Katie Pinnell Subject: Similes Grade: Kindergarten Standards

Poetry Lesson Plan

March 14, 2014

W.K.5 With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed. L.K.2d. Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships. Students will listen to Quick as a Cricket and discuss as a class, how they are like an animal from the story or from their daily life. Students will work with teacher to learn phonetic spelling of animals that they choose to use in their similes. Students will compare their final similes with other students during the activity Stand up, hand up, pair up. Students will write simile sentences to the best of their ability by sounding out new words and with help from adults when trying to spell the names of animals. Students will write an animal in the space provided that makes sense with the simile comparison. (ex: As fat as a pig. ) Students will write their favorite simile from the worksheet on a new piece of paper and draw the animal that they chose to fill in the blank with for that simile.

Materials List 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood Worksheet (Copy Included) Paper Pencil Markers/Crayons White Board Pictures

Creating Anticipation I would like to begin my poetry lesson with a small discussion with the kindergarteners. I will ask them to, Turn to your shoulder partner and tell them how you are like an animal. After they have a minute to discuss, I will say, Raise your hand if you can tell me how you are like an animal. After a few minutes I will call on a few students and have them share how they are like an animal. I will bring the discussion to a close by explaining how I believe I am like an animal because some days I feel as tall as a giraffe. Finally, I will tell them to listen to the how the boy in this story is like an animal as I read Quick as a Cricket.

Katie Pinnell

Poetry Lesson Plan

March 14, 2014

Quick as a Cricket is a great book to use to introduce the students to similes. This story is basically all told through the use of similes. Students can listen as I read and look at the pictures of the boy with the animals he is comparing himself to. Next I will have the students turn to their shoulder partners again and talk about one animal that the boy said he was like. Then I will call on a few people to share their answers. Input Today we will be learning about similes. A simile is where you compare two things using the words like or as. As I say this, I will take out the word simile typed on paper and post it to the top of the white board. I will then write an example on the white board, reading it aloud as I write it. I am as playful as a puppy. I am comparing I or myself to a puppy. Both the puppy and I are playful; therefore I am as playful as a puppy. As I am explaining these I will also be pointing to the words I, puppy, and playful as I talk about each part of the simile. To further their understanding I will explain how the puppy and I are both playful in our own ways. I like to run and jump whenever I can. A puppy likes to chase other animals and fetch his toys. We both have our own way of being playful. As I explain this, I show a picture of me running and another of me jumping. These will be posted on the board under the word I. Then I will put a picture of a puppy chasing an animal and another of a puppy fetching a toy under the word puppy. I will then point to each picture as I ask, See how I am playful like the puppy? When I write, I am playful as a puppy, this is what I am talking about. This kind of statement is called a simile. Can you say that with me class? As we say the word together, I will point to the word at the top of the white board. Modeling To help the students fully understand what a simile is, I will model for them how two write a one. I will start by saying, A simile compares two things that are somehow alike. Today we are going to be using ourselves as one of the things being compared. I will then write I on the white board to show this is one of the words being compared. I will say it as I write it. Next we need to know what you are comparing yourself to. I am going to use a cat in my simile. I will then write the word cat next to the I. Now I am going to think to myself, How am I like a cat? I think that I am like a cat because sometimes I am very quiet. I will then write the word quiet on the board. I, cat, and quiet are all words that are going to be used in my simile sentence. Now all I need to do is connect them so they make since. Then I will write the full sentence I am as quiet as a cat while I read each letter out loud. I used this part of the sentence (underline am asas a to clarify) to connect the two things I compared to the comparing word. To give them another example, I will take the book Quick as a Cricket and turn to the page that says, Im as hot as a fox. I will show the students this page and write the sentence I am as hot as a fox on the board. Then I will explain, This is one of the many similes we saw in the book. The boy in the book

Katie Pinnell

Poetry Lesson Plan

March 14, 2014

explained he was as hot as a fox. When I read this I thought, I am not as hot as a fox but I am quick like a fox, so I want to change this simile so that it describes me. I am going to take out the word hot and write quick. Now the sentence reads I am as quick as a fox. Modeling this for the students will help them for when they are making their own similes later. They may hear someone use an animal they want but the sentence does not relate to them. By changing how the animal and the student are alike, the simile describes them and makes more sense when they read it. When it is time for the students to do the fill in the blank worksheet, I will model for them how to do the worksheet by modeling the first fill in the blank statement. The first sentence reads As fat as a____. To help me figure out what goes in that blank, I am going to look over here at this box full of animals and decide which animal in the box I think is fat. I think a pig can be described as fat so I am going to write it in the blank. Write the word pig in the blank. Now the sentence reads, As fat as a pig. I should ask myself, Does that make sense? I believe it does, so I am going to move onto the next simile. Finally, when it is time for the students to write their own simile and draw a picture of the animal they are comparing themselves to, I model for them how to go about this, writing the playful puppy sentence I used during the input lesson. I will model for the students how to write the sentence again and draw a puppy to show what kind of picture they should be drawing.

