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Lesson Plan - Strong Verbs

Think-Aloud: Using Story Starters to Write in Journals

This is an actual lesson that I did when I taught Kindergarten

Materials:

  • Sentence Strip: “The leprechaun ________ all the way to the pot of gold.”
  • Verbs written on color coded note cards
  • Pocket chart
  • A picture of the strong man from the Jolly Phonics curriculum copied and shrunk down to label the strong verbs.
  • Photo copies of writing paper with the same writing prompt as the sentence strip.
  • Pencils

Objectives:
  • To introduce my students to descriptive writing; specifically to strong verbs.
  • To focus on the thinking processes associated with making writing more descriptive.

Introduction:

Have the students come to the carpet. Talk about how much more interesting writing is if our writing can create a more specific picture in our mind. Using the think-aloud strategy I will share my thoughts.
“The leprechaun walked to the pot-of-gold. Hmmm…I’m closing my eyes and I see the leprechaun walking but I’m not sure exactly how he is walking. Is he walking fast or slow? Does he have limp? Does he walk in a straight line? Let’s try another word. Okay, the word march sounds good, Angie. Lets try that. The leprechaun marched to the pot-of-gold. Oh, that is better. I have a more specific picture in my mind now. He is marching. Does everyone see that in their mind? Let’s all stand up and try marching ourselves to get a better idea of how the leprechaun is moving.”

Activity:

The students will take turns picking out cards, placing them on the sentence strip and deciding if the verb is a strong verb or not. For each word the students will close their eyes and imagine how the leprechaun looks as he travels to the pot of gold then after a few examples the students will take turns sharing their thoughts as well. and comparing that image to the other images for the verbs.

Closure:

After the lesson the students will have an opportunity to practice. They will be given the writing prompt and will fill in the blank with a strong verb that they choose. These will be displayed in the hallway with the art project they completed of a leprechaun.

Reflection:

I am happy to report the lesson was a success! I have witnessed evidence of student learning from this specific lesson in subsequent daily journal entries of some of my students as well. Also, there was great evidence of connections being made throughout the lesson and evidence of student learning. For instance, when the word “galloped” was chosen, a light bulb went off in several students’ minds and they said they saw the leprechaun riding a horse. We then compared that image to the other images for the verb run.


From the Strong Verbs lesson

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Copyright © 2008 by Casey Anderson