A.

TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON
Read Aloud Activity with If You Give A Cat A Cupcake by Laura Numeroff
B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
By the time this lesson will be completed, I would have been in my first grade practicum
classroom for at least 5 weeks. I have spent a lot of time observing and interacting with the
students in the classroom and with my cooperating teacher and I have discovered that the
students like to make connections to everything they learn, and receive lots of encouragement
from their teacher. All of the students in this class get along very well together and are also
very honest with each other. These students, while they may be at different reading levels,
are all willing to sit and listen to a story. These students also like to engage with the teacher
while reading whatever stories the teacher has chosen. Some students may also have some
difficulty sitting still for longer periods of time, but they are still engaged with a story.
This is an appropriate activity for the students at this time because the students can always
work to practice their reading comprehension skills as well as good listening skills during a
read aloud. Every week, the students work on a reading comprehension skill, and for the
week this lesson will be completed, they will work on the ask questions or more
specifically: who, what, where, when, why and how. These are questions that students can
further develop weekly, since it is a comprehension skill that they will use for the rest of their
years in school. Also, it is important for students to start discovering that books can be read
for personal enjoyment, and a book like If You Give a Cat a Cupcake is a good book to read
students for fun. This book and activity will also help students to start thinking creatively
through designing their own cupcakes, recognize important parts of a book and practice good
listening and social skills while participating in the read aloud.
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand- (concepts/skills)
1. People can relate to books by making
connections to their personal lives
and see that books can be read for
personal enjoyment.
2. There are many aspects to a story,
including specifics like who, what,
where, why, and how.
3. Creative inspiration can come from
anywhere, including stories and
designing pieces of art can be fun.

Know (Learning Objectives

The students will relate to different parts of the
story that they listened to in a whole-group read
aloud.
The students will describe the different parts of
the story, including who, what, where, when,
why, and how.
The students will be able to design a cupcake to
express their creativity.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
Know (Learning Objectives)

Do (Assessment Plan)

The students will relate to different parts of

the story that they listened to in a wholegroup read aloud.

During the read aloud, I will ask various

questions to the students based on the book.
Questions may be related to different parts of
the story like who, what, where, when, why
and how, or connections the students may
make to their lives outside of the classroom.

The students will describe the different parts

of the story, including who, what, where,
when, why, and how.

After the story is completed, the students will

complete a graphic organizer that is
organized by specific questions. Students
will answer each question with words and
pictures to demonstrate they understood the
story they have listened to.

The students will be able to design a cupcake

to express their creativity.

The students will draw and create their own

cupcake on a piece of paper to illustrate a
cupcake they would give to the cat. These
designs will later be used in a creative art
lesson where the students will create their
own color of icing and decorate a cupcake.

E. RELATED VIRIGNIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

Oral Language
1.1 The student will continue to demonstrate growth in the use of oral language
e) Express ideas orally in complete sentences.
1.2 The student will expand understanding and use of word meanings
a) Increase listening and speaking vocabularies
b) Begin to ask for clarification and explanation of words and ideas
Reading
1.9: The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fictional texts.
c) Relate previous experiences to what is read.
d) Make and confirm predictions.
e) Ask and answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about
what is read.

f) Identify characters, setting, and important events.

g) Retell stories and events, using beginning, middle, and end.
F. MATERIALS NEEDED
If You Give A Cat A Cupcake by Laura Numeroff (personally provided)
Ask Questions Graphic organizer that ask students to think of who, what, where,
when, why and how. (organizer provided by cooperating teacher)
Cupcake template for students to color and design (personally provided)
Pencils (provided by the cooperating teacher/students)
Colored pencils/crayons/or markers (provided by cooperating teachers/students)

G. PROCEDURE
Before Read Aloud
o After the previous activity or subject has been completed, students will be
asked to go sit in their whole group spot in the reading corner of the
classroom. Once all students are sitting in on the carpet and are ready to listen,
I will place a cupcake template on the board, asking the students if they can
tell me what it is. When they have guessed it is a cupcake, I will then ask if
any of them have had a cupcake, whether they like the icing or the cake better,
etc.
o I will then use my cooperating teachers board materials to ask them about the
5Ws: who, what, where, when, why, and how. As a group, we will go through
each question individually and describe what each question is asking for. For
example:
Who: person, people, animal- main characters
What: problem, idea, event
Where: place, country, city, setting
When: year, season, past, present, future
Why: reason, cause, motivation
How: details on how it happened.
o Once that discussion is complete, I will ask the students if any of them have
heard of or read the book If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff. I
will also remind students to practice good listening skills and to keep ears
open and brains on for the 5Ws and H.

