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Lesson Plan: The Mitten, Story Characters and Sequence

Grade Level:
Pre-K, Kindergarten

Objective:
1. The student will be able to recall characters and details from a story.
2. Students will retell the story as they recall the sequence of the animals as they appear in the story.

Materials:
Book: The Mitten A Ukranian Folktake. There are many versions of this story. One favorite is retold and Illustrated by Jan Brett G. P. Putnam Sons ISBN: 0-399-21920-XA

      
LessonPix Picture Cards of the animals in the story and a mitten (real or 2 bigger paper mittens glued together with an opening to put the picture cards inside).
LessonPix Bingo Game created using the animals from the story and one mitten.
LessonPix Coloring pages of the animals from the story.

Activities:
1. Look at the story, The Mitten. Have the students make predictions about what may happen in the story. Look through the illustrations noticing the details in the illustrations. Point out some of the animals in story, (focusing on possible new vocabulary such as "hedgehog" and "badger"). Tell the students that the people and animals are called "characters" in a story.  

2. Read the story, The Mitten.

3. Ask questions about the story:
    a. Why wouldn't it be a good idea to have white mittens?
    b. Who went inside the mitten first?
    c. What do you think it is like inside the mitten?
    d. What other animals went inside the mitten?
    e. What happened at the send of the story?

4. Using the pictures cards of the animals in the story, place them face down in sequence as they appear in the story. (You may number the back of the picture cards to help remember the correct order.) Ask the students who was the first animal to go inside the mitten? Call on a student and have the child come up and flip over the 1st picture card to see if he/she is correct. Have the student place the picture card inside the mitten. (You may use a real adult mitten or two paper mittens glued together with an opening to put the picture cards inside). Then ask who was the next animal to go inside the mitten and have a student come and flip over the next picture card. Continue until all the picture cards are inside the mitten. When finished, place the mitten and picture cards in a Literacy center with the book for students to practice retelling with peers. 



5. In small group, have students name as many animals in the story as they can recall. Pass out Bingo cards to the students. Have students look on the Bingo cards to see if they named all of the characters. Play Bingo made with the characters of the story.



6.Place coloring pages of animals from the story in a center or have students color a page. The next day, recall the story. Look at the already colored coloring sheets of the different animals.  As you reread the story, sequence the coloring pages in the order they appear in the story. Staple the pages together and place in the book center. Students can retell the story using their coloring pages. (Variation: print the coloring pages pdf file with 4 sheets per page - usually under an "N-Up" setting under print / properties. Cut the quarter pages and put together in small individual booklets for students to color and retell story to family.)



7. Place props /  picture cards / coloring pages (cut out animals) in a dramatic play center for students to act out the story. 

Evaluation:
Students will correctly answer questions during and following classroom activities. Students will retell story using picture cards or coloring sheet books. Students will sequence picture cards of animals as they appear in story.

Conclusion:
Upon completing this lesson, students should be very familiar with the details and characters in this story. The students may explore other stories by the author or books about winter animals.  

More Activities: 

Sequence

Memory

Retelling