LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

Danielle Knopp
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
November 1, 2017 11:30 AM

A. Teaching the Letters F and L

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON

During our literacy block, I will be introducing/reviewing the letters F and L to the students as a class, and
then go into more detail behind the letter sounds in smaller groups. At the beginning of our literacy block, the
students all sit together on the rug, which is when I will begin the lesson. After the letters are introduced, the
students will break up into their assigned teams where they will each get a separate set of instructions. As a
form or pre-assessment, prior to teaching the lesson I will simply display the letters, both upper- and
lowercase, on the projector and ask the students if they can identify them to gauge how familiar they are with
the letters. This is an appropriate activity for the children because they learn a new set of two letters each
week, so it is building on to their already established routine. It fits into the curriculum sequence because it
addresses various English SOLs and is developmentally appropriate because they are all either beginning or
emergent readers. Aside from just learning the letters and their sounds, they are beginning to identify words
that start with these letters, and enhancing their reading skills.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand what are the broad
generalizations the students should
begin to develop? (These are
typically difficult to assess in one
lesson.)
The students will understand that
each letter of the alphabet makes a
different letter sound.
Know what are the facts, rules,
specific data the students will gain
through this lesson? (These knows
must be assessed in your lesson.)
The students will be able to
identify the letters F and L in
both upper- and lowercase forms
in addition to knowing their
respective sounds.
Do what are the specific thinking
behaviors students will be able to do
through this lesson? (These will also
be assessed in your lesson.)
The students will correctly sort
different pictures according to
their beginning sounds (F and
L) and know what words start
with each of those letters.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING

I will assess the students based on their picture sorts and their ability to correctly match each picture with their
beginning letter sounds. Because the picture sorts are individual assignments and the students must have them
checked by either me or my CT, I will be able to assess each of them and be able to see if they have met the
learning objectives and truly understand the different sounds that the letters F and M make.

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (and NATIONAL STANDARDS if required)

English
K. 3 The student will build oral communication skills
a) Express ideas in complete sentences and express needs through direct requests
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
f) Begin to use voice level, phrasing, and intonation appropriate for various language situations
g) Follow one- and two-step directions
h) Begin to ask how and why questions
 K.4 The student will identify, say, segment, and blend various units of speech sounds
a) Begin to discriminate between spoken sentences, words, and syllables
b) Identify and produce words that rhyme
c) Blend and segment multisyllabic words at the syllable level
d) Segment one-syllable words into speech sound units including beginning phoneme(s) (onset) and
ending (rimes)
e) Identify words according to shared beginning and/or ending sounds
K.7 The student will develop an understanding of basic phonetic principles
a) Identify and name the uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet
b) Match consonant, short vowel, and initial consonant digraph sounds to appropriate letters
c) Demonstrate a speech-to-print match through accurate finger-point reading in familiar text that
includes words with more than one syllable
d) Identify beginning consonant sounds in single-syllable words
K.11 The student will print in manuscript
a) Print uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet independently
b) Print his/her first and last names.

F) MATERIALS NEEDED

For the introduction

- Projector (Cooperating Teacher)
- Pictures of letters F and L (Cooperating Teacher)

For the activity

- Small plastic containers labeled F and L (4 each) (Cooperating Teacher)
- Objects for F container (Cooperating Teacher)
o Small toy fly, feather, small toy foot, small toy finger, small toy fish, number 5, small toy
fox, small toy fan, small toy farm
- Objects for L container (Cooperating Teacher)
o Small toy lemon, small toy ladybug, small toy ladder, small toy lamp, small toy
leprechaun, small toy lips, lollipop

For the assessment

- Word Sort Paper (Cooperating Teacher)
o Including each letter (F and L) and various pictures of words that begin with those
letters
- Scissors (Students)

G) PROCEDURE
Preparation of the Learning Environment
1) Have the projector ready to display the pictures of F and L
2) Have students sit on their individual spaces on the rug
Introduction of the Lesson
3) Show the students the letters on the projector
4) Review what each individual letter is
a. What are these two letters?
b. Can somebody point to the uppercase F? (proceed with lowercase and then go over L)
c. What sounds do they make
d. Does anybodys name start with these sounds?
e. Can you think of any other words that start with these sounds
5) Send special teams (4 students who did not meet PALS requirements) to reading specialist
 6) Introduce plastic container activity
a. In groups of 4, students will share 2 containers, each labeled with either an F or L
b. Within the containers are different small objects beginning with those letter sounds
c. Have the students become familiar with these objects by taking them out of the containers and
sorting them back into the correct ones
Implementation of the Lesson
7) Have red team do container activity while blue team does their assigned learning centers
a. Set timer for 15 minutes
b. When timer goes off, red and blue teams switch (red does centers, blue does container
activity)
c. Set timer again for 15 more minutes
8) Hand out the picture sorts to each student at their desks
9) Have students complete sorts individually
a. Cut out various pictures with beginning letter sounds F and L
b. Have students sort them according to their beginning letter sounds
Closure
10) As the students are finishing up their sorts, monitor their progress and assess what they are doing
11) Check for completion and accuracy
Clean-Up
12) Put picture sorts in their reading folders
13) Throw away scrap paper from picture sorts

