Madeline Smith Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Bear Tavern Elementary School Time: approx.1:30

First Grade
Mrs. Weidman
Mardi Gras
Lesson Topic: The teacher will introduce the students to the holiday of Mardi Gras.

Essential Question: What is Mardi Gras? Where is it celebrated? What are some Mardi
Gras traditions?

Standards:
6.2.E.2. Identify traditions and celebrations of various cultures.
CCSS.RI.1.1. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
CCSS.RI.1.3. Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces
of information in a text.
Learning Objectives and Assessments:

Learning Objectives Assessments

The students will be able to locate where The students will locate the celebration by placing
Mardi Gras is celebrated. a purple sticky note on New Orleans, Louisiana.

The students will be able to describe what The students will be informally assessed based on
they learned about Mardi Gras traditions. whole-group discussion and by their journal
entries.

Materials:
Mardi Gras! by Suzanne M. Coil
Purple sticky note
Plastic water bottles
Purple, green, and yellow paint
Beans
Glitter
Sequins/gems
Beads
Paper plates
Feathers
Popsicle sticks
Glitter glue

Prior Knowledge: The students will have been introduced to Mardi Gras in the opening
lesson plan.

Lesson Beginning: The teacher and students will read the daily letter from Titus on
Mardi Gras. The students will place a purple sticky note on New Orleans, Louisiana (for
the purpose of this lesson, the students and teacher will focus on learning about New
Orleans traditions of Mardi Gras).

Instruction Plan:
1. The teacher will call the students to the reading rug for a read-aloud of selected
passages from Mardi Gras! by Suzanne M. Coil. The students will be reminded
to look for important new information as they read along.
2. The teacher and the students will review the information they learned in the
reading. The teacher will make an informal chart by writing the childrens ideas
on the whiteboard.
3. The students will be separated into two pre-determined groups. They will make
Mardi Gras shakers and masks with a teacher in two different stations.
1. Shakers
1. The students will receive an empty plastic water bottle.
2. They will paint the water bottle purple, green, or yellow.
3. They will fill the water bottle with beans or beads to make a
shaker.
4. Depending on time, students can decorate their water bottle with
glitter or sequins.
ii. Masks
1. The students will receive a paper plate. They may use the whole
paper plate, or cut the paper plate in half.
2. The students will cut out holes for the eyes and mouth.
3. The students will paint their masks purple, green, or yellow.
4. The students will glue feathers to the top of the mask.
5. The students will glue a popsicle stick to the bottom of the mask.
6. The students may decorate their mask with glitter glue, sequins, or
gems.
b. Each station will have 5-10 minutes to complete their craft.
c. The students will return to their desks and write a response to the days lesson in
their journals on what they learned.

Differentiation: The teacher will provide examples of the crafts for the student if asked
to promote creativity and imagination. The teacher will assist struggling students in the
journal responses.

Questions: What is Mardi Gras? Where is it celebrated? What are some important
traditions of Mardi Gras? What are the colors of Mardi Gras?

Classroom Management: The students will be called individually, by table group, or by

activity group for classroom management. Teachers will observe the lesson to assist in
the crafts. A teacher will be at each craft station. Distracted students will be reminded of
the classroom rules.

Transitions: The teacher will signal transitions from each activity using attention-
grabbing signals (the chime, clapping, lights, etc.). The teacher will have materials
readily available in each station.
Closure: The students will discuss their journal entries with a partner at their table.