Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan

Children’s Literature – Lauryn Scheske

Book Title and Author/Illustrator: Leonardo the Terrible Monster written and illustrated by
Mo Willems

LESSON RATIONALE/INJUSTICE CONFRONTED

Leonardo did not fit in. He seemed to think less of himself because he was not like the other
monsters around him. Leonardo did everything in his power to fit in and belong; he even went to
the great length of making someone cry, just to feel better about himself. But then, he realized what
he thought he wanted was not so great after all. Leonardo didn’t want to make people upset. He was
upset for a long time himself. He knows what that feels like. That’s why he could connect so well
with Sam. It was easy for Leonardo to pick on Sam because Sam had no power. Sam was known for
being the biggest scaredy-cat kid in the whole world. Leonardo knew he could use him to fit in with
the other monsters. Just because Leonardo had the power to scare Same, did not mean it was the
right thing to do. There are people in our society that do not have power. A lot of times this can be
women, people who are young or very old, people who are African, Latino, or Asian American, or
people who are homeless, in jail, people with disabilities, or simply people who do not have as
much education as us. If my first graders can realize the power that they have, they can choose to be
a friend to those who do not have the same power. They can realize they have the power to make
these important decisions. We have all had moments where we feel like we don’t belong. In life we
will face moments where we have to make the choice of whether we are going to potentially put
someone else down that doesn’t have power just so we can fit in or we can be a friend with the
person who doesn’t have the power.

READINESS
I.Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s)— Students will be able to identify details and illustrations in a story given at their
independent reading level that help describe its characters, setting, or events.
a. Students will recognize their power to make decisions and use the phrase, “Just
because I can, doesn’t mean I should..” to make decisions in real-life contexts.
B. Objective(s)—Students will describe the characters’ decisions in Leonardo the Terrible
Monster by Mo Willems by using the details and illustrations.
C. Standard(s):
 1.RL.4.1 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or
events.
 ISTE: 4 Innovative Designer: Students use a variety of technologies within a design
process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.
II. Management Plan-
Time per Element
A. Anticipatory Set: 3 minutes
B. Read Aloud: 5 minutes
C. Grand Conversation: 5 minutes
D. Instructions for activity: 2 minutes
E. Activity: 10-15 minutes
F. Closure: 5 minutes
Use of Space
A. Read Aloud Carpet for reading and grand conversation
B. Desks for creative activity
Materials
 Indiana Wesleyan University
Elementary Education Lesson Plan
Children’s Literature – Lauryn Scheske

A. Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

B. Picture of myself in First Grade
C. Construction Paper
D. Scissors
E. Glue
F. Googly eyes
G. Markers/pencils/crayons
Expectations/ Procedures
A. I will be monitoring behavior, keeping track of it using Class Dojo. Students will receive
points for doing what is expected of them. I will make sure I explain what is expected of
them before I begin asking for student response. I will give students explicit instructions to
ensure that student know what is expected of them.
III. Anticipatory Set
• I will show students a picture of myself when I was in first grade. I will share a short story of
how I became best friends with a girl just because she was kind to me and included me in
her group of friends. I will share how I was a big scaredy-cat when I was little (and I still
am!).
Purpose: “Today we will be looking at the details and pictures of a story called Leonardo the
Terrible Monster. These details and pictures help us discover more about the characters and
how the things they do are very similar to us. When we look at how the characters in stories
interact, we can learn from them! From the characters, we can learn how to make
decisions.”

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

IV. Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners-
I. Hank, Bayleigh, Jasper, and Gabe: These four students seem to have more difficulty
controlling impulses then the rest of the class. To help support their need for stimulation, I
will be very engaging in my read aloud to capture their attention. I will write things that
they say on the board. This will give them a desire to participate appropriately because they
often enjoy the attention I give them. I will also set clear expectations for what I want them
to do each step of the way. They are typically cooperative when they understand what is
expected of them. When there is uncertainty, there is typically behaviors.
II. Many of my students have one or both parents in prison. It may come up in the grand
conversation. It will be a great opportunity to discuss how we can be a good friend to them;
how can we love them best?

