Thanksgiving Writing Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Mariah Luring

Date: 11/1 Group Size: 20 Allotted Time: 30 Grade Level: 1
Subject or Topic: What are we thankful for?
Common Core/PA Standard(s):
● Standard CC.1.4.1.A- Write informative/ explanatory texts to examine a topic and
convey ideas and information.
Learning Targets/Objectives:
The first grade students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of how to use nouns by
writing an informative text about a given topic using 3 different nouns that represent a person,
place and thing.
Assessment Approaches: Evidence:
1. Observations 1. Notes
2. Writing journal 2. Checklist

Assessment Scale: Checklist

The student’s writing contains a topic sentence, three sentences using three different
nouns, and a closing sentence. Each of the nouns used represents a person, place and
thing.
The student’s writing contains a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence.
The student’s writing contains a punctuation mark at the end of each sentence.
The student’s writing is spelled properly.
The student’s writing is written neatly with proper letter formatting and spacing.
Subject Matter/Content:
Prerequisites:
● Knowledge that Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in November.
● Basic overview that a noun is a person, place or thing.
● Understanding that good writing should consist of a full sentence with a capital letter
and punctuation mark.
Key Vocabulary:
● Noun: a person, place, or thing
● Thankful: the feeling of being happy or grateful because of something
● Thanksgiving: a yearly holiday marked by feasts and family gatherings
Content/Facts:
● A noun is a person, place or thing. Nouns are important in writing because they make
up the subjects, direct objects, and indirect objects in a sentence, along with other roles.
● Thanksgiving is a holiday that we celebrate where we may gather with our family and
eat a lot of food. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of harvest.
● An informative text is a piece of writing that informs the reader about something the
author wants them to know about.
Anticipatory Set
● The teacher will gather the students on the brown carpet.
● The teacher will say, “Friends, today is the start of a new month. Does anyone
remember what month we are in?”
○ Students may say November
● The teacher will say, “We are in the month of November. This morning, we talked
about different things that happen in the month of November. There is a special holiday
that you might celebrate with your friends and family. Can anyone guess what holiday I
am thinking of?”
○ The teacher will call on a student with their hand quietly raised to answer.
● The teacher will say, “Yes! Thanksgiving is a special holiday that we celebrate in the
month of November. During Thanksgiving, you might eat a lot of turkey or mashed
potatoes and pumpkin pie. I want you to find your neighbor and talk to them about
something that you like to do on Thanksgiving.”
● The teacher will say, “Thanksgiving is a very special word. If I split it in half and flip it
around, I can turn Thanksgiving into ‘Giving Thanks’!”
○ Teacher will write Thanksgiving and then giving thanks below it on the white
board.
● “Let’s think about what it means to give thanks. I want you to turn to your neighbor
and talk together about what you think it means to give thanks. What are some things
you might give thanks to?”
○ Teacher allows a few minutes for students to talk and listens in on their
conversations.
● The teacher will say, “Wow, you had a lot of great ideas on what it means to give
thanks. When we are thankful for something, we have the feeling of being happy or
grateful towards it. Being thankful is very important because it means that we
appreciate the things around us that make us happy. For example, being your teacher
makes me happy, so I am thankful for you.”
● The teacher will say, “A little bit ago, we talked about nouns. Let's look back in our
brains, can anyone raise their hand and remind me what a noun is?”
○ The student may say a noun is a person, place or a thing.
● The teacher will say, “yes, a noun is a person, place, or a thing! To remember what a
noun is, we are going to make up hand movements! Be my mirror: ‘a noun is… a
person (students point thumbs at themselves) a place, (students move their hands in the
air to make a big circle) or a thing (students cup their hands together)’. So friends, what
is a noun?” (Students say the words and hand motions).
● The teacher will say, “This morning during social studies we listened to the story Pete
the Cat: The First Thanksgiving. Now that we know all about nouns, we are going to
become noun detectives. We are going to look back in the story and find nouns that the
authors, Kimberly and James Dean, use in the story. We are going to look at the last
page in the story and use our magnifying glasses to look for the different nouns.”
● The teacher will turn to the last page and read:
○ Later at Thanksgiving dinner with his family, Pete said, “Let’s all go around the
table and say something we are thankful for.” The teacher will say “I see a noun
in this sentence. Get out your magnifying glasses and see if you can find a noun
on this page. Pete is a noun because he is a person.”
 ○ “I am thankful for my family,” said Pete’s mom. The teacher will say, “I notice
