Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template

Reading, Writing, and Oral Language
2007 ACEI Standards

Those Shoes, Author: Maribeth Boelts, Illustrator: Noah Z. Jones

Problem Confronted: Economic Diversity
Name: Alex Swink

READINESS
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s)— Students will identify key attributes of the main character throughout
the children’s book, Those Shoes.
B. Objective(s)—
I. Students will learn how to identify key attributes of a main character,
using Jeremy from Those Shoes as an example, before he gets the
shoes, when he gets the shoes, and when he gives away the shoes
through a graphic organizer.
II. Students will show their understanding of identifying details that
describe a character by introducing their partner in an
“Introducing:_____” activity.
C. Standard(s): Professional Society/State/District -
1.RL. 2.3. Using key details, identify and describe the elements of plot, character,
and setting.

II. Materials
Materials: Three large Post-It Easel Pad sheets, colorful sharpies, “Introducing:___”
handout for every student, crayons, and four fake spotlights.
Time: (Rough outline) Anticipatory set = 2 minutes, Introduction questions/answers
= 2 minutes, Read aloud = 6-8 minutes, Grand conversation = 2 minutes, Quick
transition with a description of how to learn about a character = 2-3 minutes, graphic
organizer = 6-8 minutes, Directions = 2 minutes, Work time = 8 minutes, Share time =
8 minutes, Closure= 3-5 minutes
Space: For the read aloud and graphic organizer activity, the students will be sitting
in front of me at the front of the room. The students will work in partners at their
desks for the work time. When it is time to share, the students will sit in clusters at
the desks.
Behavior: Students are expected to listen while others are speaking and participate
in a conversation with their peers. The students should stay on task and follow
directions closely. When the students are introducing their partner to their small
group, they must stay on topic and share all parts of the “Introducing: ___” sheet.

III. Anticipatory Set

 I will pass out a brand new crayon to every student except for three. The three
students will receive a broken and used crayon instead of a brand new one. (I will
give the broken crayons to students that I have cleared with Mrs. Sweeney that can
handle not getting the same thing as everyone else). Good Morning Class! Right now
I am passing out brand new crayons and I want you to take a good look at your
crayon. Is it shiny? Has someone used it before? Once the students get their crayons,
I will allow them to look at the crayons and compare theirs with those around them.
After thirty seconds of analysis, I will call the students over to the front of the
classroom to sit on their section of the carpet and then begin a discussion. Raise your
hand if you did not get a brand new crayon. The students will raise their hands. How
did that make you feel when you saw your friends get a new one and you got an old
stinky one? Allow a student to answer briefly. I know that I would feel sad that I did
not get the same thing that my friends got. In this story, Jeremy, the main character,
wants something that everyone else has and feels sad when he does not have it. I
wonder what Jeremy will do to try to get a brand new pair of shoes.

IV. Purpose: I am going to read “Those Shoes” to you and I want you to think about the
details that describe who the main character, Jeremy, is.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

Use major concepts, principles, theories, and research to construct learning opportunities that
support students’ development, acquisition of knowledge, and motivation.
(ACEI 1.0)
 Foundational Theory: Reader-response criticism is a school of literary theory that
focuses on the reader (or “audience”) and their experience of a literary work, in contrast
to other schools and theories that focus attention primarily on the author or the content
and form of the work.

