EDPS 5350/6351 LESSON PLAN

Name: Ashley Mears

Date: November 13, 2014
Grade Level: Kindergarten
1. INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the lesson:
The main purpose of this lesson is to help the students activate their background knowledge on the changes that occur during
fall/autumn and apply that knowledge to learning and discussing words and how many syllables different words have. Students will
be learning about syllables so that they will later be able to blend words properly when learning to read.
Learning goal formula:
SWBAT: Identify how many syllables a word has by working as a class in order to choose specific words and clap them out to
determine the number of syllables.
Learning Goal written on the board:
I will be able to recognize and count the number of syllables in words.
Utah State Standards covered:
Reading: Foundational Skills Standard 2:
Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
2. EXPLICIT READING STRATEGY INSTRUCTION
FOCUS:
Phonological Awareness: Syllables

Interesting/appropriate TEXTS for lesson purpose:

Text the teacher reads aloud to students:
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by: Julia Rawlinson

Text the students read with teacher support or independently:

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by: Julia Rawlinson
Teacher MODELING and SCAFFOLDING: (this will include declarative, conditional, and procedural knowledge of any
strategies)
Declarative:
Today we are going to be learning about the changes that occur during Fall and how to determine how many syllables a word has.
This mean we will be able to tell how many parts make up any given word we are presented with.
Conditional:
The reason we are going to be learning about syllables today is so that we can know how many parts make up a word. This skill
will help us later when we are learning how to read and need to sound out words. This is important because we want to have all the
skills necessary in order to begin learning to read.
Procedural Knowledge:
Write the learning goal on the board, then read the learning goal out loud with the class:
I will be able to recognize and count the number of syllables in words.
I will then tell the students: When I look outside on the ground and on the trees I see leaves of all different colorsLeaves like these (show examples of different colored leaves). A lot of the leaves are yellow and brown but some are maybe red or
orange. In the Fall/Autumn, the trees begin to change colors. They begin to look like this (show picture of tree with colorful
leaves and many fallen) with fewer and fewer leaves on the trees. What colors of leaves do I have here? Students should answer:
Red, Yellow, Brown, etc.
Now you know the names of the colors, but lets see if we can figure out how many syllables these colors have? Does anyone
know what a syllable is? Take answers from students and guide them in the right direction if they are close. If students do not
know the answer, explain what exactly a syllable is. Syllables are the parts of words that can be broken up into separate sounds.

GUIDED PRACTICE: (teacher and students together)

We will now practice counting syllables with the colors we have talked about. I will show you first. (Clap the words Red and

Yellow so students can see an example being modeled.) I make sure to say the word in my head before I clap it out.
Red-1
Yel/low=2
Brown= 1
Or/ange= 2
Make sure to clap the syllables as you say the words to help students visually see the parts of the words.
Then have students join in by finishing the other two colorsbrown and orange.
We are going to read a book today about a little fox that is sad because the leaves are falling.
These are some of the characters or words from the book. (Write the words on the board so everyone can see.)
Lets see if we can figure out how many syllables are in their names?
1. Flet/cher= 2
2. Au/tumn= 2
3. Tree=1
4. Wind=1
5. Por/cu/pine=3
Make sure students are using their hands to clap the words.
Just looking at the front cover and reading the words on the screen you already know some of the story. Good readers use those
kinds of clues to help them make predictions/guesses about the story. Predictions/guesses that can answer some questions, like:
Who do you think the main character is? Or What time of year does the story take place?
We will read this together and I expect you to pay attention to words in the story because we will be counting the syllables once
the story is finished.
Read, Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson.
That was a fun story about the season Fall Fletcher the Fox. Lets practice our syllables again clapping as we say words from the
story. (Take suggestions of words from the story that students want to clap out.)
Examples could be:
Flet/cher
Au/tumn
Tree
Leaf
Wind
Por/cu/pine
Red
Yel/low
Brown
Green
Does counting the syllables in the words make sense to you? How do you understand the number of syllables in the words?
We are now going to practice counting syllables by ourselves to see if we understand what we have just learned.
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: (students on their own or with a partner)
I want you to look at the pictures on the worksheet and write the number of syllables each word has on the line below the picture.
If you are having trouble you may ask a partner to clap out the word with you, but everyone must complete their own worksheet.
I will be walking around the classroom to check your thinking and to make sure you understand how to count the syllables in the
words.
Once students are finished with the worksheet we will regroup for a class discussion about what we learned. I will ask students,
What new skill did you learn today? What do you do in order to count the number of syllables in a word? As you learn to read
this skill will help you. Tomorrow we will learn a new skill called blending and it will also be a big help in teaching you to read.

3. READING ENGAGEMENT: What engagement principle(s) are you choosing for this lesson?
____x____choice, ____x_____collaboration, ___x_____building concepts, ___x_____relevance/real world interaction
___x_____challenge

Briefly describe HOW you will engage your students in this lesson.
I will engage students in the lesson by asking them comprehension questions about the story and what we are learning about. I will
also engage the whole class by having them clap out the syllables of each word they are given. Then, students will be able to
choose their own words from the story and have the whole class clap out those words as well.
4. DIFFERENTIATION. How will you simplify or provide challenge for students who need it?
To differentiate my instruction I allow students to get help from a partner if they need help clapping out a certain word in order to
determine the number of syllables. I also provide students to have the opportunity to choose their own word from the story so if
students are more advanced they will most likely choose a harder word compared to students who are struggling and may choose a
more simple word.
5. WRITING/ASSESSMENT TOOL: How will you know that your students understand your purpose? What will students be
doing to demonstrate their learning? (assessment tool).
I will be able to assess students by monitoring which students are able to clap along with the class when determining the number of
syllables in the words chosen. I also chose to use a worksheet in order to have students demonstrate their learning by writing down
what they know and learned from the lesson. This way I can visually see which students understood and which ones need more
work.
6. REFLECTION: Based on this lesson, what is your very next step of instruction?
Based on this lesson, the next step I would take is to teach my students about blending. This way they can take two different
syllables and blend them into an actual word. I told students that blending would be the next skill they will be learning about in
order to aid in their learning to read.