KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER PROGRAM
LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate: Kyle Moyer Date: 11/18/2019

Cooperating Teacher: Mrs. Lausch Coop. Initials:
Group Size: 21 Allotted Time: 1 hour Grade Level: Kindergarten
Subject or Topic: Social Studies and Writing Section: 932

What I’m Thankful For

I. STANDARD(s):
● CC.1.4.K.C With prompting and support, generate ideas and details to convey information that
relates to the chosen topic.
● CC.1.1.K.D Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

II. Performance Objectives:

● The students will know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills by decoding words
in the story.
● The students will convey information that relates to a chosen topic by writing things they are
thankful for on feathers.

III. Assessment/Evaluation plan:

● Formative
○ Anecdotal notes will be used to assess students phonics knowledge and writing skills.

IV. Instructional Materials:

Teacher Materials
● Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes
● text set (see resources)
● Thanksgiving themed decorations

Student Materials
● colored paper
● scissors
● glue
● pencil

V. Subject Matter/ Content:

a. Prerequisite Skills
i. Have some phonics skills
ii. Be able to write one to two word phrases
b. Key Vocabulary
i. Thanksgiving
ii. Turkey
iii. Thankful
c. Big Idea
i. What are you thankful for?
d. Content
i. Gather the students on the carpet. The lesson will begin with a reading of Thanks for
Thanksgiving. As the story is being read, the teacher will prompt students to sound
out and pick out sounds they hear (beginning or ending sounds). Also, the teacher
will ask the students to raise their hand at the end of each page if they are thankful
for something similar. After reading the book the teacher will have the students help
spell out the words Thanksgiving and turkey. This will lead into the activity that the
students will be doing which is making turkeys to show what they are thankful for.
Students will write one word on a feather that is of something they are thankful for.
The students will have a text set they can go to to gain ideas and see what the
 characters in the stories are thankful for. After making the turkeys, the students will
return to the carpet and have a chance to share something they wrote. After sharing,
the teacher will end the lesson by telling the students that right outside the class there
will be a tree that will become the class thankful tree. There will be leaves for the
students to write down something anytime they feel thankful for something during
class.

VI. Implementation:
A. Introduction:
1. Have text set and decorations in place before starting lesson
2. Gather students on the carpet for a read aloud
3. “Today we will be learning the meaning behind a certain holiday that is coming up. Does anyone have an
idea of what this holiday is?”
a. Thanksgiving
4. (Use whiteboard) “Let’s spell the word Thanksgiving.”
a. have the students sound out the word and spell it providing assistance when needed
5. “Who thinks they know the meaning behind Thanksgiving.”
a. about giving thanks
6. Begin read aloud of Thanks for Thanksgiving
a. “After we finish each page I want you to raise your hand if you can give thanks to what was read.”
b. Pg. 2 - “Why do the leaves change color in Autumn?”
c. Pg. 3 - “What do you love about school?”
d. Pg. 5 - “What is the beginning sound in the word slides? End sound?”
e. Pg. 7 - “What is the end sound in the word soft?”
f. Pg. 9 - “Let’s try to spell the word thanks?”
g. Pg. 11 - “What are some things that you do with your Mommy or Daddy?”
h. “Turn and talk with your neighbor what you love most about Thanksgiving.”

