Lesson Plan-A Sound Story Michele Wilhelm

University of Richmond March 18, 2011

Lesson Plan—A Sound Story

Introduction
 Lesson topic: Writing
 Length of Lesson (30 minute intervals each day for a week)
 VA Standards of Learning 4.7: The student will write effective narratives, poems, and explanations.

Cognitive Objectives
Students will:
 Focus on one aspect of a topic;
 Develop a plan for writing by organizing it to convey a central idea;
 Utilize elements of style, including word choice and sentence variation; and
 Use available technology.

Materials/Technology and Advanced Preparation

Students will need a demonstrative lesson on using

GarageBand. A basic lesson would include
Pre-lesson: recording voice, adding tracks, and modifying the Handouts:  Story Map
tracks to achieve the desired results (editing,
copying, pasting, volume control, etc.)

Auditory  Pre-selected
Books:  none
aids: sounds

Technology  Laptops  Quiet space to

Other:
:  Microphones record a story

Teaching and Learning Sequence

Introduction/Anticipatory Set –
 Have students lay their heads on their desk and close their eyes. Inform them that you will be playing
about 5-7 different sounds and they are only to listen quietly.
 Choose one of the sounds, play it again, and have students jot down some thoughts about it.
 Facilitate a class discussion about that sound (i.e., What is it? What does it make you think of? How
does it make you feel?)

Lesson Development –
 Using that same sound, collectively brainstorm a story in which that sound, and at least 3 of the other
sounds, could be incorporated.

 Ask students to think about the character(s), setting, problems, story events, solution, etc. and model
how to fill out a Story Map (see attached).

 Discuss starting the story from the information on the Story Map and model some effective ways to
begin. Encourage the use of tone and style depending on the mood of the story. Explore examples of
various sentence lengths (i.e., how 2 short sentences can be combined for better flow).

 Pass out Story Maps to everyone and explain that each one of them will be writing a short narrative
story of their own. Once they are finished, they will be recording themselves reading it and inserting
their chosen sounds in the appropriate places.

 With their attention now focused, play the remaining preselected sounds from which they can choose
to weave their stories. (This may need to be repeated at different intervals to get students started.)

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Lesson Plan-A Sound Story Michele Wilhelm
University of Richmond March 18, 2011

 Have each child choose one sound that ‘speaks’ to him/her in particular and begin to fill out his/her
Story Map. Each child should incorporate at least 3 other sounds in their story.

Closure―
This type of assignment involves lots of thinking and decision-making. Students will spend several days
planning and writing their stories. At the close of the first day, students should have their Story Maps
nearly complete. After 2-3 days of writing, group discussions, and teacher approval, the stories can be
recorded. When a story is ready to be recorded, demonstrate the basics of GarageBand with the modeled
story collectively brainstormed in class.

Homework
Homework will consist of finishing the Story Map or completing writing that could not be done during class
time.

Assessment
Formative―Observe class participation. Are students offering story ideas? Have they been inspired by
any of the sounds to write a compelling story? Walk around while students are filling out their Story Maps
and offer brainstorming suggestions.

Summative―How closely did the student follow the elements of a Story Map (it is not necessary for the
student to adhere to the original story map, but they do need to include all the story elements from the
map)? Is the story focused? Are the word choices appropriate? Is there sentence variation? Does the
recorded story incorporate at least 4 sounds?

References
Dorfmann, L., Capelli, R. Mentor Texts. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, pp. 45-46.

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 Lesson Plan-A Sound Story Michele Wilhelm
University of Richmond March 18, 2011

Story Map
Name:

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Lesson Plan-A Sound Story Michele Wilhelm
University of Richmond March 18, 2011

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