Lesson plan
Three Little Pigs: 5 W's Reading Comprehension
First grade readers are introduced to the basics of fiction comprehension with this reading and writing lesson plan. Using the classic tale of “The Three Little Pigs,” this lesson revolves around helping learners explore the Five W’s of reading comprehension: who, what, where, when and why. Children will practice asking and answering these fiction comprehension questions as they read the story. Then they will complete a story map graphic organizer to help them organize each of the story’s components in a meaningful way.
Learning Objectives
- Students will be able to answer the 5W questions relating to the story The Three Little Pigs.
Introduction
(5 minutes)
- Start this lesson by explaining to your class that a story answers five basic questions, also known as the 5 W's: who, what, when, where, and why.
- Tell your students that today, they will be listening to the story, The Three Little Pigs, and asking and answering questions based on the story.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
(10 minutes)- Create a 5 W's story map for the class to see, using the whiteboard, a projector, or an interactive whiteboard.
- Read the Story of the Frog Prince to your class.
- Tell your class that it is helpful to ask questions after reading a text to gather more information about the story and clear up any confusion about the sequence of events or details in the story.
- Ask your class 5 W questions about the story. For example, "Who is in this story? Where does it take place?"
- As the students answer the questions, fill in your 5 W's chart.
Guided Practice
(10 minutes)- Read the story The Three Little Pigs to the class.
- As you read, pause periodically to ask questions that will help you gauge student understanding of the story and clear up any confusion. Some great examples include, "What did the first pig build? What happened to the pigs’ homes? Who wanted to blow down the pigs' homes?"
- After asking a few questions, tell students to turn and talk to a partner to ask their partner a question about the story. Note: you should be close to the end of the book by the time students ask questions to give them time to see your modeled questions.
- Choose volunteers to share their questions with the class.
Independent working time
(15 minutes)- Pass out a copy of the Three Little Pigs Story Map to each student.
- Explain to the class that they will be answering the 5 W's about the story that you just read. For each box, they should draw a picture illustrating the who, what, where, when, and why of The Three Little Pigs.
- When they complete their drawings, tell students to share the questions they had about the story in pairs.
Differentiation
Enrichment:
- Have students who need more of a challenge write a sentence to answer each question on the Three Little Pigs Story Map.
- Or, have the students complete an additional Three Little Pigs Story Map worksheet.
Support:
- Have students who are struggling fill in two of the boxes on their Three Little Pigs Story Map, and help them with the rest.
Assessment
(5 minutes)- As students work on their story maps, walk around the classroom and look at their worksheets to assess their understanding of the 5 W's.
- Monitor student conversations to assess their ability to ask questions to clear up confusion about the text or details within the story.
Review and closing
(5 minutes)- Ask student volunteers to share their 5 W questions and answers with the class.
- Allow students to share if they had different questions that they answered.
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