Lesson Plan

Name: Caitlin Burke

Grade: 1st grade
Concept/Topic: Welcoming and Celebrating Diversity
Materials/Resources:
- All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
- All About Me Worksheet (enough copies for the entire class)
- Sticky Notes/Small Pieces of Paper (enough for the entire class)

Length of Lesson (in minutes): 40 minutes

Learning Objectives: What are your learning objectives? (What new understandings will the
students have as a result of this lesson? Make sure learning objectives are measurable.)

Students will explain what diversity is and explain ways our class is diverse.
Students will explain what it means to be/ways to be welcoming.
Students will identify ways they are similar to their classmates.
Students will identify ways they are different from their classmates.
Students will identify the message/main idea of the story and retell details of the text when
making connections.

Standards: Under which standards from North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NC-SCOS)
do these learning objectives fall?

RI.1.2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
RI.1.4 With guidance and support, ask a reader to clarify the meaning of words in a text.
1.C.1 Understand the diversity of people in the local community.
Assessment: Describe your assessment plan for the targeted learning objective(s). What specific
data/information will you use, and how will that data/information tell you that the students
have/have not met the objective?

I will assess the students by reading the sentences they wrote in their journals where they identify
similarities and differences between them and their classmates. I will assess the students by
engaging with them during discussion and scaffold their understanding of diversity and what it
means to be welcoming. Additionally, at the end of the lesson, I will use students’ sticky note
responses to evaluate their understanding of ways to be welcoming.
Vocabulary/Language Function: Define vocabulary that students will need to know in order to
access the content and goals of your lesson. All definitions came from Merriam-Webster and
were labeled as “kid definitions.”

Diversity: the condition or fact of being different

Community: a group of people with common interests
Welcome: to greet with friendship or courtesy

Lesson Development: Discuss the hook/engage/launch, prior knowledge needed, step by step
in real time, include questions you will ask in real time, scaffolding needed, closure/revisiting
learning objectives.
Engage: (5 minutes) “Alright friends, today we are going to be learning about diversity in our
classroom community.” Write the vocab words (+ welcome) on the board. “Does anyone know
what diversity means? What does it mean to feel welcome or to welcome someone? What is a
community?” (by asking these questions, we are getting an understanding of student’s prior
knowledge/experiences related to today’s topic) At this point in the lesson, there is no need to
formally define the words, as we will build students’ understanding of the words through the
story and discussion.
“I am so excited to be reading one of my favorite books today!” Show students the cover of the
book. “Can anyone guess what this book, All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold, might be
about?”
Read All Are Welcome By Alexandra Penfold (5 minutes)
- Have students say aloud with you “all are welcome here” at the end of each page.
- As you read, ask students to share out their understandings of the words “welcome,
community, and diversity” using context clues and the initial discussion. Students can pair
and share their interpretations of the definitions with each other throughout the reading.
- During the reading, be sure to define the words as follows:
- Diversity: the condition or fact of being different
- Community: a group of people with common interests
- Welcome: to greet with friendship or courtesy

After reading the book, have students “pair and share” their favorite parts of the book; engage in
conversation, and take note of students’ main takeaways.
After giving time for students to discuss and debrief with a peer, engage students in a discussion
of the book. Be sure to encourage participation from all students and positively affirm students
when they contribute to the discussion. (5 minutes)
- What is the message of the book? Did you notice anything in the book that connects to
our classroom community?
After discussing the book’s message and key takeaways from the book for about 5 minutes, have
students make their way back to their tables and pass out the All About Me worksheet.
“Alright friends, we are going to take some time to work independently to fill out a worksheet all
about who we are! I am setting a timer for 8 minutes, but remember what do we do if we finish
our work early?” Students should respond with “independent reading” or “journaling.”
Give students about 8 minutes to fill out the All About Me worksheet.
- As you walk around the room, engage students in questions like:
- “I see you put _______ for the question _____. Can you tell me a little more
about that?” As you engage with students, emphasize how much you value
everything that makes them unique.
- Be sure to point out students who are working hard, focusing, and are staying on task.
After all of your students have finished filling out their All About Me worksheets, have them
leave the worksheets on their desks.
“Alright friends, now we are going to do a ‘museum walk’ around the classroom. I want you
each to walk around and read at least 4 friends’ All About Me worksheets. As you read through
your friends’ worksheets, I want you to use this sentence frame in your journals for each
classmate you learn about:” (10 minutes)
- My classmate, ________________ (write their name), is similar/different (circle) to/from
me because they _________________ and I ______________________.
After students have written down their connection sentences, gather the class on the carpet for
the final discussion (7 minutes):
- “What is one thing you learned about someone today?” Ask for 3-4 volunteers.
- “I had so much fun learning about each of you and discovering how diverse our
classroom is! But wait! Can someone remind me what diversity means?” Give students 2
minutes to share out loud with a partner what diversity means, be sure to listen to
students’ interpretations, as this will serve as part of the assessment. Encourage multiple
students to share out their definition of diversity. After a student contributes, be sure to
ask something along the lines of: “Would anyone else like to contribute to ____’s
wonderful definition of diversity?”
- “Our classroom diversity is something to celebrate! But how can we ensure we celebrate
this diversity by welcoming everyone into our classroom community?”
- Encourage student discussion about ways they can be welcoming and celebrate
diversity. Have each student write down one specific way they celebrate
diversity/are welcoming to others on a sticky note. Be sure to have students write
their name on the back of the sticky note for assessment purposes.
After the lesson, hang everyone’s All About Me worksheets and sticky notes on a bulletin board
titled “All Are Welcome.”