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Storyboard of “The Biggest Pumpkin Ever” Lesson Plan

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Lesson Plan #:AELP-STT000
Submitted by: Irene Psaras
Email: Psaraki96@aol.com
School/University/Affiliation: Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, CT
Date: November 9, 1998

Grade Level(s): 2, 3

Subject(s):

  • Language Arts/Story telling
  • Social Studies/Holidays

Objective(s): After reading The Biggest Pumpkin Ever aloud, the students will be able to do the following:

  • The students will comprehend and identify events in chronological order.
  • Given the beginning and ending sentences, the students will demonstrate their understanding by piecing together the events in the middle in the order that they occurred on their storyboard.

    • Materials:

    • The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll
    • 8×15 white construction paper
    • Crayons
    • Pencils
    • Blackboard/chalk

    Initiation Set: This lesson should be taught 1-2 weeks before Halloween, in order for the teacher to decorate the students’ storyboards. Begin the lesson by asking the students about Halloween and what they like the best about it. How many people are excited about Halloween? Is anyone scared of Halloween? Who knows what they are going to be for Halloween? Did anyone pick their pumpkins yet? How about carving them? Do you get attached to your pumpkins? Have you ever been in a pumpkin contest? Would you like to enter your pumpkins in a contest? Who thinks their pumpkin would win? This will excite the students and get them involved in the lesson. Tell them that you will read a story aloud to them about a pumpkin. Conclude by telling them that will make something neat called a storyboard.

    Procedure:

  • After the discussion on Halloween and pumpkins, have the students sit on the floor in circle in order for you to begin reading The Biggest Pumpkin Ever aloud to them.
  • After reading a few pages of the story stop and ask what is being read to them? For example, did the two mice know that they fell in love with the same pumpkin? Allow the time for the students to elaborate on their answers and provide facts to support them.
  • Ask them to predict will happen next? This will get their minds thinking about sequence of events.
  • After finishing the story, ask them questions about the story. What happened in the beginning, middle and end? Write this information on the board because they will need to remember this information for their storyboards
  • It is important to show them the pictures so that they can recall these images for their illustrations.
  • Tell the students that their task for today is to create a storyboard of the story we just read. Explain to the students what a storyboard is. You will tell them that they will be making their own copy of The Biggest Pumpkin Ever. (Have the students go back to their desks at this time)
  • The students will need to be given a piece of paper, crayons, and a pencil. The paper should be 8x 15 and folded into 8ths. Each box is designed for a different event. (Pass out the paper at this time)
  • Their tasks will be to find 8 events, place them in the right order, write a sentence, and illustrate it.
  • Provide an example for them by identifying the first and last event. With your help have the students form a sentence that describes the beginning of the story and the end of the story. Allow students to interact with each other and collaborate on find the most appropriate beginning and end. Then write them on the board in order for the students to copy the beginning sentence in the top right hand box and the last sentence in the bottom left hand box.
    • Example of the event #1: Once upon a time there were two mice that fell in love with the same pumpkin.
    • Example of event #8: On the day before Halloween, the field mice carved the pumpkin into the best jack-o-lantern ever.

    • *Don’t forgot to write the name of the author Steven Kroll and illustrator Jeni Bassett on the board so that the students can copy this onto their storyboards

    Closure: At this time the instruction of the lesson is over. Have the students begin their assignment. Pass out any other supplies that might be needed. Allow a half an hour for the students to work on their storyboards independently. It is important to walk around to make sure that the students are doing their assignment accurately and help those that need help. Tell the students that what they don’t finish can be done tomorrow in class. This lesson can carry on to the next day so that they can share their storyboards with the rest of the class. Once again, when reviewing the stories reinforce the sequence. After you have checked them over, the students can decorate them on the bulletin board for Halloween.

    Evaluation: When they have completed their assignment have them pass in their work before you decorate their storyboards. At this time you want to see if your students have understood the book and can piece together the sequence of events accurately. The beginning and the end will be correct because they were given. The 6 other events must be place in the order that they occurred. If a student has done this correctly without confusion then you know that they have achieved the objective of the lesson. Therefore, they have understood The Biggest Pumpkin Ever and the idea that a story has a beginning, middle, and end. If a student is able to identify the sequence then you know those that have a good comprehension the story. Remember* This will not be an evaluation of creativity but rather comprehension. The objective in this lesson is the comprehension of events, so if a student forgets an event that might have happen in between two events, it is fine. As long as those are in order because this shows that the understanding of the sequence is there.

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