LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

Kayla Morrissey
Kelly Cash, Kindergarten, Wilson Elementary school

TITLE OF LESSON A Read Aloud on The Rain School by: James Rumford
CONTEXT OF LESSON- I chose to use this book because it is apart of my multicultural text set. I think that this
book has the opportunity to make a lot of text to self and text to world connections. Its about kids in another country
attending school, how they get to school, and many other ideas to make comparisons about what our students
experience during the school year and what the students in the book experience. I believe that my students are ready
for this activity because at this point in the year, they are comfortable with their personal knowledge of how they get to
school in the morning, what they do during the school day and they can make many connections by talking about
themselves. This book can fit in the curriculum sequence because it is a multicultural book that we can do for our
morning read aloud time. We usually do a morning read aloud book followed by an art activity that goes with the
book.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Know: The students will learn how other kids around the world attend school.
Understand: the students will understand more about other cultures, especially the similarities and differences in
education styles.
Do: the students will know how the children in this book build their school out of natural materials, and be able to
know that education is different around the world.
COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENT DATA
The children will answer the question: What is one difference between the school in Chad and Wilson Elementary
School? The students will then go back to their seats and write a short sentence about the difference in the two schools
and draw a picture of the rain school. I will show examples in my reflections.
RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (K & 1) OR FOUNDATION BLOCKS
(Kindergarten)
Writing:
k.11: a) Print uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet independently.
k. 12: b) Draw pictures and/or use letters and phonetically spelled words to write about experiences (in this case, about
the read aloud book)
Reading:
k.9: b) Relate previous experiences to what is read.
k.9: a) Identify what an author does and what an illustrator does.
k.9: g) Discuss characters, setting, and events.
Oral Language:

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k.2 c) Use words to describe/name people, places, and things.

History and Social Science Skills:
k.1: e) comparing and contrasting people, places, or events

MATERIALS NEEDED
The Rain School by: James Rumford
For activity: Worksheets with printed lines and a space for drawing a picture, crayons, and pencils.
PROCEDURE
Preparation of learning environment:
I will pass out the worksheets on their desk before we start the read aloud so that when it is completed they can start
right away. I will make sure that their crayon boxes are on their tables.
Engagement and introduction of the lessonI will follow Mrs. Cashs routine of calendar time, which is how we start the day. We will then do an activity that will
get their wiggles out and get the kids moving. We will do one of the activities on Mrs. Cashs CD player. Next, the
kids will sit down on their respective spots on the carpet and I will start asking questions about their school. What do
you think it is made out of? Who do you think built it, adults or children? Is it sturdy?
After the first page: Where do you think the country Chad is? (Far away, close by?) It is a country in Africa, which is
across the ocean. Do you walk to school like these kids? How do you get to school?
After the page with the teacher talking about building the school: Have you ever came to school without having a
classroom? What do you think the teacher means by this is our first lesson?
After the page he gathers grass and saplings what do you think gathers means? What do you think saplings are?
After the page where they complete the school: what do you notice in the picture about the classroom? How does it
look different from our classroom?
After the page of writing the letter A: what do you think the word Strokes means? They are following the teachers
instruction and instead of using a pencil this time, they are using their fingers. Have you ever done this before?
After the page with the map of Africa: You can see here that the children are learning with different languages. Africa
is also Afrique in another language. Have you heard another language in your classroom?
After the school year flies by page: What do you think knowledge means?
Rain pagewhat do you think is happening when the strong winds are tearing at the grass roof? What do you think
happens when the walls tart to slump?
On the last page: show where the story is taking place using the map provided. What are some things you learned
about this place, and their school?

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Implementation of the lesson- We will go back to our seats and draw a picture of the rain
school and write one or two sentences about how it is different from Wilson elementary.
Examples: the school is made out of mud. The kids make the school. The roof is grass. The rain
washes the school away. The weather
Closure- What do you think about the school in Chad? Do you think it would be fun or hard to
build your school? Do you see how there are different types of schools? Lets share our
sentences! (if time)
Clean-up make sure that all crayons and pencils are put away.

DIFFERENTIATION
For differentiation, I will plan to meet the needs of all students by talking about variety in education. Since there is a
new student in our class, we can try to talk about his previous schooling experiences if possible. I will put some of the
words that the students might struggle with such as slump, saplings, and Chad on the board to discuss if possible. I
would also like to highlight some of their sight words that they will recognize to help with repetition and reinforce
those words. I will support the learning of children struggling with the objectives that things may be different for other
students by talking about my schooling, and bringing up pictures on the smartboard of schools across the world so the
students can see the diversity in education. For kids who need the extra challenge, I will have them write additional
sentences about what their school would be made out of if they could create their own school
WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
Opening of the lesson: some students might get too into the getting the wiggles out and have a difficult time calming
down for the story. I will tell them that its time to listen to the story now, and that we need to control our bodies. If
necessary, I will use class class to get their attention. When asking questions about their school to introduce the
book, I will make sure that students will raise their hands and if not then we will have to wait even longer to start the
book, which will interrupt our time to do our fun activity. If kids are shy or dont want to participate in my question, I
will use Bee bucks as a reward to get them to participate. If the kids start bringing up race, and how all the children are
African American, I will talk about how this book takes place in an African American country and that children all
over the world are unique and come from different families. I will also talk about how if they came to Wilson, they
would probably feel the same way about not seeing many people that looked similar to them. Throughout the lesson I
will keep track of behavior and reward those with good behavior by giving them bee bucks. If kids are being
disruptive, I will move them closer to myself or away from a peer that might be adding to the distracting behavior.
REFLECTION

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