two nouns in this sentence, what are the different nouns that the author used?”
The students may say that family and Pete’s mom are nouns.
○ “I am thankful for my skateboard,” said Bob. The teacher will point out that
skateboard is a noun because it is a thing, and Bob is a noun because it is a
person.
○ “I am thankful for the brave pilgrims that started this new free world”, said
Pete.” The teacher will point out that pilgrims are nouns, and the world is a
noun because it is a place.
○ “What are you thankful for?”
● The teacher hangs anchor chart paper on the board that has the heading of nouns and
then a section for people, places and things.
● The teacher will say, “there are so many people, places, and things that we can be
thankful for! We are going to brainstorm a list of different nouns that we are thankful
for, just like Pete and his family did in our story. Let’s start with people who we are
thankful for.”
○ The teacher will take student suggestions and add them to the list on the chart.
Some people may include: mom/dad, brother/sister, grandma/grandpa, teacher,
friend, etc.
● The teacher will repeat this process by making a list of places and things the students
are thankful for until the anchor chart is finished.
● The teacher will dismiss students back to their desks.
Development/Teaching Approaches
● The teacher will pull up the writing format on the smart board.
● The teacher says, “Friends, when we are writing, nouns are very important because
they help us to know what we are writing about. Without nouns, a story would not
make sense! Today, we are going to be writing an informative text. Authors write
informative texts to teach the reader something or to let them know something. We are
going to be writing about some things that we are thankful for, using the nouns on our
list.”
● The teacher says, “When authors write, they use something called a topic sentence. A
topic sentence will help us know what our writing is about. Our topic sentence for
today’s writing is going to be, I am thankful.”
● The teacher says, “Now that we have our topic sentence, we are going to work on the
middle of our writing. We are going to write three sentences. One on a person we are
thankful for, one on a place we are thankful for, and one on a thing we are thankful
for.”
● The teacher says, “When we write our three middle sentences, we are going to be using
transition words. When authors write, they use transition words, which are words that
help us to put our writing in order! For our first sentence, we are going to use the word
first.”
○ The teacher reads the first sentence prompt on the board: “First, I am thankful
for_____. After the word first, I see a comma mark. A comma tells the reader
that I need to pause before reading the rest of the sentence.”
 ○ “Watch me as I write my first sentence. First, I am thankful for my mom. Mom
is a noun because nouns are, what?” (prompt students to say ‘A noun is a
person, place, or thing’ using the hand motions taught earlier)
○ The teacher will write the rest of the sentence ending with a period. “Now let’s
check that my writing has a capital letter and punctuation. Say check if you see
a capital letter (‘check!’). Now say check if you see a punctuation mark
(‘check!’).
● The teacher says, “Now I am going to write about a place I am thankful for!”
○ The teacher will read the next sentence prompt on the board: “Next, I am
thankful for______. I am thankful for my school because it is where I learn.
School is a noun because it is a person, place or thing.”
○ The teacher will write the rest of the sentence ending with a period. “Let’s
check that my writing has a capital letter and punctuation. Say check if you see
a capital letter (‘check!’). Say check if you see a punctuation mark (‘check!’).
● The teacher says, “Now, I am going to write a sentence about a thing that I am thankful
for.”
○ The teacher will read the next sentence prompt on the board: “Last, I am
thankful for______. I am thankful for the sun because it keeps me warm and it
makes me happy when it is sunny and warm outside. Sun is a noun because it is
a person, place or thing.”
○ The teacher will write the rest of the sentence, but not add a period. “Let’s
check that my writing has a capital letter and punctuation. Say check if you see
a capital letter (‘check!’). Say check if you see a punctuation mark (hopefully
the students say the sentence needs a period!).
● The teacher will say, “Now that we have our juicy middle, we need to close our writing
and with a closing sentence. When authors write, they use a closing sentence that helps
to summarize everything that they wrote about. Our closing sentence is, That is why I
am thankful!”
● The teacher will read the full text over to the students fluently. The teacher will say,
“This is my informative writing about what I am thankful for using what I know about
nouns.”
● The teacher will say, “Now, it’s your turn to be informative text authors! In your
writing notebooks you are going to write 5 sentences. A topic sentence, a sentence
about a person you are thankful for, a place you are thankful for, a thing you are
thankful for, and finally a closing sentence. You can look at the list we made if you
need help with ideas or you may come up with your own nouns that we might have not
added.”
● The students are sent to work independently in their writing journals.

