Leapin' leprechauns

This lesson will allow first graders to use their imagination while practicing newly learned writing skills. The end product will be wonderfully creative leprechaun stories.

A lesson plan for grade 1 English Language Arts

By JoAnn Lazaro

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Related topics

• Learn more about graphic organizers, language arts, leprechauns, modeling, pre-writing, thinking skills, and writing.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• create an imaginatively written story describing their encounter with a leprechaun.
• practice using capital letters, punctuation marks, and appropriate word spacing.
• use describing words in their stories.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

90 minutes

Materials/resources

• writing paper
• pencils
• chart paper and pen for teacher to model story
• leprechaun graphic organizers

Pre-activities

The students should have the opportunity to listen, read, and discuss stories about leprechauns, such as Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute. By this time in the year, students will have had a multitude of occasions to learn and practice the mechanics of writing that are appropriate for first graders.

Activities

Day 1

1. Spend the first ten minutes of class reviewing leprechaun stories.
2. Use a circle map to assist the students in organizing all the things they know about leprechauns. You may use the copy in the leprechaun graphic organizers or draw your own.
3. Use a bubble map and encourage the students to list words that describe leprechauns. You may use the copy in the graphic organizers or draw your own.
4. Tell the students that they will use their imaginations and the information from the maps to write about a pretend meeting with a leprechaun. It is very important that the maps are placed in a highly visible area so that the students can refer to them easily.
5. Model a story for the students. Refer to the maps and use information and words from the maps in the stories. While writing the model, ask for help in placing capital letters and punctuation marks. Words should be “run together” and then discussed by the group and corrections made. If time allows, you may send the students back to their seats to begin the writing lesson.

Day 2

1. Conduct a quick review of maps and model.
2. Hand out materials and send the students back to their seats to begin their projects.
3. Walk around the room and monitor the students’ progress, offering assistance if needed.
4. As the students begin to finish, help them edit the stories looking for capital letters, sentence sense, punctuation marks, and spacing.
5. Give the students a copy of the leprechaun writing sheet on which they will rewrite the stories.
6. When the students are finished, collect the stories and save them to be shared later in the week during author’s time.

Assessment

• Assess by conferencing with each student. During the conference, you can use a numerical rubric or a checklist to evaluate:
  • the students’ understanding of capital letters
  • punctuation
  • the use of phonics in spelling unfamiliar words
  • the use of describing words
  • the logic and clarity of the story by how the students used these skills in their writing.
• You can also help the students edit their papers by asking leading questions such as, “What is this sentence missing at the beginning?” or “What should go at the end of this sentence?”and “Can you help me spell this word?”
• During the final presentation of the stories to the class, you can make a final check for clarity of the story, making certain that each story is about leprechauns and is descriptive.
• Final drafts should be assessed for accuracy of punctuation and capitalization skills, and phonetic spelling.

Supplemental information

There are many excellent books available to read and share with your class. Pick and choose what would be most appropriate for your class. I also used the Thinking Maps which are available from Innovative Learning Group:
Thinking Maps: Tools for Learning
Innovative Learning Group
975 Walnut Street, Suite 342
Cary, North Carolina 27511
(800) 243-9169

Comments

This lesson can be adapted for any “special” day during the school year.