Education 616 - Literacy
Lesson Plan
Objective: Students will understand that all things are different and unique, but are to be valued.
Learning Activities:
Introduction
In literacy class, I had the chance to read All Pigs are Beautiful as part of a lesson on multicultural teaching. I was immediately impressed with format of the book. The fact that pigs are my favorite animal might have been an important part in my choosing of this book. I chose to teach this lesson on a day when my cooperating teacher would be absent as a part of their daily reading workshop. I was very pleased with the results and look forward to many more such endeavors.
Rationale
I chose the format of a comprehension reading session because that was the main focus of my objective. I wanted the children to understand what the book was saying about all things and all people. By starting with background knowledge, they were able to draw upon their experiences with pigs before getting into the more factual aspects of the book. I knew that from their field trip at the fair that everyone had seen at least one sow and her piglets. No student was at a disadvantage. By reading aloud, all students were able to focus on the comprehension activity, even if they were not the most able reader. Even if I had access to a classroom set of this book, I still would have read it aloud. In the discussion that followed the reading, I ordered the questions from simple to hard, in a logical progression towards my objective.
Following the discussion, students made their own version of the book. In order to do this, they had to understand the basic format of the book and apply it to their favorite animal. They wrote their own book and then illustrated it. This "authoring" allowed them to be in control of their work, while working within the constraints of the text. Every student was given the chance to succeed in that some wrote a lot, while others only wrote a little. All efforts were recognized as valuable. Finally, in sharing their books, they were able to show off their products and be proud of their accomplishments. Using a variety of literate activities, such as listening, reading, writing, and talking, each student had the opportunity to succeed at his/her own level of competence.
Description
In this lesson, I chose to use the book All Pigs are Beautiful. Although it is nonfiction, it has a narrative style that is easily understood by children. It would almost be considered fiction with factual information scattered throughout. To begin with, I wanted the students to connect personally with the subject. The entire class went on a field trip to the Puyallup Fair where they saw a large sow with her piglets. I asked them for information they knew about pigs. They were quite knowledgeable and forthcoming with their information. We also talked about the physical characteristics of pigs. After establishing the background knowledge, I read the book out loud to them. As we came to the various facts scattered throughout, we stopped and talked about the vocabulary words and interesting things we found.
After finishing the book, I asked them what things they learned about pigs. The hands immediately shot up, eager to answer. I then asked what kinds of differences there were in pigs. Again, there were many excellent answers. Finally, I asked how people were like pigs. I had anticipated a little more hesitancy with this question, but I was wrong. "People are just like pigs because they are all different, but all people are beautiful." I was amazed that they caught on so quickly to this complex idea. A handful of others echoed the same sentiment before we moved on to the next part of the lesson.
I decided to do a quick review of the three vocabulary words that we learned in the book: sow, boar, and gilte. They defined the words and wrote them on the board. Finally, I told them that we would be making our own books that were similar to the one we just read. I asked them what their favorite animals were. Again, every hand went up. After calling on a few of them, I told them that we would be writing and illustrating a short book on our favorite animal. I held up the book that Tiffany and I had done as a model and read it to them. They were visibly squirming with excitement to begin writing. As quickly as I could, I finished by telling them that they had to do the writing portion first and then they could do the drawing. The students then went to their seats and began writing.
My practicum partner and I circulated around the classroom, assisting with a few students, but hardly anyone needed prompting. I put a few more words on the board, such as "beautiful" and "illustrated" as a number of kids were going up to look at our model book. They had about a half hour to finish the book. Most of the students did finish. We reassembled in the meeting area to share our books. Not everyone was able to share, but they were all very excited about their books.
Analysis
I was very pleased with the way the lesson went in the classroom. The students seemed to enjoy the fact that I was sharing my favorite animal. Almost every student was able to participate in the whole-group discussions and to feel a part of the lesson. In addition, I was surprised how well the students transitioned between each part of my lesson. I somehow thought that it would be a little more choppy, but the format of my lesson allowed for a building on and building up process.
In preparing for this lesson, I had mentally brainstormed numerous prompts to motivate the students, but I found that I did not need to use them. Not one student had difficulty picking an animal to write about. They all began working immediately. Some only wrote one sentence per page, while others filled the page. All students worked to the best of their ability, at least from what I have seen so far in the classroom. For example, Patrick has had a difficult time with his writing and reading. It has always been a struggle for him focus on writing one short sentence, but I was happily surprised when I saw that he had written more than half a page on his own. This was the most focused he had ever been and the best writing that I had seen from him. In addition, he was so intent on his writing that he did not get a chance to do his drawings, typically the most important part of his work. He had a genuine interest in his subject and truly worked hard. Patrick was just one example of many in the class. The lowest students in the class did some of their best work and enjoyed doing it at the same time.
In my planning, I was worried that the students would try to copy too much from the original book, but I was sorely wrong. Many chose a similar title, such as "All ____ are Beautiful", but others went their own way. "All Sloths are Slow" and "All Leopards are Cool" are just two examples of this. Many students included facts about their animals in their books and their books read similar to a research report. An appropriate extension of this activity would be to create a research report in the form of a nonfiction book.
Lastly, the sharing of the books brought appropriate closure to the lesson, but also proved to me the power of ownership of text. The numerous smiles as they read proved to me that this was the profession I was meant to be in. They also gave each other the utmost respect in the readings. Hardly anyone talked and it was student-centered. Each student was proud of the work that he/she had done.
Conclusion
This was a very powerful lesson for me. The text truly came alive and proved itself to me in a practical setting. It also follows a natural progression that students can easily follow. This comprehension activity allowed all students to work at their individual levels. In the future, I would allow more time for this activity and possibly further extensions over following days. All in all, I thought this lesson was extremely successful and I learned a tremendous amount from my students. Namely, all students are beautiful.