The Lion and the Mouse: Teaching Kindergarten Students about Giving through Language Arts

Objectives

1. With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. LAK-RL-3

2. Discuss the importance of students contributing to a community (e.g., helping others, working together, cleaning up the playground). SS00-S03-C04-03

Materials

The Lion and the Mouse by Gail Herman

Procedure

Gather the students around you. Before you read the story you will want to introduce three words and write them on the board:

1. Setting- the place or surroundings where the story takes place
2. Characters- person (or animal) who is in the story
3. Major events- the important things that happen in the story

When you read the simple text of this book and show the pictures remind students to look for the setting and characters and also try to remember the things that happen in the story.

After reading ask:

• Who are the characters in the story? The lion and mouse
• What is the setting of the story? The jungle
• Then call on volunteers to each say one thing that happened in the story. Write the events on the board. Then return to the list and number the events as they occurred in the story.

Activity

Time to get up and move! Let’s play Duck, Duck, Goose but this time we will say “Mouse, Mouse, Lion.” The lion chases the mouse around the circle until the lion tags the mouse or until the mouse sits in the lion’s place in the circle.

Paws Up!

The children learn in the story that even the smallest creature can be helpful. So encourage them to be kind and help each other. A way to promote an act of kindness is by having the recipient “tattle” on the kind friend. Using construction paper in colors of gold, yellow, tan or brown copy and cutout lion paws. Each act of kindness will be written on the paw and posted on the wall or bulletin board with the caption “No ‘Lion’! We Help Each Other!”

References

• Herman, Gail. The Lion and the Mouse: A Step Into Reading Book. Random House, 1998.