wanting to see which students paid
attention to the story and can use their scientific
reasoning skills to place this event in the correct
sequence.
I would call on a student who raises their hand and say,
what do you think
If the student provides the incorrect response I would
never say, you are wrong. I would simply say, you
think, does anybody have a different idea?
At this time I would have the student at the board switch
around eh responses. I would say lets switch these
events, remember in the story first Ruby tells the class
she hopped and then the whole class did the Ruby hop
Since some of the students did struggle with re-ordering
the event I would pull out the story we just read and
show them the pictures. I would hold up the page and
point out and say, on this page ruby tells the class she
hopped I would turn to the next page and say, and
here is when the whole class did the Ruby hop As a
class we would demonstrate our reasoning skills and
show that we can figure out based on other events
where our current even should go. If a student is able to
re-order or knows that an event goes before or after an
event already on the board, we would say that this
student has meet the science objective for this lesson.
(I continue to do this activity until each event has been
placed in the correct order (there is a total of 10
events).(I had been translating my lesson verbatim from
my video recording and felt that after those specific
examples that it is obvious the kind of assistance and
scaffolding I provide my students with. I continue to
choosing good listeners to come up to the board. For
the sake of time I will skip to the review of the activity
and the closing)

For the students who really paid attention to the

story would typically be able to answer this
question. If my student correctly answered this
question and said, at the end Also if the student
verbally answered this question by saying out loud
that the event occurred at the end of the story this
would mean that this specific student was meeting
the English objective of this lesson.

Student are likely to raise their hand because they

want to answer my question
Since this question is sort of tricky for my first
graders it is very possible that some students might
have the events in the reverse order
Another student can answer and might say, ruby
tells the class and then they all do the Ruby hop

Closure (3 minutes) Check over the answers with your students and thank them for being good
listeners
What you will do/say
What the student(s) do/say
Towards the end of the activity it is likely that I will have
some behavior issues or restlessness. For those
students I would say and point to my ears while saying,
boys and girls remember I need your listening ears on Students might start to settle down. If they dont
I also need your eyes on the smartboard
I would say, boys and girls we are almost finished, you
have done such a good job, please be patient just a bit
longer
After all events have been put in order I would grab my
answer key and say, ok lets read our story and see if
we put this in the correct order Showing the answer
key I would say, there are the correct answers, so lets
see if we worked together and put it in the correct order.
Literally at this time I would read verbatim the first item
on the answer key and physical point to my answer key
and the events on the board. I would continue doing
this until all events have been read. During my lesson
we actually messed up the last two items. As I was
reading I came across a mistake at the end because of
the lack of time I was not able to fully figure out the
correct order of this event. I did refer back to the book,
however both events occurred on the same page and
as I said we ran out of time. I wish I would have had
time at the end to review the lesson on sequencing. For
this closing I would say, Fiends you did such an
excellent using your brains to think about the order of
the events in the Ruby the Copycat story Lets see if
The goal is for students to say something like,
you can remember what the word sequence means
putting things in order of when they happened
Can someone please raise their hand and tell me in
They might also say, putting things in order Both
their own words what sequencing means
answer are appropriate. If students still dont
I would say, remember sequencing is putting events in remember
order of when they happened For our activity we put
the order of events in order from beginning, middle, and
end
I would like to thank you all for doing an excellent job
sitting and participating in this activity I know you have
been sitting all morning, I really appreciate how well you
listened this morning please give yourself a round of
applause At this time I would demonstrate clapping in a
circular motion.

Students would copy me at the front of the room

and clap in a circular motion. I have seen this cheer
done several times in my placement and think the
kids enjoy this kinesthetic movement.

8. Modifications for children at different learning levels

I think one way I could have modified this lesson for my little boy who has autism is to ask him to come up to
the board. He has the mobility to be able to move items and I think as a class we could have discussed where
we think it could go. Once we made a decision I would provide any assistance for him to move the event to the
correct spot. Once we decided if it went at the beginning, middle or end I would ask him to repeat where he
place it to reinforce the different parts of the book. I think he is very capable to participate as the other students
did. However, I do not remember if he was event present at the time of this activity. I believe he was pulled out
for his speech therapy.

9. Reflections
Last Thursday I was able to implement this lesson plan and it was my first actual lesson and overall I think it
went well. I learned that I need to do a quick brain break in between activities. My students had been sitting all
morning and really needed a quick stretch before beginning this activity. I also learned that I need to allow for
about 15 minutes to complete this activity. We ended up having to rush at the end to get all events sequenced.
Some things that went well during this lesson is that almost every student had the chance to come up and use
the smartboard. The students were successful in sequencing the events. The one unexpected thing that
occurred was the difficulty getting the smartboard screen how I wanted. Another thing that happened was the
last to items occurred on the same page and when we reviewed as a class we realized the last to events
should have been switched. As a future educator I should have known the correct answers and actually used
our small mistake a valuable teaching moment that we need to make sure we pay close attention to details. If
time was permitted I would like to have had more class discussion about why this event went before or after
the current event posted. Overall I think my students enjoyed this activity; however I know that they all needed
a mental break. For the next time I teach this lesson I would make sure to give my students a quick brain break
and then talk with them more about what sequencing means and provide a better introduction of what we are
going to do. Overall though I think it went well, however, it could have been more entertaining had I added
images or let them re-watch part of this book on YouTube. I also realize looking back I should have let the
students who were not as sure look the events in the book. I know personally I step in and help too much and I
know for future lessons I need to allow for more learning to take place instead of jumping in so quick to help.
Had I had more time for the lesson I think it would have been important that I allowed each student who was at
the smartboard to answer the questions rather than randomly asking the audience to answer. If I was truly
going to asses these objectives it would be very important that I was consistent with my process.

https://vimeo.com/75173498 Feel free to view my lesson at this link

The password is rubythecopycat ( it is private since it contains images of some students)
I know you have a lot of other things on your plate. I just thought if you had time and
were interested I would provide you my actual lesson along with my lesson plan. It is a
very interesting task to create a lesson plan after the lesson.