LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

Whitley Craig
Riverheads Elementary School
Third Grade

A. TITLE The Three Little Pigs

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON AND UNWRAPPING OF THE STANDARD
This week, we have introduced comparing and contrasting and making inferences. This
lesson seeks to give the students practice with both of these skills through the story, The
Three Little Pigs.
In the whole group component, the focus will be on expanding the students working
knowledge of making inferences. We have practiced these skill as a whole group, and
now the students will work with a partner to practice more. This will help them master
the skill:
SOL 3.5
The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional text and
poetry.
g) Draw conclusions about text
Several days prior, we began a comparing and contrasting lesson where I read The Three
Little Pigs whole group. I then met with a small group and read The True Story of the
Three Little Pigs and we compared and contrasted characters, settings, and events from
the two versions. Since my teacher only meets with one small group a day, I will
continue my comparing and contrasting lesson with the next small group. Here, the
students will work on increasing their knowledge of comparing and contrasting. We
will delve deeper into this by comparing and contrasting settings, characters, and events
of two fictional texts in order to fully meet:
SOL 3.5
The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional text and
poetry.
d) Compare and contrast settings, characters, and events.
In order to do this, they will build on their knowledge of characters, settings, and events
from the second grade standard:
Standard SOL 2.8
The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts.
e) Describe characters, setting, and important events in fiction and poetry.
i) Draw conclusions based on the text.

This lesson will continue and expand their knowledge from second grade and lessons taught
earlier this school year.
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand what are
Know what are the
the broad
facts, rules, specific data
generalizations the
the students will gain
students should begin
through this lesson?
to develop? (These are
(These knows must be
typically difficult to
assessed in your lesson.)
assess in one lesson.)
The student will
The student will know:
understand:
Comparing is finding
Any two things
similarities between
have similarities
two items.
and differences.
Contrasting is
finding differences
between two items.
Characters are the
people or animals in
a story.
Settings are where a
story takes place.
Events are what
happens in a story.

Do what are the

specific thinking
behaviors students will
be able to do through
this lesson? (These will
also be assessed in your
lesson.)
The student will:
Compare and
contrast settings,
characters, and
events of two
fictional texts.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
Objective

The student will

understand:
Any two things
have similarities
and differences.
The student will know:
Comparing is
finding similarities
between two items.
The student will know:
Contrasting is
finding differences
between two items.
The student will know:

Assessment
What documentation will you
have for each student?

Data Collected
What will your students do
and say, specifically, that
indicate each student has
achieved your objectives?
I compare and
contrast when I

Discussion of
examples of things
they compare and
contrast.

The students will

participate in
discussion.

The students will

participate in
discussion.

The students will

Comparing is
finding similarities
between two
items.
Contrasting is
finding differences
between two
items.
Characters are the

Characters are the

people or animals in
a story.
The student will know:
Settings are where
and when a story
takes place.
The student will know:
Events are what
happens in a story.
The student will:
Compare and
contrast settings,
characters, and
events of two
fictional texts.

participate in
discussion.

people or animals
in a story.

The students will

participate in
discussion.

Settings are
where and when a
story takes place.

The students will

participate in
discussion.
The students will
complete a venn
diagram of two
versions of a story.

Events are what

happens in a
story.
The students will
correctly complete
a handout
comparing and
contrasting the two
stories.

E. MATERIALS NEEDED
Chart paper
The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Compare and Contrast Venn Diagram Handout
F. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING
SOL 3.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional text and
poetry.
d. Compare and contrast settings, characters, and events.
G. PROCEDURE
(Include a DETAILED description of each step. Write what you will SAY and
DO.)
Activity Element
Procedures and management
Step-by step procedures including questions and main points
Preparation of the
Gather supplies for the activity.
Learning
Make copies of Comparing and Contrasting Texts handout.
Environment
Introduction of the
We will begin our reading lesson through a whole-group activity.
Lesson
We will begin by discussing what they know about characters,
Engaging Students
setting, and events in a story.
(MINI LESSON)
I will do this by writing each of the three words (character,
setting, and events) on the chart paper and have the students
tell me what they know.
o Characters are the people or animals in a story.
o Settings are where and when a story takes place.
o Events are what happens in a story.
I will then introduce the idea of comparing and contrasting.
I will do this by writing each of the two words on the chart

