Reading Round Up!

Preschool Reading

by Catherine Crider June 30, 2018

Preschoolers can have a range of reading abilities. Find out what they know about letters and reading with this
lesson plan!

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to demonstrate reading comprehension and letter knowledge through completion of a
variety of activities.

Materials and preparation

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by

Bill Martin, Jr.
Upper and lowercase letter cutouts
Letter magnets
Animal pictures (pig, duck, dog, cat, horse, etc.)
Alphabet chart

Introduction (5 minutes)

Call students together.

Read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr.
While reading, encourage students to look at the picture on the next page to anticipate words in the
story. After reading the story once, read the story again encouraging students to “read”/recite the story
along with you.
EL

Beginning

Pre-read the story to students in a small group prior to the start of the lesson in their home language (L1)
as well as in English.

Intermediate

Provide students with their own copies (or shared copies) of the text to use during the read-aloud.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (5 minutes)

Tell students that today they will have the opportunity to show how much they know about letters and
reading.
Ask for some student volunteers to name a letter of the alphabet. Sing the “ABC Song” as a group.
Introduce students to the various centers they will rotate through:
Letter Sequencing: Have a collection of letter cutouts, letter magnets, etc., for students to pick
through. Explain to students that the goal at this center is to put the letters of the alphabet in
order.
Letter-Sound Recognition: An adult should be at this center with pictures of various animals (e.g.,
dogs, cats, elephants, pigs). After showing these to students, students should isolate the beginning
sound and say what letter makes it. (For an extra challenge, students can isolate a middle or

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 ending sound and identify the appropriate letter.)
Uppercase and Lowercase Letter Recognition: Have students match up cut-out uppercase and
lowercase letters. (For an extra challenge, students can find and cut these letters out of
magazines.)
Reading Comprehension: Have students draw a picture of something they remember and think
was important from the Brown Bear story read at the beginning of the lesson.
EL

Beginning

Provide explicit instruction for each center, using visuals and home language (L1) instruction as able.

Intermediate

Have students repeat the instructions for each center to a partner to check for understanding.

Guided Practice (5 minutes)

As each center is explained, ask for a student volunteer's help to demonstrate how the supplies at the
center should be used.
As a whole group, discuss how to rotate between centers, when to know it’s time to rotate, and where
supplies are located.
After checking in to make sure that everyone understands how to complete the centers, break students
off into groups.
Before sending students off to work, remind them of any independent work rules (i.e., only speaking in a
whisper, raising hands for needs, etc.).
EL

Beginning

Have students refer back to the visuals as you discuss and review the purpose of each center.

Intermediate

Strategically partner students together for maximum understanding.

Independent working time (30 minutes)

While students are working, any adults in the room should be circulating, answering questions and
assessing student abilities in pre-reading/reading skills.
Playing quiet music in the background can help to set a good working mood and keep conversations to a
minimum.
Having a clear rotation of centers and a clear signal to rotate is essential to help keep chaos and
confusion to a minimum.
EL

Beginning

Check in with students during this time to correct any errors and provide additional direct instruction.

Intermediate

Pause midway through and ask if any groups want to share something they are working on in their small
groups.

Related books and/or media

BOOK: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr.

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 Find interactive books for each child’s level.

Differentiation

Support:

Working with a partner can help to scaffold this activity.

Offering alphabet charts and other visuals can be an important aid for students in completing some of the
activities.

Enrichment:

For students needing a greater challenge, encourage them to create a list of words they already know
how to read.

Assessment (5 minutes)

Adults should take anecdotal notes about student answers to questions around their thought processes in
completing the activities. These can be used to make determinations about what students know.
Student accuracy in identifying letters and sounds, and answering questions about texts at the centers,
should be noted.
EL

Beginning

Take special care to note any errors or misunderstandings that students may have as they work in their
center.

Intermediate

Pull small groups aside to correct any errors and/or provide additional instruction as needed.

Review and closing (10 minutes)

Call students back together.

Ask students to share about their experiences. What did they most like to do? What did they find most
difficult?
Ask students to set a goal for something they would like to learn how to do in reading class this year. As
students share, write these down and have students illustrate them. Then, post these somewhere in the
classroom.
End this time together by having everyone say, “Reading is fun!”
EL

Beginning

Pair students together and provide them with sentence frames to use during the reflection.

Intermediate

Provide students with a model of how to reflect using sentence starters.

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