Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed Activities & Lesson Plan Ideas
- By Deedee Wills
- Updated on December 12
- No Comments
Table of Contents
Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed Lesson Plans and Ideas
Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson is such a wonderful book for talking about paying it forward and how one small act of kindness can spark another… and another… and another. We love including this children’s book in our December lesson plans because spreading cheer is what the holiday season is all about! Right? It’s the perfect story to help students see how their ordinary choices can create extraordinary kindness and good deeds.
The premise of the book is just so sweet. Mary discovers a patch of blueberries, picks them, and then anonymously gifts them to her neighbor, Mrs. Bishop. And that one tiny act of kindness? It starts a beautiful chain reaction that ripples through the whole community. It’s such a powerful (and kid-friendly!) way to show how ordinary girl moments can spark extraordinary goodness.
This kindness chain reaction reaches so many! One small good deed turns into another, and before you know it, the whole community is buzzing with kindness. It’s such a heartwarming reminder that even the tiniest actions can make a BIG difference.
Listen to the author read the book, she is absolutely precious, by the way! Hearing the story in her own voice adds an extra layer of warmth and meaning that your students will love!
I love her second book as well!
Ordinary Marys Extraordinary Deed Lesson Plans: Comprehension
When we launch this great book for reading comprehension, we start by asking younger students to make a prediction. We read to a natural pause in the story, then stop and let the kids think. We ask them to consider what they’ve learned so far and predict what might happen next. Their ideas are always so thoughtful and often adorable as they try to imagine how Mary’s simple act of kindness will ripple forward!
You can pair this lesson with a great activity page to help students record their thinking, which makes it extra meaningful. And of course, projecting the text or prompts on your interactive whiteboards is such a teacher win… it just makes teaching life a whole lot easier!
With each lesson plan, you’ll want to center your instruction on student talk. Meaning… let the students do the thinking work. Their ideas, their vocabulary words, their conversations that’s where the magic happens.
Partner discussion is essential. Let me repeat… essential. It’s so tempting to call on a few eager students and then move on (trust me, I get it… time is precious!). But giving every child a chance to talk is what truly builds oral language. And partner work is the perfect opportunity for that low-pressure, high-engagement, and incredibly effective.
After students have shared their predictions with a partner, you can invite them to record their critical thinking. In kindergarten, this usually means drawing students reader’s response, and those little illustrations are often such treasures. It’s amazing what they can communicate with a pencil and crayons!
Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed Recalling with Text Details
Ordinary Mary is a bit of a tricky text for a traditional retelling. Even though each act of kindness leads to another, asking students to put all of those moments in sequential order can feel overwhelming even for our strongest retellers!
So instead, we shift the task. Students sort events that actually appear in the story versus events that do not occur in the book. This simple adjustment keeps the focus on comprehension while giving students a clear, manageable way to show what they remember. And they love the sorting challenge!
After students have discussed the text events with their partners, they’ll add a version of the read-aloud writing activity to their notebooks. This gives them a chance to show their understanding in a concrete way, and they love having something they can look back on later! It also reinforces why this book is such a great read aloud choice for meaningful conversations and thoughtful responses. Here are two different notebook options you can use, depending on what works best for your class.
Ordinary Mary Inferring and Making Connections
As the week continues, primary students dive deeper into the sweet story by working on making connections and inferring. This is where their thinking really starts to bloom… they LOVE trying to figure out why characters do what they do!
This is the lesson for inferring:
Reread page 4:
“What? Left berries in a big brown bowl on Mrs. Bishop’s porch? That sneaky kid! She did!”
Teacher:
Why do you suppose the author called Mary sneaky?
Why do you think Mary didn’t leave a note or tell Mrs. Bishop the berries were from her?
Do you think the story would have been different if Mrs. Bishop knew who gave her the berries?
Explain your thinking.
The conversations that follow are always so thoughtful and sweet. Kids have such big hearts, and their insights about kindness will absolutely melt you!
Here are a few of the connection responses… and oh my goodness, they are always the sweetest! Students make such thoughtful links between the story and their own experiences. Their little hearts just shine through in their writing and drawings.
Ordinary Mary Lesson Plan Extention Activities
Each week, we include a text-related sentence study, and whenever we can, we tuck that right into a craft. Because… crafts are life! They make the learning feel extra special, and the kids are always so proud to show off their work. It’s the perfect blend of literacy and creativity! Plus, adding crafts to our comprehension activities helps reinforce meaning in such a playful way. It’s one of my favorite literature based activities because it brings the story to life right in their little hands!
We also have a few kindness cards that can be used to spark ideas! These little prompts are perfect for helping students brainstorm small ways they can spread joy both in and out of the classroom. It’s amazing how one tiny card can inspire such BIG acts of kindness help students truly understand the power of a single act of kindness!
Demonstrate a Chain Reaction
Another fun activity is to demonstrate a chain reaction. Kids love seeing this in action! You can show how one good deed can grow exponentially just like in the story. It’s such a simple, visual way to help older students understand how random acts of kindness spread… and honestly, it always leaves them a little wide-eyed and inspired. And if you have students who need a little extra support, this hands-on demonstration is a perfect scaffold, it makes the concept click instantly!
You can find these lesson plans by clicking:
LESSON PLANS
You can download these set of lesson plans as a kindergarten PDF or grab the editable template. Just click the link below.
Want to see other weekly lesson plans like this?
To see additional Lesson Plan Posts like this, click
Do you need help in editing these visual go lesson plans? Click: Tech Support for Teachers
WANT TO SEE OTHER LESSON PLANS LIKE THIS?
To see additional Lesson Plan Posts like this, click HERE. You’ll find even more resources, free download options, and the occasional detailed lesson guide to make planning a whole lot easier!
Deedee Wills
Pin for Later
Recommended Posts