V. Adaptation to Diverse Students

 There is a student in the classroom that is a little slower in processing materials
than his fellow classmates. In order to make sure that he is able to fully
participate, I will give this student a certain number of words he must put in each
column on the “Introducing: ______” sheet. When I give him a certain number to
accomplish, it will make it easier for him to see the end goal and stay focused.
 There is also a student in the class that has a hard time sitting still, so once I give
him a crayon before reading the story, it will give him something to fiddle with
while I am reading. Allowing him to hold onto the crayon and move it between
his hands will hopefully help him focus.
(ACEI 3.2)
VI. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)
After I say the purpose statement, I will dive into reading Those Shoes
aloud. I will read the book with enthusiasm and differing voices. Once I have finished
the book, I will leave space for the grand conversation. So class, what did you like
about the story? What did you not like about the story? What was the big problem in
the story? What did you learn about Jeremy? Give time between these questions for
students to answer. Call on different students after each question, especially those
that do not normally offer any thoughts. I liked how at the end, Jeremy realized that
his friend Antonio needed the shoes more than he did and gave Antonio his shoes. We
learned that Jeremy is very nice to people that do not have as much as he does. Now,
I need your help with something. We are going to come up with a couple of lists of
words that describe Jeremy. These words will help us get to know Jeremy more. We
can learn more about a character based on the way he acts, talks, looks like, and
what he thinks about. Pointing at the Post-It Easel sheets: On this list we will think of
words that described how Jeremy talked, thought, and acted before he got his shoes.
On this next list we will think of words that describe how Jeremy talked, thought, and
acted when he got his shoes from the thrift store. And on this last list, we will think of
words that describe how Jeremy talked, thought, and acted when he gave his shoes
to Antonio. After the explanation, we will go through each list and I will write down
the words that the students believe resonated with how Jeremy talked, thought, and
acted in each situation. I will monitor what the students say and expand on
generalities.
Once we have completed the graphic organizer, I will give directions for
the next activity. Now that we have found out different details that described the
main character, Jeremy, it is time for us to do the same thing. Does anyone remember
how we learn about a character? Call on a couple of students. You’re right. We look
at how he talks, acts, looks like, and what he thinks about. Now, we are going to
learn about the main characters of our classroom, you guys. I am going to put you
into partners. When you and your partner are together you will be working on this
“Introducing: ________” paper. You will learn about the character of your partner,
what makes your partner who he or she is. On this paper it says: How do we learn
about characters? What does _________ like to do? What does __________ look
like? What do I like about ________? You will each get a sheet and then fill in the
blanks with your partner’s name. When you have written your partners name, you
can then start to answer the questions and ask your partner to help you answer the
questions. These questions will help you learn more about your partner, who is the
main character of their life. If you are stuck, I can help you or you can look at the list
of words we used to describe Jeremy. Are there any questions? Answer any questions
the students have. Give the students eight minutes (and a two minute warning) to
work on the “Introducing: _______ “ sheet.
After I see that everyone has completed the sheets in the eight minutes, I
will explain the next part of the activity. Okay, now that everyone is done, we are
going to share what we learned about our partners. You will be with your partner and
two other people. I will give each group a cutout spotlight. Each person will get two
minutes to share with your group about your partner and you can only talk in your
group if you are holding this magical spotlight. The spotlight will be made of a cut out
cartoon spotlight glued onto popsicle sticks. After two minutes have passed, you will
hear a beep from the stopwatch on the screen and pass the magical spotlight to the
next person. Any questions? Answer any questions the students have. Give each
 person two minutes to share about his or her partner before telling the students to
pass on the magic spotlight. I will walk around and monitor the class to make sure
that all of the students are following directions and staying on topic.
(ACEI 3.3)

VII. Check for understanding.

I will be able to fully know if the students have learned after their suggestions to my
directions for the graphic organizer as well as when I collect their “Introducing: _____ “
sheets. If not all of the students have met the lesson outcomes by revisiting the material,
and focusing on the specific areas that the students did not quite comprehend. With that
being said, I could read more stories in the future and ask the students to describe the
main characters in each of the stories I read. I could also give more structure to what I am
expecting (if they do not understand) by writing down questions that will guide the way
they are supposed to analyze characters.

VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure

The last activity of the students sharing their gathered information about their partners,
will segway into the closure of this lesson. All right class, that was the last person to share
about his partner. Now, I want you to close your eyes and think about the questions we
can ask to learn more about the characters in a story. What are some of the questions we
can ask? And how did we use these ideas today in class? Call on some students to answer.
Guide them to the attributes of characters that we learned through the graphic organizer
and the “Introducing: _________” sheet.

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

During the lesson presentation, I will ask students to help me identify some words, or
characteristics, of the main character and display the information on a graphic organizer. As the
students suggest information, I will be able to informally assess whether the students are
comprehending the questions being asked and the material that we discussed. I will be able to
understand if the students know how to analyze a character within a text to describe what the
character is like.
A formal assessment strategy that I will use is through the “Introducing: _________”
sheets. These sheets will allow me to see whether the students can analyze their partner with
the same detail as they did with the main character of Those Shoes. The students’ answers to
the first question on the activity sheet: “How do we learn about characters in a story?” will help
me gage their understanding of the material. Their answers should match what we discussed in
class. These sheets will aid in social, emotional, and intellectual developments of the students
since they will answer a variety of questions.
(ACEI 4.0)
REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS
1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
a. Bloom’s Taxonomy
b. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
7. Did the students understand how to learn about and identify attributes of a character
in the story, Those Shoes?
8. What worked well and what did not work about doing an “Introducing: ____” activity?
 Name:

Introducing:

How do we learn about What does

characters in a story? look like?

What does What do I like about

like to do? ?