Lesson Planning Template

Created by: Anisha Badesha

Subject: Social Emotional Learning and Language Arts “It’s Okay to be Different.”
Grade: Kindergarten

Stage 1 – Desired Results

Communication Thinking Personal & Social

C T PS

- I am an active listener; I support and - I generate new ideas as I pursue my - I understand that my identity is
encourage the person speaking interests made up of many interconnected
aspects.
- I can identify my individual
characteristics.
- I can describe/express my
attributes, characteristics and
skills.
- I can participate in classroom and
group activities to improve the
classroom school, community, or
natural world.

Big Idea(s): what students will understand (at a conceptual level, see connections to and between ideas, goes beyond the classroom learning)
Stories and other texts help us learn about ourselves and our families.
Everyone has a unique story to share.

Essential Question(s):
What does it mean to be yourself?
What is it like to be you?
How would it feel to be like someone else?
Does everyone in your classroom like the same or different things compared to you?
What makes you unique?
Why should you celebrate your differences?

Curricular Competencies: what students will do (activities to Content Competencies: what students will know
deepen understanding / product) (basic knowledge, definitions, theories, laws)
(this is often right/wrong, yes/no)
- Use developmentally appropriate reading, listening and
viewing strategies to make meaning. - Metacognitive processes
- Engage actively as listeners, views and readers as - Concepts of print
appropriate, to develop understanding of self, identity - Print awareness
and community. - Sentence structure
- Recognize the importance of story in personal, family
and community identity
Stage 2-Learning Plan
Potential Barriers to Success What will you do? (differentiation/adaptations)
(Might include: engagement, motivation, organization, language ability, (not enough to just list obstacles w/o thinking of how to address them)
exceptionalities, reading level etc.)
- Students will be given prompts and choice of whether or not to
- Students might lack motivation in wanting to complete they can write the whole sentence themselves or use fill in the
full sentences. blank to help assist them, depending on their confidence level.
- Comprehension levels with ELL students. - I will make sure to go around giving the students who need
- Some students might be shy and unwilling to share their support some extra help.
ideas. - will list down some different words on the board so not
- Students might stick with simple words or words their everyone is using the same words to describe themselves.
friends use to describe themselves/what makes them - I will allow students equal opportunity to share. I will let
different. students know that it is okay if they don’t want to share their
ideas out loud with the class and that they can always share
with me later or write it down.
 - Students who need additional support can work with myself or
I will pair them up with a partner who can help them convey
their ideas (one student can supply the idea, the other can write
it down and draw)
- We will go over the definition and have a discussion to deepen
comprehension. (Provide examples through discussion and
through the book – role-play scenario for ELL students)
Infusing Aboriginal Education/First People’s Background
Principles of Learning
- “It’s Okay to be Different” book by Todd Parr
Learning requires exploration of one’s identity. - Worksheet/my example
- Create good relationships with students so there is - Markers/crayons/paint
safety to explore and express their identity. - Venn diagram
- Cubing game

(Students are doing this celebrating their individuality,

exploring what makes them different, concentrating on their
features, their likes/dislikes and really learning about one
another in a way that requires connection and vulnerability.)

Purpose of the lesson and Global Awareness

Students are learning to recognize the traits that make each one of them unique and celebrating their differences. They are starting to
recognize that each of them brings something new and different to the classroom, their very own individuality and that it is okay if they
look different from their friends or each other because that is what makes them special. Students are learning that not everyone looks just
like them and that if they look a bit further out from just themselves, they understand and celebrate the diversity within the community and
world. This lesson is help students appreciate not only their differences, but those of their classmates and the people around them.
Sometimes students are used to seeing people with the same features, or same kind of hair and other times, they have never met someone
with curly hair or blue eyes but that is okay because it is okay to be different and that is what makes every single one of us unique. I am
hoping to strengthen not only the community within the classroom with this lesson, but the world around them as well.
 Resources / Materials Required / Technology

- “It’s Okay to be Different” book by Todd Parr

- Worksheet/my example
- Markers/crayons/paint
- Venn diagram
- Cubing game

Stage 3 – Assessment Evidence

Formative (before/during) Summative (at the end) Self (Assessment/Reflection)

Observation Book page

Discussion

Stage 4 – Teaching Plan

Time: Teacher Does: Students Do:
Inquiry based learning

PART ONE:

To start off the lesson, I will introduce the topic of diversity through Students are listening to me and connecting to their
drawing attention to the differences and similarities within the experiences by standing up when they hear me say
classroom. I will do this by having four or five statements written on something that applies to them.
chart paper for the class and will ask students to stand up each time I
say something that applies to them. (I will remind them about not
stepping on fingers and getting up carefully while keeping their
personal space.) I will tally up the students as they get up.
The questions I will ask are those such as:
- “If you like chocolate, stand up.”
- “If your hair is blonde, stand up.”
- “If you like puppies, stand up.”

This will lead into the lesson theme of diversity and why it is
important to be different.

After the discussion is over, I will read the students It’s Okay to Be
Different by Todd Parr. Students are listening to the story.

Following the read aloud, I will have the class will engage in a
discussion based on our own differences and responding to some of the
pages they thought were interesting from the book.
Students are engaging in discussion and apply the
Certain prompts: story to their own experiences. They are reflecting on
- “How are we different from each other?” their similarities and differences.
- “How does this make us feel?
- “Why are these similarities and differences important to have
and talk about?”
- “Is it okay if you like chocolate but ____ does not like
chocolate?”
- “I have black hair but your hair is different.”

