Lesson Plan Template

Student: Ashley Bolin

Observation Date: 10/12/16

Site/Center: Colene Hoose

Grade: 2nd grade

Objective (s) State Standard (s)

Students will be able to describe aspects of the RL.2.5: Describe the overall structure of a story,
writers style after reading several texts by Mike including describing how the beginning introduces
Thaler. the story and the ending concludes the action.

Materials

1 copy of The Principal from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler

1 copy of The Bully from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
4 copies of The Librarian from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
Exaggeration handout

Introduction (3-5 minutes)

State the learning objective
State the rational for the
objective
Build Background
Connect to Prior Knowledge
Grab students attention
I will ask the students if they have ever been afraid of
someone they have never met or somewhere they have
never been? Maybe they had heard bad things about that
person or place from someone else. For example, maybe
they were scared to go to the dentist or the doctor. I will
ask one or two students to share their experiences. I will
ask the students whether or not their fears were real. I will
ask them how they felt afterwards. I will explain to the
students that some of the things we fear arent as bad as
we believed them to be. I will explain to the students that
we will be reading a book about a boy named Hubie and
his fear of the principal.
I will explain to the students that in order to become better
readers, readers must be able to think about the text in
different ways. One way to think about text is to think
about the authors choices- why he or she did what they
did.
I will explain to the students that today we will be learning
about an authors, Mike Thalers, writing style.

Modeling/Direct Instruction (8-10 minutes)

Explain concept, I will ask the students if they have ever heard the word
information, or vocabulary style.
directly and in detail Maybe they have heard someone talk about the style of
Demonstrate skill their clothes, or the style of their hair. I will explain to the

1

Shared Practice (3-5 minutes)
Students work in pairs or
cooperative groups to
practice, solve, or apply
skill, concept, or vocabulary
through active learning
strategies
students that we will be learning about an authors writing
style. An authors writing style is the way he or she likes to
write. I will tell the students that for the next few days we
are going to focus on the writing style of Mike Thaler. I will
tell the students that Mike Thaler writes the Black Lagoon
books.
I will tell the students that we are going to learn about one
aspect of Mike Thalers writing style- exaggeration. I will
explain to the students that Mike Thaler likes to use
exaggeration when he writes the Black Lagoon books. I
will ask for all of the students to repeat the word
exaggeration. I will explain to the students that
exaggeration is when a person says something to make
something worse, or better than it really is. For example, a
student might tell the teacher, I have been reading for
hours when it has only been 10 minutes. Another
example may be if someone says, My grandpa snores
louder than a siren of a firetruck! When we exaggerate
we may not be telling the truth, but we are trying to make
sure the other person understands what we are trying to
say. So if I said My grandpa snores louder than a siren of
a firetruck you understand that my grandpa snores very
loud.
I will ask for one or two students to share an example of a
time they have used exaggeration, someone else has used
exaggeration, or they have read a book that used
exaggeration.
I will explain to the students that we will be reading The
Principal from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler, and that I
want them to try and find examples of exaggeration while
I am reading. However, they need to keep their thoughts
in their heads unless I ask them to share.
I will read The Principal of the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
to the students. While I am reading I will ask the students
comprehension questions.
o What do you think the book will be about?
o By looking at the cover, how do you think the
character feels? Why do you think the character
feels ______?
o What is the problem in the story?
o What do you think will happen next? Why?
o What happened at the end of the story?
o How did the story make you feel? Why did the book
make you feel ______?
o What did the writer do to make the story more
interesting?
As a group, the students will identify examples of
exaggeration in The Principal from the Black Lagoon. If
needed, I will draw their attention to certain examples in the
text by either giving verbal hints or showing students
illustrations from the book. I may ask for the students to
explain why that example is an example of exaggeration.
Several examples include
o The waiting room is filled with the skeletons of
students who never came back from the principals
2

Independent Practice (2 minutes)
Students work individually
to practice, solve, or apply
skill, concept or vocabulary.
Closing (10-12 minutes)
Summarize the concept,
skill, or vocabulary learned
office. Doris Foodle was sent there for chewing gum.
They say her skeleton still has a bubble in its mouth.
o The principal uses tall kids as coatracks.
o The principal uses thin ones as bookmarks.
o The principal has a 12 foot paddle.
o The principal puts students in cages under her desk.
o She does experiments on the students. Derek Bloom
was sent there yesterday. They say he wound up with
the head of a dog. They say Freddy Jones has the
feet of a chicken, and Eric Porter, the hands of a
hamster.
After the students have practiced identifying evidence of
exaggeration in The Principal from the Black Lagoon by Mike
Thaler, the students will each be given a copy of The Librarian
from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler.
I will explain to the students that they will independently read
The Librarian from the Black Lagoon 1 or 2 times throughout
the following days. The students will be instructed to keep the
book in their book bin.
I will also give each student a handout. The handout will ask
for the students to explain what exaggeration is, and to also
give three examples of exaggeration from The Librarian from
the Black Lagoon. The students will also have an opportunity
to draw a picture of exaggeration from the book.
Throughout the following days (2 days), the students will read
The Librarian from the Black Lagoon and complete the
handout.
After 2 days, I will ask the students to meet me at the table to
discuss the book and review the concepts of exaggeration and
writing styles.
As a group we will re-read The Librarian from the Black
Lagoon. While reading, I will ask for the students to identify
any words they may have struggled with, and how they
figured out the meaning of those words. If needed, I will assist
the students.
After reading the book, I will ask the students comprehension
questions to check for understanding.
o What was the problem in the story?
o How do you think the character felt? How can you tell
that the characters felt ________?
o What happened at the end of the story?
o What lesson do you think the character learned?
o How does this book remind you of The Principal from
the Black Lagoon?
I will ask the students to explain what a writing style is. I will
allow one or two students to answer. I will rephrase or
elaborate if necessary. An authors writing style is the way he
or she likes to write.
I will then ask the students What is the one aspect of Mike
Thalers writing style we discussed? The students will answer
by stating exaggeration.
I will then review the concept of exaggeration. I will ask one or
3

Use assessment tool to
evaluate student learning
Sources:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/teacher-black-lagoon-discussion-guide
http://literarydevices.net/exaggeration/
two students to explain what exaggeration means. The
students can reference their handouts if necessary. I will
rephrase or repeat the students response if needed.
I will ask the students to share the examples of exaggeration
they found in The Librarian from the Black Lagoon. If needed I
will draw their attention to other examples.
I will have another one of Mike Thalers books, The Bully from
the Black Lagoon. I will explain to the students that since they
already know Mike Thalers writing style, maybe they can
predict what will happen in this book. I will allow one student
to share their prediction. I will explain to the students that if
they liked Mike Thalers writing style, then Mrs. Stanton has a
collection of Black Lagoon books that they can read.
Evaluation
Formative: I will ask the students comprehension questions
throughout the lesson to check for understanding.
o Checklist: I will have a category for within the text,
beyond the text, and about the text. I will have enough
room to take notes if necessary.
Summative: I will collect the completed handout about The
Librarian from the Black Lagoon and check for student
understanding of the concept taught.
o Rubric (Standards Based Grading: 1, 2, 3)