TCNJ Lesson Plan

Snow Globe Small Groups

Student Name: Katie King
Grade Level: Kindergarten

School Name: Boudinot School

Host Teachers Name: Mrs. Babula

Guiding and/or Essential Questions:

How can we use different manipulatives to build our sight words?
What is the structure of a sentence?
How is a finger space used in a sentence?
What are some strategies for checking our work or adding more details to our writing?
How can we use pictures as clues while reading?
Pre-lesson Assignments and/or Student Prior Knowledge (ex. background knowledge,
possible misconceptions, prior lesson content)
In the past week, students have been practicing their new sight word, come, as well as
their new vowel sound, I. Students have been reviewing previous sight words and letter sounds
as well. In addition, students are starting to practice blending CVC words with the middle I
sound. When it comes to writing, students have been expected to end their sentences with a
period and some are beginning to recognize and implement the rule that the sentences begin with
a capital letter. In addition, students are accustomed to drawing a picture to match their message,
however, some have been struggling with adding details to their pictures and their writing
recently. In reading, students have used decodable books, but are still working toward becoming
familiar how to use the readles, little pictures above the sentence that serve as clues to help
decode unfamiliar words.
Students are familiar with the routine of small groups and the rotation around the
classroom. They are aware of the expectations and the appropriate ways to move about the
classroom. However, the idea of being in a snow globe is new to them and therefore, may cause
the students to move about the classroom differently than usual.
Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3.C
Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.2
Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts
in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2.A
Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2.B
Recognize and name end punctuation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.5
With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add
details to strengthen writing as needed.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.B
Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.1.D
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.D
Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme
(consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.1 (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/,
or /x/.).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.1
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and
texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.1.A
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking
about the topics and texts under discussion).
Learning Objectives and Assessments:
Learning Objectives

Assessment

Students will identify and construct the sight

word, come, using several kinds of
manipulatives. Students will review additional
sight words.

Teacher will assess that students correctly build

and write the sight word, come, as well as
previously covered sight words, such as I, a,
go, he, like, my, and to, with accurate spelling
and letter formation. Teacher will assess that the
student-produced word is readable.

Students will use a sentence frame to write a

complete sentence. Students will illustrate a
picture to match their sentence. Students will
use appropriate spaces between words.

Teacher will assess that students construct a

sentence appropriately, using finger spaces as
well as a period at the end and a capital letter in
the beginning. Teacher will assess that students
illustrations match the message in their
sentence.

Students will be able to read a decodable book

Teacher will assess that students are able to

as they use pictures and readles for clues and

sound out words, particularly CVC words with
I and A middle sounds.

accurately read, use clues, and sound out CVC

words in a decodable book.

Students will identify and recognize letter

sounds.

Teacher will assess that students are able to

identify letters and their sounds through
activities on MoreStarfall.com.

Materials/Resources: (List materials, include any online or book references and resources)
Maracas
Snowflakes (16)
Online snow globe
Popsicle sticks (16)
Markers
Journal pages (16)
Journal prompts (pre-written) (10)
Decodable books (5)
Computers
Sand
Play dough
Blocks
Whiteboards, markers, and erasers
Plan for set-up/distribution/cleanup of materials:
Snowflakes will be set out on the carpet for the children to sit next to when they come in
from special. The snow globe will be up on the Smartboard. All materials for each station will be
set up in the appropriate area. The decodable books will be at the smiley table, the finger spacers
and journal pages will be at table 4, and the sand, whiteboards, play dough, and blocks will be set
up on the rainbow rug. At the end of the lesson, students at each station will be asked to clean up
the station and bring the materials to my desk. I will assist the students on the rainbow rug with
cleaning up the sight word building materials. Once the materials have been cleaned up, we will
join on the rainbow rug for the closure.
Step by Step plan (numbered):
1. Lesson Beginning: In the beginning of the lesson, students will be returning from
special. They will have a seat on the green carpet where they will see snowflakes with
their names on them. When all students have returned I will explain that something has
happened: we are stuck in a snow globe! I will explain that even though we are in a snow
globe we still have to get to our stations.
2. Then, I will explain the different stations. I will explain that when it is time to rotate, I
will shake the snow globe (shake the maracas or the interactive snow globe on the board)
and we will have to shake to a different station like we are the pieces in the snow globe.
3. Students will then be assigned their first station based on their leveled language arts
groups and they will begin their first station.
4. The first station will be building the sight word come. Supplies such as whiteboards, play
dough, sand, and blocks will be on the rainbow rug and students will be asked to use the

5.

6.

7.

8.

different manipulatives to practice writing and building the sight word, come. After
students have had a turn using each manipulative to build this word they will be asked to
build their other sight words as well. They will be encouraged to use the sight word wall
as a reference.
The second station will be a journal page. A teacher will run this station. The students
will make finger spacers using popsicle sticks and will be asked to write a sentence with
spaces between each word, using their finger spacer, to finish the sentence frame I
would put _____ in the snow globe. While doing this lesson, we will also focus on the
word in as we are beginning to blend in CVC words.
The third station will be computers, where students will be asked to go on
morestarfall.com and they will practice letter and sound recognition in the ABC section.
Students will be asked to start with the letter I and then work with other sounds that we
have also reviewed before going onto new letters and sounds.
The fourth station will be a decodable book. Students will participate in reading a
decodable book with Mrs. Ebner at the smiley table. Student will practice blending CVC
words with the I middle sound as well as tracking and sounding out words as they read.
Students will use readles, or little pictures above words as clues to help them decode
unfamiliar words.
Closure: At the end of the lesson, after each student has gone to each station, students
will join in the rainbow rug. On the rainbow rug, students will have a chance to share
their journal entries and tell the class what they would put in our class snow globe.