Closure/Summarizing Strategies:
● The students work independently on their Thanksgiving writing. The teacher will circle
around and stop at each table to take observational notes on the student’s writings. The
teacher will sit next to students and have them explain what nouns they are using in
their writing and why they are thankful for them.
● The teacher will interrupt half way through and say, “remember, authors always start
their sentences with a capital letter and end their sentences with a punctuation mark!
 Circle it on your paper and make sure that you have it!”
○ The teacher also may interrupt when noticing that different teams are working
quietly on their writing and give students positive comments.
● When the students are done with the journal writing, the teacher will confer with them
and check their writing based off of the checklist. If the student needs to make any
revisions, the teacher will assist them in doing so. When their draft is adjusted to meet
the checklist, the teacher will give them cornucopia paper to copy their writing onto.
They are then welcome to color the paper and make it look nice for a display in the
hallway.
● The teacher will ask the students to share their writing with their neighbor and talk
about the different nouns they used and why. The teacher may also ask if anyone wants
to share their writing with the whole class.
● If students finish early, they may work on the November word search.
● The teacher says, “You did such a great job today writing about the things you are
thankful for. Today and everyday when we are writing, we need to remember that our
writing needs to have nouns, because they help us to understand what we are reading or
writing about. When you are writing, always remember that good sentences need a
capital letter at the beginning and a punctuation mark at the end.”
● The teacher will collect the students' finished papers.

Accommodations/Differentiation:
● For advanced learners: Students are able to expand their writing. The students may
write down why they chose their nouns, by adding the word because and then
following it with their reasons. For example, the student could write a sentence such as
“I am thankful for my mom because she gives me hugs.” These student’s sentences
should be longer and contain more thought.
● For struggling learners: The students will be able to locate the spelling of the words
that are needed for them to write with. They can look off of the mentor text to see how
to spell their sentence starter, I am thankful for… and then they can reference the chart
on how to spell common nouns. The students are welcome to move out of their seats to
get a better look. These students may also need a reminder on proper sentence structure
such as adding finger spaces, punctuation and capital letters. If the students are staying
on task, they are allowed to add a sticker to their sticker chart.

Materials/Resources:
● Pete the Cat The First Thanksgiving | Animated Book | Read Aloud
 ● Anchor chart paper
● Smart board
● Cornucopia paper
● November word search (for students who finish early)

● Example of anchor chart idea:

https://www.weareteachers.com/3rd-grade-anchor-charts/?epik=dj0yJnU9RXpzcDNJQ05NVlRibncyMlFGc2Qyd21la3hIdm1lM2o
mcD0wJm49MFVBVmZubVVQZHlBdUF1eXZlRzdwdyZ0PUFBQUFBR05aeWMw

● Assessment checklist (printed out to write on while checking):

writing core checklist

Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels:
● I printed out the checklist to be able to write on it when the students handed their writings
in to me. I gave them check marks for the requirements on the checklist that were met.
Something that was common throughout was students missing a capital letter or
punctuation in only one or two of their sentences, not throughout the whole writing.
When they missed one or two punctuations or capital letters, I made sure to write on the
checklist where they were missing. The majority of my students got ⅘ or ⅗ on the
checklist, due to only missing one or two things that caused the box not to be checked.
All of the students on the checklist were checked for using nouns that represent a person,
place and thing. One student, J, did not get a check for that box because he was missing a
closing sentence, but he did still have the three different nouns in his writing. After
reflecting, I was thinking that maybe a rubric would have been better to grade so that I
could have specified the levels of missing one or two punctuation, capital letters, and
even being more specific on the level of neatness and handwriting that I was looking for.
So next time I definitely think a rubric will be easier to tell where my students are at.
● In terms of the objective for learning about nouns, the students did a great job. They were
all raising their hands and telling me different nouns to put onto the anchor chart that
matched which noun I was asking them about. During their independent writing time,
they were coming up with nouns that we had not even listed on the board. They
understood the concept of using a person, place, and thing in their writing and all of them
listed one of each which was great to see. All of the writings contained a noun of a
person, place and thing.
Remediation Plan (if applicable)
● My students need to remember to go back and double check that EACH sentence has a
capital letter and punctuation mark. When I was doing my mentor text, I had them check
when they saw a capital letter and punctuation mark by saying “check” out loud when I
pointed to it. This is something that I can have them do in their writing and have them put
their finger on the capital letter and punctuation marks and say check out loud to
themselves so that way they are double checking that they have it before they turn it in.
Students H, W, C and G specifically needed help with letter spacing when they were
writing. Their letters were too close together and some of the words then jumbled
together, so these students needed to use finger spacing or a spacing tool when writing. G
and C need help the most with letter formatting in general, and where the letters go on the
lines. Most of their letters were too big and went to the sky line when they should not
have been. I would suggest that these students get more help with writing where the
letters reach on the lines more consistently so they can understand and get more practice
on their letter formatting skills.
Personal Reflection Questions:
1. How can I grab the student’s attention more effectively?
a. Three of my students had difficulty focusing their attention on me and the lesson.
For an attention grabber, my mentor says “waterfall” and the students say “shhh”.
I did not want to take her idea so when I taught in the past I didn't really develop
my own call that the students use for when i am teaching. After this lesson I knew
that I needed to implement a strategy of my own. I decided that I am going to start
using “class, class!”, “yes, yes” technique with them whenever I teach to get them
to stop and focus on me.
 2. How could I assist those who are struggling while also observing others?
a. I made an anecdotal note chart using sticky notes on a clipboard and was trying to
walk around and fill in as many notes as I could have. However, the students kept
raising their hands and asking questions so therefore I did not get notes on
everyone. I liked the notes method that I chose because it was quick and easy, but
this technique may be easier to implement in the future when I feel more
comfortable with the skill. I found it easier to just write what I was noticing on the
assessment checklist.
3. How could this lesson be improved?
a. Overall I thought that the lesson was okay. I have taught lessons in the past but
just small ones. This lesson required the students to do a lot of writing, which was
something that I wish I would have planned more for because we ended up
running out of time. I wish I would have planned for the students to just finish
their journal writing, and then follow up with the cornucopia writing the next day.
I believe that the writing was too difficult using the intro and closing sentences,
however my mentor told me that is what they did in the past. I think that it would
have been a better fit for them just to do the three thankful sentences, so I need to
trust my gut more but I also did not want to go back on what my mentor has done
for the lesson in the past.

