KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER PROGRAM
LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate: Miss Angie Carty Date: 11/18/2019

Cooperating Teacher: Mrs. Lisa Hunter Coop. Initials:
Group Size: 6 Allotted Time: 20 minutes Grade Level: Pre-K
Subject or Topic: Think Aloud Section: 933

Think Aloud - Going to Sleep On the Farm

STANDARD: (PA Common Core):

1.2 PK.L - With prompting and support, actively engage in group reading activities with purpose
and understanding.

I. Performance Objectives (Learning Outcomes)

Students will be able to understand the comprehension strategy: visualization, by listening to the
book, Going to Sleep on the Farm by Wendy Cheyette Lewison and create mental images in their mind
that will be shared to the group.

II. Instructional Materials

• Book Going to Sleep on the Farm by Wendy Cheyette Lewison
• Velcro/felt board
• Anchor chart
• Laminated animals that correspond to text
• chicken
• duck
• horse
• cow
• pig
• Velcro

III. Subject Matter/ Content (prerequisite skills, key vocabulary, big idea)
• Subject Matter:
• Visualization Strategy
• Good readers create mental images in their mind as they read.
• I am imagining…
• I am picturing…
• I can see, smell, taste, touch…
• Big Idea/Focus:
• Reading Comprehension Strategies
• Good readers have developed good habits when they read. We call these habits
strategies. Strategies help readers understand, connect to, and determine the
importance of what they are reading. They also visualize, ask questions about, and
read between the lines of what they read.
• Think-Aloud Reading Lesson
• Key Vocabulary:
• Visualization or “mental image” is to picture in your mind the images the author creates
with his/her words; paying close attention to the senses (touch, taste, smell, see, hear).
• Book Summary
• In the book, Going to Sleep on the Farm by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, it is about a father
and son who live on a farm. They have small toy farm animals that the son is asking the
father how they go to sleep at night. They go through the animals one by one and ask how
they go to sleep. When they are all done, the dad asks the son how he goes to sleep and
puts the boy to bed.
• Prerequisite Skills:
 • Basic reading skills
• Basic writing skills
• Concepts of print
• Using their five senses

IV. Implementation
A. Introduction –
• Students will meet on the carpet for the read-aloud.
• Begin by explaining how we will be utilizing the comprehension strategy, visualization.
• “Boys and girls, I have come here today to share with you one of my favorite ways to
enjoy a good story. When good readers read, they use visualization.”
• Transition to the anchor chart that shows the big idea of the lesson; visualization and background
knowledge.
• “Let’s take a look at our anchor chart here, (resort to anchor chart) and how we use clues
and words from the text as we read.”
• “Good readers use visualization while reading by making mental images in their brain
(resort to anchor chart).”
• “Good readers visualize by beginning their statements with…
• I am imagining…
• I am picturing…
• I can see, smell, taste, touch…
• “Let me explain a bit more: as good readers read, we look for where the author gives us
words to describe what we are reading. As we hear these words, good readers start to form
pictures about what they are reading.”
• Tell the students that today we are going to be reading the book, Going to Sleep on the Farm by
Wendy Cheyette Lewison and emphasize that we are using the comprehension strategy,
visualization and discuss how good readers visualize what they are reading.
• “The name of the book we are reading is Going to Sleep on the Farm. What do you
visualize in your mind when you hear the title? Take a second to close your eyes and
think.”
• As the students have their eyes close, tell them that now you are going to read a
sentence strip from the board for them and they will create a mental picture in their
minds.
• The sentence strip says, “All the animals are sleeping on the farm.”
• Give students a moment to visualize the image.
• Ensure the students use their five senses.
• What do you hear, smell, taste, feel or see?
• Afterward, have them keep their eyes close and tell them what you are visualizing.
• I Do: “I am visualizing a cow, pig and chicken sleeping in the barn on a farm. I can smell
the barn and the hay! I am touching the fur of the cow!”
• The teacher will reveal the front and back cover, and end pages of the book, and have the
students think, pair, share about what they predict is going to happen.
B. Development –
• We Do: While the teacher is reading, the students will be listening and following along.
• Start reading and stop after the first page without revealing the pictures right away. They should
be read facing you and then allow the students to visualize/share, then show the illustrations.
• Read and pause at points to model your thinking. You will also ask the students what they are
visualizing.
• “Good readers while they read, visualize what they are reading (resort to anchor chart). I
am imagining a cow in his stall with hay and he is closing his eyes.”
• “Can I have a volunteer come up and put our cow on the board (velcro board)?”
• Repeat for each animal.
• Continue reading the book and after reading page 4, without showing the student the pictures the
teacher will think out loud about what they think the picture will look like.
• “Good readers when they read, visualize understand the text (refer to the anchor chart), I
am picturing a horse sleeping in a barn, closing his eyes and yawning.”
C. Closure –
• You Do: “Show me how the boy in the story goes to sleep. What does that look like?”
 • “Why is visualization important and why good readers need to visualize as they read?”
• Students share answers.
• The teacher will discuss how everyone’s mental pictures will be similar, because they based their
mental picture off of the text, but a little different because of their schema, imagination, etc.

D. Accommodations / Differentiation -
• Accommodations
• N/A
• Differentiation
• Ability to share their own ideas and thoughts based on the story when prompted.

E. Assessment/Evaluation plan
1. Formative
• Placing animals up on board
• Students will be assessed on participation and active listening skills by
sitting quietly and being asked to put the velcro animals on the board when
asked.
2. Summative
• N/A

V. Reflective Response

A. Report of Students’ Performance in Terms of States Objectives (Reflection on students

performance written after lesson is taught, includes remediation for students who failed to meet
acceptable level of achievement)
This lesson was HARD to do. I really had a hard time engaging preschool students into
comprehension strategies. I tried my very best to engage them and allow them to understand what
visualization is. I think I could have gone about this lesson differently. I personally think that
doing a whole group think-aloud lesson for preschool is very difficult. If I could do the lesson
again, I would probably consider a different book, and instead of having the students simply close
their eyes, I would have them draw what they were imagining. Also, I could have them thinking
of animal on the farm that is going to sleep. I had them visualizing or each page, with each
animal, but they were having a hard time grasping the idea. The simplicity of preschoolers is why
this lesson was so short and sweet. I overall think it went well, but I think it was very hard for the
students to understand.

B. Personal Reflection(Question written before lesson is taught.)(Reflective answers to

questions recorded after lesson is taught.)
• Is this lesson going to be too hard for the students?

As I mentioned, I was afraid that this lesson would be too hard for the students, but they
seemed to enjoy it. If anything, it was too hard for me! I probably was overthinking the situation
but I thought the students didn't understand what I was saying. I think that they loved that I got to
read a story to them and got to engage with the velcro animals during the book, but I am unsure if
they understood the idea of a true comprehension strategy.
 • Will they get the comprehension strategy?

This is a similar question to what I just answered, but I think that the students had a hard
time knowing exactly what I was asking of them. It was great exposure and introduction into
emergent comprehension, but my students aren't readers yet. Because they are ages 3-5 years old,
there is a wide range of their abilities! Some of the students are writing their full names correctly,
and a few can only point out one letter in their name. This makes it difficult when I ask something
more of the students than just: listen to the story.

• What would I do differently?

If I could redo this lesson, I would probably choose a different book. As simple as my
book was, it was tough for preschoolers to visualize. Perhaps I would use a Dr. Seuss book, which
was easily desirable and very colorful. I enjoyed doing this lesson but I would probably change
the book or the strategy. Overall, it was very hard for my students to understand a comprehension
strategy without being able to fully read yet.

VI. Resources