Intern Name: Delaney Estes
Lesson Title (Subject/Topic): SEL Fictional Story: “The Dot”
Grade: Kindergarten
Length of Lesson: one hour
Date Taught: 05-27-21
Overview
Standards of
Learning
Essential Questions
LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE
In this lesson…
The students will demonstrate comprehension of the fictional text, “The Dot.”
The students will demonstrate growth in the use of oral language through
“Heggerty.”
Reading
● The students will demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts
○ K.9: b) relate previous experiences to what is being read.
○ K.9: d) begin to ask and answer questions about what is being
read.
○ K.9: g) discuss characters, settings, and events.
Oral Language
● The students will demonstrate growth in the use of oral language
○ K.1: b) Participate in a variety of oral language activities
including choral and echo speaking and recitation of short
poems, rhymes, songs, and stories with repeated word order
patterns.
- What is a fictional story?
- A fictional story is a story that is not based on real events.
- What is Confidence? Self-Esteem?
- Confidence means feeling sure of yourself and your abilities.
- Self-esteem comes from having confidence in one’s self.
- What did Vashti (main character in “The Dot”) learn from her
experience?
- The only way to be good at something is to give it a try.
- How did believing in Vashti as a teacher help Vashti?
- The teacher helped her boost her confidence.
- Who are the characters?
- Vashti, Vashti’s teacher, the boy
- What is the setting?
- The classroom, an art gallery
- What happened in the beginning? Middle? End?
- Beginning: Vashti was upset that she could not draw. Then her
teacher came over to her desk and persuaded her to draw a dot
and sign the painting.
- Middle: Vashti now had this new confidence that her teacher
helped her gain. Due to this, she started practicing painting
multiple dots in many different colors and signing all of them.
- End: While Vashti was admiring her paintings of dots in a
gallery, a boy came up and complimented all of them to her. He
continued by saying how he could never be an artist. Vashti did
Adapted from the Teacher Cadet Curriculum, Property of CERRA—South Carolina © 2004, and/or the Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow Curriculum
John M. Merritt, English Teacher at Kellam High School (Virginia Beach City Public Schools)
 the same as her teacher and had the boy draw then sign the
drawing. This gave him a new found confidence as well.
- What is a caption?
- A caption is what describes a painting/drawing
Students will be able to understand and unlock their own creativity,
confidence, and growth inside of them by creating their own pictures.
Objectives Students will be able to acknowledge the characters, settings, and events of
the fictional story, “The Dot.”
I can show growth through my oral language skills in heggerty.
Learning Target I can demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts.
I can create my own picture and sign it to show creativity.
Necessary Prior Familiarity with fictional stories and the finger method of recognizing the
plot.
Knowledge
Materials Blank sheet of pencil, crayons/other coloring materials
The students will start the day with heggerty practice, where they can continue
Introduction/Hook to grow through their oral language skills.
❖ Heggerty
➢ Students will practice their oral language skills as a class.
❖ Music Dance Break
❖ “The Dot” by Peter H Reynolds
➢ Students will listen to the fictional story.
➢ Students will answer and ask questions during/after the story to
develop comprehension.
Instructional ❖ “The Dot” Activity
➢ Students will create their own masterpiece and sign it once they
Activities & are done to unlock creativity, confidence, and growth in
Strategies themselves.
➢ ***Reminder: There has to be at least as many colors as your
age!
❖ Exit Ticket
➢ On the back of the drawing, write down a caption that can
describe the drawing on the front.
❖ Finish the lesson with a whole group discussion on the overall story and
experiences
Key Vocabulary or Fictional, Characters, Setting, Plot (Beginning, Middle, End), Creativity,
Confidence, Caption
Concepts
Exit Ticket:
Assessments - On the back of the drawing, write down a caption that can describe the
drawing on the front.
If there is time, have a final class discussion about the overall story and past
Closure Activity experiences.
Accommodations ● Google translate for ESL students and one on one learning
Virginia Doe Website, Fictional Story: “The Dot” →
Resources https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clpw7PG7m1Q
Adapted from the Teacher Cadet Curriculum, Property of CERRA—South Carolina © 2004, and/or the Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow Curriculum
John M. Merritt, English Teacher at Kellam High School (Virginia Beach City Public Schools)
Reflection on a Lesson Plan Taught
Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow
Intern Name: Delaney Estes
Lesson Title (Subecjt/Topc): SEL Fictional Story: “The Dot”
Date of Lesson Taught: 05-27-21
Cooperating Teacher & School
Grade: Mrs. Cholish, Cooke Elementary School, Kindergarten
Time of Day: 9:20-10:20

1. What steps did you go through to create this lesson? With whom did you talk, discuss, or edit your lesson?
The first step I took was to talk to my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Cholish. By talking to her, I was able to get
all of the information I needed on what lesson plans usually look like on a daily basis in her classroom. This
gave me a good idea of what I wanted to create my lesson plan around. Once I figured out what I wanted to
teach, I was able to put together my lesson plan template. I finished the template and sent it to my
cooperating teacher right away to get her opinion and any suggestions she had. After this, I put together a
slideshow for the day I taught my lesson. I sent the slideshow to my cooperating teacher and then made a
procedure list that would remind me to add in anything during the lesson.

2. How did the SOLs and Objectives help focus your instruction?
The SOLs and Objectives helped me focus my instruction under one overall topic that way the lesson
wouldn’t be scattered all over the place. I work best under organization, so it helped me when I was able to
list out each objective.

3. What parts of the instructional plan worked as you anticipated?

I thought that the discussion with the story that was read worked as I anticipated and their oral language
learning, heggerty, worked as anticipated as well.

4. What, if any, adjustments needed to be made once you began?

I think that the lesson went very well and if I did make any adjustments, then I maybe would have added
another assignment for the students at the end because it was so much fun that I wanted it to last even
longer.

5. How well did you anticipate the materials needed?

I anticipated the materials needed well, all the students needed were coloring materials and a blank sheet of
paper.

6. How effective was the assessment you chose to use? (If no assessment was used, what will the future
assessment be and how will you gauge its effectiveness?)
For the assessment portion, I ended the lesson with a final discussion on the overall story and meaning to
the story. I also had the students create their own captions that could describe their artwork.

Adapted from the Teacher Cadet Curriculum, Property of CERRA—South Carolina © 2004, and/or the Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow Curriculum
John M. Merritt, English Teacher at Kellam High School (Virginia Beach City Public Schools)
7. To what degree do you feel that this lesson was a success? What evidence do you have for the success of
the lesson? (Hint: Student learning is the key to a lesson’s success!)
I do believe that the lesson was a success because all of the students were able to discuss with me at the
end of the lesson what the story was about and any other information that they thought was important to
add.

8. How did the time spent preparing for your lesson contribute to its success?
The time spent definitely contributed to its success because I made sure that I made an extra document
that listed out the procedure I would go through throughout the lesson. I did this because my cooperating
teacher seems to have done this before and it helps remind you what questions you should ask to the
students during the story.

9. If you could do this lesson again with the same students, would you do anything differently? If so, what?
If I could do the same lesson again with the same students, I would probably try to add in a different type of
assessment just to test options out and see what the students are capable of.

10. Any last comments/reflections about your lesson?

Overall, I thought the lesson went exactly as planned or even better and it was very nice to have my
cooperating teacher supporting me throughout the lesson.

Adapted from the Teacher Cadet Curriculum, Property of CERRA—South Carolina © 2004, and/or the Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow Curriculum
John M. Merritt, English Teacher at Kellam High School (Virginia Beach City Public Schools)