Module 5 and 6: Planning for Differentiation

CSU-Global
Course:

Your Name:

Kristen Olson

Subject / Course:

Kindergarten Story Comprehension

Topic:

Story Elements

Lesson Title:

5 Parts of a Story

Level:

Lesson
Duration:

OTL 565

30 min.

SUPPORT YOUR CHOICES THROUGHOUT EVERY PHASE OF THE LESSON WITH

RESEARCH THAT SUPPORTS ITS EFFECTIVENESS
Common Core or State Standard(s):

"CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. "
(Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2016)

Description of Lesson as currently taught:

This will be my first time teaching this skill in Kindergarten.
I have observed other teachers as they have taught this lesson. They
generally begin by telling students about the parts that make a story. They
then read a story aloud and point out each story element as they encounter
them. After reading they ask questions to the whole group, calling on
individuals who raise their hands. Following the read aloud they then send
students back to their tables to draw a picture of each story element in a
graphic organizer. The graphic organizer is used to assess student
understanding of the elements of a story.
Pre-Assessment

Pre-Assessment

What do all stories have? This is a pre-assessment where each student has
their own copy. The teacher uses the doc camera to project a master on the
board. The teacher then points to each icon and reads the label. Students
then circle all of the ones they think all stories have.

Learning Target (Objectives, Student Set Goals, and/or Essential Questions):

Students will know what the 5 story elements are and will be able to
describe what each one is.
Essential question:
What makes a story a story?

Summative
Learning Task
Assessment
(Remember
(Collect
to consider
student
relevance
data): and career/workforce
readiness skills around what is being taught AND Approach (Communicative
The pre-assessment will be given again the following day to determine
or Cognitive) Ideas):
what
students
learned
and retained.
Modulethe
5 and
6: Planning
for Differentiation
2
Number of Days: 1

Learning Task
The lesson will be centered around the story The Most Magnificent Thing by
Ashley Spires.
Before reading: The essential question, "what makes a story a story" will be
asked and students will have the chance to discuss with each other in a
"Bottom's Up, Heads Together" before sharing back with the group
(Kagan,2016). This provides a Kagan style cooperative learning structure
that provides CDL students more opportunity for peer interaction. Teacher
records student ideas. Teacher then posts blank story map, and says, "As
we read the story we are going to pick out some story parts that are found
in all stories. When we find them we will label each of the boxes with a story
part magnet (icon for each story element prepared in advance).
During Reading:
While students are listening to the story teacher will ask questions to
prompt thinking specifically about story elements. For example, when the
characters are first introduced the teacher will point out that they are
characters and ask if all stories have characters. Teacher will ask further
questions, such as, "can you name a character from another story?", and
"can you think of a story that didn't have a character?". The questioning
and discussion process will continue throughout the story, giving students
lots of opportunity to discuss with each other.
Second reading:
The second time through students will have their own story map, matching
the one on the board. As the teacher reads the story he/she will stop at
each story element to give students the chance to draw a picture in each
part of the story map to represent the characters, setting, events, etc...
After reading:
Students will engage in "Hands up, pair up, share" as they tell each other
about their story map, retelling the story each time.
Closing:
Teacher asks, "so what are the 5 parts of a story?" Teacher points to each of
the icons on the board as students shout out their names. Teacher then
calls on each of the 5 tables and says each table will have 2 minutes to
decide how they will act out one of the 5 parts. Teacher assigns each group
a story element. After students have time to decide teacher gives each
group about 30 seconds to "act out" their story element.

Student Differences
You have learned that differentiation consists of planning lessons in response
to student differences in one or more of the following areas: Readiness,
Interest, and/or Learning Profile/Style. Choose which area you will use to
differentiate your lesson.

Readiness: The level of a students skills or understanding of a topic, do some

need scaffolding and others challenged?
Interest: Finding ways for students to pursue individual areas of interest about the
topic; will choices be given?
Learning Profile/Style: What is the intellectual preference of the student?
Individual vs. group work; multiple- intelligences, etc.

For this lesson I have focused on readiness. Instead of pulling only three or

instead to collaborate with the general education teachers to deliver this

lesson to the whole group. The students I am targeting have limited skills
going into this lesson so the cooperative learning structures will scaffold
their learning and make it more accessible for them.
Module 5 and 6: Planning for Differentiation
Varying

Tasks

SOURCES:

Add a References Page for the research/sources you

used to determine your strategies above (begin on a new page and
follow the APA guidelines in the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA
Style).
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2016). English language arts >>
Reading literature >>
Kindergarten. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELALiteracy/RL/K/
Kagan Publishing. (2016). Kagan structures: a miracle of active
engagement. Retrieved from
http://www.kaganonline.com/free_articles/dr_spencer_kagan/281/KaganStructures-A-Miracle- of-Active-Engagement
Spires, A. (2014). The most magnificent thing. Kid Press Ltd. Canada.

