LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

Brianna Carroll
Tiffany Ratcliffe
Pre-k
Guy K. Stump Elementary

I. TITLE OF LESSON Read Aloud on Dont let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! By Mo Willems
II. CONTEXT OF LESSON
Read-alouds are important because they help children with comprehension, discussion of the book,
aid in predicting what will happen next, learn new vocabulary, helps children to become more
interested in reading, and those participating have more of a chance of being at a higher reading level. I
also noticed that the child still had difficulties finding a page in the book, a word, where we would
begin to read the book, finding a letter in a word, and a last letter in a word. I feel that through a read
aloud, we can review this with the student and the rest of the class as well. This lesson is focused on the
concepts of print, there will be more questions about the print of the book rather than about the book to
give the students a better understanding of the concepts of print.
III. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand: The student will understand more about concepts about print.
Know: Students will learn about the book, and the basic knowledge about the book.
Do: they will know where the story begins, what is a page, finding a word on a page, etc.
IV. COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENT DATA
Children will answer the question: Where do we begin to read a book? Where is the title of a book?
During centers time, I will ask the student questions about the book that we reviewed during the read
aloud to see if she remembers. I will also have the student draw me a picture after the read aloud, to see
if she can draw me a picture and then describe what she drew to me since she also had difficulties with
this during the assessment.
V. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (K & 1) OR FOUNDATION BLOCKS
(Preschool)
Reading
1. K.1 The student will demonstrate growth in the use of oral language.
1. a) Listen to a variety of literary forms, including stories and poems.
Page
1

2. b) Participate in a variety of oral language activities including choral and echo speaking
and
recitation of short poems, rhymes, songs, and stories with repeated word order patterns.
3. c) Participate in oral generation of language experience narratives.
4. d) Participate in creative dramatics.
5. e) Use complete sentences that include subject, verb, and object.
2. The student will expand understanding and use of word meanings.
1. a) Increase listening and speaking vocabularies.
2. b) Use number words.
3. c) Use words to describe/name people, places, and things.
4. d) Use words to describe/name location, size, color, and shape.
5. e) Use words to describe/name actions.
6. f) Ask about words not understood.
7. g) Use vocabulary from other content areas.
VI. MATERIALS NEEDED

Dont let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! By Mo Willems

Note cards on different parts of the book such as the author, the title, the
front of the book, the back of the book etc.
Paper and crayons for coloring a picture and describing after the book

VII. PROCEDURE
A. PREPARATION OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
I will have all necessary materials needed for the read aloud, such as sticky notes on when to stop for
questions and answers for the students and the book and note cards on what all of the parts of the book
is.
B. INTRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION
Start off circle time with Bean Bag song and dance.
Begin discussion: Ask: What is this? (Hold up note card with the title on it)
Page
2

Ask the students to count with me as I point to each word in the title, so they can see the
different words in the title.
Ask: Who is this? (Hold up note card with the authors name on it)
Before read aloud, my teacher always goes over the title and the author with the students, so I
feel this could be a good review for them.
On the first page: After flipping through the beginning pages, ask if this is where we begin to
read the book.
Still on the first page: Ask if we read the story from left to right or right to left? This is to
review on which direction to read a book. Also, point to the first letter of the sentence and ask if this is
a capital letter or a lowercase letter? This is to review on what is a capital or a lower case level, since
the student was unable to show me what a capital and a lower case letter is in the book.
Go over the first sentence of the book, and ask where the period is and what is does it mean in
the sentence. Ask what goes at the beginning of the sentence, a capital or a lower case letter?
After the page where the bus driver leaves: Are we going to let the pigeon drive the bus like the
bus driver asks or let the pigeon drive it because he wants to? We will not let him because he politely
asked us not to let him drive it!
Ask the students why they think the pigeon would not be allowed to drive the bus? Do pigeons
really drive buses?
Page when the pigeon is making the driving sounds (vroom) ask what it means when
there is a word that is suppose to mean a sound? (The students have already learned onamonapia so this
is review to see if they remember it).
While reading through the book, ask the students if the pigeon looks mad or happy when he is
not allowed to drive the bus? This is to see if the students are able to look at the picture and describe
what they are seeing.
After the page where the pigeon gets really angry with being told no: Do you think the pigeon
liked being told no? Have you ever felt this way before too? Does this make it okay to get angry? No,
because everyone gets told no for certain important reasons every once and while.

C. IMPLEMENTATION
After the read aloud, I will have a short discussion with the students about the book and why it
was good that we did not let the pigeon drive the bus.

Page
3

Then, when the students go to center time, where the students get to play at different centers in
the room, I will pull the student who I did the assessment on to the side to ask her further
questions about a different book
I will ask the student to find me a different book, any book they want in the classroom. After they
bring me the book I will ask them similar questions as the read aloud, such as where is the title,
where is a word, how many words are in the title, where is a period, where is a capital letter, etc.
Hopefully the read aloud will be a good review for the student, and they will remember every
thing we went over in the book.
D. CLOSURE
Now that we have read this book together, draw me a picture of anything you want and let me
know when you are done!
What did you draw? Why did you draw it?
Feel free to keep the picture or put it in your cubbie!
E. CLEAN-UP
I will need to make sure that all trash is thrown away and the class is back to its usual order. For
center time, the students all help to clean up the room since it gets a little hectic. So, I will set a
timer of when it is time to clean up to give the students a reminder.
VIII. DIFFERENTIATION
For differentiation, I will be using the tier 2 words, which are words that are not seen everyday.
By going over these words, I am catering to the needs of the English Language Learners. I will have
each word written on a piece of paper. When we come across the word, I will put the paper up, say the
word, and they will repeat the word after me. Then I will go over the meaning of the word and how it
was used in the book. Then I will say the meaning again and ask what the word is at the end. By
discussing and drawing pictures, I can look at comprehension of what was read and listen to what
points they make. Lastly, I will need to be aware of the students who struggle with their behavior. I can
do so by making sure they are involved in the interaction and checking up on them throughout the read
aloud.
IX. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT
IT?
Opening of the Lesson:
Some students may not want to sing and dance or understand how to do it. I need to make sure that I
clearly explain and before I start, make sure they understand the dance. Hopefully once they get some
wiggles out, they will be open to discuss with me about their knowledge of Lincoln. If they are shy to
talk, I can ask questions like, Was Lincoln known to be a short man or tall? Did he live in a house or a
log cabin?
Page
4

Lesson:
For all of the questions that I ask, I should be prepared to scaffold the discussion if they are having
trouble answering. For the prediction section, they may not remember what a prediction is and I can
walk through the meaning with the students. When I get to the question about the pennies and the
Lincoln Memorial, some students may want to share experiences that they have had. In class, they have
recently been talking about symbols, so some may want to share how the Lincoln Memorial is a symbol
like the Washington Monument.
Closing of the Lesson:
Students may have trouble cutting and gluing, or following the directions. I will make sure to cycle
around to help them with the activity as needed. I do not see there being any trouble with the journal as
they write in them on a regular basis.
Behavior:
Throughout the lesson, I need to be aware of behaviors during the lesson. Whether that be quietly
asking the student to listen to the reading, separating two students from each other, or I could say, I like
the way that
is sitting quietly and listening.
X. REFLECTION

Page
5