RUNNING HEAD: BRAIN-COMPATIBLE LESSON PLAN

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE: A BRAIN-COMPATIBLE LESSON PLAN

CARRIE KAISER
EDU 417
PROF. JOANNA SAVARESE-LEVINE
March 11, 2016

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE LESSON PLAN

Scenario 2: You are a Program Coordinator working for an after school enrichment program for
children K-5. The director of the program has asked you to create an after school activity for a
group of 10 children of varying abilities. The director wants the activity to be fun and engaging.
You have just taken this Capstone class at Ashford University and are excited to put your
knowledge of brain-compatible learning into practice! You are to choose an age appropriate
lesson plan and modify it to become a more brain-compatible activity.
Here is the modified lesson plan, using the Track changes button within Word. I have provided a
few modifications and made room for more hands-on activities. With this lesson plan, I felt that
students needed the freedom of choice- and could choose from a variety activities, while learning
the same material, having fun while doing so, and taking away from it something that they
created.
Lesson Plan

Telling Stories: How Words and Pictures Work Together

Compare picture books and their animated adaptations before investigating sequence
and animation through flip books

Grades: 12, 35

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WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE LESSON PLAN

Overview
Inspired by the language and imagery of beloved childrens books, Morton Schindel decided to form Weston Woods,
a studio dedicated to creating short films from well-known childrens stories.
This lesson introduces students to the fundamental aspects of storytelling and making their own story murals
through either art or journal entries to share with the class, based on their own special places to escape.

Objective

In this lesson, students will:

Investigate how pictures and words are used to tell stories
Have fun and learn!
Suggested Time: 2-3 Hours

Vocabulary

Sequence
Animation
Mood
Setting
Imagery
Character
Motion
Animate

Materials

Where the Wild Things Are book copies

Paints, Blank canvases, art smocks, brushes, water, large crayons, paper
Writing utensils, paper
Audiobook of the story
Paper crowns

Set Up and Prepare

1.

Choose a book and the accompanying animated film adaptation to study, such as:
Where the Wild Things Are
Me...Jane

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE LESSON PLAN

Antarctic Antics: A Book of Penguin Poems

Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World
Miss Nelson Has a Field Day
So You Want to Be President?
Owen
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
The Dot
Children Make Terrible Pets
The Snowy Day
Make Way for Ducklings

Directions
Step 1: Read aloud the picture book you chose from the Weston Woods list above. Have the students close their
eyes and try and visualize what is being read aloud.
Step 2: Since there are 10 students, have them pair in groups of 2, to create a story mural based on what was read
aloud. Ask the following inquisitive questions: before sending them off to create their murals:
Step 3: The word and concept of character. Who were the main characters? What do we know about them? Which of
those things do we know because of the imagery, and which of those things do we know because of the words?
Step 4: The word and concept of setting. Where is the story set? How do the pictures and words tell us about where
and when the story is set?
Step 5: Introduce the words and concepts of mood. Is the story serious, funny, suspenseful, quiet, crazy, silly, sad,
happy? How do the pictures and words create mood?
Step 6: Introduce the word and concept of sequence. Use examples from the book. Ask what happened first, what
happened second, what happened next?
Step 7: Ask students what their favorite place is for an escape.
Step 8: Now, give student groups the following options: either create a mural based on a part of the story and what
they visualized, create their own story book with pictures and words, or have them write a journal entry or create a
game that matches up pictures with the sequence of events in the story.
Step 9: Have each group share their projects with the rest of the groups and discuss the similarities in what was
visualized and created. Also, each student gets a blank paper crown to draw or color on how they choose.

Modifications and meeting the needs of diverse learners:

The focus with this activity is to not only go over the art of storytelling, but having
students be creative in their own ways. The focus here is on differentiated learning, and making
it consistent. Differentiated learning is a term that encompasses everything that makes a child
unique, such as culture, family, temperament, multiple intelligences profile, personality style,
and special needs or developmental delays (Schiller, Willis 2008). Teachers should teach

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE LESSON PLAN

material in smaller chunks with no more than 15 minutes of input. And by adding arts into
education, it has been proven that certain arts boost attention, working memory, and visual
spatial skills (Jensen, n.d.).
Since there are 10 students for this activity, I would pair them into groups of two so
students who may have learning difficulties feel that they have a buddy to team up with. I
have provided a variety of options for activities to get the feel of the books theme and to learn
about how they can each be creative, while at the same time work together in teams. Since this
is an after-school enrichment program activity, and the 10 students are of varying abilities that I
may be unaware of, I can first place their names onto paper placed into a bowl and have each
student pick a paper and that is who their buddy is for the activity- this prevents students who
are familiar with one another working together and pairs them with students they may have not
worked with before. Of course, if there are issues, I can modify the pairs. For students with
language delays, I can have them write a journal entry and their teammate draw pictures for the
entries. For those with motor delays, providing large crayons and paper would work. And for
those students who are visually impaired, have them listen to an audiobook of the story. Finally,
at the end of the activity, each student gets to create their own crown from a blank template
given to them (Max in the story had a crown) and with the reminder that each of them are kings
and queens in their school and home life.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE LESSON PLAN

REFERENCES:
Jensen, E. (n.d.). Brain-based learning strategies. Florida Education Association. Retrieved
from http:// feaweb.org/brain-based-learning-strategies.
Schiller, P., & Willis, C. (2008). Using Brain-Based Teaching Strategies to Create Supportive
Early Childhood Environments That Address Learning Standards. Naeyc.org
Scholastic.com. Telling Stories: How Words and Pictures Work Together. Retrieved from
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/free-lesson-plans.