This discussion is meant for the students to understand that it is okay

to not only have those differences but celebrate them too. (It is okay
for the answers to be silly, too.)

Cubing Activity (game) – I will have pre-written cube outlines

(Having them write down their own questions is more appropriate for
higher grades. To make it grade appropriate for primary, I will have Students are playing the cubing game and answering
already created the writing prompts). Students cut out and paste the the prompts with a partner and we will go around.
cubes together. Each side of the cube has a quote from the book and a (Students are welcome to pass if they feel
follow up prompt: uncomfortable.)
- “It’s okay to eat macaroni and cheese in the bathtub” What’s
your favourite food?
- “It’s okay to be embarrassed.” When have you felt
embarrassed?
- “It’s okay to be proud of yourself.” When have you felt proud
of yourself?
- “It’s okay to have different moms.” What does your
family/close friends look like?
- “It’s okay to get mad.” Think of a time you have gotten mad.
- “It’s okay to come from a different place.” Where are you
from?

Students are asked to roll the dice and answer the prompt. They are
allowed one extra roll if they do not want to answer the question. One
minute maximum to answer question. The assumption in this lesson is
that students are familiar with cubing and have done it in the past.

Cubing activity is used because it is a casual way for students to talk

about themselves without having to share with the entire class.

Part Two:

I will compare and contrast a student in the classroom and I through a

Venn diagram and read my points aloud to the students. This way,
students can see how different we are and yet, there are still some
similarities. Students are acknowledging the differences and
similarities between the student and I.

- I will go over the Venn diagram and explain what goes into the
circles (Name 1 differences, Name 2 differences and
similarities.)
 - I will ask the students about things and activities that they like
to do and write them on the board while we have this
discussion.
- When going through discussion, there will be instances where
certain ideas will be said twice and that would be a similarity
between two students.
- I will ask students where they think each of their ideas would
go into the circles.
- With a partner, students will have to think-pair-share about
things that make them different or similar.

Activity:
- Each pair of students will get a Venn diagram to fill out.
- Students will discuss with another likes/dislikes/activities and
things that make thing similar or different.
- I want students to really study each other and note their - Students are inquiring about their similarities
features and the things that make them unique. and differences (they both have a nose, they
- This way students will come to understand and celebrate their both have skin, but the skin might be a
similarities and differences and understand that it is okay to be different color, they both have teeth, one might
different. have lost a tooth.)
- Once the students are finished, I will ask each pair of students
to come up to the front of the class and share one similarity and
one difference between them

Language Arts
Part Three:

I will tell the students that we are going to be creating our own
classroom book about all the things that it is okay to be, just like Todd Students are listening to the instructions of how to
Parr did. This will be unique to our division and it is something that create their own book page.
the students can read whenever they would like.
I will show them an example of a book page that I have made, which
will say, “It’s Okay to…. Not like mushrooms” and explain that their
answers can be anything that they would like. All I ask is that they are
honest, creative and don’t pick the same answer their friend has just to
be done with it because then it is not authentic to who they are any
longer. (I will talk about how this is something that will help me get to
know them individually as well.)

I will ask the students to go back to their desks and I will get the VIP
to hand out the book pages. I will have the prompt, “It’s okay to____” Students are thinking of 3 of their very own “It’s Okay
written on the board so students can use it as a reference in case they To…..” sentences to write down and illustrate.
need to refer back to it. I will ask students to do their very best at
sounding words out (inventive spelling) and being very creative as this Students are making sure to refer to ideas on the board
will be bound into a book. or ask for help if they are stuck trying to think of
creative ideas themselves.
(Modification: Students who find themselves struggling can fill in the
blank: “It’s okay to _____” on a sheet of paper that I will have ready
just in case it is needed. )

I will ask students to have at least 3 different “It’s okay to_____”

sentences written out.

Either sets of book pages should accompany their sentence with a

picture. Their sentence should be based on their experiences, likes,
dislikes, family.

Example: “It’s okay to like brussels sprouts” and draw a picture of

someone eating brussels sprouts with a smile on their face. Or, “It is
okay to have curly hair” and draw a picture of their curly hair.

I will let the students know that, if they choose to, they can share out
what they have written with the class once they are done, so they can
 choose which sentence they want to share out from the three they have
written.

I will go around and observe the students. While doing so, I will Students are getting ready to share if they wish to.
prompt the students and ask them to refer back to the book for ideas.
Even if students have not finished and have at least one sentence
written, they are allowed to share with the rest of the class.

I will ask the students to come to the carpet so that the students who
are wanting to share can share their thoughts. I will tell the students Students are listening to their peers and sharing
that this way, they can also learn something about each other, so it is themselves and understanding that they even though
very important to be good listeners. they are all grade one students, everyone is completely
different and that is completely okay!
Reflection
What went well?
What were the successes of this lesson and the growths?
What could I work on for next time?
Was there a particular area that could have been better executed or executed differently?
Did students reach their learning goal?

References:

Minds, M. (2013, September 25). We are alike, we are different. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from
http://mrsmyerskindergarten.blogspot.com/2013/09/we-are-alike-we-are-different.html?m=1

Minds, M. (2018, September 16). Forming our Kindergarten community through play. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from
http://mrsmyerskindergarten.blogspot.com/2018/09/forming-our-kindergarten-community.html?m=0

Where emotions grow. (2020, March 03). Learn emotions with story stones. Retrieved March 04, 2021, from
https://whereimaginationgrows.com/emotions-story-stones-for-kids/