READ ALOUD LESSON PLAN

Your Name: Hannah Rishel

Focus of the Lesson: Everyone is Welcome at School!
Grade Level: Pre-K
Number of Students: 4

Standard(s): Virginia Literacy Foundation Building Blocks:

Block 1: b) Correctly identify characters, objects, and actions in a picture book, as well as stories read
aloud, and begin to comment about each f) Engage in turn taking exchanges and rules of polite
conversation with adults and peers.
Block 2: f) Expose children to a wide-variety of experiences to build vocabulary.
Block 3: b) Identify words that rhyme, generate simple rhymes.
Block 5: a) Identify the front of a book b) Identify the location of the title of a book.

Objective(s): Students will see that their diverse-selves and experiences are welcome at school through
representation in illustrations and teacher-lead conversation. Students will be able to comprehend a
fiction picture book read aloud by sharing lines in the story and by answering questions asked by the
teacher before, during, and after the story. Students will be able to connect content to past lessons when
the teacher pauses to reflect.
Materials
Teacher materials:
• “All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold: A fiction picture book that follows a school day where
everyone is welcome featuring students from diverse and unique backgrounds and experiences.
• Sticky Notes to mark pages to pause & attach mini lesson plan notes/reminders on the back cover if
needed!
• Quiet Carpet Space to conduct read aloud.

Student materials:
• Listening Ears & Thinking Caps! :)

Procedures
I. Opener— (Before-reading): First, I will read the title, author, and illustrator. After saying
each, I will ask students where the title is, what the author does, and what the illustrator does
(praise correct answers and assist/explain when necessary). Then, I will remove the cover
page to show the students that on the inside it has illustrations of several characters in the
story who are all of diverse races and nationalities. I will then ask the students to look at the
drawings and see if anyone can find a child that looks like them or has similar characteristics.
Then, I will take volunteers for anyone to come up and point to a character they found that
they think resembles themselves (truly everyone should able to find a character!). Lastly, I
 will ask how everyone feels when someone is welcoming or kind to them. I will then use this
time to discuss how showing everyone kindness creates a welcoming school environment (ex:
how their teacher greets them each morning with a smile).
II. Body— (During-reading): I will engage students throughout the read aloud by having us all in
unison say the last line of each page: “All Are Welcome Here.” I will pause on pages 7-8, 11-12,
17-18, and 31-32. On pages 7-8 I will ask if the illustrations of the students drawing/painting
pictures reminds them of anything they do at school (assist by talking about art center time if
needed). I will then discuss how all students seem to be drawing pictures of their families and
point out how all are different/unique! In my preschool class, pages 11-12 tie in perfectly with
the other planned readings for the day including “The Little Red Hen” and “Bread, Bread,
Bread!” Because of this, I will ask the students if they recall what the hen baked (bread) and
point out that that’s what the students in the illustrations are eating for lunch. I will also ask if
they see any of the kinds of bread we read about in “Bread, Bread, Bread!” and/or a type of
bread that they like to eat. Pages 17-18 also connect to my preschool class, as I know they have
spent time learning about space and dinosaurs (two science projects featured on the pages). I
will pause and ask what is on the boy’s poster and the color of each (one red and one blue
dinosaur). I will also ask what the girl’s science project is made of (planets/solar system) and
if anyone can point out the sun, earth, and the moon. The last pages of the book (31-32) need
to be opened up to get the final words “All Are Welcome Here!” I will ask for 2 student
volunteers to come help me open the pages, and have everyone countdown from 3 to open
and read the last words together.
III. Closing— (After-Reading): I will reiterate the diversity shown through the characters
heritage, home-life, family, and traditions and how everyone was welcome at school. I will
review some of the activities students did together throughout the day showing kindness and
being welcoming to others. I will then ask each student to go around and share 1 thing they
will do at school today to make someone feel welcome. I will refer to pages throughout the
book (ex: playing on the playground together, sitting at lunch together, playing music
together, etc.) if a student needs help with their answer!

Here is a photo of the cover page! It could be an

awesome poster for a classroom!
 REFLECTION

My overall goal with my “All Are Welcome” read aloud was to show students that their

unique-selves are all valued and accounted for at school each day. I hope that I made strides in

reaching a culturally diverse classroom through my book choice by making children “feel

comfortable with their ethnic identities” and “relate positively with individuals from various

ethnic backgrounds” (Morrow, 2009, p. 68).

I saw “All Are Welcome” when I went to Barnes and Noble one weekend to explore the

children’s book section. The book immediately caught my eye because I absolutely loved the title

and the diverse illustrations of students featured on the cover. Once I picked it up and began to

read the short but powerful rhyming phrases that also featured a lyrical element, I knew it was

perfect for my read aloud. My book is multicultural because it features a diverse range of

heritages, cultures, traditions, clothing, experiences, and home-lives to connect with a broad

audience of students. Students were able to see themselves and their families represented,

showing that school is a welcoming place where “parents and community members as partners in

their children’s academic and social development” (Louie, 2016, p. 598).

Furthermore, I felt that my main objective of showing students that their individuality

was welcome at school through representation in illustrations and teacher-lead conversation was

met throughout my read aloud. My favorite quote from my lesson is “Miss Rishel, look! That’s

me right there!” It shows how important equal representation in the classroom and in picture

books is to the overall learning excitement and healthy development of our students. Next, I felt

that the students met my objective of comprehension. They were actively engaged throughout the

book since they knew they all had a job to state the chorus at the end of each page. They also
seemed eager to answer the questions I proposed and were able to recall examples from the book

when I asked my concluding question “What is one thing you can do at school today to make

someone feel welcome?” Lastly, the students met my last objective of connecting content to past

lessons. They were able to tell me that the hen from “The Little Red Hen” made bread just like

the students in our book were eating, students pointed out the bagels and sandwiches that were

also featured in “Bread, Bread, Bread!”, and the students were able to tell me that the science

projects featured dinosaurs and space which they learned about in weeks prior.

Maintaining the students attention during the majority of the read aloud went well. I feel

that I was able to keep the students engaged since they all stated the chorus “All Are Welcome

Here” at the end of each page. They also loved seeing who they could find in the illustrations!

Not only did students point out themselves, but also other classmates (some who weren't even

sitting with us at the read aloud!). It was really awesome to see the students excited to celebrate

themselves and their classmates by making “connections to their own lives, connections to the

text, and connections to others,” (Cappellini, 1998, p. 101). Next time I do this lesson, I would

present it to the entire class. I think this read aloud would be an excellent team-building and

positive classroom culture activity that would thrive off of more student input and participation.

Next time I do a read aloud I need to work on reminding students to stay on task a bit

more. There were moments where students would be having side conversations with one another,

and I let it go because in the moment I felt that it was fairly on task with the reading and simply

out of excitement. However, there comes a point where it could have been distracting to the other

students around them, so that is why next time I need to kindly remind students to put on their

listening ears and have conversation after the read aloud.

 References

Cappellini. (1998). Chapter 6 Read-Alouds. In Cappellini (pp. 98-111). Arosio: Cappellini S.p.A.

Louie, B., & Davis-Welton, K. (2016). Family Literacy Project. Bilingual Picture Books by
English Learners, 69(6), 597-606.

Morrow, L. M. (n.d.). Chapter 3 Literacy and Diversity. In Literacy Development in the Early
Years (pp. 66-86). 2009: Pearson.