READ ALOUD LESSON PLAN

Teacher’s Name: Ms. Hodge

Title (or focus) of the Lesson: Focus on what it means to love (Valentine’s day) and naming the
people, places, or things that we love
Grade Level(s): Kindergarten
Number of Students: 20 (19 present that day)
Standard(s):
Oral Language
K.3 The student will build oral communication skills.
b) Begin to initiate conversations.
c) Begin to follow implicit rules for conversation, including taking turns and staying on topic.
d) Listen and speak in informal conversations with peers and adults.
e) Participate in group and partner discussions about various texts and topics.
Reading
K.9 The student will demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts.
b) Relate previous experiences to what is read.

Materials
Teacher materials: Love by Matt De La Pena and the smart board
Student materials: heart shaped paper and pencils (one per student)

Summary
Love by Newberry Medal—winning author, Matt De La Pena and illustrated by New York
Times bestselling illustrator, Loren Long is a celebration of love that follows us through our
everyday lives, which can take countless forms and ultimately connects us all.

Procedures
I. Opener— Before reading Love by Matt De La Pena, students will identify what love
means to them and the teacher will write it on the smart board to revisit after the
reading is over.
II. Body— During the reading, students will be asked questions such as, “When you
think of love is this what you thought of?” “Could there be many different meanings
to the word love?” and “How many of you find this to be an example of love?”
III. Closing— After reading the story students will discuss if the story had the same
definition of love that they came up with. After, students will go back to their seat and
will each be given a paper heart that they will use to write who or what they love and
will hopefully be have more ideas of love to include after finishing the story.
 REFLECTION

I focused my lesson on being both multicultural, so all students can relate, as well as love

because I presented my read-aloud to my class the week of Valentine’s day. I met most of my

objectives for the standards of learning including, initiating conversations, having informal

conversations about the text, and especially relating previous experience to what is read. I had a

hard time getting the students to take turns to express what they think of when they think of the

word love, more often than not I had a few individuals who had poor self control to raise their

hands and wait to be called on so they shouted their answer.

My book “Love” is multicultural because it allows students to make connections and

allows them to be able to see themselves within it whether its through the words or illustrations.

According to Cappellini in chapter six on read-alouds, “A good multicultural book gives readers

insight into the main character’s particular culture, sphere of movement, and circumstances, but

also highlights the challenges that the character faces as a human being.” Although my read-

aloud book, “Love”, didn’t necessarily have a main character all types of backgrounds and

cultures were portrayed especially with the use of illustrations. I also prompted students to make

text-to-self connections by asking them how they relate to the word love, both before and after

the reading. I came across this book when I was searching for books in the library of the school

that I’m placed in. I was asked what exactly I was looking for and after I told the librarians that I

needed a book that is multicultural and that I can relate back to love or caring for Valentines day,

per request of my CT, the librarian enthusiastically handed me “Love”, said it was perfect for

what I was looking for, and I took her word for it.
 As it is said in Katie’s Story, “I still read the class a story every day. I know this is

important for building vocabulary for all of the children, especially the English language

learners.” This really resonated with me because it is something that my CT does everyday,

during read-aloud time, and expresses to me the importance of read-alouds. I think that for my

read-aloud in particular this week, the vocabulary for the kindergarten class was advanced, but

was good for them to hear to build on what they already know. I think that for the most part the

kids reacted well to the story, being enthusiastic about the questions I asked and remaining

engaged during the story, which is typically hard for my class to do. I did have instances of

giggles during certain moments of the book, which I think pertained to the age of the students.

My CT really complemented me on my read-aloud lesson and especially liked the activity that I

finished with. We did discuss how I felt that my opener wasn’t how I necessarily planned it out

to be and how next time I can give the students better examples so that I can lead them in the

right direction. Something I feel that I can really work on is calming down before I do my read-

aloud, because I think I might have read too fast and accidentally skipped a page. I need to slow

it down somewhat so students can really take a look at the illustrations, especially in this book, to

add more meaning to the words.

At the end of my lesson, I talked to the students about what we had come up with in the

beginning to see if the book covered some of those topics, I then had them go back to their seats

and write on a heart what they love (pictured below). I think that this relates to Morrows

Assessment in Early Literacy because I was able to see what students comprehended from the

book, without giving them a formal test. After this activity, my CT hung each child’s heart in the

hall for the school to see.

 Works Cited

Board of Education Commonwealth of Virginia (2010). English Standards of Learning for

Virginia Public Schools: Kindergarten Oral Language and Reading. Retrieved from

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/2010/stds_englishk.pdf

Cappellini, Mary (2015). Balancing Reading and Language Learning: Read Alouds [PDF file].

Retrieved from, Cappellini_chap 6.pdf.

Katie’s Story [PDF file]. Retrieved February 14, 2018 from, Katiesstory.pdf.

Morrow, Lesley Mandel (2015). Literacy Development in the Early Years: Helping Children

Read and Write.