YOU WILL COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS IN MODULE

6, AFTER THE LESSON IS TAUGHT
Self-Reflection for Continuous Improvement:
Explain what went well in the implementation of your lesson. What changes
would you make to improve based on student achievement data and/or
evidence? A visual display of the student achievement data must be included
(i.e., table, graph, chart, etc.). What are the next steps for the students in your
class, a group of students, and/or an individual student to ensure EVERY
student is proficient? What are the next steps for you in becoming better at
differentiating your instructional approaches for all learners in your classes?
Use research (Module readings from the course text and 1-2 articles from the
CSU-Global Library) to support your choices and ideas.
Unfortunately, this week the student I had intended this lesson for was
absent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday I ended up
having to stay home with my son because he became ill.
The general education teacher and I were able to meet Monday to discuss
how we wanted the lesson to go and she gave me some valuable feedback.
At this stage she typically does not introduce the idea of events. She said
that it seems to work best to introduce events after students are already
solid with identifying problem and solution. She also shared with me a
graphic organizer that she likes to use, and I then adopted for this lesson.

Module 5 and 6: Planning for Differentiation

I decided Friday when I knew I would not be returning to work until the
following Wednesday due to mid-winter break that I would go ahead and
teach the lesson to my own son. If anything it would provide a good trial
run and give me the opportunity to make any adjustments before teaching
it to the Kindergarten class.
My son is 5 years old and will start Kindergarten in the fall. I read to him
regularly, but have never explicitly taught him about story elements.
We started with the pre-assessment. He chose four things he thought all
stories have; night time, dreams, a bad thing happening, and a bad guy.
These were his words when I asked him to share with me. I interpreted "a
bad thing happening" as somewhat equivalent to a problem. "A bad guy" is
an indication of some good groundwork for understanding protagonist vs.
antagonist story plots. Perhaps that will be our next lesson! Overall he did
not indicate any prior knowledge about characters, setting, or solution.
Throughout the story I asked a lot of questions. With only one "student" he
didn't have any peers to discuss with so the conversation was limited by the
extent of his own ideas. With each introduced story element I brought his
attention to the visual symbol and gave him the vocabulary.
By the end of the story he had a firm grasp on the characters, the setting,
and the problem. Even after trying to talk him through it, he never really
understood the solution though. In the post assessment I gave the following
day he didn't identify solution as being a part of a story either.
3.5
3
2.5
2

Pre

1.5

Post

1
0.5
0
Characters

1 - New Idea

Setting

Problem

Solution

2 - Can Identify when Asked within a story

3 - Can identify as a story element existing in all stories

I suspect that his struggle with understanding solution is that in this story
it had to be inferred. The character was angry because she couldn't get her
invention to work. Her solution ultimately was to keep trying until she
figured it out. It is a story about perseverance and I'm not sure that is a
concept he is developmentally ready for.
My next step in the development of this lesson, knowing what I do now, will

Module 5 and 6: Planning for Differentiation

be to consider a different story. I am going to continue using my son over

the next few days as my "guinea pig" to see if using a story with a more
concrete story line is more effective in teaching the solution element.
This experience also led me to consider more time built into the lesson, or
possibly some pre-teaching to ensure that students have the background
knowledge they need to understand the story. "Cultural differences and
culturally based assumptions can result in a lack of background knowledge
and thus loss of comprehension," (Irujo, 2015). If the student(s) I am
targeting don't have the foundational background knowledge to understand
the story, their ability to identify a problem or solution are greatly
compromised.

Evidence of Implementation:
Attach student work, photos of the lesson in progress demonstrating student
motivation/engagement and/or any other evidence as proof of
implementation. Remember to maintain student confidentiality (e.g., names
removed, etc.) and follow school policies around student photos, etc.

Module 5 and 6: Planning for Differentiation

SOURCES:

Add any additional sources or research you used in

this second part of the template to the Reference list you began
earlier. (Remember to follow the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and
APA Style).

Irujo, S. (2015). What does research tell us about teaching reading to

english language learners?
Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/what-doesresearch-tell-us-aboutteaching-reading-english-language-learners