paper (compare and contrast) and have the students tell me

what they know about them.
o Comparing is finding similarities between two items.
o Contrasting is finding differences between two items.
We will then make a list of words we can use to show
o Comparing- like, same, both, similar, too, have in
common, also
o Contrasting- different, unlike. but, instead, on the other
hand, although, differ
I will then draw a venn diagram and, we will discuss how it is used to
compare and contrast two things.
The outsides are where we contrast.
The inside is where we compare.
I will tell them we are going to compare and contrast two versions of the
three little pigs story.
Instruct them to pay close attention to the characters, setting,
and events as I read.
Read The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone
Record what they gathered about the setting, characters, and events from
this story.
Tell them we will read another version, The True Story of the Three Little
Pigs, in a small group rotation. After, we will compare and contrast the
two versions through a venn diagram handout.
Implementation of the In small groups we will go deeper into our discussion of comparing and
Lesson
contrasting by reading The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
(SMALL GROUPS)
We will then compare and contrast the characters, settings, and events of
the two versions of the stories through the venn diagram handout.
I will only meet with one small group on this day, but will meet with the
others the next three days.
The groups are:
White 2.0
o ChristopWhaher, Buck, Gracie, Nicholas, Will
Red 2.0-3.0
o Tony, Mary, Landon
Pink 3.0-4.0
o Elijah, Kylee, Brady, Lilly, Zevion
Green 4.0-5.0
o Jaden, Brylee, Issac, Taylor
The rest of the groups will either be working with Mrs. Sites, listening to
reading, or reading to self.
The amount of support I give each group will depend on their levels. I
will scaffold the handout more for those who need it through questions

Closure

Clean-Up

such as:
What are the characters in this story?
What is the setting of this story?
What from this story was the same as the story we read as a whole
group?
What from this story was different from the story we read as a
whole group?
I will extend thinking of those who are able to complete it independently
through questions such as:
How are they different?
How do these differences affect the story?
How are they similar? Why?
Why do you think the author made this similar to the original
story?
Why do you think the author made this different from the original
story?
As each small group finishes, we will close by talking about how
they can use these skills as they are reading other stories sand how
comparing and contrasting helps form a deeper level of
comprehension of what they are reading.
We will also discuss how these same skills can be used in
everyday life to make decisions in things such as:
o Choosing a sport to play
o Choosing a snack
o Picking a vacation place
Students will give examples through I compare and contrast
when I
Have students stack handouts.
Clean up materials.
Recycle any paper scraps.

H. DIFFERENTIATION
I am differentiating the process of this lesson based on readiness. Everyone is
doing the same lesson, but the support I provide will be different based on the
readiness of the group I am working with. The groups ability to complete the
handout will determine if I use more guiding questions such as:
What are the characters in this story?
What is the setting of this story?
What from this story was the same as the story we read as a whole group?
What from this story was different from the story we read as a whole group?
or extension questions such as:
How are they different?
How do these differences affect the story?
How are they similar? Why?
Why do you think the author made this similar to the original story?

Why do you think the author made this different from the original
story?

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO
ABOUT IT?
During the whole group discussion, there could be hesitation in participation.
If this is the case, I will allow the students to think-pair-share. This will allow students
to bounce ideas off of one another before having to share their ideas. This could
alleviate some stress and lack of participation. On the other end of the spectrum, there
could be students who want to yell out answers during the discussion. If this is the
case, I will verbally praise and call on those who are raising their hands. This will
allow the discussion to continue without focusing on negative behaviors. Lastly,
during small groups, students may not get to finish the writing part of their handout. If
not, I will allow the students to finish it during morning work the following day. If the
students finish early with their writing, I will extend their thinking with the questions
above.