During Read Aloud

o First I will read the cover, and mention how there is both an author and an
illustrator. I will ask if the students know the difference between an author and
an illustrator (the author writes the story and the illustrator draws the pictures)
o I will start reading the book, modeling a good reading style and diction of
each word.
o After the cat has spilled some sprinkles, the following question could be
asked: what do you think the Cat will do next? Discuss some of the
predictions. When the Cat puts on a bathing suit and wants to go to the beach,
ask the students for their reaction. Are they surprised? Did they predict
correctly? Have we already met the who in this story?
o The Cat then does some activities at the beach with the girl. Question: Have
any of you guys been to a beach? Would it be nice to go to the beach today
when it is so cold outside? What activities do you guys do at the beach?
Do you do some of the activities that the Cat does?
o Next Question to ask after the next event: why does the Cat think he needs to
go to the gym? Do you think you can lift all of those other things? Does he
need to go to the gym to get stronger? To be able to lift the pail? May also
need to go over on what a pail is, and that it is like another word for bucket.
o Next set of questions: have any of you guys tried any of these activities at the
gym? Would you like to try a karate class? How do you guys keep healthy and
active? Do you like gym class here at Waterman?
o Next set of questions: Are there any parks nearby that you like to visit? What
activities do you do in these parks? What is a Merry-go-round?
o Next question: Make a prediction: what do you think the Cat will want to see
first at the science museum?
o Question: what is an ape? Is it like a monkey or gorilla? What can you tell me
about them?
o After the museum, this could be a good stopping point to discuss where the
characters have gone in the story.
o Last prediction: what will the Cat want if he is given some sprinkles?
(hopefully a chorus of cupcake)
o Question: Can you imagine if your cat or pet took you on a series of events
like this?
o After the book is done, there will be a discussion of the remaining questions:
what, when, why, and how.
o Possible answers to the 5Ws and H:
Who: the cat and the girl
What: traveling from place to place once the cat thinks of something
new
Where: house, beach, gym, park (lake), science museum

When: present, possibly spring or summer (since they go to the beach).

Why: the cat is thinking of all of these events and activities he wants to
do
How: they walk from place to place
After Read Aloud
o Once the teacher has finished reading the story to the students, there will be a
short discussion on who can start to think of the who, what, where, when,
why, and how of the story. There may also be some questions about what
their favorite event in the story was.
o Students will then be directed to their next activity: to complete a graphic
organizer on the story we have just read. They will be encouraged to try and
complete the organizer on their own, but to raise their hand if they need some
assistance.
o Students will also be asked to design their own cupcake they would like to
give to the cat in the story. They can be as creative as they want. This design
will be used in a creative art activity the next day, but the students will not
know about that.

H. DIFFERENTIATION
While the number of students in my practicum class is small, each child does learn
differently and is unique. During the read-aloud, I will have the students sit in their
whole group spot that is already set up by the cooperating teacher. These whole
group spots are strategically designed to separate students who may distract each
other.
There are two students who spend the morning in a special needs classroom and they
join the class for the remainder of the day. The timing differs on the how the two
students are behaving, but if they are here for my lesson, they will be given the
support that they need to help them succeed. They will also have assistance from the
instructional assistant that comes with them, as well as my cooperating teacher if they
need it.
From what I have observed so far in my practicum, the ELL students in my practicum
class have no problem completing the same work as the native-English speaking
students, and can also read and write in English pretty well. Should the ELL students
have issues with a specific word or question, I will do my best to rephrase the words
or questions they may have difficulty with to make it easier for them.
For the students that finish early, with both the graphic organizer and the cupcake
design, I will ask them to write on the back of the design template why they chose to
decorate their cupcakes the way they did. I may also ask them what their favorite part
or event of the story was, and ask them to explain why.

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO
ABOUT IT?
The students may have difficulty focusing during the read aloud, or may get too hyper
when discussing as a group. Some may want to keep talking about a personal
connection they have made instead of focusing on the person trying to read the story.
If this situation arises, I will practice one of my semester long learning goals, and
practice the 100% compliance behavior strategy, and wait for every student to be
focused and ready to listen. If need be, I may also follow my cooperating teachers
behavior management plan and ask students to move down a circle on the clothespin
diagram.
Some students may have trouble relating to the story during to the read aloud because
they are events they are not familiar with (lifting weights, going to the beach, riding a
merry-go-round, etc.) If this is the case, I will do my best to describe the various
events from my own personal experience, and have students ask me questions about
my experiences and the book.
With a book that features this many crazy events and trains of thought, some students
may have difficulty completing a graphic organizer about the who, what, where,
when, why, and how of the story when it is not so obvious. If I receive many
questions about a particular question, I will address the whole group and reference the
book to help all of the students with the graphic organizer. If only a few have
questions about it, I can leave the book out for students to quickly look through if that
will help them.