Kindergarten Fall — Print Concepts, Letter Formation, and Oral Language for Writing
Lesson 14 25 min eng.gK.f.lesson_14.tier2_vocab_curious_brave

Tier-2 vocabulary: CURIOUS and BRAVE through 'The Day You Begin'

Skills targeted
Objectives
  • Students can define CURIOUS and BRAVE in their own words.
  • Students can use both words in a sentence about themselves.
Vocabulary
curious (wanting to know more)brave (doing the hard thing)

Lesson plan

Warm-up

3 min

Sentence frame: 'I am curious about ___.' Each child shares one thing.

Teacher moves
  • Model with your own curiosity
  • Press past 'a Pokemon' to deeper curiosities
Media
M-K-F-VOC-14-B Photograph
Composite photo: top half — book cover of 'The Day You Begin' by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrations by Rafael López. Bott

Composite photo: top half — book cover of 'The Day You Begin' by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrations by Rafael López. Bottom half — open spread to the page where Angelina shares her story, with a sticky note labeled 'BRAVE' pointing at her speech bubble.

Direct instruction

7 min

Two big words today: CURIOUS and BRAVE. Curious means wanting to know more — asking questions, looking inside the box. Brave means doing the hard thing even when you're nervous. They're both about being a writer. Writers are curious — they ask: 'why?' Writers are brave — they share their stories even when they're scared.

Key examples
  • Brave isn't fearless. Brave is feeling nervous AND doing it anyway.
    model Stop on the page where she does. Discuss what made it hard. Discuss why it was brave.
    prompt Read-aloud 'The Day You Begin' — the main character is brave when she shares her story.
  • This is what writers do.
    model 'I am curious about how stars are made, and I am brave when I share my drawing.'
    prompt Use both words: 'I am curious about ___, and I am brave when I ___.'
Checks for understanding
  • What does curious mean?
  • Tell me one brave thing you've done.
  • Can you be brave AND scared? (Yes — that's exactly what brave is.)
Media
M-K-F-VOC-14-A Illustration
Two-panel anchor card. Left panel: 'CURIOUS = wanting to know more' with an illustration of a child peeking inside a wra

Two-panel anchor card. Left panel: 'CURIOUS = wanting to know more' with an illustration of a child peeking inside a wrapped box, wide-eyed. Right panel: 'BRAVE = doing the hard thing' with illustration of a child raising hand in class while looking a little nervous. Both panels use diverse representation.

Guided practice

10 min
Tasks
  • Mirror-talk in pairs: look in a small mirror, complete 'I am brave when ___.'
    scaffold Mirror prompt; partner listens.
  • Draw one thing you're curious about. Label it with C (for curious).
    scaffold Pre-printed C-label sticker available.
  • Share with whole group: complete 'I am curious about ___.'
    scaffold Volunteers; affirm each share.

Formative assessment

2 min
Exit ticket
  • Dictate one sentence with the word CURIOUS or BRAVE to an adult.
scoring Sentence uses the word correctly = mastery; word present but mis-applied = practicing; word absent = reteach next day.

Closure

Moves
  • All-class chant: 'Curious — wanting to know. Brave — doing the hard thing.'

Homework

5 min
Tasks
  • Ask a family member: 'When have you been brave?' Tell us their answer tomorrow.

Exercises in this lesson

eng.gK.f.ex_26
Tell about a time you were BRAVE in a complete sentence.
 oral sentence · diff 3
eng.gK.f.ex_27
Draw something you're CURIOUS about. Label it with a C.
 draw · diff 2

Differentiation

Scaffolds
  • Picture cards for each word
  • Shared dictation with paraprofessional
  • Reduce to one word at a time
Extensions
  • Write a 2-sentence story using both words
  • Find another CURIOUS or BRAVE moment in a class read-aloud
  • Connect to a real-world example: a curious scientist, a brave firefighter
English Learners
  • Translation provided; explore whether the home language has separate words for 'brave' and 'fearless'
  • Bilingual sentence frames
  • Pair with strong-English peer for the mirror activity
Ieps 504s
  • Allow drawing-only response
  • Provide pre-decided 'brave moment' to dictate
  • Reduce frame to single blank

Teacher notes

Use a culturally responsive mentor text deliberately — Jacqueline Woodson's book is about a child of color navigating school, and the 'brave' moment is sharing her own family story. This lesson is also an opportunity for the teacher to model brave by sharing her own story; if you do, keep it brief and child-appropriate.