It Looked Like Melted Ice Cream

Pattern Book Lesson Plan

Jenna Thomas

Sometimes it looked like melted ice cream.

But it wasn’t melted ice cream.

Sometimes it looked like Mickey Mouse.

But it wasn’t Mickey Mouse.

Sometimes it looked like my puppy.

But it wasn’t my puppy.

Sometimes it looked like a fish.

But it wasn’t a fish.

Sometimes it looked like a mouse.

But it wasn’t a mouse.

Sometimes it

looked like melted

ice cream. But it

wasn’t melted ice

cream.

It was just a cloud in the sky.

Lesson Plan

• Based on It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw

• Concept: Predictable Patterns

• Pre-reading: I will begin the lesson by bringing a dish of melted ice cream and asking students if they can guess what is on the plate. Students will be allowed to smell the substance to determine that it is melted ice cream. Then, I will show students the cover of the book and ask them to make predictions. What could this book be about?

• Reading: For the first reading, I will read the book through the end while making sure to point to key words and read with expression. For the second reading, students will be invited to join in, as they will probably have figured out the pattern to the story. For the third reading, we could tell the story using only the images on a felt board. Students will place the images onto the felt board in sequential order while reciting the story.

Lesson Plan

• Post-reading: After we have read the story, we will go outside to look at the clouds. Are the clouds moving? What shapes do you see? What makes the clouds move? (Wind: moving air)

• Then, we will go inside, and students will use blue construction paper and white tempera paint mixed with water and dish soap to paint a cloud. (The dish soap gives the paint a cloudy texture.) Students will paint the cloud in the shape of an object that they identified while outside. Then, students will write, “Sometimes it looked like a _______. But it wasn’t a _______.” Depending on students’ writing ability, the teacher may need to assist with writing the sentences. Once finished, we will compile the paintings into a class book.