Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box lesson plan
Authors: Bestwick Margaret Angel 
Published: July 2017

Purpose

Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box (McPhail, 2015) is a tranquil biography primarily focusing on the childhood of Beatrix Potter. This lesson plan, based in the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) C3 Framework, allows second-grade learners to explore the life of Beatrix Potter through this biography and to make connections to his or her own life. Learners move through four stages of inquiry in the C3 Framework. They examine the dust jacket and dual-image book cover for clues about the life of Beatrix Potter. Next, they engage in a read-aloud of the biography during which learners construct knowledge about the life of Beatrix Potter. Learners then create puppets and role play the life of Ms Potter. The lesson concludes with learners making comparisons between their own and Ms Potter’s life. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a lesson plan that is intended for second grade students. The duration of the lesson is approximately 90 minutes in length. The lesson utilizes the Whole Book Approach (WBA). The WBA is “an intentional, inquiry-based approach to reading aloud that puts art and design [and children’s responses to them] at the center of the storytime experience” (Lambert et al., 2015, p. 81). During the lesson, the teacher utilizes the WBA through asking open-ended questions as she/he reads aloud. The students and the teacher co-construct meaning through a dialogue about the text and images within the text. The lesson also includes the Role-Playing Characters to Understand Them Better (adapted) approach. This fiction reading strategy is adapted for informational text, a biography, for this lesson. Rather than role-playing a character, students role-play real people: Beatrix Potter & her family, and themselves. Serravallo (2015) writes about this strategy, “Sometimes the best way to get to know our characters is to stand in their shoes-to do what they do, say what they say, and act how they act. With a partner[…] Using puppets or props, act out the scene. Try to talk in the voice of the character, and move the puppet just like the character would. When you finish creating the scene, stop and talk about what you think about the characters” (p. 172). Students will create paper puppets and role-play events from Beatrix Potter’s life as depicted in the biography. Students use a puppet of themselves to talk with Beatrix about how the student's life is similar to and different from Beatrix’s life. McPhail, D. (2015), Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box, New York, Henry Holt and Co.; National Council for the Social Studies Notable Trade Book for Young People (2016); JLG Category – Genre: Nonfiction, Lexile Level: AD790L, Elementary Grades K-2, ISBN: 9780805091700 (Junior Library Guild, 2016); the duration of the lesson is approximately 90 minutes: second grade.

Findings

Little Beatrix Potter loved art. At an early age, she received her mother’s paint box. Beatrix Potter spent hours painting things she loved, like the animals she kept as pets. Her family traveled from their home in London to spend Summers in the country. She loved it there. She spent her time painting her surroundings. When she was older she learned of a young boy who was ill, and confined to bed. So, she wrote him a story and drew illustrations for the story. This story was later published as her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Beatrix Potter went on to publish many other animal tales that became popular across the world and beloved for generations.

Originality/value

This lesson plan is aligned with the NCSS theme number 10, individual development and identity.