5/23/2013

Early Childhood Education

Learning Experience Template

Name: Joni Dunker Lesson Title: Animal Movement Story Time

Date: 4/19/2023 Grade Level: Pre-K Circle one: ECE PKSN
Standard(s)/Guideline(s):
Domain: Language and Literacy, Strand: Listening and Speaking, Topic: Expressive Language, Standard: With modeling and support, explore
relationships between word meanings (e.g., categories of objects, opposites, verbs describing similar actions - walk, march, prance, etc.).
(Vocabulary)

Domain: Cognition and General Knowledge, Strand: Science Inquiry and Application, Topic: Inquiry, Standard: Make careful
observations.
Pre-assessment of current knowledge: Before the lesson, I will ask the children if they know how different animals play. I will also ask the children if they
knew that animals do play. If the children are struggling with this, I will ask them if they can remember seeing any animals playing. If the children can say at least
one way that animals play, I will know that they have background knowledge on the topic. If the children do not come up with any ways that animals play, I will
know that I will need to go more in depth in the lesson.

Instructional Objectives (2-3) Assessment of Student Learning Learning Experience

Two- Three Assessed Identify Evidence: (What will you collect or record as data Academic Language:
Instructional Objective(s): The to demonstrate students have met your objective(s) and
student will be able to... skill?) Play, Animal, Movement, predator, prey, observation

The student will be able to make
direct observations about different
animals after a read aloud.
The student will be able to
describe how an animal
moves/plays using vocabulary
from the read aloud.
One Assessed Developmental
Skill:
Listening and following along skills
while reading a book.
I will be writing down each child’s answer for the one
animal movement that they remember. I will be putting this
paper up in the classroom to document what the students
have learned. I will also take notes on what observations
the children are making about the animals in the book.
This will show whether the children are able to make
careful observations.
Program Monitoring: (How will you aggregate or compile
your evidence into a class or group view?)
I will have the paper of each child’s answer for the animal
movements in the classroom as a reference of what the
children know about animal movement/play. If 75% of the
children were able to give an answer for this question, I will
know that the book was successful in teaching about
animal movements. If less than 75% of the students were
giving an answer, I will know that I need to do more with
Procedural steps:
1. I will start the lesson with the pre-assessment. I will
have the children sit on the rug to do the pre-
assessment. I will ask the children if they know how
different animals play. I will also ask the children if
they knew that animals do play. If the children are
struggling with this, I will ask them if they can
remember seeing any animals playing.
2. I will then start the lesson by reading the book “Play
Like an Animal” by Maria Gianferrari. This book is
about how different animals choose to play.
Students will listen while I read the book.
3. After reading the book, I will ask the children
questions to promote their observations. I will ask
them why they think some animals move/play the
way they do. I will point to specific animals and ask
this question. I will also ask the children what they
noticed about each animal. This will allow them to
make their own observations about each animal.
 5/23/2013
Early Childhood Education
Learning Experience Template

Safety Considerations:
animal movements. I will also analyze the observations
that students made and if I found that some students were
not able to make any observations, I would do more
lessons with those students that involve making
observations.
4. For the post assessment, I will ask the children to
share one animal play movement that they
remember. I will write down each child’s animal
movement on a large piece of paper to have in the
classroom.

I will make sure that students are

spread apart on the carpet during
the read aloud so that they are not Authentic Materials: (Describe authentic real life, hands-on
in each other’s space. materials.)

The book “Play like an Animal” by Maria Gianferrari will

be read during the lesson.

Adult Roles:

The main teacher in the classroom will be asking the

children the pre-assessment questions, reading the
book, asking the questions after the book, and asking
the post assessment questions. The teacher will make
sure that the children are listening to the story and
answering the questions. The assistant in the room will
make sure that the children are all on task and guide
children who are not.

Resources & References:

Gianferrari, M., & Powell, M. (2020). Play like an animal!: Why critters splash, race, Twirl, and Chase. Millbrook Press.
 5/23/2013
Early Childhood Education
Learning Experience Template

https://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Early-Learning/Early-Learning-Content-Standards/Birth-Through-Pre_K-Learning-and-Development-Stand

Reflection: (What have you learned about your students? How will this inform future instruction?)

I believe that this lesson went well. I decided to complete the lesson during free play time after snack. I did the lesson in small groups. I called

over small groups of about 4 or 5 students to read the story for the lesson. I started the lesson with the pre-assessment of asking the students what

animal movements they know and if they can think of any examples where animals are playing. The students were able to come up with different

animal movements based on the previous lesson I did on animal movements. They struggled to think of times where they have seen animals playing.

After this, I read the book. The children all listened to the book well and a lot of them pointed out observations they made about how the animals

were playing in the story. They also made observations on which animals they like the best and which animals they have seen before. One group

really enjoyed reading about animals and they found other animal books on the bookshelf for me to read to them after the lesson was over. This

shows that they were interested in the subject of animals, and they enjoyed reading. The post-assessment was rushed for most of the groups because

the children were ready to play by the end of the lesson. However, I had them answer one animal play movement that they remember.

I think that this lesson showed that the children were interested in both reading and animals. I learned that the students could listen to a story

well and that they enjoy lessons involving reading. I liked that one of the groups wanted to keep reading books about animals after the lesson. I think

this shows that they truly did like the lesson and it sparked an interest in them. I think this shows that future lessons can be planned around literacy. If

I were to do the lesson over again I would make sure I have more time to complete the post-assessment and make the post assessment more

interesting for the students.

 5/23/2013
Early Childhood Education
Learning Experience Template