Croy, Ireland, Lenz
ECI 537
1
The Mighty Miss Malone Lesson Plan
*This third grade lesson plan could be given after the students had finished The Mighty Miss
Malone, or after a teacher selected section of the book*
Literacy Objective: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their
traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of
events.
Social Studies Objective: 3.H.2.2: Explain how multiple perspectives are portrayed through
historical narratives.
Whole Group: Share today’s objective with the students and begin by analyzing the front cover
of The Mighty Miss Malone. If students have completed the book, ask them to use what they
know about Deza to match descriptive words to her physical appearance. If students have only
completed a portion of the book, use Deza’s image to make predictions about her character
and/or circumstances. The following questions can be used to promote student thinking:
● What do you notice on the cover of the book?
● What are the most important features on the cover?
● Think about the title of the book. What does this title mean to you?
● Has the book won any awards? Are they displayed on the cover?
● What colors dominate the cover design?
● What historical clues are provided for you on the cover?
● Are any characters represented on the cover?
● Is the character looking at you? How does this affect you?
● If the character is looking at you, what might he/she be demanding from
you?
● Is this the character a historical figure or fictional? How do you know? (Youngs &
Serafini, 2011)
After discussing Deza using the cover illustration, move to the text. Demonstrate how a
character’s actions can give you insight as to their traits, feelings, and motivations. Give the
students one or two examples, then ask the class to find similar examples of their own. If the
class has completed the book, they can gather evidence from throughout the story, or the teacher
can limit them to a chapter or particular section.
Possible examples:
The text says...
What this tells us about Deza...
pg. 133 “As I creeped back to my bed the
second brain finally decided to start. “Oh,
God, kiddo, don’t let him come say goodbye,
just let him leave. If he comes in here I’ll hurt
him bad!”
Deza is struggling to process her feelings
about her father leaving to find work
elsewhere. She is angry with her father for
leaving them and therefore has the thought to
“hurt him bad” although she’s probably more
Croy, Ireland, Lenz
ECI 537
2
sad than anything else.
pg. 242 “I read it again. And again. The fourth Deza reads the letter over and over because
time through I had to stop, tears were
she is in disbelief that she has finally received
clouding my eyes so much I couldn’t see.”
a piece of mail. Her tears are tears of joy at
the relief that her family is ok.
Small Group: Explain to the class that they will analyze either music or photography from the
time period of The Mighty Miss Malone. If students have not previously had any exposure to The
Great Depression, consider a short, informational video or read-aloud detailing this time period.
Brainpop has a brief video (BrainPop) however you must have a login and password to access
this site.
● Music: Using Songs with The Mighty Miss Malone. Students will be broken into small
groups and given one of the following characters: Deza, Jimmie, Mr. Malone, Mrs.
Malone. The students will then use the following songs from the great depression and
prepare a presentation for the class. You must use at least three songs. Tell how the
songs describe your character and his/her personality traits. Provide a music rendition of
one of the songs, either your group can sing it or you can find it on the internet and play
that for the class. Then find one recent song and tell how it relates to your character.
○ “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”
○ “We Sure Got Hard Times Now”
○ “Happy Days are Here Again”
○ “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live”
○ “Life is Just a Bowl Of Cherries”
● Photography: Divide students interested in analyzing photography into small groups of
3-5. Explain that they will use technology to review the photographs and questions found
on this link: Photographs Urge students to carefully review the information given about
the photograph (date, photographer, location, etc.) as well as the guiding questions
located below the photograph. Remind students of todays objective: to describe
characters. Ask students to review several of the photographs, but to choose one or two to
present to the class and explain their thinking. After giving these instructions, if it seems
students would benefit from an example, click on the link and model thinking through a
photograph and attaching feeling to the subject.
*Before moving on to the individual component of the lesson, groups of students from the small
group activities will briefly share their findings.
Individual Component - After the students have completed the small group components of the
lesson plan, they will complete a creative writing activity independently. The students will be
Croy, Ireland, Lenz
ECI 537
3
given the option of selecting either a music selection or photograph that was presented and
connect that piece of art to one of the characters in The Mighty Miss Malone. They will need to
include details, using the text as evidence, as to why the music or art adequately represents the
character they selected. In their writing, they need to also include examples of how these
feelings may have contributed to their actions.
Assessment
Exceeds Expectations
Meets Expectations
Needs Improvement
Presentation provides more
than 3 supports for the
group’s chosen personality
traits
Presentation provides 2-3
supports for the group’s
chosen personality traits
Presentation provides 1 or
less supports for the group’s
chosen personality trait.
Writing has more than 3
details as to why the music or
art represents the character
they chose
Writing has 2-3 details as to
why the music or art
represents the character they
chose
Writing has 1 or less details
as to why the music or art
represents the character they
chose
Writing provides more than 2
examples of how the
character’s feeling
contributed to their actions
Writing provides 2 examples
of how the character’s
feelings contributed to their
actions
Writing provides 1 or less
examples of how the
character’s feelings
contributed to their actions.
References
Curtis, C. P. (2013). The Mighty Miss Malone. New York, NY: Yearling.
Youngs, S. & Serafini, F. (2011). Comprehension strategies for reading historical fiction
picturebooks. The Reading Teacher (65) 2, 115 - 124. DOI:10.1002/TRTR.01014.