Coco Can't Wait Lesson Plan

Students

10 boys and 8 girls; 3 TAG students; very well behaved group of students; some have issues paying attention but they have not been approved for special services.

Instructional Goals

Students will:

• Predict what happens next in the story
• Answer comprehension questions
• Think about different modes of transportation not listed in the story

Content Standards

Language Arts Standard # 6: students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions, media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non print texts. 

Instruction

• Begin introducing story by giving the title and author of the book.  Then ask strategic reading questions and ask students to make predictions about the book based on the illustration on the cover.  Connect all of this to their life. 
• “Today, Class, we are going to read a book called Coco Can’t Wait by Taro Gomi.  By looking at the cover and the title of this book, can anyone guess who these people on the front might be?  (Coco and her Grandma) Great guess!  Now what do you think Coco can’t wait for?  (Christmas, her birthday, to see her grandma, etc.)  What are some things you can’t wait for?  (Halloween)  Great predictions, Friends!”

Statement of purpose

Alright, Friends, we’re going to read Coco Can’t Wait!  We need to pay extra attention to what’s going on in the story because we’re going to be predicting, looking for our “Special Words”, and then play a little game at the end!”

Teacher Input

• Have the class participate in a picture walk and predict what is going to happen on the next page. 
• “Alright boys and girls, we’re going to do our picture walk.  Now does everyone remember how we do our picture walks?  There’s going to be words on most of the pages and we don’t want to pay attention to those right now, do we?  Noooo, we don’t, that’s right!  We are going to look at our pictures and make predictions about what we think is going to happen next!  Is everyone ready?  Great!”
• Introduce vocabulary words and hand each child their own index card with their name on one side and one of their six vocabulary words on the other.  Tell each student not to pay attention to the side of the card with their name on it (that will be used later) and that their card might have the same word as someone else’s.  Introduce each word (with, one, here, very, much, no) and have all of the students with a “with” card, raise their hand.  Repeat for each vocabulary word so that each student knows which word they have.  Instruct students to pay attention to the story and raise their card (to just under their chin) when they see their word on the page.  When their word is not on the page they should leave their card in their lap and not mess with it. 
• Read the story out loud to the class

Check for Understanding

• Once finished reading the story tell the students that they are going to play a game.  Place a picture of Coco and a picture of Grandma, in a pocket chart.  Ask the students a set of 10 questions about what Grandma and Coco did during the story to check for comprehension.  When you ask a question and the class gives the correct answer, place the question card under who did the action.  If the answer was Coco, place the question card under Coco’s column. 
• “Alright class, we are going to play a game.  Remember when I told you that everyone needs to pay attention because we would have a game at the end?  Well this is what I was talking about, let’s see who was listening.  Question number one is, ‘Who lives in a house with an orange roof? (Grandma) Great job, class!  Who rode in a truck with a cow? (Coco) etc…)

Guided Practice

• “Okay, Friends, let’s talk about all of the transportation Grandma and Coco used in this story.  Coco took a train, scooter, truck, and bus.  Grandma took a bus, motorcycle, and taxi.  Now let’s discuss how you get to school in the morning.  Raise your hand if you ride in a car or van.  Raise your hand if you walk.  Raise your hand if you ride the bus.  Great Job!  Now, remember the card that is sitting nicely in your lap?  On one side of your card is your name.  Up here in the pocket chart are pictures of a car, bus, and students walking.  Can you, very quietly, come up here and put your card, name side up, under the picture that represents how you get to school?”

Closure

• Ask 6 different students to name off one of the vocabulary words and have the students who have that word, raise their cards. 
• Jimmy, can you tell us one of our vocabulary words for today?  (very)  Great!  Can all of you who have a card with the word ‘very’ on it, raise your cards so we can see them?  Good job, Class!  (repeat with all of the words)
• Repeat the types of transportation used in the story, then ask the students if they can come up with some that weren’t named in the book.
• “Now, class, we talked about the different ways Coco and Grandma tried to get to each other’s houses.  Can you remember what they were?  (train, taxi, bus, truck, scooter, motorcycle)  Can you name some ones that weren’t in the book?  (boat, car, plane, skateboard, rollerblades, rocket ship)
• “Awesome job today, Class!  Let’s use another mode of transportation, our feet, and walk quietly back to our seats!

Instructional Materials

• 18 index cards with a child’s name on one side and 1 of 6 vocabulary words on the other
• 6 index cards with one vocabulary word on each
• A picture of Coco
• A picture of Grandma
• Pictures of a car, a bus, and students walking to school
• 10 index cards with 1 comprehension question on each

Assessment

Teacher will:

• Listen to the prediction answers given during the class discussion
• Observe student responses to the comprehension questions given during the class activity/game
• Listen to the answers students give when talking about modes of transportation not listed in the story. 

Adaptations

For the TAG students I will come up with more difficult comprehension questions to get them more involved in the comprehension game at the end of the lesson. 

Reflection

I was really pleased with how this lesson went, the kids seemed very engaged and handled having note cards better than I thought they would.  The comprehension game went well and the questions didn’t seem too difficult for them to answer.  I was impressed with how well they listened to directions.  There were one or two students who got a little rowdy but they quieted down when asked.  They loved the predicting questions and almost everyone wanted to share their prediction!  I definitely had fun with this lesson!