B. Development:
1. “When you think about Thanksgiving food probably comes to mind. What is one thing that most of you
probably eat at Thanksgiving dinner?”
a. turkey
2. “Turkey seems like a difficult word to spell but I think you can do. Let’s try to spell it!”
3. “Today we will be making turkey’s that show what we are thankful for.”
4. Have students return to their seats
5. Pass out brown colored paper
6. “In order to make our turkey’s we will need to trace our hands. Has anyone ever traced their hand before?”
a. have students come up to the whiteboard to demonstrate how this action is done
7. “If you need help tracing your hand you can ask someone at your table to help.”
8. Give students 3-4 minutes to trace their hands
9. “The feathers for our turkey’s will have one word on each that is of something you are thankful for. It can
be anything you feel thankful for having in your life.”
10. Model for the students how to do this by tracing your hand on a brown piece of paper and writing four
things you are thankful for on the feathers. Talk and think out loud for the students to see and hear how
they should be working.
11. “There are four different colored feathers that you can choose from. You only need four feathers for your
turkey. You will then glue the feathers on your four fingers with your thumb being the turkey’s head.”
12. Call tables over one by one to choose their four feathers
13. “I’m sure some of you noticed but on the back counter there are books that you can look at while you work
or read when you are finished. These books will help you come up with ideas of things you are thankful
for.”
14. Before students begin working review the directions and make sure everyone understands
15. As students work walk around conferring with students and take anecdotal notes of the students phonics
knowledge and writing skills.
16. For students who finish fast give them the option to make another turkey, read a book from the text set, or
work on their place mat activity.

C. Closure:
1. Call students back to the carpet with their turkey’s
2. Allow students to stand in front of the group to share what they are thankful for
3. “Outside the class there is a tree that has no leaves at all. It is very lonely. This will be our Thankful Tree.
 Anytime you feel thankful for something during class, keep it in your head and when you have free time
grab a leaf by the door and write it down on the leaf. Put your leaf in the bin next to the blank leaves.”
a. show students where they can find the leaves and where to place them
b. Review with students that they should not get up during a lesson or while a teacher is talking to do
this. Only when there is free time.
4. “We will continue to put leaves on our tree till Thanksgiving so make as many leaves as possible.”

D. Accommodations / Differentiation:
● For HU. HI, and KA write their feather words on a separate piece of paper for them to copy. On the leaves
allow them to write words in their native language.
● For fast finishers such as CO, GR, and AB there will be extension activities for them to do.

VII. Reflective Response:

A. Report of Students’ Performance in Terms of States Objectives:

*Note this section is completed during field placements.

Overall the students loved the whole lesson. It was a lot of fun for them and they really enjoyed seeing the
room decorated and the text set in the back. As for the activity, there was no graded assessment but rather
anecdotal notes. For the first skill 3 of the 21 students had some errors in their writing. Two of them were
cases of mirroring letters, while the third did not attempt to write and words. The second was very easy for
the students because it was a skill that has been practiced for numerous days beforehand. However, there
were two students that needed some assistance on picking out these sounds. For remediation the students
that struggled will get some one on one time and really focus on sounding out words and going over the
alphabet to see how letters should be formed.

B. Personal Reflection
1.Teacher-focused open-ended questions written before lesson is taught.
● Was my lesson effective in teaching the meaning of Thanksgiving?
● Were the students engaged and entertained by the activity?
● Was my text set liked by the students?
● How can I improve my lesson?

2. Reflective narrative response to questions recorded after lesson is taught.

● My lesson did a good job getting the basic point of Thanksgiving across. After reflecting with the
students they could tell me the basic point of Thanksgiving.
● The students were very engaged and were on their best behavior throughout the whole lesson.
● The students loved the text set. This is something they don’t get too often so they all wanted to
explore it right away.
● I feel like I could have added more content into my lesson. I tried to keep it simple since they are
only in Kindergarten but I could have added more content to give them a deeper meaning.

Resources (APA Reference List (must include web addresses, title, author, publisher, dates, etc. for all items used to create
lesson; APA formatting guidelines may be found at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ )

Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Blueprint™

Compelling 2) What does it mean to be thankful?

Question
 

Content Angle  1a) CC.1.4.K.C With prompting and support, generate ideas and details to convey
-Theme/Standard( information that relates to the chosen topic.
s) CC.1.1.K.D Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding
 words.

Staging the 7) What is the holiday coming up that we celebrate?

Question/Hook

Supporting Question 1 Supporting Question 2 Supporting Question 3

4) What is the meaning of 4) What is something you are thankful 4) Why are people
Thanksgiving? for? thankful for different
things?

