Lessons & Units :: Genre Studies: Procedural Texts Kindergarten Unit

Lesson 1: Step-by-Step Directions

Lesson Plan

Let's Make Pizza | 120L

Let's Make Pizza
Learning Goal
Explain that procedural texts have steps that tell you how to do something.
Identify a step in a procedural text.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: Unit Example Chart, Independent Practice Worksheet
Not Provided: Let’s Make Pizza by Mary Hill, The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons, chart paper, markers, sticky notes

  • Teacher Modeling

    will introduce “how-to” books, or procedural texts, by explaining that some books tell readers how to do something. For example, a person might read this kind of book to learn how to fix their television, knit a sweater, or bake a cake. These types of books give readers step-by-step directions. One characteristic of how-to books is that they have steps. I will explain that a step is a new action that the author asks the reader to do, to complete a task. I will write this characteristic on my Characteristics of Procedural Texts Chart (example provided). I will model how to identify the steps in Let’s Make Pizza by Mary Hill. I will read the book, and each time I come across a new action or step that the author tells me to do, I will label it as a step with a sticky note. Now that I have identified the steps in this text, I will add Let’s Make a Pizza to my chart since it is an example of a “how-to” or procedural text.

  • Think Check

    Ask: "How did I identify the steps in a task?" Students should answer that you identified actions that the author asked you to do to make a pizza.

  • Guided Practice

    will read “How to Carve a Pumpkin” in The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons. Each time the author gives the reader a new action that they should do, we will describe the step on a sticky note. We will add the title of the section and book to our chart. Together, we will read “How to Dry Pumpkin Seeds” at the end of The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons.

  • Independent Practice

    will illustrate the three steps from, “How to Dry Pumpkin Seeds” in The Pumpkin Book. You will explain how you know this is a “how-to” text. (Independent Practice Worksheet is provided.)

Build Student Vocabulary carve

Tier 2 Word: carve
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story “It’s great fun to carve pumpkins into what you want them to be.”
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) The word carve means to cut or to slice. When we talk about carving pumpkins, we mean that we are using a knife to cut them. Usually, when we carve pumpkins, we are carving them (cutting them) into specific patterns, such as making a face on the side of the pumpkin.
Students repeat the word Say the word carve with me: carve.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts My uncle likes carving little animals out of pieces of wood: he uses a knife to cut up the wood until it looks like an animal. You can also carve meat at dinner. During Thanksgiving, we always have to carve the turkey before everyone can eat, which means we need to cut it up into slices.
Students provide examples What can a person carve? Start by saying, “A person can carve a _______________________.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? carve
Additional Vocabulary Words adult, pumpkin

Build Student Background Knowledge

Before reading The Pumpkin Book, explain that pumpkins are often carved for Halloween, a holiday that takes place every year on October 31st. Tell students that Halloween comes from an old holiday celebrating the harvest, which means the time of year when plants grow best. Ask students if they can guess one plant that grows during the harvest. Pumpkins, of course!

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

(To see all of the ReadWorks lessons aligned to your standards, click here.)

User Comments