Lesson Plan (Grades K–2): Story Sensory Trail

Lesson Title: Story Sensory Trail

Grade Level: Grades K–2

Subject Area: English Language Arts (Listening Comprehension, Phonics, & Illustration)

Overview In this highly engaging, multisensory lesson, young learners embark on a “Story Sensory Trail” through the classroom hallways. As the teacher reads aloud a carefully selected picture book, students pause at themed tactile stations—such as a sandpaper “desert,” cotton‐ball “cloud,” and bubble‐wrap “pond”—to experience textures that correspond to story settings. At each station, learners discuss how the texture relates to the narrative, then return to their personal Trail Journals to illustrate and label that part of the story.

This immersive approach blends oral language development, phonemic awareness, vocabulary acquisition, fine motor drawing, and cooperative learning. By connecting concrete sensory experiences with literary elements, students strengthen comprehension, reinforce descriptive language, and deepen their emotional engagement with text.

Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives

• LO1: Comprehension & Retelling Students will retell key story events and settings after experiencing corresponding sensory stations, using age‐appropriate sequencing words (first, next, then, last).
• LO2: Vocabulary & Sensory Language Students will identify and use descriptive adjectives (e.g., rough, smooth, prickly, squishy) that match the tactile experience and narrative context.
• LO3: Illustration & Labeling Students will illustrate a scene from the story in their Trail Journal, incorporating at least one descriptive label or simple sentence that names the setting or character.
• LO4: Oral Language & Collaboration Students will participate in turn‐and‐talk discussions at each station, using complete sentences to describe textures and relate them to story elements.
• LO5: Phonemic Awareness Students will segment and blend initial phonemes of vocabulary words encountered at the stations (e.g., /d/ in desert, /c/ in cloud).

Standards Alignment

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2 / RL.1.2: Retell familiar stories, including key details and sequence of events.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3 / RL.1.3: Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.2.A / RF.1.2.A: Recognize and produce rhyming words and initial phonemes in spoken single-syllable words.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.1 / SL.1.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten/first-grade topics and texts with peers and adults.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.5 / SL.1.5: Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

By weaving these standards into a sensory‐rich narrative adventure, students build foundational literacy skills while engaging multiple modalities.