Lesson Plan for
Focus:
To introduce the Habit of
the Mind to students, to have students connect to the vendor in Caps for
Sale and advise him on future trips to town by applying his experiences in
the story to his next possible trip.
Process:
1. Tell the students that you
are going to read them a story about a man who is traveling to town to sell
something. Ask them if they have ever seen someone taking something to market
to sell. Ask them how the person transported the merchandise. Ask for feedback.
Have several students share, include what they were selling, how they were
carrying it, etc.
2. Begin reading story. After
first page, ask students how many of them have seen someone carry something to
market on their heads. Response should be with a show of hands. Continue story.
Read to the page where the man wakes up. Ask the students if they notice
anything (if one doesn’t volunteer this info). Have them predict where the hats
have gone. Have them predict again when he looks up into the tree. On the page
where he looks at them and doesn’t know what to do ask the students if they
have ever had an animal take something of theirs? (a dog or cat, maybe a crow?)
If not, ask if they have ever had something stuck in a tree? What did you do to
get it down/back? Ask if the man could use this method. Continue with story.
What do the monkeys do? (mimic the man) After reading the page where the man
stamps both his feet, ask the students if they can think of anything that might
help the man get back the hats. Remind them that the monkeys are doing whatever
the man does. (Apply what they’ve learned to try to solve the situation.)
Continue reading story till ending.
3. Discuss with students the
problems the man had with carrying his hats the way he did. Ask them if they
could think of a better way to carry the hats. Have students respond to
question in journals. They can draw a picture of their solution for carrying
the hats. Older students could write the man a letter giving him advice on to
carry his hats.