Lessons & Units :: Good-Night, Owl! Kindergarten Unit

Read-Aloud Lesson: Good-Night, Owl!

Lesson Plan

Good-Night, Owl! | AD410L

Good-Night, Owl!
Learning Goal
Use evidence from the text to describe what Owl wants to do during the story, why Owl is not successful, and what happens at the conclusion of the story, in order to discuss the important plot twist in the book.
Necessary Materials
Provided:
  1. Detailed lesson plan
  2. Graphic organizer for guided practice
  3. Independent student worksheet

Not Provided:
Good-Night, Owl!
 
  1. This lesson is a close reading of the entire text. So it’s important to engage students often, to enhance their learning. Here are two tips:
    •   When you ask the more complex questions from the lesson, ask students to “turn-and-talk” or “buddy-talk” before answering.

    •   Once you are deep into the lesson, instead of asking students every question provided, ask them to share with you what questions they should be asking themselves at that point in the text. This is also a great opportunity to use "turn-and-talk."
       
  2. Suggested teacher language is included in the lesson.

  3. We recommend you read the book once to your students, either the day or morning before teaching the lesson.

  4. This research-based, read-aloud lesson may seem long. Why do students need the lesson to be this way?
 

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 an owl cannot do what it wants to.

 
Read pages 1 and 2 out loud, then stop. Page 2 contains a single sentence: “Owl tried to sleep.” Show students the accompanying illustrations. If possible, always show students the illustrations on the pages you read throughout the lesson.
1.
Teacher asks: Who is this character we see and meet in the tree?
 
Students answer: This character is Owl.
2.
Teacher asks: What does Owl want to do?
 
Students answer: Owl wants to sleep.
 
Read pages 3 and 4. Page 4 begins with, “The bees buzzed…”
3.
Teacher asks: Can you see the bees near Owl in the tree? They are buzzing. Let’s all say, “Buzz, buzz, buzz.”
 
Students answer: Buzz, buzz, buzz.
 
Make sure students can see the illustration on page 3 as you make the following statement.
4.
Teacher says (models thinking): I do not think Owl could sleep with all of that buzzing. I am going to look at the picture. There, I see that one of Owl’s eyes was open, so Owl was not sleeping. And see what the book tells us? Owl TRIED to sleep. It does not say Owl was sleeping. It says Owl TRIED to sleep. But we can see that Owl could not sleep with the bees buzzing.
Read more
 
Read pages 5 and 6. Page 6 begins with, “The squirrel cracked nuts...”
5.
Teacher asks: Owl is still in the tree. The bees are there also [point to bees on page 6]. What else is in the tree now?
 
Students answer: A squirrel is in the tree now.
6.
Teacher asks: What is the squirrel doing?
 
Students answer: The squirrel is cracking nuts.
7.
Teacher asks: What kind of sound is the squirrel making?
 
Students answer: The squirrel is making a “crunch crunch” sound.
8.
Teacher asks: Let’s all make a “crunch crunch” sound.
 
Students answer: Crunch crunch.
9.
Teacher asks: What does Owl try to do?
 
Students answer: Owl tries to sleep.
10.
Teacher asks: Is Owl able to sleep with the “crunch crunch” sound of the squirrel cracking nuts?
 
Students answer: No, Owl is not able to sleep with the “crunch crunch” sound of the squirrel cracking nuts.
11.
Teacher asks: Look at the picture. How do we know that Owl is not sleeping?
 
Students answer: One of Owl’s eyes is open.
 
Read pages 7 and 8. Page 8 begins with, “The crows croaked...”
12.
Teacher asks: What else is in the tree now?
 
Students answer: Crows are in the tree now.
13.
Teacher asks: Describe what is happening.
 
Students answer (elicit both of the following responses before moving on):
  • The crows are croaking.
  • Owl is trying to sleep. (Students may add that Owl cannot sleep because of the noise of the crows.)
14.
Teacher asks: What noise do the crows make?
 
Students answer: The crows croak, “caw, caw.”
 