Formative Performance Task Formative Performance Task Formative

Performance Task

6) Turn and talk with neighbors 6) Making a turkey with four things they 6) Writing on leaves for
are thankful for the class Thankful Tree
 

Featured Sources Featured Sources Featured Sources

5) Thanksgiving Day by Gail 5) Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes 5) The Littlest Pilgrim by
Gibbons Brandi Dougherty
Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems by
Lee Bennett Hopkins Thanks for Thanksgiving
by Julie Markes
Thanksgiving Day by Anne
Rockwell

Culminating Argumen 3a) Students will gather ideas from sources to form their own
t things they are thankful for.
Performance Task
 

Extension 8 optional

 
 Taking Informed Understand:
Action

Assess:

Act:

What’s Your Content Angle?

1b) In Julie Markes book Thanks for Thanksgiving, the purpose of Thanksgiving is explored. Julie
Markes portrays the message of giving thanks in a very effective way by stating on each page
something the character is thankful for. The book ends with the whole family gathered around the
table and the character being thankful for that. This book will have the students explore what they
are thankful for in their lives. The inquiry will have the students decide on four things they are
thankful for using this text and others.

List Your Argument Stems

3b)

1.   You can be thankful for anything that makes you happy. It takes time to figure this out.

2.  There are some things that you will be thankful for that other people will not be thankful for.

3.   It is important to share with people what you are thankful for.

 
References
1. Dougherty, Brandi. (2008). The Littlest Pilgrim. New York, NY. Scholastic.
 Genre/Form: Fiction
Suggested grade level: PreK-K

2. Elliott, Laura Malone. (2013). Thanksgiving Day Thanks. New York, NY. Scholastic.

Genre/Form: Fiction
Suggested grade level: K-3

3. Gibbons, Gail. (1983). Thanksgiving Day. New York, NY. Holiday House.

Genre/Form: Nonfiction/ picture book

Suggested grade level: K-1

4. Hopkins, Lee Bennett. (2010). Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems. New York, NY. Margaret K.
McElderry Books.

Genre/Form: Fiction/ poetry

Suggested grade level: 3-7

5. Livingston, Myra Cohn. (1985). Thanksgiving Poems. New York, NY. Holiday House.

Genre/Form: Fiction/ poetry

Suggested grade level: PreK-3
 6. Markes, Julie. (2004). Thanks for Thanksgiving. New York, NY. Scholastic.

Genre/Form: Fiction
Suggested grade level: PreK-3

7. Metzer, Steve. (2011). Give Thanks for Each Day. New York, NY. Scholastic.

Genre/Form: Fiction
Suggested grade level: PreK-K

8. Rockwell, Anne. (1999). Thanksgiving Day. New York, NY. Harper Collins.

Genre/Form: Fiction
Suggested grade level: K-3

9. Watson, Wendy. (1991). Thanksgiving at Our House. New York, NY. Clarion Books.

Genre/Form: Fiction
Suggested grade level: 1-2

Critical Review of 5 books

Title: The Littlest Pilgrim

Author: Brandi Dougherty
Illustrator: Kristen Richards
Genre/ form: Fiction
Suggested grade level: PreK-K

Description/Critique:
This book is about a little girl, Mini, and how she wanted to be extra helpful one day. She went around to
many different people in her village, such as her family and neighbors. Everyone turned down or ignored Mini’s
help since she is only a little girl. Mini felt very sad by this and eventually decided to go pick berries from the
bushes on her way home. When she stopped to pick berries she noticed another young girl just like her. Mini tried
talking to her but the girl did not respond but that did not stop Mini from giving her some berries and making a new
friend. The illustrations in this book are very well done and it makes it relatable for younger children. Even though
the story takes place from when settlers first came to the United States, students will be able to connect with Mini
and the little girl.
I used this book to help students think about something they are grateful for. Many students first coming
into Kindergarten may not know anyone in their school. It can be scary. So many students will understand what it is
like to make new friends when everyone else is telling you to go away.