H) DIFFERENTIATION

Since the students are grouped into teams based on their reading levels, some differentiation may be necessary. As
far as the plastic container activity is concerned, I do not believe any of the students will need any extra help,
especially since the objects are already categorized. If they do need help, they will be able to consult with their
peers since they will be doing this in small groups. However, my CT and I will be walking around and monitoring
them as well. Those on the red team might need additional help during the picture sort. If that is the case, I will
have them repeat the letter sounds to me and the picture that they are trying to sort. The blue team has the more
advanced readers, and most likely will be able to complete the sorts without any outside help. If they need an
enrichment/extension, I will ask them to draw pictures of letters that begin with the letters F and L during their
center time.

I) WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

When I first introduce the letters, there is a possibility that the students will either not be able to identify them, or
will not feel like participating in the activity. However, they are usually more than eager to participate, so I do not
think tht this will be a problem. If this does happen, I will encourage participation with some sort of incentive such
as allowing them to pick which centers they would like to do when the time comes.
During the plastic container activity, the students may end up playing with the objects rather than identifying what
sounds they begin with. To keep the students on task, my CT and I will be walking around the room, which helps
to keep them focused on what they are supposed to be doing.
Because the picture sorts are something that the students are familiar with since they do them on a fairly regular
basis, I do not anticipate anything going wrong with this part of the lesson. If anything, they may have trouble
accurately identifying what pictures go with their corresponding letters, but they will have my CT and I to guide
them if they should need help.
 Lesson Implementation Reflection
As soon as possible after teaching your lesson, think about the experience. Use the questions/prompts below to
guide your thinking. Be thorough in your reflection and use specific examples to support your insights.

I. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes and explain why you
made them.

When I taught my lesson, the children were extremely attentive, which made things run very smoothly. The
lesson went according to plan without any major issues, and I believe that the children really grasped the content
of the lesson. The only thing that differed between my plan and the actual implementation of the lesson was the
switching period between the red team doing the plastic container activity and the blue team doing their
centers. Neither team seemed to want to switch, and needed a little bit of a push from my CT and I to begin their
new activity. However, through encouragement and getting a few students to switch on time, the rest of the
students followed along by example.

II. Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your impact on student learning? Did they
learn? Who learned? What did they learn? What evidence can you offer that your conclusions are valid?

The students definitely learned the sounds that the letters F and L make according to my learning objectives,
which was a relief because I know that they sometimes struggle with being able to identify other sounds at the
end of previous lessons. Aside from the special team who went to the reading specialist, I was able to observe
the rest of the childrens learning. The assessment (picture sort) was especially helpful to make sure the children
were learning because I was able to check all of their work individually.

III. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a better or more
thorough way if you were to teach this lesson again.

If I were to teach this lesson again, I would definitely come up with some other form of differentiation for
students who completed the activity early. The more advanced students were able to finish their word sorts very
quickly, and ended up having to do their centers with the time remaining. Instead of this, I would maybe have
them color in the pictures they sorted, or perhaps have them draw a picture with all the words they could think of
beginning with the letters F and L or journal about these different words.

IV. Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if you were the classroom teacher?

Since this is an activity that my CT does weekly, I would just continue to teach the next set of letters to my
students the following week. All of the students were able to accurately identify the letter sounds by the end of
the lesson and match up the pictures during the sort accordingly. The only thing I might add would be some sort
of extension activity, as mentioned in the differentiation portion of the lesson plan.

V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about young children
as learners?

After planning and teaching this lesson, I have learned how much more children enjoy hands-on activities rather
than just being read to, watching a video, doing a worksheet, etc. They really enjoyed the plastic container
activity because it was something new for them that they had not yet done in the classroom, and had a lot of fun
playing with the objects in each container. However, even though they were semi-playing with the objects, they
still learned in the process as they tried to figure out their beginning letter sounds.
VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about teaching?

I have further learned the value of small group work within the classroom. When the students broke up into
groups of 4 to do the plastic container activity, even though they would occasionally get off-task, they still
ultimately were able to learn very effectively. This is because they could verbalize what they were thinking to
their peers while simultaneously having fun. However, when the students were doing the picture sorts
individually, they were not nearly as enthusiastic. While individual work is an important tool for teachers to see
what levels their students are at, collaboration with peers is equally important.

VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about yourself?

I have definitely learned that teaching literacy skills to young children is more fun than it is stressful. Prior to
taking this class, I never thought about how one would teach reading and writing skills to emergent and
beginning readers. The thought of teaching a lesson like this was intimidating at first because there is so much at
stake. These are the foundations of reading, and it is imperative as teachers that we make sure our students start
off on the right track. Having said that, my CT was more than encouraging when I expressed my concerns to her,
and helped me come up with this lesson plan. Afterwards, she even asked if I wanted to teach the next set of
letters next week, which made me feel much more confident in my teaching skills.