Best Books to Teach 'What is This About?' in Kindergarten

📚 Understanding 'What Is This About?' in Kindergarten

This lesson plan focuses on teaching kindergarten students how to identify the main idea of a story using engaging picture books. The core concept, "What is this about?", is introduced through interactive activities and reinforced with carefully selected literature. The overall aim is to equip young learners with a foundational skill in reading comprehension.

🎯 Objectives

• 🧐 Students will be able to define "main idea" in simple terms.
• 🗣️ Students will be able to verbally express the main idea of a story after listening.
• 🤝 Students will be able to work collaboratively to identify the main idea.
• ✍️ Students will be able to draw a picture representing the main idea.

🍎 Materials

• 📖 Selected picture books (see recommendations below)
• 🖍️ Crayons or colored pencils
• 📃 Paper
• 🖼️ Chart paper or whiteboard
• 📌 Markers

☀️ Warm-up (5 minutes)

• 🗣️ Brainstorm: Begin by asking students what they think stories are about. Write their ideas on chart paper.
• 🖼️ Visual Aid: Show a picture and ask, "What is this picture about?" Guide them to provide a simple sentence describing the picture's main subject.

📖 Main Instruction

Part 1: Interactive Reading (15 minutes)

• 🗣️ Model: Read aloud one of the selected picture books with enthusiasm.
• ❓ Think Aloud: During reading, pause occasionally to model thinking about the main idea. For example, "Hmm, this part seems to be about the cat getting into trouble. I wonder if the whole story is about that?"

Part 2: Guided Practice (15 minutes)

• ❓ Questioning: After reading, ask open-ended questions like, "What was this story mostly about?" or "If you had to tell someone what this story was about in one sentence, what would you say?"
• 🤝 Partner Talk: Have students pair up to discuss their ideas about the main idea.
• ✍️ Sharing: Invite pairs to share their thoughts with the whole class. Write down key words and phrases on the chart paper.

Part 3: Creative Representation (15 minutes)

• 🎨 Drawing: Have each student draw a picture that represents the main idea of the story.
• 🗣️ Explanation: After drawing, have students share their pictures and explain how their picture shows what the story was about.

✅ Assessment

• 👂 Observation: Observe students' participation in discussions and their ability to articulate the main idea verbally.
• 🖼️ Artwork Review: Assess students' drawings for their connection to the main idea of the story. Provide individual feedback and encouragement.

📚 Recommended Books

• 🐻 Corduroy by Don Freeman: 🧸 A bear looking for his missing button.
• 🐛 The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle: 🦋 A caterpillar's journey of eating and transformation.
• 🐱 Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin: 👟 A cat's positive attitude despite changing circumstances.
• 🐭 If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff: 🍪 The never-ending cycle of requests from a mouse.