Kendall Stevens
Lesson plan
Third grade
Woodrow Wilson Elementary
Materials: Fireflies! - book by: Julie Brinckloe
Pencils
White board
Graphic organizer
Standards:
Reading: Literature Standard 3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain
how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Reading: Literature Standard 1
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring
explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Phase 1: read the book and ask questions
Part 1: Teacher Modeling and Questioning
Write the following student-friendly learning goal on the board, then read the
learning goal out loud with the class:
We will explain why the main character did what he did toward the end of the story.
Transition Students into the Text
Teacher says: Today we are going to read a book titled Fireflies! The main character
does something interesting at the end of the book. So lets keep track of what the
main character thinks, feels, and does during the story so that we can figure out why
he does what he does at the end of the story.
Read page 1 out loud, then stop. Page 1 ends with, ...to the backyard. Show the
illustration.
Teacher says (models thinking): The author just gave us important information
about the setting of the book. Remember, setting is when and where a story takes
place. First, the author says it is summer, and it is evening. That tells us when the
story takes place. Then, the author writes that the boy is looking through the open
window to the backyard. That is where the story takes place. I wonder whose
backyard this is.
Read pages 2-3 out loud, then stop. Page 3 ends with, ...said Momma. Show the
illustrations.
Teacher asks: What is in the backyard?
Teacher asks: Whose tree house is it?
Teacher asks: So, whose backyard is this?
Teacher asks: What did the boy see over by the fence?
Teacher asks: What did the boy see over by the fence?
Read pages 4-5 out loud, then stop. Page 5 ends with, ...behind the stairs. Show the
illustrations.
Teacher says (models thinking): The author gives us important information about
the boy on this page. Listen as I think about this.
He "forked" his dinner into his mouth, which is a word that means he
ate quickly.
He asked to go out, and said the word "fireflies."
He ran from the table to get a jar.
From these pieces of information, I can tell that the boy wants to hurry up and go
out to see the fireflies. I am using his actionseating quickly, asking to go out,
runningto determine that he wants to go out.
Teacher says: Now, I want you to think about a few of his other actions and
thoughts.
Teacher asks: Where did he go to get the jar?
Teacher asks: Did he know where to look for the jar in the cellar?
Teacher asks: What do these actions and thoughts tell us about whether or
not the boy has done this before?
Read pages 6-7 out loud, then stop. Page 7 ends with, ...Mommas scissors. Show
the illustrations.
Teacher asks: How did he get back upstairs?
Teacher asks: What could you conclude by the way he came back up the
steps? Use text evidence in your response.
Teacher asks: What did the boy do to the top of the jar?
Teacher asks: Why does he say he did that?
Teacher asks: How does he know that this will help them breathe?
Teacher asks: Explain whether this is evidence that he has done this before.
Read pages 8-11 out loud, then stop. Page 11 ends with, ...grasping at the lights.
Show the illustrations.
Teacher asks: What did the boy and his friends do on these two pages? Give
more than one answer.
Teacher asks: Whose tree house is it?
Teacher asks: So, whose backyard is this?
Read page 12 out loud, then stop. Page 12 ends with, ...was my own. Show the
illustrations.
Teacher asks: What happened on this page?
Teacher asks: The text says the boy felt a tremble of joy; what does this most likely
mean?
Teacher asks: Let's look at the illustrations on pages 12 and 13. How can you tell
that the boy feels joy?
Teacher asks: Then, what did the boy shout?
Teacher asks: Explain whether the boy will probably try to catch more fireflies, and
if so why?
Teacher says (models thinking): Notice how you used the characters emotions and
actionsfeeling a tremble of joy, shouting that he can catch hundreds to
determine what he may want to do next.
Read pages 14-19 out loud, then stop. Page 19 ends with, ...hundreds of fireflies-
Show the illustrations.
Teacher asks: What did the boy repeat on these last two pages?
Teacher asks: Why might he repeat this comment?
Teacher asks: How do you think the boy felt at this point?
Teacher asks: Why do you think this?
Read pages 20-21 out loud, then stop. Page 21 ends with, ...lay there. Show the
illustrations.
Teacher asks: At first, what did the boy do?
Teacher asks: Why did the boy watch the fireflies?
Teacher asks: But then we notice a change. What change occurs?
Teacher asks: Why might the fireflies have behaved differently than previously in
the book?
Read page 22 out loud, then stop. Page 22 ends with, ...would not go down. Show
the illustration.
Teacher asks: What happened to the fireflies light in the jar?
Teacher asks: What did the boy try to do?
Teacher asks: What might the author be suggesting if the boy was having trouble
swallowing while watching the fireflies turn yellow?
Teacher asks: Why might the boy have felt that way?
Read page 23 out loud, then stop. Page 23 ends with, ...under water. Show the
illustration.
Teacher asks: What happened to the fireflies light?
Read page 24 out loud, then stop. Page 24 ends with, ...nearly dark. Do not show
the illustration, as the end of the story is given away on the opposite page.
Teacher asks: What did the boy do with his eyes and his pillow?
Lets review and analyze his actions and thoughts. He shut his eyes tight and put the
pillow over his head.
Teacher asks: How was the boy probably feeling?
Teacher asks: Why was he probably upset?
Read page 25 out loud, then stop. Page 25 ends with, Fly!. Show the illustration.
Teacher asks: What just happened?
Teacher asks: How did the boy feel when he was catching fireflies?
Use prompting to encourage the students to understand that the reader can only
determine that the boy likes the fireflies when they are lit up, not dark. There is no
textual evidence that he is an animal or bug lover.
Read pages 26-27 out loud, then stop. Page 27 ends with, ...stars dancing. Show the
illustrations.
Teacher asks: What did the fireflies do when the jar was opened?
Read page 28, finishing the book. Show illustration.
Teacher says (models thinking): Earlier, we said that the boy most likely let the
fireflies fly out of the jar because he was sad, upset, and felt guilty. He wanted to
experience joy again by watching the fireflies light up. From the pieces of
information on this page, the reader can determine how the boy felt after he let the
fireflies go.
Teacher asks: What pieces of information can we use to determine how he felt?
Teacher asks: Based on this information, how was the boy most likely feeling?
Teacher asks: Why was the boy both sad and happy?
Phase 2:
Transition Students into Guided Practice
1.Teacher says: We are going to use the Somebody-Wanted-But-So graphic
organizer (on the next page) to help us understand the main character, what he
wanted, what got in the way of his plan, and what happens in the end.
2.Teacher asks: In Fireflies! who is the main character? Or the "Somebody"?
3.Teacher asks: What did the boy "Want"?
4.Teacher asks: Why did he want to do this?
5.Teacher asks: But what got in the way of this? What happened to the fireflies?
6.Teacher asks: So, what happened in the end?
Phase 3:
Make our own firefly jars
