Design for Learning

Instructor: Chandler McAlister

Lesson Title: Story Hat Maps
Curriculum Area: Reading

Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 2/Underbakke

Date: 3/3/15
Estimated Time: 1 hour and 30 mins

Standards Connection:

5.) Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning
introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
Learning Objective(s):
Students will be able to describe the characters, setting and plot of The Cat in The Hat by Dr.
Seuss by filling in the Story Hat Map Worksheet with 80% accuracy.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language:
I will be able to find the beginning, middle, end, characters, and setting in a story.
Evaluation of Learning Objective(s): A worksheet titled Story Hat Map will be used to
evaluate the learning objective. On the worksheet is a hat with 5 different sections (like the one
the Cat in The Hat wears). Each section will need to be filled in with the proper information about
the story. The first section is beginning, followed by middle, then end. The last two sections are
characters and setting. This lesson aligns with standard 5 by helping children to understand the
structure of different stories. 4/5 or more correct will be considered proficient. 3/5 may require
some review. 2/5 or less will require re-teaching in a small group.
Engagement:
Good morning boys and girls! Can anyone remind me what we are celebrating this week? That is
right! We are celebrating Dr. Seuss Birthday! Raise your hand if you have read some Dr. Seuss
books! I bet Dr. Underbakke read you one yesterday, didnt he? Can someone tell me which one
you read? Allow child to raise their hand and answer. Awesome! Did you enjoy it? Well today we
are going to read a couple more Dr. Seuss books! How does that sound? Today we are going to
read Green Eggs and Ham. Who has read this before? I figured most of you would be familiar
with this story. Ok I have important question. Thumbs up if you would and thumbs down if you
would not. Ok here it isWould any of you ever try Green Eggs and Ham? Guess what? I have
and they tasted just fine! Should we read and find out what the characters in the story think of
this interesting meal? Read the story. During reading questions: What is Sam I am trying to do?
Does the main character like green eggs and ham before he tries them? What about after he tries
them? After Reading: Hmm do you think you would try green eggs and ham now?
Learning Design:

I.
Teaching:
Now boys and girls we are going to start thinking more about the story we just read. We
are going to think a little, talk a little, and write a little. I have created this Dr. Seuss
inspired Story Map. We are going to talk about the characters, setting, and plot of the
story, but lets just do one at a time. First, can someone tell me what characters are?
Thats going to be our first section to fill in on our story map. Students should respond
with characters are the people in the story. Good job! That is right. The characters are
the people in the story. Can someone raise your hand and tell me who the characters are
in Green Eggs and Ham? The answer needs to be Sam-I-Am and the man with the black
hat (he does not have a name) Excellent work you guys. Next, lets discuss the setting.
Turn and talk to your friend next to you in a whisper about what you think setting is.
Allow students to discuss for a moment. Listen to what they are saying in different

groups. Then call on someone who had a good definition to tell you. Carol, you and
Daniel said something interesting about setting. Will you share with the class please? Her
response should be the setting is where and when the story takes place. Thumbs up,
class, if you agree with what Carol says the setting is. Students should agree. Awesome,
now I want you to turn and talk to a different partner about what you think the setting is
in Green Eggs and Ham. Follow the same routine. Allow them to talk and eaves drop on
their conversation to figure out who to call on. Brian, will you share with the class what
you thought the setting was? Student should respond with Students should realize that the
setting changes from a train, house, boat, etc. Wow, that is very interesting. Did you
notice that the setting of the story was not the same throughout the whole book? Has
anyone ever read a book before that has more than one setting? Would anyone like to
share their example? Allow 2 to share out, then allow them a couple minutes to turn and
talk to share their connection with their partner. Great job so far! I can tell everyone is
thinking and working so hard. Lets move on to our next space. Does anyone know what
plot is? Student should answer what happens in the story or beginning middle and end.
That is exactly right. The plot is what happens in the story, and a great way to describe it
is beginning middle and end. I want you to turn and talk to your partner about what you
think the plot is. So you need to come up with a beginning, middle and end to the story
together. Give them a little more time to figure this out because it is three parts. You must
listen to more than one conversation at one. Hm, lets start with figuring out the
beginning can anyone tell me in one sentence what happened in the beginning of Green
Eggs and Ham? I think Shelby and her partner had a good sentence to describe the
beginning. They should say something like Sam-I-Am wants to find someone to try
green eggs and ham. Great, lets add that to out chart. Next, someone share with me
their middle. Child shares, the man does not want to eat them and argues with him but
Sam-I-Am just wont go away. Sweet work! One more! Can someone tell me the end?
Students should say, He ended up trying the meal and loved it. Fabulous work! Now,
before we move on lets make a connection! Have any of you ever tried anything new that
you didnt think you would like and then you actually liked it? Can you turn and share
that time with your partner?
II.

