The Mitten Lesson Plan

Kara Nance 2/22/10

Introduction

Lesson Topic: The Mitten by Jan Brett

Length of Lesson: 45 minutes

Virginia Standards of Learning:

English 1.1

The student will continue to demonstrate growth in the use of oral language
• Tell and retell stories and events in logical order

English 1.9

The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fiction and
nonfiction
• Make predictions about content
• Identify the topic or main idea
• Identify characters, setting and important events
• Retell stories and events, using beginning, middle and end

English 1.12

The student will write to communicate ideas

• Share writing with others
• Use available technology

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Construct a Mitten book using PowerPoint

• Complete sentences using animal names in correct sequence
• Retell the Mitten book to a peer

Materials and Advanced Preparation

o The Mitten by Jan Brett

o Printer
o Scissors
 o Stapler
o LCD projector
o PowerPoint
o Computer for each student (computer lab access?)
o Pre-made PowerPoint mitten books
o Whiteboard and markers
o Have animal pictures on desktop

Teaching and Learning Sequence

Introduction/Anticipatory Set

• Gather students to share the book The Mitten

• Ask students the following questions:
o What do you think this story is about by looking at the
cover?
o What are the names of the animals on the cover?
o What else do you see on the cover besides the animals?
(mitten)
o What do you think all of these animals are going to do in
the book? (get inside the mitten)
• Tell class that I am going to read The Mitten now. Tell them to pay
attention to the order the animals appear in the book.
• Read The Mitten to the class
o point out the foreshadowing pictures on each page and size
of each animal. (each animal gets bigger as the story
progresses, except for the mouse at the end. This will help
students remember the order in which the animals appeared
in the book)
• Discuss the book with the class
o Review the order in which the animals appeared in the
story
o Write animals names on whiteboard for a word bank

Lesson Development

• Explain to students that they are going to create their own Mitten
books using PowerPoint on the computer
• Using the LCD projector, show students the PowerPoint Mitten
book assignment
• Give directions:
o Open file “The Mitten”
o Make a cover for the book- it should include the name of
the book, and your name
 o They are to add a picture of an animal on each page of the
book, in the correct sequence that they appeared in the
book. The animal images can be found on desktop
o They are to complete the sentence on each page
• Model how to start the book and review some computer skills
o click on the picture of the animal, hold mouse button down
and drag the picture into the mitten
o show where to type the animal name in to complete
sentence
o show how to move to next slide by clicking on the down
arrow
o explain to students how to save and print their mitten book
• Have students print their Mitten book and staple it together
• Allow students to share their book with their seat partners

Closure

• Re-read the Mitten by Jan Brett

o Use the word foreshadowing
o Ask students what they could do to their books to include
foreshadowing
• Have students turn in their books

Assessment

• Give student a point for each of the following (5pt possible):

o Animal in each mitten (1 pt)
o Animal name in each sentence (1 pt)
o Does animal name correspond to animal picture (1 pt)
o Are animals in correct order (1 pt)
o Is there a title page (1 pt)

Adaptations
o For students who need an extra challenge, they can draw pictures
on the side of each page to use foreshadowing
o For students who struggle, have a printed word list with the
animals in correct order to assist them
o Have students help each other with any computer problems they
encounter (ask 3 before me). I will be walking around to help, too.

References

Upmeyer, Abby. The Mitten. Retrieved from

http://web.wm.edu/act2online/Lesson_Plans/firstgrade/themitten.htm