Lesson Overview
Title
Lilly‟s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
Focus of Lesson
Reading comprehension, vocabulary development
Objectives
 The learner will answer open-ended questions about the story to show comprehension
 The learner will predict future events in a story by using context clues,
pictures, etc.
 The learner will identify the correct definition to at least 4 out of 6 vocabulary words
from the text.
Rationale for Learning
The students will further develop their reading comprehension through context clues, and events
in the story. Predicting what will happen next helps them to learn to revisit the text to find key
information within the story. Doing this will build their background knowledge when reading
stories or passages of text in the future. Vocabulary is emphasized in this lesson because it will
help expand and further develop the words that they use both in conversation and in writing.
Student Assessment
In order to assess a student’s ability to create meaning to the vocabulary words that are
utilized in Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, students will complete vocabulary quiz in which
they will match the term to its definition. This will measure each student’s knowledge
of the new vocabulary, which is listed below.
 Permitted
 Fiercely
 Considerate
 Lurched (or Lurch)
 Disturb
 Sampled
Grade Level
PK/Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5/6
Materials and Resources Required for Lesson
Book: Lilly‟s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes (Approx. Reading Level 3.5)
Print materials:
 Vocabulary Quiz (1 copy per student)
Supplies:
 Sentence strips with vocabulary words written on them
 Pocket chart
 Lined chart paper
 Markers
Activities and TEKS
3) Reading/Beginning Reading/Strategies. Students comprehend a variety of texts drawing on
useful strategies as needed. Students are expected to:
(A) use ideas (e.g., illustrations, titles, topic sentences, key words, and
foreshadowing) to make and confirm predictions;
(5) Reading/Vocabulary Development. Students understand new vocabulary and use it when
reading and writing. Students are expected to:
(B) use context to determine the relevant meaning of unfamiliar words or multiplemeaning words;
(9) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and
draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to
support their understanding. Students are expected to:
(B) describe main characters in works of fiction, including their traits, motivations,
and feelings
Introduction to the Lesson (focus, state purpose of learning to students)
Call students to the carpet to begin our read aloud for the day. The teacher says, “Today we will
be reading Lilly‟s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. While we‟re reading this story, we‟re
going to make predictions, or guess what‟s going to happen in the story. Also, I placed some
new vocabulary words into our pocket chart. I want you to give me a thumbs up when you hear
any of these words in our story.”
Part I – Comprehension
 The lesson begins with the teacher reading Lilly‟s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
aloud to the class. During the story, stop reading from time to time to ask open-ended
comprehension questions to make sure students understand, and can make predictions
about what is going to happen next. When you come across a vocabulary word, pause
briefly to give students time to give a thumbs up.
 Questions to Ask While Reading
o Before you start reading – “The title of this book is Lilly‟s Purple Plastic Purse.
Looking at the cover, what do you think this book is about? What makes you
think that? Well let‟s start the story and find out.”
o Page 7 – “What does Lilly think of her teacher? How can you tell?”
o Page 9 – “What do you think is going to happen when Lilly brings her purse to
school? What makes you think that?”
o Page 11 – “What do you think is going to happen after Lilly shows her purse
off?” Why?”
o Page 13 – “Who does Lilly draw a picture of? What kind of picture does she
draw? What clues tell you that?”
o Page 17 – “How do you think Lilly feels after she opens her purse? What do you
think will happen when Lilly gets home? How do you know?”
o Page 19 – “How do you think Mr. Slinger will respond? Why do you think that?
o Page 29 – “How do you think Lilly feels about school and Mr. Slinger now?”

When finished with the story, ask your students a few questions to summarize what
happened, and their thoughts about it.
Suggested Questions
o How do you think Lilly felt at the end of the story? What clues from the text tell
you that?
o If you brought something really exciting to school like Lilly did, what would you
have done?
o Do you think Lilly learned anything from this story?
Part 2 - Vocabulary

“You guys did a great job of listening for all of the new vocabulary words in Lilly‟s
Purple Plastic Purse. I‟ve divided our chart paper into two sections. One will be for our
vocabulary words, and the other will be for our definitions. Definitions explain what a
word means When we look up a word in the dictionary, we are looking for that word's
definition.

Page 7 – “Here‟s our first word, permitted. Let‟s say it together, permitted. In the
story, „permitted‟ was used in the following sentence: „Whenever the students had free
time, they were permitted to go to the Lightbulb Lab at the back of the classroom.‟ What
do you think permitted means?” Wait 10 seconds for students to gather their thoughts
and respond. While you are waiting, tape the sentence strip with “permitted” written on it
to the left hand side of the chart paper. (Do this for the remaining vocabulary words as
you introduce them) If the answers given by the students are wrong, or there is no
answer given, say “Permitted is another word for allowed.” Write the definition on the
right hand side of the chart paper. “An example of this in a sentence is „Students in Ms.
Bridges‟ class are permitted to use the restroom when working independently.‟ Can
anyone use permitted in their own sentence?”

