Lesson Plan

Book Summary: The book used for this mini-lesson is Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan
London. In this book, Froggy has his first day of school. He says he isnt nervous, but his dream
says otherwise. At school, he learns how to read his name, but it is hard for him to pay attention.
By the end of the day, Froggy realizes that school is fun.

Rationale: Froggy Goes to School can be used for the purpose of teaching the students to read
for expression. Jonathan London uses different traits in his writings that appeal to the readers
emotions. Specifically, the punctuation that he uses.

Objective: Students will be able to identify punctuation in Froggy Goes to School that suggest
feelings. Jonathan Londons stories are humorous, so the students will be able to read with
expression to make his stories, along with other authors stories, come alive.

Procedure
To introduce the lesson the teacher will read a passage from Froggy Goes to School. She
will read this in a flat voice, ignoring all punctuation. She will explain to the class that this is
how you read a book without expression. You should not read this way because it does not give
life to the characters and it is harder to understand. The teacher will then read the passage again
with expression. The teacher will then point out each punctuation mark and explain what it
means. For example, Froggy says, Oh no! The bus! The bus! he cried. The exclamation points
tell the reader that Froggy is either angry, excited, or worried. The teacher will explain that some
punctuation marks can have different meanings, like an exclamation point. She will also explain
that the students can use the pictures to help them determine the meaning of the punctuation, and

they can use context clues, as well. The teacher will tell the students that punctuation is the
authors way of telling them how they should sound when they read.

Guided Application: The teacher will have the students come together in a circle, on the floor.
She will read a passage from Froggy Goes to School to the students with a monotone voice,
ignoring punctuation. She will choose different students to reread that same passage, but with
expression, paying close attention to the punctuation. The student will explain what clues they
saw in the passage that made them read it that way. For example, the student may look at the
passage, The school bus was leaving. Wait! Wait! he yelled, and took a mighty hop. Then,
the student would point out the exclamation points and tell the teacher that the exclamation
points suggest that Froggy is either excited, angry, or worried. The student will also point out
that he/she used context clues in the first sentence, The school bus was leaving, to conclude
that Froggy is worried.

Application: Students will be put into two groups eight. Each group will be performing a play
based on Froggy Goes to School. Each group will have time to read over the play and rehearse.
Once each group has had time to rehearse, each group will present their play to the class.
Students will not have to memorize the script. They will not be put into costume or use props
because they should be reading with expression to make the play come alive.

Effectiveness of the Lesson: In order to assess students understanding of reading with

expression, the teacher will watch the groups perform their plays and listen for accurate use of
expression. If the students are reading with the correct expression for their particular character,
the lesson is effective.