Lesson Title – How Do Dinosaurs Go to School

Contributor – Melissa Ingram

Grade Level – K-2

Essential Reading Element – comprehension

Materials Needed: How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? By Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

Poster with school rules

Objective(s) – Students will practice procedures for entering the library, listening to a story and raising hands during discussions.  Students will demonstrate understanding of library rules.

Procedure - Meet students at the door, introduce yourself and explain the procedure for going to the rug (walk quietly, find a seat in your own space and be prepared to listen).  Have students observe the cover and prepare to make predictions while everyone gets settled. 

Before reading, ask students what they think the story is about. (Teach procedure for hand raising.)  Ask students to share what they know about dinosaurs.  Practice hand raising procedure throughout discussion.

Read the story.  After the story, ask students what they think “behavior” means.  Ask students why we have rules. Tell students there are rules for the library.  Discuss the school rules and the library rules.  Ask students to share what the dinosaur did that would break one of our rules. Ask students to share what the dinosaur did that showed appropriate behavior.  Review parts of the story as needed. 

 Implementation – All the students enjoyed the story featuring a dinosaur as the main character. The second grade students were better able to recognize appropriate and inappropriate “dinosaur behavior” and relate those behaviors to the school rules. The younger students (K&1) were more likely to get off task and start telling the class everything they know about dinosaurs. Overall, it was a fun way to discuss the rules and help the students visualize appropriate behavior.