Page 10 – “The next word we come across is considerate. Can you say it with me? In
the story, Mr. Slinger tells Lilly that she needs to be considerate of her classmates. What
do you think it means to be considerate?” While waiting for the students gather their
thoughts and respond, tape considerate onto the chart paper under “permitted”. If there
are no responses, or if the answers given are incorrect, say “Considerate means thoughtful
of others. In a sentence, Ms. Hernandez thought it was considerate for Jacobi to hold the
door open for her. Can anyone think of a sentence using considerate?”

Page 11 – “Our next word is fiercely. Can you say it with me? In the book, fiercely is
used in the following sentence: „Look, Lilly whispered fiercely. Look, everyone. Look
what I‟ve got!‟ What was happening in the story when Lilly whispered fiercely?” Wait
10 seconds for students to respond. If there is no answer, or the ones provided are
incorrect, say “In the story, Lilly really wanted to talk about her purse with her class, but
Mr. Slinger told her she had to wait. When she couldn't stand it anymore she whispered
fiercely. What do you think fiercely could mean?” While waiting for the students to
gather their thoughts and respond, place the word onto your chart paper. If the answers
that are given are incorrect, or no answers are shared, say the following: “Fiercely in this
case means full of force. Lilly was using so much force when she whispered to her
classmates, that she was almost yelling. Another word for fiercely is intensely or
strongly. An example of this in a sentence is, „The wind blew fiercely during the
thunderstorm.‟ Can anyone use fiercely in their own sentence?”

Page 12 – “Who can tell me what our next word is? That‟s right, it‟s lurched! The book
tells us “Lilly‟s stomach lurched.” when Mr. Slinger took away her purse. What do you
think it means when the text tells us Lilly‟s stomach lurched? Are there any clues to tell
us this?” While waiting for students to respond, tape lurched on the chart paper. If there
is no response, or the ones given are incorrect say, “Lurched is another word for fell. In
this instance, Lilly‟s stomach didn‟t actually fall, but it felt like it did. It‟s a way to
describe the pit you get in your stomach when you‟re upset. Has anyone felt their
stomach lurch before?”

Page 15 – “Our next word is disturb. In the story, Mr. Slinger told Lilly that she could
bring her purse back to school as long as she doesn't disturb the rest of the class. What do
you think it means when the text tells us that Lilly can't disturb the rest of the class?”
While waiting for the students to respond, add disturb to the chart paper. If there are no
answers given, of if they are incorrect say, “When your brother or sister keeps poking
you, or won't leave you alone they are disturbing you. Disturb is another word for bother
or upset. Can anyone use disturb in a sentence?”

Page 23 – “Our last vocabulary word is sampled. In the book, Mr. Slinger sampled the
snacks that Lilly brought to school. What do you think that sampled means?” While
waiting for the students to respond, add sampled to the chart paper. If there are no
answers given, or if they are incorrect say, “When you go to the grocery store and
someone offers you a sample of pizza, how much do you get? Do you get a whole slice,
or just a little bit? You get just enough to taste it right? Do you think that Mr. Slinger ate
all of the snacks, or did he just try one? Sampled means to taste or try. Can anyone use
„sampled‟ in a sentence?”

Your chart paper should look something like this when you are finished:
Vocabulary Word
Permitted
Considerate
Fiercely
Lurched
Disturb
Sampled

Definition
Allowed
Thoughtful of others
Intensely /Strongly; full of force
To feel something fall
To bother or upset
To taste or try
Before starting the vocabulary assessment, go over the definitions of the vocabulary
words one more time to check for understanding. When reviewing each definition, use
each of the vocabulary words in a sentence so students can hear an example. Make sure
to emphasize the vocabulary word within the sentence.
Suggested Sentences
 “Students are only permitted in the hall if they have a hall pass.”
 “When a little boy helped my grandmother walk across the street, she thought he was
being very considerate.”
 “The rock star sang the words to his song fiercely at his concert.”
 “Billy's stomach lurched when he knocked over his mother's favorite vase.”
 “The mad scientist didn't want anyone to disturb him while he worked on his
experiment.”
 “At the party, I sampled all of the food before deciding to eat some more cookies.”
 For additional practice, you may ask students to create their own sentences using the
vocabulary words. This can be done orally, or can be written down.
Part 3 – Vocabulary Assessment
To assess each student's understanding of the vocabulary words, a vocabulary quiz will be given.
This quiz will have students match the vocabulary word to the appropriate definition as described
by the objectives.