Adding Details - Writing Lesson Plan

Sara Eubank

Lesson Rationale
Kindergarten students are just learning to write and need to learn foundational writing skills. They need to learn about how to add
details before they can begin writing short stories, and they need to understand why adding details is important.

Readiness
I. Goals/Objectives/Standards
a. Goal(s): Students will add more details to a sentence.

b. Objective(s): Using the Stretch My Sentence worksheet, students will add details to a sentence to give it more
meaning, so the reader can better understand.

c. Standard: K.W.4 – Apply the writing process to –

 With support, revise writing by adding simple details; review (edit) writing for format and
conventions (e.g., correct spelling of simple words, capitalization of the first word of the sentence).
 Use available technology to produce and publish writing.
II. Materials
 Sentence Stretcher Organizer
 Timer
 Stretch My Sentence Activity

III. Anticipatory Set

 The students will be gathered at the carpet, each on their individual spots.
 I will talk to the students about sometimes writing can be complex and tricky and how when we add
more details to a story it makes it easier to follow along and understand. “Do any of you find writing to
be tricky sometimes?” I will watch as students raise their hands and gauge how students feel about
writing. “I know sometimes I feel like it can difficult to write a story or figure out how to make my story
make sense to others. I forget to include more details in my stories because I think my reader already
knows the story like I do. For example, if I told you I walked somewhere, you would probably tell me,
Miss Eubank, where did you walk to?. I don’t give you very many details which makes it difficult for
you to understand my story.”
IV. Purpose: “Today, we are going to learn about adding more details to our stories and use a tool called sentence
stretching to help the reader of our story to better understand our stories.”

Plan for Instruction

 Adaptation to Diverse Students
o Early finishers – Students who finish quickly can come up with two more sentences and add details on the
back of the activity sheet. If they still have time, they may drawing pictures to correspond with their
sentences.
o ELL – N/A
o Reteaching – Students will be in table groups when they are at their desks and will have the support of their
peers throughout the entire lesson. they can work together and ask one another questions when adding details
to their sentences during independent practice. In the event that I need to reteach this skill to some students, I
can pull students during morning math meeting on a different day.
o Exceptional Needs – Since these students are in Kindergarten, none of them are currently diagnosed with a
disability. However, these students are young and have short attention spans. There are few students in
particular who become exceptionally squirmy at the carpet. I will do a quick brain break with the students
when they are at the carpet to give them some dopamine and refocus them if needed. During independent
work time, I will come around and check in with specific students to be sure they are staying on task.
o Students will have the support of the teacher(s) throughout the entire lesson.

 Lesson Presentation
o “First, we need to talk about what makes a sentence a sentence. Can anyone tell me what we need to make a
sentence a sentence?” I will call on a couple of students to answer the question. “Yes, we need both a noun
and a verb. A noun is a person, place, or thing, and a verb is an action. We use sentences to make a story.”
o “Now, a lot of times when we are telling a story we include a lot more details than if we write the story. So,
remember I told you we would be using a tool called sentence stretching, which will help us add details and
descriptors to make our sentences better.” I will display the sentence stretcher organizer on the small
whiteboard that is in front of the carpet. “I am going to show you how to do this on the board! The first
 sentence we are going to add more details to is The Baby Cried. I will write the baby in the who section, and
then, I will add cried into the doing what section. ” I will model to the students how I can add more details by
adding details into the sections when, where, and why. “We are missing details in the sentence so we don’t
know when, where, or why the baby cried. We could say it was in the afternoon, the baby was in the crib, and
the baby was hungry. Then, instead of our sentence just being The baby cried, it is now The baby cried in the
afternoon in his crib because he was hungry. The second sentence gives us a lot more details and allows us to
better understand the story.”
o Then, I will allow students help me come up with simple sentences and help me add the details. “Now, we
are going to work together to add details to a sentence. Who could tell me a noun that we could use for this
sentence?” I will call on a student and get a noun from them. Then, I will call on a student for a verb.
Following, I will present the constructed sentence to the students and ask if there are very many details.
Together, they will help me add the details of when, where, and why. I will do two to three examples of this
as students grasp onto the sentence stretching concept.
o Then, I will explain the independent activity. “Alright, now you are going to have the chance to do this on
your own. The first two have a subject and a verb already written in for you, and you will be adding details to
the sentence like we just did together on the board. The last one, you get to choose the subject and verb, and
then you will add details to the sentence. There will be 15 minutes to work on this activity, and then we will
share some of our sentences.” Then students will be sent back to their seats to complete the independent
activity. As they are working, I will walk around to each table group to check in and assist them.

V. Check for Understanding

 I will ask questions throughout the entirety of the lesson to see how students feel about adding details to
simple sentences.
 I will watch students’ facial expressions to gauge how comfortable they are with the skill of adding
details to writing and using the sentence stretching tool.
 Independent practice is a check for understanding.

VI. Review Learning Outcomes/Closure – “Alright, who would like to share one of their sentences?” I will call on
three students to share their detailed sentences with the class. I will be sure to call on students who have not been
called on previously in this lesson.

Plan for Assessment

Students will complete the Stretch My Sentence activity on their own with support from the teacher.

Reflection and Post-Lesson Analysis

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective? For those who did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How could I alter this lesson to better meet the needs of my students?
4. Were all of my students actively participating?
5. How would I pace this lesson differently?
6. Did students engage in the material during modeling and guided practice?
7. What lesson would I teach next to build on the skill of adding details to a sto ry?