This lesson plan teaches early childhood students about colors and letter recognition through the story "Mouse Paint". The objectives are for students to show interest in the story by mixing play dough colors, and to identify the letter M. Materials include the story book, laminated story characters, play dough, and art supplies. The teacher will read the story, stopping to engage students by asking questions. Afterwards, students will practice mixing colors through guided art and writing activities, allowing the teacher to check their understanding of letter recognition and colors.

1. Early Childhood Literacy
Lesson Planning
Muriel K. Rand, Ed.D.
New Jersey City University

2. Getting Started with
Standards
 Start with Standards
◦ NJ Preschool Standards
◦ Common Core State Standards, K-3
 Choose one or two standards to
focus lesson

3. Objectives
 What do you want the children to
learn?
(NOT what you want to teach!)
 What will the children be able to
do as a result of the lesson?
 Align objectives to standards
 Stay focused on one or two
 Write in measurable, behavioral
terms

4. Objectives Examples
 Measurable/ Observable
◦ “The children will be able to identify
the rhyming words in the story”
NOT: The children will understand
rhymes.
◦ “The children will write complete
sentences using proper capitalization.
NOT: The children will learn about
capitalization.

5. Objectives' Checklist
 Do your objectives directly relate
to the standards for the lesson?
 Are they appropriate for the age
group/ ability level of the children?
 Are they written in
measurable/observable terms
(“the children will be able to….”)
 Are there one or two objectives
that are focused on throughout
the lesson?

6. Materials
 All materials that are needed for
the lesson
 Books require complete citations

7. Introduction/ Anticipatory Set
 Connect to previous knowledge
 Motivate children to participate
 Hands-on
 Multisensory
 NOT discussion

8. Procedures
 Main portion of the lesson
 Step-by-step description of what
the teacher does and what the
children do
 Align procedures with objectives
 Think through classroom
management
◦ Whole group? Small group? Center?
◦ Transition? Seating?

9. Guided or Independent
Practice
 How will children be able to use or
practice what they have learned?
 Independent work/ Seatwork/
Centers

10. Check for Understanding
 How will you know that your
objectives are met?
 Reword objectives as questions
 Provide method of assessment
◦ Observation?
◦ Checklist?
◦ Rubric?
◦ Quiz?

11. Sample Storytelling Lesson Plan
Subject Area: Listening, Emergent Reading
Grade Level: Preschool
Lesson Title: “Mouse Paint”
Objectives :
• Students will show interest and pleasure in the story by mixing
play dough and participating in the storytelling
• Students will be able to identify the letter M and the sound it
makes
Preschool Standards:
3.1.4 Show interest, pleasure, and enjoyment during
listening activities by responding with appropriate
eye contact, body language, and facial expressions.
3.3.A.3 Identify some alphabet letters, especially those in
his/her own name.

12. Materials:
Book: Stoll Walsh, Ellen. (1989). Mouse Paint. California: San
Diego.
Supplies: Cut out and laminated all the important characters
in the story, to include: nine mice, one set of three white mice,
one mouse of each color: red, yellow, and blue, one red
mouse with bottom half orange, one yellow mouse with
bottom half green, and one blue mouse with bottom half
purple. Nine puddles in red, yellow, blue, yellow with orange
stripes, orange, blue with green stripes, green, red with purple
stripes, and purple. Three jars of paint in red, yellow, and blue.
Seven rectangle shapes to represents walls in red, yellow,
blue, orange, green, and purple; and one black cat with its
milk bowl.

13. Introduction: I will gather students together for “Circle Time.” I
will give each child three small pieces of Play Dough, one
red, one yellow, and one blue. I will ask the children to name
the color for each piece of Play Dough given to them.
The children will have time to play with the Play Dough and
discover how the colors mix.
Finally, I will tell the students that they will listen to a story
about three mice and how much fun they have playing with
different colors.

14. Procedures:
I will tell the story using the laminated cut outs. I will stop at the
appropriate points and ask them to predict what color will result
from the mixture.
Closure
I will ask the following questions during and after the story:
What are the animals in the story?
How many mice were in the story?
What is the first letter in the word “mouse” and “mice?”
What sound does the letter “M” make?
What is the difference between the words “mouse” and
“mice?”
Did your colors mix the same way the colors in the story did?
Why do you think the mice mixed the colors?
How else can we mix colors?
Is this a true story? Can mice really play with colors?

15. Guided Practice
Art Center: I will divide children into groups of three like the three
mice in the story. On a large sheet of white paper will be "puddles" of
yellow, blue, and red paint, and I will instruct the students to use their
two fingers as mouse feet to "dance" in the puddles like the mice in
the story. Students will then be asked how they made new colors, and
will be encouraged to create as many new colors as they want.
When dry, the pictures will be hung on the wall.
Writing Center: The students will be asked to think about words that
start like “mouse” and “mice” and write them on the paper, drawing
a picture and underlining the letter “M” for each word. The teacher
will give students red, yellow, and blue mouse-shaped paper with the
letter “M” written on it, and ask them to draw pictures of objects that
start with the letter “M.” I will also encourage them to try to write the
words to label their pictures or I will write it for them.

16. Check for Understanding:
I will use anecdotal records to evaluate which students:
Showed interest and pleasure in the story by mixing
play dough and participating in the storytelling.
Were able to identify the letter M and the sound it
makes.