Key Questions (that you will ask):

Station 1:
What are the different ways to build our sight words?
Where can you look to help you spell the sight words?
Check your work. Do your sight words look like the ones on the word wall?
Station 2:
What will you add to the snow globe?
What is a finger space in a sentence?
How can we use the finger spacers to help us while we are writing?
What should a full sentence look like? What should it have in the beginning?
at the end?
What goes in between the words in our sentence?
How can we add to this sentence?
What additional sentence could you write to support what you wrote in the first one?
What details can we add to the picture to help the reader understand it better?
Station 3:
What is the difference between capital and lowercase letters?
What sound does each letter make?
What is the beginning sound in this word?
What makes vowels special?
Station 4:
How can you use the pictures and readles to help understand the words?
How can we decode unfamiliar words? What are some strategies?
How do we sound out words?

How do we blend different sounds together to make a word?

Why do you think there are little pictures above the words?
How do the sentences that this author wrote compare to our journal page sentences?
Do they look similar? Do they have the same structure?
Do the pictures match the words like our pictures do?
Closure:
What are you going to put in the snow globe?
Does the picture match the words?
Does your sentence have a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the end?
Where are the finger spaces?
Logistics:
Timing: 40 min (10:50-11:30)
Beginning: 2 min
Rotation 1: 7 min
Rotation 2: 7 min
Rotation 3: 7 min
Rotation 4: 7 min
Closure: 10 min
.
Transitions: Students will come in from special and sit on the green rug where they will hear the
directions for each station. Students know how to move about in stations and will be given
warnings when it is almost time to move to the next station. When students see the snow globe
shake or hear the maracas, they will know it is time to move to the next station. After the final
station, students will be asked to clean up their station and they will be called over to the rainbow
rug for the lesson closure.
Classroom Management: Because I am asking students to move about as if they are in a snow
globe, I will remind the students how it looks when the objects in a snow globe float around. I
will remind the students that we will not move quickly around the room, but rather as if the snow
globe is being shaken in slow motion. Students who are not able to move about safely will be
asked to simply walk or try to move in slow motion again to fix their behavior. Additionally,
children will be sitting on the carpet for the beginning and end of the lesson. Students will be
given reminders of how to sit on the carpet and to make sure they have personal space by sitting
with space for their chicken wings on the green carpet and in their own square on the rainbow
rug. Visual cues and finger signs to remind students to sit correctly and stay on task will also be
used. Students will be reminded that they need to have respect and listen to the speaker,
particularly during the authors share time during the closure of the lesson when their peers are
presenting their journals.
Differentiation
Using information from beginning of the year testing as well as informal assessments
from previous StoryTown lessons and journal pages, students have been assigned to leveled
groups, ranging from advanced to developing. Questioning and different aspects of each station
will be tailored toward the needs and opportunities to challenge each student at their level.
Advanced groups will be expected to write in complete sentences with little assistance and

reminders. They will be asked to add more details to their pictures and to add additional
sentences to explain the picture and sentence frame. They will be asked to use their finger
spacers appropriately to write their own sentences. Additionally, while reading decodable books,
it is expected that these students will be able to easily decode words using the pictures. In order
to challenge the students, they may be asked to sound out and decode words while covering up
the pictures. Developing groups will be asked to point out finger spaces between words on their
pre-written sentence frames. Some of the students in the developing groups, particularly D,
struggle with fine motor skills and therefore, will receive more assistance with making their
finger spacer. In addition, these students will receive extra reminders about punctuation and
capitalization, as these things will be highlighted in their sentence frame. During the decodable
book activity, these students will be asked to use the pictures as clues to understand what the
words on the page say. These students will focus on practicing tracking and using picture clues
more heavily to decipher unknown words. However, these students will be asked to identify and
recognize sight words. With the decodable book activity, if students finish early, there will be a
worksheet for the students to practice CVC words with the middle sound, i. Early finishers at
the sight word building station will be asked to build different words, such as their name or CVC
words.
Some students have more specific differentiation needs. Student S, who has difficulty
paying attention and with behavior, will be encouraged to participate and will be given many
reminders and visual clues throughout the lesson. Student S often struggles with transitions,
therefore, I may assign her a job during transition time, such as shaking the snow globe, to help
make her transitions easier and more meaningful. This student often loses attention while we are
sitting on the carpet. If the student is misbehaving or lying down on the carpet, she will be asked
to move so she will be less distracting to the other students. Student M, who struggles with
transitions and is often resistant to doing independent work, will be encouraged to participate
often during the lesson. He tends to struggle during stations and therefore, may also be given
jobs during transitions and will benefit from positive praise when he is joining at different
stations. I will be sure to give him visual cues and rewards for making good choices and for
following along with the lesson, as making eye contact with him and giving him a simple
reassurance has worked in the recent past. However, this students seemed to really enjoy hands
on activities where he is able to independently understand the activity, therefore, I think he will
be engaged by each of these stations. Student D will be handled similarly. This student struggles
with fine motor skills and therefore, will receive additional help while writing and will benefit
from hands on practice with sight words. In addition, Student D will also greatly benefit from
extra practice in writing, recognizing sight words, tracking or one to one correspondence while
reading, and letter/sound recognition. Student JH struggles with independent work as well. He
seems to question himself and becomes very frustrated and upset. I will check in with this
student more regularly to encourage him and make sure he understands and stays on task,
particularly during writing, where he would benefit from one-on-one brainstorming time.