For the next 18 pages (until “Then darkness fell…”), read the text, point out the new characters and pictures, and emphasize that Owl is still awake. No need to go through the same sequence of questions that you have modeled and students have mirrored, unless students are struggling. Feel free to have students make the sounds together for some or all of the pages.
 
Read page 26. Page 26 begins with, “Then darkness fell…”
15.
Teacher says: Look at the picture. See how almost all of the animals are asleep?
16.
Teacher asks: Is Owl asleep or awake?
 
Students answer: Owl is awake.
 
Finish reading the story.
17.
Teacher asks: What did Owl want to do at the beginning of the story?
 
Students answer: Owl wanted to sleep.
18.
Teacher asks: Why was Owl not able to sleep?
 
Students answer: The other animals made too much noise for Owl to sleep.
19.
Teacher asks: At the end of the book nighttime comes, and there is not a sound to be heard. Still, Owl does not go to sleep. What does Owl do instead?
 
Students answer (responses may vary but should resemble the following):
  • Owl screeches.
  • Owl wakes up all the other animals.
 

Part 2: Guided Practice and Discussion

 
For this oral lesson, it is suggested to have the completed graphic organizer on the board with the answers concealed. After students provide a correct answer, reveal the corresponding answer on the graphic organizer.
1.
Teacher asks: What does Owl want to do during the day?
 
Students answer: Owl wants to sleep.
2.
Teacher asks: Can Owl do what it wants during the day?
 
Students answer: No, Owl cannot do what it wants during the day.
3.
Teacher asks: Why or why not?
 
Students answer: The other animals are making too much noise.
4.
Teacher asks: What do the bees want to do during the day?
 
Students answer: The bees want to buzz.
5.
Teacher asks: What do the rest of the animals want to do during the day?
 
Students answer: Responses may vary but should recognize that the rest of the animals want to make noise.
6.
Teacher asks: What does Owl want to do at night?
 
Students answer: Owl wants to screech, or scream.
Read more
7.
Teacher asks: Can Owl do what it wants at night?
 
Students answer: Yes, Owl can do what it wants at night.
8.
Teacher asks: Why or why not?
 
Students answer: Owl is awake.
9.
Teacher asks: What do the bees want to do at night?
 
Students answer: The bees want to sleep.
10.
Teacher asks: What do the rest of the animals want to do at night?
 
Students answer: The rest of the animals want to sleep.
 
After the answers for the graphic organizer have been completed and discussed with the class, ask the following four extension questions.
 
Teacher asks: Does Owl want to sleep during the day or at night?
 
Students answer: Owl wants to sleep during the day.
 
Teacher asks: Do all the animals we read about want to sleep during the day or at night?
 
Students answer: All the animals want to sleep at night, except Owl.
 
Teacher asks: For almost the whole story, Owl tries to sleep but cannot because everyone else keeps Owl up. Then, at the very end of the book, something changes. How does the story change at the end?
 
Students answer: Responses may vary in wording but should recognize the role reversal of the characters. At the end of the story, Owl is the animal keeping everyone else awake, instead of the other way around.
 
Teacher asks: Would the ending surprise somebody reading this story? Why or why not?
 
Students answer: Students may respond either way, as long as they explain their answer. For example, students may respond that the ending would surprise somebody reading this story. The same thing has been happening over and over -- Owl cannot fall asleep because the other animals keep making noise -- but then Owl makes noise and wakes up the other animals.
 

Part 3: Student Independent Practice

 
Read each question out loud to your students and have each student complete the worksheet independently. For questions 5 A) and 6, you can have students draw their answers, answer orally, or write their answers, depending on your students’ progress. If you have them write their answers, you may want to write the word(s) on the board for them to copy.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

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User Comments

I love it, I"ve read this books many times but never have approached it this way. Thanks.

Submitted by colettegissendanner_1879624 on 10/10/16

Did a modified version of this lesson today for Special Ed. Fantastic! We added a youtube version of the story read-aloud as the kids tracked.

Submitted by mirish_1321554 on 3/19/15

Great idea! You don't have to have the text in your library to complete this lesson. The video presentation must have engaged your students while making this complex text accessible to your students. Thanks for sharing!

Submitted by dgowan on 10/29/15