How can we use illustrations to identify clues, make predictions, and sequence events in a story?
StoryPlan Overview
Age Range: 7–9
Lesson Focus: Identifying clues through illustrations, sequencing events, making predictions, and understanding community kindness.
Themes: Perseverance, empathy, community support.
Objective: Students will analyze illustrations to identify narrative clues, sequence events, make predictions, and discuss the importance of kindness within a community.
Essential Question: How can we use visual clues to understand a story, and why is kindness important in our community?
Book Summary: Lost by Bob Staake is a wordless picture book that follows a young girl searching for her missing cat. As she canvasses the neighborhood, she discovers other residents have also lost their pets, including a dog, a bird, and even a giraffe. Through collaborative efforts and acts of kindness, the community comes together to reunite each person with their beloved animal.
Books for Pairing:
- Flotsam by David Wiesner (2006)
- Journey by Aaron Becker (2013)
- The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee (2014)
Vocabulary List:
- Illustration: A picture or drawing that explains or decorates a story.
- Sequence: The order in which events happen.
- Prediction: A guess about what will happen next.
- Clue: A piece of information that helps solve a problem or mystery.
- Community: A group of people living in the same area or having shared interests.
- Kindness: Being friendly, generous, and considerate to others.
- Neighbor: A person living near or next to you.
- Lost: Unable to find one’s way; not knowing where something is.
- Reunite: To come together again after being apart.
- Empathy: The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
Materials:
- Lost by Bob Staake
- Chart paper and markers
- Sequencing cards (prepared from the book’s illustrations)
- Prediction worksheets
- Art supplies: drawing paper, crayons, colored pencils
- Sticky notes
Prompt (Estimated Time: 10 minutes)
Engagement Activity:
- Display the cover of Lost and ask students to observe the illustration carefully.
- Pose questions:
- “What do you notice about the cover illustration?”
- “Who do you think the main character is?”
- “What do you predict this story might be about?”
Pre-Reading Discussion:
- Have you ever lost something important to you? How did it make you feel?
- What are some ways we can help others who have lost something?
- Why is it important to pay attention to pictures in a story?
UDL Strategies:
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Use visual stimuli to capture interest.
- Multiple Means of Representation: Encourage students to share personal experiences to connect with the theme.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Allow students to express their predictions verbally or through drawing.
Learn (Estimated Time: 20 minutes)
Read-Aloud Strategies:
- Conduct a picture walk through Lost, guiding students to observe and interpret the illustrations.
- Encourage students to describe what they see and infer what might be happening in each scene.
Interactive Elements:
- Pause at key illustrations and ask students to predict what might happen next.
- Use sticky notes to mark clues in the illustrations that hint at upcoming events.
Discussion Questions:
- What clues in the illustrations help you understand the story?
- How do the characters show kindness to each other?
- What do you think will happen after this scene? Why?
UDL Strategies:
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Involve students in active prediction-making to maintain interest.
- Multiple Means of Representation: Highlight visual clues to support comprehension.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Encourage students to use gestures or drawings to express their predictions.
Ask (Estimated Time: 15 minutes)
Discussion Strategies:
- Think-Pair-Share: Students think about a time they helped someone find something lost, share with a partner, then with the class.
- Group Discussion: Facilitate a conversation about the importance of community and helping others.
Guided Discussion Questions:
- How did the girl feel when she couldn’t find her cat?
- What actions did she take to find her cat?
- How did the community come together to help each other?
- Why is it important to help our neighbors?
- What can we learn from this story about kindness and empathy?
UDL Strategies:
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Connect discussion topics to students’ personal experiences.
- Multiple Means of Representation: Use visual aids to support discussion points.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Allow students to share their thoughts through movement.
Navigate (Estimated Time: 30 minutes)
Activity: Illustration Clue Hunt & Sequencing
Identifying Clues
- Provide students with selected illustrations from the book.
- In pairs or small groups, have them analyze each picture and identify clues that give hints about what’s happening or what might happen next.
- Have them record their findings on a worksheet with two sections: What do you see? and What do you think will happen next?
Sequencing the Story
- Mix up several major illustrations from Lost and distribute them randomly to small groups.
- Ask students to put them in order to retell the story.
- Have groups present their sequence and explain their reasoning.
Making Predictions
- Before revealing the final pages of the book, ask students to predict how the story will end based on the clues they’ve identified.
- After reading, compare predictions to the actual ending.
Discussion:
- What visual clues helped you put the story in order?
- How did your predictions change as the story unfolded?
- What was the most important clue that helped you understand the story?
UDL Strategies:
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Provide images for visual learners, verbal discussions for auditory learners.
- Multiple Means of Representation: Offer various ways to sequence the story (ordering pictures, writing short summaries, or acting it out).
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Encourage students to present their sequencing through speaking, writing, or drawing.
Share (Estimated Time: 10 minutes)
Closing Discussion:
- How did the community in the story show kindness?
- Why do you think helping others is important?
- What are some ways we can be kind in our own communities?
- How would you feel if you lost something important? How would you feel if someone helped you find it?
Look-Fors:
- Students demonstrate an understanding of how illustrations provide clues.
- Students can accurately sequence the story.
- Students can explain how the characters in the story showed kindness.
UDL Strategies:
- Multiple Means of Engagement: Connect the lesson to students’ real-life experiences with kindness and helping others.
- Multiple Means of Representation: Create a kindness-themed bulletin board where students can write or draw ways to help others.
- Multiple Means of Action and Expression: Let students role-play helping a friend who has lost something.
Additional Activities
Quick Activity: Lost and Found Box
- Set up a “Lost and Found” activity where students role-play searching for and returning lost items.
- Discuss how it feels to help someone find something important to them.
Extension Activity: Community Kindness Pledge
- Have students create a Kindness Pledge with ways they can help others in their school or neighborhood.
- Students illustrate one act of kindness they will do this week.
- Display pledges in the classroom.
Literacy Skill Activity: Writing a “Lost and Found” Story
- Have students write a short story about something lost and found.
- Encourage them to include clues in their illustrations or descriptions to help a reader understand the story.
- They can share their stories in pairs or small groups.
Metatags
Ages: 7–9
Content Areas: Reading Comprehension, Social-Emotional Learning
Competencies: Identifying Visual Clues, Sequencing, Making Predictions, Empathy
Activities: Illustration Analysis, Writing, Role-Playing
Calendar Events: Random Acts of Kindness Day (February 17, National Reading Month (March), World Kindness Day (November 13)