Danny and the Detention Demons—Vocabulary Focused Lesson Plan
Program/Lesson 1 for “Danny and the Detention Demons”
Vocabulary Focus
Ages: 5-8
Materials Required:
Book – “Danny and the Detention Demons” by Mack H. Webb, Jr.
Overview: This lesson focuses on reading comprehension by expanding the children’s understanding of more difficult vocabulary.
Objectives: (Language Arts)
Students will:
1. Listen to a story.
2. Gather definitions for ten new words.
3. Write sentences using the new words.
Set Up: Arrange a chair for the reader and clear floor space in front of the reader for the children to sit.
Methodology:
1. Have the children sit down to listen to a story.
2. Read the story “Danny and the Detention Demons” by Mack H. Webb, Jr.
3. After the story is over, discuss the following points.
Using a blackboard/whiteboard/poster board, write down the following words. The numbers in parentheses indicate the page on which the word appears.
- Appalling (1)
- Lecture (2)
- Fleeting (5)
- Resumes (11)
- Frantically (13)
- Disruption (17)
- Sullenly (19)
- Gnome (21)
- Dumbfounded (27)
- Indulges (43)
4. Have the children write these words down on their own sheet of paper. Then have them search for the meanings of these words by using the dictionary or explain the meaning of each word depending on the capabilities of your group. Have the children write down the meaning next to the word on their paper. (This could be a homework assignment with the lesson continuing the next day.)
5. Re-read the sentence in the story in which each of the above words occurs and ask the children to rephrase the sentence based on the definitions they learned.
6. If time allows, have the children write sentences of their own using these ten words. Go through each word and have a child or two read the sentence they wrote aloud to the class.
7. Conclusion: Words help us say what we are feeling or doing. Each word has a meaning that helps us say just exactly what we want to say. Today you learned ten more words. This class was not an appalling lecture at all. We had no gnomes causing a disruption. Instead we indulged in learning new words so we wouldn’t be dumbfounded when we heard them again. Now you don’t need to feel frantic or sullen about how fleeting our time has been on learning new words. Tomorrow, when class resumes, we will learn some more!