Guided Practice I will use guided practice after I have modeled how the fill in the blank worksheet is filled out. I will go through the different animals on the worksheet with the students, calling on each student to tell me what each animal is. As the students tell me the animals, I will write their names on the board so that the students can see them correctly spelled as they do their worksheet. To further help, after we go through the pictures and I have the words on the board, I will go through each word and ask the students what it is, drawing a quick picture by each word to help the students remember. Then I will send the students table by table to their seats so that they can do the worksheet. When the students get back to their seats, we will do number two together by reading the sentence together as a class. I will ask the students what they think the blank is, but instead of telling them the answer, I will have them write what they think and move on to the rest of the worksheet. Another way that I will be using guided practice for the students is after I have modeled how to create your own simile and draw a picture of the puppy, I will guide them through the first steps of their own simile. First pick out what kind of animal you are going to use in your simile. You can use the list of animals we have on the board from your worksheet if you would like, or an animal from Quick as a Cricket. Write that animal down. Next, think of how you are like that animal. Are you loud like a lion, soft like a lamb, small like an ant? You decide! Write that word next to your animal. These are two words I should see in your simile sentence. Now we are going to start our sentences. Then I will have the students write I am as then have then write a blank space, then finish up the sentence with as a blank. Now you decided where to put the words you have chosen for your simile. Mine says, I am as

Katie Pinnell

Poetry Lesson Plan

March 14, 2014

playful as a puppy. Then I will let them figure out where the words go in their simile sentence and walk around the room to check for understanding. Check for Understanding I will check for understanding by looking at what animals the students have chosen to write on their worksheet as well as seeing how comfortable they feel writing their own simile. If the student seems to not understand how to fill in the blank or has difficulty making a simile that makes sense, I will know that they may need further explanation. More specifically, while the students are working on the worksheets, I will be encouraging them to ask questions if they are not sure what should go in the blank. When the 10 min of worksheet time is up, I will have them give me a thumb up if they are feeling good about similes, a thumb to the side if they are still a bit confused, and a thumb down if they are feeling lost. This will let me know if the students are ready to move on to the next portion of the lesson when I model how to write a simile or if I need to be giving more explanation. If I need to be giving more explanation, we will go over the worksheet as a class and share our answers before moving on. If the students enjoy this lesson, I will have them do the activity stand up, hand up, pair up to share their similes with their classmates in a less intimidating setting. Independent Practice Simile Worksheet Write your own simile o Draw a corresponding picture

Closure Today, we learned about a new type of poetry. Does anyone remember what the poem we worked on today is call? Tell the students to blow their answer into their hands and when I say release to say what they blew into their hand. Release! The class should say Simile! Very good, class! Now, think back to the beginning of this lesson. What words do we use when we are making a simile? Ask an individual student to answer this question. The answer should be like or as. Can I have a volunteer to share with the class the simile that they made? Have the student come to the front and share their simile and explain their picture. Assessment (To go with Check for Understanding) What are the students going to do? When the students have written their own simile, used their best guess for spelling, and drawn a picture that goes along with the lesson, I will know they understand the lesson and have passed the assessment. What is the teacher going to do?

Katie Pinnell

Poetry Lesson Plan

March 14, 2014

I will expect the students to write their own simile using their best guess spelling and a picture that will correspond with their simile. Adaptations After writing the fill in the blank words on the board for the students, before they do their worksheets, I will have the students read over the words aloud with me and draw a picture of the animal the word names. During the input section, I explain how I am as playful as a puppy. To help the students understand this, I describe that I like to run and jump while a puppy likes to chase and fetch. I will provide pictures of me running and jumping and of a puppy chasing and fetching. This will help the students understand how I am like a puppy because they will be able to see it in the picture, and not just hear me describe it. For the students that have a hard time asking questions when they need help, I will be walking around the classroom during independent work time and asking each table if they have any questions. This way the student does not need to speak up in front of the whole class. If a student has a hard time sitting still while I am teaching this lesson, I can ask them for help in passing out papers. I may also call them to the board and have them help me point to the words I am explaining as I talk about comparing I and puppy. I could ask something like, Can you find the word puppy for me? or What is the puppy doing in this picture? Keeping these students engaged helps them to stay on task.

Resources Wood, Audrey. (2009). Quick as a Cricket. China: Childs Play