Opportunity for Practice:

Great work so far everyone. Now we are going to practice a little. I want you to write
your own story. You need to make sure that you include at least 2 characters, a specific
setting and a beginning, middle, and end. Before you do this on your own we are going to
do it together. I need someone to give me a character. Give one student an opportunity to
give you a character. Now, someone give me a non-human character. It can be make
believe or an animal. Awesome! Now we have our characters. Next, we need a setting.
Can someone raise your hand with the setting our story should take place in? Allow one
student to share their idea of a setting. Alright, now lets write our story. Complete a story
with a beginning, middle, and end. Ok, I have modeled this for you. Now I am going to
put you in pairs. Together you will select two characters, a setting, and create your own
story. You will do this in your writing composition book. Make sure you first select your
characters, at least 2, and a setting. Then write your story. Now that we have finished
this part I want you to read your stories with a group of four. Then figure out each groups
5 parts. Share out loud with your group.
III.

Assessment

Now that we have had lots of time to practice we are going to read one more story and
you are going to fill in a Story Hat Map on your own. Can someone remind me what 5
things we talked about today? Students should respond with character, setting, beginning,
middle, and end. I am going to read you another Dr. Seuss book, The Cat in the Hat.

While I am reading you need to be thinking about those 5 things. Read the story to them.
Now, I have a graphic organizer in the shape of the cats hat. You will fill in each part on
the hat on your own. Do the best that you can. Pass out the worksheet. Once you are
done raise your hand so I can collect that. Dont forget to put your name on it. After
students are done they can read their own book. Encourage them to think about the
characters and setting of their own story.
IV.
Closure:
Lets go over our story map from the Cat in the Hat. Would someone raise your hand and
tell me the characters that you wrote on your chart so I can add it to mine. Students
should share the cat, the children, Thing 1 and Thing 2, etc. Next lets fill in the setting.
Will someone share with me the setting? Finally someone share with me your beginning,
middle, and end. Did everyone write the same plot? Did someone write something
different? Excellent work! So, now that we have discussed different parts of a story can
someone share with me how this will change how you read and write?
Materials and Resources:
1. Story Hat Map Worksheet
2. Anchor Chart Hat shaped with characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end
3. Students will need their composition books
4. The Cat in the Hat
5. Green Eggs and Ham
Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):
Green: Students will take their story from the practice section and edit and revise it followed by a
conference with the teacher to publish their story.
Yellow: The students will need some review of the story with the teacher to correct their mistakes.
Red: Students will explore this website for another review of story elements. The website will
read the story Cinderella to them. Then they can use this virtual lesson to walk through the
elements of the story. http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/setting.html
Data Analysis:
There are 17 total students in the class. Out of the 17, 2 were in the yellow, and 2 were in the
green. The remaining 13 were in the green. The two students in the yellow may have had some
misconceptions. The two in the red only did so poorly because they didnt follow directions. They
wrote their assessment piece on Green Eggs and Ham rather than The Cat in the Hat.
Reflection:
Overall, this lesson went well. I liked reading the Dr. Seuss stories. I got really into the rhyming
and making it a fun story for the kids to listen to. I also enjoyed doing this during Dr. Seuss week,
because the students were already engaged in the lesson before we even began. They knew some
of the elements so that was a review but many did not know them so they learned something new.
Also, this lesson not only taught comprehension strategies but helped student practice organizing
their ideas in writing. The practice activity allowed for a high level of thinking. One way I used
best practice in this lesson was by teaching students to use graphic organizers to organize the
story and their ideas. I made sure to activate background knowledge before reading the text. I
asked questions to check for comprehension before asking them to determine the story elements. I
would model how to write a story better before letting them write. This may need to be an
extension activity even. Some students will need more support. I could probably even give them
the elements and let those that are struggling use those characters, settings, and events to write
from. I also need to be very clear that the final assessment is over Cat in the Hat and that they are
not supposed to copy the information from the chart done on Green Eggs and Ham. Only a few
students made that mistake, so it could have been a lack of attention on the students part too.

Samford University
Design for Learning