Title: Thanksgiving Day

Author: Gail Gibbons
Illustrator: Gail Gibbons
Genre/ form: Nonfiction/ picture book
Suggested grade level: K-1

Description/Critique:
This book is a nonfiction story of the first Thanksgiving. It begins by talking about the Pilgrims first
coming to settle in what is now the United States. When they first arrived there was nothing here and they had to
start civilization from scratch. However, the Pilgrims eventually met the Native Americans and learned the ways of
the land. The Pilgrims wanted to to have a feast from a good harvest and invited the Native Americans. This day
became known as Thanksgiving and the day is meant to express what you are thankful for. The one thing that I felt
could change about the book was Native Americans were referred to as Indians but we now know that it culturally
wrong.
I used this book since it relates to the standard CC.1.4.K.C. The students will learn the purpose of
Thanksgiving and have a better understanding of why we celebrate the holiday. Since the students had to think of
things they are thankful for, this book will be a good starting point. They will be able to see that even when people
had no technology or cars or the houses we have now, there is always something to be thankful for.

Title: Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems

Author: Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrator: David Diaz
Genre/ form: Fiction/ poetry
Suggested grade level: 3-7

Description/Critique:
This was a book of poems that went through the seasons. It begins with Spring and ends with Winter. Each
poem is unique to the season it is in. There is also a wide variety of poems. It is not one style throughout the whole
book. The illustrations add a pleasant feel to the book because they are not too overwhelming but draw in your eye
and make you want to see the next page.
I wanted poetry included in my text set because it was something my class has yet to be introduced to. It’s
purpose was to have the students think more creatively. In Kindergarten the students are in the early stages of
writing but I wanted to have them see different forms of writing so they could include it in future writings while also
getting more ideas for things they can be thankful for.

Title: Thanks for Thanksgiving

Author: Julie Markes
Illustrator: Doris Barrette
Genre/ form: Fiction
Suggested grade level: PreK-3

Description/Critique:
This book is about a kid sharing what they are thankful for in their life. It begins with thanking
Thanksgiving but then the character shares other things they are thankful for. It ends with the whole family gathered
around the table for Thanksgiving. This book was perfect to be the main focus for the lesson. With it being an easy
read for the class to understand and the illustrations being relatable. Each page began the same with a form of thank
you. As I read the book to the class they raised their hand if what was on the page was something they were thankful
for.
I used this book because it also related to the standard CC.1.4.K.C and CC.1.1.K.D. After reading the book,
the students had a much better understanding of the purpose of Thanksgiving and understood what it meant to give
thanks. The students explored this idea further by turning and talking with their neighbor throughout the book to
share something they are thankful for. Also, while reading the book I had the students stretching and sounding out
words. I focused on the words they might use on their activity since it had some purpose behind and I could still
teach the concept of spelling words.
Title: Thanksgiving Day
Author: Anne Rockwell
Illustrator: Lizzy Rockwell
Genre/ form: Fiction
Suggested grade level: K-3

Description/Critique:
This book took place in a class that looks to be Kindergarten or First grade. It talked about the first
Thanksgiving and how the holiday came to be. The unique aspect to this story however, was the way the story took
place. The students were shown acting out different parts of the first Thanksgiving such as making hats the Pilgrims
and Native Americans wore, the MAyflower crossing the ocean, and how the people hunted and gathered food. All
of this made the story feel real. On some of the pages it shared what the characters were thankful for which was
perfect for having the students think in a deeper manner about what they are thankful for.
I chose this book because I felt it was another great book to show why we should be thankful in our lives
and how it can be for anything at all. Children need to learn from a young age that being thankful is something that
just happens but we should show it so other people can know how you feel. It is an important stepping stone to kids
being more social and expressive in their social life.

Appendix

Student Are the students letters Can the student recognize Did the student spell
formed correctly? beginning and end sounds? their words correctly?

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Display
 For my text set display I kept it festive to the holiday. The display was set up on the back counter so every
student could have access to it. All the students loved how it looked and if they were showing great behavior they
could take the owls back to their seat for a reading buddy. I also put placemats at all the students seats to resemble a
Thanksgiving feast.

Teacher Example and Student Examples