3 Aug 2017

Sample Reading Lesson Plan for Kindergarten and First Grade

Based on the book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Grades: Kindergarten, First Grade

Overview: This lesson uses Dr. Seuss’s book Green Eggs and Ham to play with words; to discuss beginning, middle, and end of a story; and to discuss the concepts of stubbornness, persistence, and acceptance.

Materials:

  • Copies of the book Green Eggs and Ham
  • Small cards or sticky notes that each have 1 of the 50 words in this book
    (a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you)
  • Chart paper & markers or crayons
  • A scrambled egg turned green with food coloring (optional)

Lesson-Specific Vocabulary Concepts:

  • Double vowel study: boat, goat, rain, good, mouse, house, train, tree, would, could
  • Short vowel study: am, and, box, fox, ham, let, thank, that
  • Rhyming: Sam, ham, boat, goat, box, fox
  • Compound words: anywhere

Preparation: Place the materials on a table to engage students’ interest in the lesson.

Instructions for Conducting the Lesson:

Step

What to do

Component Addressed

1

Place students in small groups of 2–4. Have them take turns to tell what they know about eggs and ham. Encourage them as a group to draw pictures or write words on blank pieces of paper.

Oral Language Development

2

Give the groups 8–10 of the word cards and ask them to place them in 2 or more groups any way they would like. Tell them that they need a reason for the grouping and will have to explain how they sorted the words. (This step allows you differentiate and scaffold based on your students’ reading level)

Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Oral Language Development, Comprehension

3

Give groups a chance to explain their reasons (e.g., by first letter, number of letters, words known or unknown)

Oral Language Development, Comprehension, Phonemic awareness

4

Read the book orally to the class. Then chorally re-read pages/sections of interest as a whole class. Let students pick out their favorite parts, and use those parts for the choral reading. Then create smaller groups (for example just the boys, students wearing tennis shoes, or those wearing something green) and have them read sections orally.

Fluency

5

On the board, create three columns labeled Beginning, Middle, End. As a group, discuss what happened at these different points in the story and have students come up and write or draw their ideas. Write the words “stubbornness,” “persistence,” and “acceptance” on the board. Discuss where these words can go in the columns and why.

Vocabulary, Comprehension, Oral Language Development

6

Let students work in pairs to make rhymes about food they do or do not like to eat. Give examples and then let them write and read their own.

Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency

7

Close the lesson by having students go back to the paper they wrote on/drew on at the beginning of the lesson and ask them to add things they’ve learned. You can place the papers on the wall and end with a “Museum Walk” showcasing their work.

Comprehension, Oral Language Development

Starter Discussion Questions:

Questions

Bloom’s Level / DOK Level

Are eggs normally green? What is happening on this page?

Remember / Recall & Reproduction

How does Sam try to convince him to eat his eggs?

What are some words that describe a person like Sam?

Understand / Recall & Reproduction

How many different types of punctuation are there in the story. Can you explain why they have been used?

Why does Sam want him to eat the green eggs and ham?

Apply, Analyze / Skill &Concept, Strategic Thinking

How could you encourage people to eat green eggs?

Analyze / Strategic Thinking

How did the grumpy grouch feel during the story? What’s your evidence?

Evaluate / Extended Thinking

Can you retell the story from the point-of-view from Sam-I-am?

Create / Extended Thinking