Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

Teacher Candidate
Date/Time of Scheduled
Visit
Name/Address of School
Age/Grade level
Cooperating Teacher

Susan Latimer

Name of Lesson
Content
area(s)/developmental
domain(s) addressed

A Day in the Life of Your Favorite Season

Cognitive:
Predicting
Retell details about different seasons
Re-visiting memory

First Grade
Classroom Number

Language/Literacy:
Using different vocabulary learned about the seasons
Writing using detail
Write about personal/meaningful topic
Attempting to use punctuation and capitalization
Attempting to sound out and represent substantial sounds in spelling a
word
Emotional:
Write about a favorite season
Write about personal and meaningful topics
Creative:
Use creativity and imagination to create a scene
Draw a picture depicting personal story

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

Brief description of the

lesson

This lesson is:

Rationale

Timeframe

Objective(s) of the
activity

Fine Motor Skills:

Hold writing/drawing utensils in pincer grip
After a lesson of talking about the differences and details of each season, I will
instruct the children to choose their favorite season. They will then write in their
journals about a potential day spent in their favorite season including details
about whom they would be with, what they would do, what they would see, and
how they would feel. The story will be called A Day in the Life of [insert season].
Finally, the children will draw a picture that portrays their story.
A review of a previous A continuation of a previous lesson/activity
lesson/activity
Children will learn to make connections between the changes in the environment
and their own personal feelings and experiences. They will use their individual
creativity to express those feelings and experiences into their own written story.
The lesson will strengthen their language and literacy skills, as well as provide an
opportunity to enhance their artistic skills based on their own work.
50 minutes

5 minutes to briefly review/discuss the seasons

5 minutes to model my own story and picture (that I would have already
written and drawn)
25 minutes to write their story
15 minutes to draw their picture
As a result of this lesson, the children will focus on the different details about a
specific season, and all of its environmental factors. They will demonstrate a
sense of self, as they connect their personal interests with the seasonal elements
and reflect upon past experiences, and future aspirations. The children will
also demonstrate enhanced skills in writing, reading, and creativity. They will put
to use their knowledge of sight words by using them within their story to connect
with larger words and new vocabulary about the different seasons, as well as

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

Connections to
standards

enhance their writing skills using capitalization and punctuation within

sentences. They will also begin to practice their vowels and syllables, and use
them to create certain words Their artistic skills will intensify as they use
different writing materials (crayons, markers, colored pencils) to creatively depict
their personal story.
Common Core
Print Concepts:
1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
a. Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending
punctuation).
Text Types and Purposes:
Write opinion pieces, in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about,
state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the
topic, and provide some sense of closure.
3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include
some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide
some sense of closure.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge:
With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather
information from provided sources to answer a question.
Range of Writing:
Responding to Literature:
Create and present a poem, dramatization, art work, or personal response to a particular author
or theme studied in class, with support as needed.

Language Objectives

I want my students to develop their language and literacy skills within the writing
activity. They will enhance their vocabulary and syntax through creating detailed
sentences about experiences, sights, smells, feelings and people within their

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

environment. They will use sight words to connect their sentences, as well as
build upon their vocabulary as they revisit the discussions about the different
seasons. This vocabulary will include the different attributes within the four
seasons, such as:
Fall:

September, October, November

trees
leaves
autumn
apples
pumpkins
wind
cool
long sleeves
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Etc.

Winter:
December, January, February
Cold
Snow
Ice
Snowman
Christmas
Hannukah

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

Jackets, hats, gloves, scarves

Skiing/snowboarding
Sledding
Etc.

Spring:
March, April, May
Warm
Sun
Flowers
Umbrellas
Rain
Grass
Easter
Passover
Rainbows
Etc.
Summer:
June, July, August
Hot
Swim
Beach
Bathing suits
Shorts
T-shirts
Sandals

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

Pool
Sunscreen
Sun
Sand
Etc.

The students will also demonstrate communication skills through their writing, as
they write about opinions and personal likes, as well as personal experiences and
desirable experiences. Practice using syntax will portray their word distribution
knowledge, as well as their literacy progress.

Resources/materials
needed:
(Include any worksheets or
sources of evidence for
childrens learning you will
use during the activity)
Technology inclusion (if
applicable)
Procedures (step by
step)

My own written story and drawn picture

Journals
Pencil
Piece of paper
Crayons, markers, colored pencils

Anticipatory Set (Connection/Motivation)

I will have the class gather on the carpet, and will have them briefly discussed
the four seasons that we had a full lesson on the previous day. I will ask the
children to raise their hands and name a season that they remember from the
previous lesson, as well as two or three facts about them. Then I will tell them to
think of what they think is their favorite season, and keep it in their heads. I will
then say, Once you know your season, imagine a perfect day spent in it W
hat would you do? Who would you be with? How would you feel? What would you

