Melissa Schmidt’s Kindergarten Class

Reading/Writing “Mrs. Wishy Washy” Lesson Plan

Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Teacher: Katlin Howley
Grade Level: Kindergarten 

I. Content and Standards:

a. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.1 - Follow agreed-upon rules for discussion (eg:

listening to others and taking turns speaking about kindergarten texts and
topics under discussion).

b. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.10 - Actively engage in group reading activities

with purpose and understanding.

c. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.3 - With prompting and support, identify

characters, settings, and major events in a story.

II. Prerequisites: Students should be able to participate in a whole-group discussion in

order to work together to problem-solve and identify various components of a story.
Students should also be able to demonstrate how to listen to a story in a whole group
though a read aloud.

III. Instructional Objective:

a. Students will be able to identify the “character” and “setting” within a story
in order to gain fluency in retelling details from a story, by listening to a read
aloud and completing a whole-group activity that asks them to differentiate
examples of both.

IV. Instructional Procedures: (Whole group, 45 minutes)

a. Part I- Intro-WG (20 Minutes) - Teacher will begin this lesson with students
seated on their morning meeting spots. The teacher will begin the lesson by
introducing the objective, and tell them that today we will practice finding two
important details of any story: the characters and setting. She will first open
the discussion by asking if anyone knows what a “character” or a “setting” is.
This will prompt the discussion and begin to elicit thinking about these
concepts. Teacher will then provide students with the definition of “character”
and “setting” within a story to begin discussion on how we can identify these
components of a story. After the discussion has been started, she will draw
attention to the 2 charts placed on the board, one titled, “Characters” and the
other titled, “Settings”. She will then pass out one index card (with a magnet
on the back) to each student around the circle, explaining the task clearly, and
reminding them to place their cards face down on the carpet after they have
seen the image on the card. Teacher will then begin to ask students to think
about whether their card is a picture of a character or a setting. Next, she will
instruct one student at a time to place their cards on the chart they believe it
belongs on. Teacher will not correct these placements if they are incorrect.
Instead, she will then have students sit back on their color dots to begin to
look back at the chart. She will ask questions such as, “Is there an index card
that you notice up here that is placed on the incorrect chart?” She will
encourage students to use higher level thinking to think about whether each
card is on its corresponding chart. This discussion will lead us into the read
aloud for the story, “Mrs. Wishy Washy”. Once students have made sure each
card is placed correctly, she will say, “Okay, now that we have an idea of
what a character and a setting are, we will read the story, ‘Mrs. Wishy Washy’
not once, but twice. The first time we read the story, I want you to be thinking
strategically as we read, and each time you hear a new character, give a
‘thumbs up’ sign with your hand. The second time we read the story, I want
everyone to be thinking about what the setting may be. If you feel like you
have an idea of what the setting is, keep the thought tucked into your brain
until the story is over!” Teacher will then read the book the first time, looking
for student understanding as each new character is introduced. Throughout the
second read, the teacher will model how to strategically search for clues
within the pictures to help us figure out the setting. After read aloud is
complete, she will ask students to identify the setting. She will then introduce
the independent activity.
 b. Part II- Independent (20 Minutes) - Students will be shown a template by
the teacher, following the read aloud. They will be asked to recall different
characters from the story, “Mrs. Wishy Washy”, and draw these characters in
pencil, on the worksheet template. Students will be given a worksheet as they
are sent back to their table tops. While students work, the teacher and co-
teacher will circulate throughout the room to check for understanding and
“Mighty-Knight” effort in their illustrations, while also asking questions such
as, “Who did you draw in this picture? What is the setting? How can you draw
details in your picture that help someone know what the setting is, by looking
at your picture?” Teacher will also periodically sit at the guided table with
students in need of help to ensure comprehension. Students may finish
coloring in their worksheet illustrations the following day for “morning
work”.

c. Part III- Closure (5 Minutes) - As the activity wraps up, the teacher will
have students hand their worksheets in to the teacher’s desk one table at a
time, heading to sit down on their color dots. To close the lesson, the teacher
will recap the objective by telling them the importance of being a strategic
reader when identifying the characters and setting in a story. She will then
instruct students to pick a partner. Once they have their partner, she will
instruct them to recall the “Mrs. Wishy Washy” story and activity, and have
them whisper into their partner’s ear, the answer to the question: “What is a
character? What is a setting?”

V. Materials:

a. “Character” Cards

b. “Setting” Cards

c. “Character” & “Setting” Chart

d. “Mrs. Wishy Washy” Book

e. “Character & Setting” Worksheet

VI. Assessment/Evaluation: Students will be assessed on their ability to identify the
difference between a “character” and a “setting” within a story. Students will also be
assessed on their ability to identify characters from the read-aloud, “Mrs. Wishy
Washy” by drawing them independently, also drawing on their ability to recall events
from a story read to them.

VII. Differentiation: Student needs are being met through the use of discussion,
combined with visual aid and video on the projector to meet individual needs. The
first activity in this lesson will be completed in a whole-group to ensure
understanding for all students. Higher level thinking will be incorporated into open-
ended questions asked by the teacher throughout the discussion as a means of
differentiating for more advanced students, as well as throughout the independent
portion of the lesson.

f. Students in need of an extra challenge will be asked to label the names of each
character they are able to draw independently by writing the name
phonetically.

g. Students in need of additional support will be asked to complete the

independent activity at the guided table for more one-on-one teacher-student
interaction in order to ensure student comprehension as they identify
characters from the story. “Mrs. Wishy Washy” will also be available to
students to look back to if needed.

VIII. Technology:

h. none

IX. Self-Assessment:

i. Was this lesson successful for all students?

j. How may this lesson be differentiated more for individual students?

k. Were students able to identify what a “character” and a “setting” is in a story?

l. Were students able to draw various characters from “Mrs. Wishy Washy?”