Additional reflection/thoughts:
● I decided that I wanted to swivl this lesson so that I could become familiar with the
technology, however, my kiddos were way more interested in the swivl then by nouns. I
had to constantly redirect three of my students who were turned around looking at the
camera instead of me. I tried to explain to them the purpose of the swivl and how it can
see everything that they are doing, but they did not care. I tried to put this behind me and
focus on the lesson. I thought that my hook for the lesson was effective, because the
students had done an activity for November earlier that day and discussed what happens
in the month of November. They listened to the read aloud of Pete the Cat: The First
Thanksgiving, so I was happy that I was able to connect my lesson to what they learned
earlier that day. I thought that my choice of using Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving as
my mentor text fit very well into my lesson because at the end Pete asks “what are you
thankful for?” and this was the perfect lead into my lesson. The students did a great job at
coming up with the different nouns they were thankful for. All of my students wanted to
participate and say things that they were thankful for. When we completed the anchor
chart, the students went back to their desks and I put the sentence starters on the board for
them to reference. I wrote in the different nouns that I was thankful for, and tried to keep
the students engaged while at their seats by having them check for punctuation and
capital letters in my writing. One of my students, O, was on the ground and then hid in
the closet, which is a constant recurrence, even when my mentor is teaching. I tried not to
let this distraction get the best of my lesson. When planning this lesson, my mentor
explained to me how she does a topic sentence, three middle sentences, and then a
closing sentence in the past. However, when the students were writing independently, this
seemed to be too much writing for them. They were a little confused on how much
writing they were supposed to do, even though I had the format for them on the board.
During independent writing, I was trying to balance helping those who needed help, and
 also taking observational notes, while two of my students were on the floor not doing
their work at all. My mentor tried to redirect them to do their work while I was trying to
assist the other students. Then, we ended up running out of time and not being able to
finish their writing because it was time for the students to go to special. Most students
were finished in their journals but needed to copy onto the cornucopia paper. I did not
anticipate that it would take this much time, but then my mentor and I just decided that
they would work on finishing the cornucopia paper the next day. I became slightly
frustrated and a bit emotional after the lesson, because the lesson did not go well in my
eyes because I did not anticipate the amount of time and my students' behaviors that were
not cooperating at all and two students got no writing done. However, when I watched the
lesson back on the swivl, the students really did understand the concept of nouns and
being thankful which was the main point of my lesson, and this made me reflect on how I
can improve for the next time. I decided that I needed a way to get the students to focus
on me while I am teaching. My mentor teacher gets their attention by saying “waterfall”
and the students say “shhh”. I decided that I was going to try the “class, class” “yes, yes”
technique and I am going to try to implement this for the future. I also feel like now I
have a handle on the swivl, and my students should be used to it now and have the
expectation for how to act when it is recording. I am hopeful that I can only improve
from here on out and my next lesson will be better.

Finished anchor chart:

Pictures of journal writing:

Finished writing examples: (most students needed two pages so they are stapled together)