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

see? What would you smell? I will tell them they will write their own stories
about that day, and draw a picture to go along with it.
Instruction/Mini Lesson
Discussion 1: After I explain to the class that they will write their own A Day in
the Life of a Season story, and create a portrait for it, I will tell the students to sit
back at their desks. I will model my own story and picture. I will read my story as
an example, to give the students an idea of what sort of ideas to include into
their own.
Discussion 2: I will tell the students to take out their journals, and begin writing
their story. If they need help, they can raise their hands and I will come assist
them.
Independent Practice
The students will write out their stories in their journals. After 20 minutes of
writing, I will tell the students they have 5 more minutes and to start wrapping
up their stories so that they can begin their drawing. After 25 minutes, I will hand
out sheets of paper and give each table a set of crayons, markers, and colored
pencils. I will then tell the students to write their names on the piece of paper,
and draw out their story.
Closure (sharing/reflection, next steps)
I will collect their journals and drawings. The next day, I will have a morning
activity where the students can show the class their pictures, and briefly talk
about and explain their picture essentially telling their A Day in the Life of a
Season story. Then, I will have the children raise their hands and say the different
things that they heard about each season. This will be a way to review the lesson
from two days before, as well as add unique ideas that may not have been
brought up in that lesson. We will create a chart as a class to display the different

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

vocabulary weve learned (from the lesson, as well as from one another) about
the four different season. Then, I will hang the pictures and the charts up on a
bulletin board in the classroom to display the several diverse ways that the
children think about spending time in each season.
Method of assessing
childrens
understanding of
lesson/activity/objective
(s)
(Be sure to include any
tools, rubrics/checklists
and/or worksheets you will
use for assessment(s)

Pre-assessment
I will sit with the children
on the carpet as we
briefly discuss the ideals
from the Seasons lesson
on the previous day. They
will raise their hands and
have a chance to tell me
a different season, and
then two or three facts
about that season that
they remember from the
lesson.

Assessment of Student
Learning
Portfolio Assessment: I
will have the students add
their A Day in the Life of a
Season story to their yearly
portfolios. This way, at the
end of the year, the
students, their parents, and
I could visually observe and
evaluate the differences
and progress between their
literacy and writing skills
throughout the months.
Checklist: I will use a
checklist in order to track
the elements of each childs
story. The check list will
include points such as:

Student attempts to
use capitalization and
punctuation

Assessment of
Childrens Language
Learning
On the day after the
students write their
stories and draw their
pictures, we will reflect
upon them as a group.
After each child
presents their picture
and story, I will go
season by season
(begin will the Fall, and
end with the Summer),
and I will ask the
children to tell me all
of the different words
that describe the
seasons. I will prompt
them by asking
questions like What
are things that we see?
What are things that
we feel? What are

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

Student clearly
attempts to sound out
words to write them
Student uses syntax
within sentences
Story includes
vocabulary discusses
in the previous lesson
Student uses
additional vocabulary
that we did not
include in our
discussion
Student includes
who, what, where,
when, why, and how
elements within the
story
Student includes the
different senses
within the description
The drawing clearly
depicts the details
and ideas portrayed
within the story

Observation: Observe
each students technique
when using a writing utensil

things that we smell?

Who are people with
see? What are things
that we do? etc. I will
have a large poster
board for each season,
on which I will write all
of the words the
children tell me. These
posters will be on
display with their
pictures.

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

Plans for differentiated
instruction/instructional
modifications

Supporting children
with identified delays
or disabilities
Keep in mind that
children in different
cultural families may do
different things within the
seasons, and be sure to
include those ideals
within the charts that we
create as a group. If there
a child that I know is
culturally diverse within
his/her family, ask them
what they do within each
season (if they dont say
it already). Some children
may do different things,
say different things, and
eat different food on
holidays or according to
the season so make
sure that I give each child
an opportunity to share
those.
Walk around the room as
the children are writing
their stories. If I notice a
child is having difficulty

Supporting English Language Learners

What modifications should I make to the activity to
ensure all students are included and engaged in all
steps required to meet the lessons objectives?
The day before the lesson to write a story, we will
create draft lists on the white board of vocabulary
that pertain to each season as a class. These words
will come from the children listening to different
season books read aloud, videos shown about the
seasons, and their own personal knowledge and
experience. Seeing the visuals within the books and
the videos may help the ELL students identify with
certain vocabulary about each season. While creating
these lists, ask the ELL students if they know the
vocabulary words in their language and write those
words next to the English on the board. They can pair
the word they know with the English word next to it.
For the words that dont have a translation, make
sure ELL students are saying them aloud with the
rest of the class as we go over the list. Also, with
each word, bring up a picture online so that ELL
students could pair the word with a visual as we go
down the list.

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

with writing or coming up
with ideas (doesnt have
much written down),
approach him/her at the
desk and assist the child
with scaffolding. If I ask
the questions one-onone, it may be easier for
the child to come up with
the ideas and write them
down.
For the drawings, if a
child doesnt produce a
typical drawing, have
him/her explain the
different parts of the
picture during their
presentations the next
day. For example, if a
child draws a green
snowman with squares
instead of circles because
the story is about
building a snowman in
the winter, do not say,
Thats wrong
snowmen are white and
round. Instead ask the
child why the snowman is

Learning Activity Plan for PreK-Grade 2

Follow up/Extension
activities

green and squareshaped. He/she may

answer by explaining that
green is their favorite
color, and it isnt round
so that it wont roll away.
This will portray that
childs personality and
creativity in a different
way.
The charts that we create as a class on piece of poster board the day after the
children write their stories will create a chance to remediate and reinforce the
several elements and ideals for each season of the year. Since we will make
these charts after the students present their own stories, they will be a reflection
on what the children have learned from the lesson, as well as from their peers.
The finished charts will be hung on a poster board, and will be a demonstration
of the class collective knowledge about the four seasons.

Any additional
information that would
be helpful for the
observer to know
Observer feedback on the lesson plan, including commendations and recommendations for improving aspects
of the learning activity