V. 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.

VI.Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

 Students will gather at the carpet where they typically do read aloud lessons. They will all
be able to see the illustrations from where they are seated.
 I will read the story aloud using various voices to help student comprehension and
engagement in the story.
 By using the think, pair, share strategy, I will ask students various questions to get them
reflecting on the story and what they took away from it. This will begin a grand
conversation. “What did you like about the story? What didn’t you like? Why did Leonardo
 Indiana Wesleyan University
Elementary Education Lesson Plan
Children’s Literature – Lauryn Scheske

behave the way he did? Have you ever felt left out like Leonardo? Did Leonardo have the
power to scare Sam? Why do you think Leonardo decided to scare Sam? Do you think this
was a good decision? Do you think Sam could stand up to a monster? What did Leonardo do
for Sam? What in the pictures shows us that Leonardo had changed?”
 As students are sharing their answers with me and I am calling on them, I will write key
things on the board that I want them to hold onto. I especially want them to look at the little
things Leonardo did and said to Sam to be his friend. I want them to come to the
understanding that the decisions we make, impact what kind of friend we are.
 “I want you to think about a time in your life when you felt like you didn’t fit in, or you felt
left out or like you didn’t belong. Sometimes it’s easy to feel all alone when that happens,
but everyone has felt that way at some point. Then I want you to think of your best friend.
What do they do to make you feel special and loved? What kind of decisions do they make?”
 As I call on them, they will give me characteristics of their best friends. I will write them on
the board and make connections to the things Leonardo and Sam did.
 I will explain that next they will go back to their seats and we will be making our own
monster friends and will be making decisions about what kind of friend they want. I will
show them the example of my monster and explain what I used to make him. I will talk
about the qualities of my monster friend and why I chose the colors and features I did.
Leonardo looked like a nice monster. He didn’t have thousands of teeth, he wasn’t big, and
he wasn’t that weird-looking. These details help us know that he is not scary. When they
create their monsters, they will use the same amount of detail to explain the kind of friend
they want to be.
 They will be making monsters out of construction paper, glue, and googly eyes. (picture is
included at the bottom.)
 On their own papers, I will have them pick three of characteristics of we wrote on the board
and write them next to their monsters. We will talk about how these are traits we are
promising to live out in our own lives. This is the kind of friend we want to be.

VII. Check for understanding.

a. Could they explain their creative choices and why their monster would be a good
friend? Did it match the characteristics they chose? I will be walking around the
room chatting with each group about their creative decisions and if they understand
the important details of the characters.

VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure

a. I will make a board in the classroom that says, “I CHOOSE to be a good friend!” I will
post their monsters with their characteristics.
b. I will pull up pigeonpresents.com and look at their bios of Leonardo and Sam. This
will be a fun connection for them, and it will introduce them to this site that they can
go to for future reference.
c. “You have the power to make decisions for yourself and be the kind of friend you
created today. Just because you can be mean to someone or scare someone, doesn’t
mean you should. We will be coming back to this idea for rest of this unit, but in
different ways. My main goal for you is to understand that your choices matter, and
they make you who you are. Choose to be a good friend!”
d. I will transition them into their next activity.
 Indiana Wesleyan University
Elementary Education Lesson Plan
Children’s Literature – Lauryn Scheske

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

I. I will be performing formative assessment by listening to student responses during the
grand conversation.
II. Another formative assessment will be seeing if they truly paid attention to the details of the
story is when they are creating their own monsters. Could they explain their creative
choices and why their monster would be a good friend? Did it match the characteristics they
chose? I will be walking around while they are working and having them explain to me their
choices: why they are doing the things they are doing.
III. They will continue to practice the standard with other books and will be tested on it in a
summative manner later on.
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?
7. How well did my questions during the grand conversation foster student connection with
the characters?
8. While students were working on making their monsters, did they talk about the
characteristics of their friends or themselves as friends? Were they making connections?
9. Were my instructions explicit? Did students know what they were supposed to be doing at
all times?
10. Did I hear students using the phrase, “just because they can…” when talking about the
kinds of friends they want to be?
 Indiana Wesleyan University
Elementary Education Lesson Plan
Children’s Literature – Lauryn Scheske

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