Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program
Learning Activity Plan
LAP 1: WOK Humanities
I.
Content: Describe what it is you will teach. What is the content?
This is the first lesson in the unit on folktales, where students will explore the five
elements of folktales while comparing folktales from different cultures. This lesson will
serve as an introduction to folktales. Students will gain exposure to the five elements
through the reading of a folktale and through engaging in a grand conversation.
II.
Learning Goal(s): Describe what specifically students will know and be able to do
after the experience of this class.
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III.
Students will be exposed to the genre of folktales
Students will observe the story and infer about the different parts of a folktale
Students will engage in meaningful conversation about the folktale
Rationale: Explain how the content and learning goal(s) relate to your Curriculum
Unit Plan learning goals.
In this lesson, the students will infer about the different components that make up a
folktale after listening to a folktale read aloud. This would be the introduction to our first
essential question of “What components/elements make a folktale?” We will be working
toward complete understanding of these elements in the following lessons. The folktale
which will be read during this lesson is from the country of Puerto Rico. While not being
able to compare this folktale to another just yet, the students will begin to work towards
our second essential question of “What do folktales from different cultures have in
common?” through exploring the cultural elements in this tale.
IV.
Assessment: Describe how you and your students will know they have reached your
learning goals.
The assessment in this introductory lesson is completely informal. The majority of the
class will be conversations either between pairs or whole group. Together the class will
come up with a working definition of a folktale. The topics of this lesson will be
reviewed at the start of lesson two.
V.
Personalization: Describe how you will provide for individual student strengths and
needs. How will you and your lesson consider the needs of each student and
scaffold learning?
The folktale will be read aloud to the whole class, allowing all students equal access to
the text and its content. New or more difficult words will be explained as we read the
folktale, giving additional support to the students on individualized education plans and
English language learners. During and after the folktale is read, students will participate
in turn and talks with partners on topics about the book. The turn and talks allow the
students’ time to think about the question, without the pressure of having to raise their
hand right away and have the right answer. Turn and talks also allow the students to think
through and verbally express their thoughts with one or two other students prior to
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Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program
Learning Activity Plan
sharing with the whole class. Turn and talks are a great way to give additional time to
think and process both the question and their answer to ELL students and students on
IEPs, while still engaging the rest of the class in meaningful activity of listening to their
partner’s thoughts while being able to share their own.
VI.
Time
Activity description and agenda: Describe the activities that will help your students
understand the content of your class lesson by creating an agenda with time frames
for your class. Be prepared to explain why you think each activity will help students
on the path toward understanding.
Teacher Activity
0-10
Introduction to Puerto
minutes Rico (video or read
aloud) and find on
map.
Student Activity
The folktale which
will be read in this
lesson is from the
country of Puetro
Rico. The students
should have a basic
understanding of the
country prior to
reading the folktale.
10-20
Start Venn diagram
Reflect on what makes a Provide a basic
minutes chart comparing Fables fable to help fill in the
introduction of the
and Folktales
Venn diagram chart.
folktale prior to
hearing the story.
Introduce folktales,
Turn and talk about
Connects folktales to
what does “retold”
basic questions on
fables which the
mean?
folktales
students have been
introduced too.
20-30
Read aloud of “The
Listen to story
Folktale is read aloud
min
Legend of the
so that all students
Hummingbird”
have equal access to
the text and share in
the experience of
hearing the folktale
together as a
community.
30-45
Ask the students
Turn and talks and group Students engage in
min
probing questions to
conversation:
thoughtful and
get them thinking
- Was there fantasy or
meaningful
magic
in
this
story?
If
so,
deeper about the text
conversation through
describe it.
and the elements
turn and talks and
Describe
the
main
represented in the
then group
characters in this story.
folktale:
discussion, which
- Was there a conflict in the
introduces them to
story? If so, how was it
the topics which are
resolved?
- What clues can you use to evident in all
folktales.
Revised 5/12/11
Anyone’s family from
Puerto Rico? What do
you know about Puerto
Rico
Reasoning
Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program
Learning Activity Plan
identify the culture from
which this folk tale was
originated? (what did you
learn about Puerto Rico?)
- What was the author
trying to teach you through
this folk tale?
45-55
Based on this folktale,
what do you think are
the different
parts/elements of
folktales?
Think to themselves, talk
with partner, share out
what elements of this
story are particular to
folktales.
Fill in the other parts of
the Venn Diagram
comparing Folktales and
Fables.
VII.
Students infer about
folktale elements,
creating a working
definition which can
and will be added too
and revised
throughout the
lesson.
List the Massachusetts Learning Standards this lesson addresses.
RL.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text,
referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
RL. 3.2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse
cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral, and explain how it is
conveyed through key details in the text.
VII.
Reflection
a. In light of all areas of planning, but especially in terms of your stated purpose and
learning goals, in what ways was the activity(ies) successful? How do you know? In
what ways was it not successful? How might the activity be planned differently
another time?
b. What did you learn from the experience of this lesson that will inform your next
LAP?
I thought this lesson went very well. During the discussion of Puerto Rico, I gave
students a chance to talk about their connections with the country and the culture. Many
students were able to participate, talking about how they were born there, or their parents
were born there. Even students who were not directly Puerto Rican, were able to talk
about friends or other family members. I think this beginning discussion got everyone
excited to read about the folktale.
Before reading the folktale, we also began filling out the Venn Diagram on the side
of the fables. Everyone in the class was able to talk about the fables, as everyone was in
the class when we read at least one of them. Most students were excited to share their
knowledge about the fables. While reading the folktale “The legend of the
Hummingbird” we talk about what it meant for a story to be “retold”. I also asked the
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Clark University Master of Arts in Teaching Program
Learning Activity Plan
students to think about what they are learning about the culture from the words and from
the illustrations. I did this because I figure, the cultural element would be most difficult
for them to grasp from the 5 elements. During our discussion I did not hear much about
the culture, so I showed them the pictures again and asked them “what do you notice?”
Students then were able to discussion differences in clothing, how it looked like a jungle,
and we talked a little bit about the weather. The moral was also proving to be a little
difficult for them, but I think it was because I had one idea about what the moral was. I
thought the moral was about how the hummingbird was created, and many of the students
thought that the moral was about true love and how strong love can be. After thinking
about it, I think both are the morals of the story. One is the moral the author intended by
writing the story, while the other is the moral that the audience and the characters of the
story learned. For my next folktale, I will be aware of this and point out to the students
that there could be more than one moral, and that even if people have different opinions
of the moral, both could be correct.
When we were finished reading and talking about the story, I asked the students to
think about what was in a folktale, they were able to come up with quite a few things to
put on our Venn Diagram. They did not name all 5 of the elements, but I was happy with
the list they came up with, so I stopped them there.
The lesson was longer than I expected, lasting the whole morning probably an hour
and fifteen minutes. I did not stop it because the students were so engaged and excited
about the story. I forgot to allow time for their snack, which they complained about, only
after we ended and were getting ready for art class. The story took longer to read than I
expected, with the grand conversation lasting a long time with all of the questions. I think
it was ok that the lesson lasted longer than expected. We touched on a lot of different
things, including, learning about where Puerto Rico is, personal connections with Puerto
Rico, the reading of the folktale, connections to fables, and introduction to the five
folktale elements.
Revised 5/12/11