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Cobblestone & Cricket

Teacher's Guide for CLICK ®

October 2005

Teacher's Guide prepared by: Mary E. Shea. Dr. Shea teaches graduate literacy courses and directs the Graduate Literacy Program at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.


The following teacher's guide is designed to support students as they listen, read and compose written responses to selections in the October 2005 issue of CLICK ® magazine. Narrative selections are referred to as stories, but expository pieces should be referred to as informational articles. Children's understanding of text structures becomes confused when distinctions are not clear from the beginning.

Lessons are designed with multiple formats for instruction and learning. These include whole class, small group, partners, individual, and center work.

The readings are used as a starting point for a mini unit on the sense of smell, specifically looking at how this sense serves both people and animals in a number of ways. Children also discover how animal and human noses work.

Articles are used as content for read-alouds, shared reading, supported guided reading, modeled writing, interactive writing, or independent writing, depending on children's developmental literacy level (Tompkins & Collom, 2004). Suggested activities integrate science content with Language Arts instruction.

Throughout the guide, skills in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary (word meaning), word recognition, listening, beginning reading, comprehension, and writing will be refined as children build conceptual understandings related to the topic. Activities will offer differentiated levels of responding to accommodate children's diverse needs, interests, and competencies. The readings may not follow the order of presentation in the issue; issue selections are sequenced in a way that matches the flow of the concept presentation.

Bear, D., M. Invernizzi, S. Templeton, and F. Johnston. 2000. Words Their Way. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill, Prentice Hall.

Miller, W. 2000. Strategies for Developing Emergent Literacy. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Tompkins, G. 2003. Literacy for the 21st Century (3rd ed). Upper saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Tompkins, G. and S. Collom. 2004. Sharing the Pen. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, Merrill Prentice Hall.

The Overall Plan

Title: Great Noses

Time: approximately 30-40 minutes each session. Independent Practice is completed later in the day.

Objective: Following instruction and teacher modeling, students will demonstrate through oral responses, artistic productions, and/or written work that they've:

  1. recognized and segmented sounded parts of words in a variety of ways - by letter, blends, onsets, and/or rimes.
  2. analyzed similarities and differences in words.
  3. increased their speaking, sight, reading, and writing vocabulary.
  4. successfully organized words into logical categories in an open sort.
  5. grown in listening skills.
  6. grown in comprehension as reflected during discussions that follow supported guided reading, shared reading, and/or listening. Students can express their ideas with confidence.
  7. begun to clearly and completely retell what was read, adding interpretations and details.
  8. contributed appropriate statements for the note taking scribed by the teacher on charts.
  9. created illustrations with accurate details based on the reading.

Bloom's Taxonomy: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, and Synthesis

Materials:

  • copies of the October issue of CLICK ®
  • chart paper
  • word cards
  • copies of the letterbox grid or sentence cards
  • blank sentence strips
  • drawing paper and crayons
  • 5 X 8 index cards

Session 1

Motivation:

  1. Ask students if they have a dog or whether they know a dog owned by a neighbor or relative. Ask children if that dog has every sniffed them. Have them describe the experience. This leads children to understanding that readers make different kinds of connections with texts. Such connections include text-to-text, text-to-self, and/or text-to-world (Thompkins, 2003). Identify the kinds of connections they're describing.Share your own experiences with sniffing dogs. I might say something like this.
    My dog LOVES to sniff. We walk around the same block every day. Sometimes it takes a long time to do that because he stops to sniff the ground so many times. I think he knows that it smells different from yesterday in that spot because a person or, maybe, another animal was there. He loves to smell leaves piled in the road in the fall. He also loves to bury his head in the snow, sniffing all the way down to find the ground. When he's in the house and smells food cooking in the kitchen, he's right there waiting for a taste! Whenever anyone comes to visit, he has to sniff them until he's satisfied that they're friends.
  2. Do a think-pair-share. Ask children to think of ways dogs seem to use their sense of smell. Next, students pair up to talk about their ideas. Have some students share their thinking. Chart these responses.
  3. Tell the students that in the cartoon story, "Click and the Kids" by Betsy Page Brown, Liz and Martin have a little beagle, named Roxy, use her sense of smell to help them find Click.

Teacher Input:

  1. Assign each students a partner. Read the title of this issue. Discuss the picture on the cover, identifying the animal. Go briefly through the issue, looking at pictures, reading captions, and making predictions for content and connections with prior knowledge.
  2. Tell students that they'll be word wizard detectives as we take a picture walk (skim through) through the issue. Give each dyad a few post-its to flag or record words they think we should investigate. These are new and/or interesting words they want to know more about. When the picture walk is completed, partners share their words. The teacher records these words and briefly explains each one. Add additional key terms that may not have been identified. Tell students that we'll learn more about these words as we come to the article where they were found.
  3. Give each dyad a copy of CLICK. Have students open up to page 2. Identify the characters in the pictures under the title.
  4. Have students look at the picture on page 2 and read the word balloons. Explain the meaning of the informal word "ya" and the meaning of pooch. Write the word in letterboxes (introduced in September) and discuss the sounded parts - /p/ /oo/ /ch/. This facilitates children's word identification and word writing Write pooch on a word card, highlighting the sounded parts with different colors /p/ /oo/ /ch/. 5.) Have students identify the setting for the story. Ask children to predict what the problem might be. Clue: Click is leaving the picnic basket and saying he's going off for a jog in the park. A logical prediction might be something like - Liz and Martin won't know where Click is.

Guided Practice:

  1. Have students read this story with their partner (buddy reading). They can take turns reading aloud and talking about the story and illustrations. The teacher circulates to assist as needed. When partners have finished reading, discuss the events. Talk about the ending. Ask students, "Did Roxy lead Liz and Martin to Click? Did Roxy take Martin and Liz on a wild goose chase? What does wild goose chase mean? How do you know?
  2. If students are not ready to read with a partner, the teacher reads the story aloud as partners follow along. Partners take turns tracking the print by running a finger under the words the teacher is reading. The teacher tries to read slightly slower, helping children accurately track the print. But, keep the reading fluent with appropriate flow. It's tricky, but possible. Modeling fluent, smooth reading is essential. Discuss the story events as pages are read. Use the questions above to talk about the ending.
  3. Review what happened in the beginning, middle and end of the story.

Independent Practice:

  1. Later in the day, children illustrate an event in the story. They can illustrate an event from the beginning, middle or end of the story. Children should write a caption (or more) that describes their picture.
  2. When everyone's picture is ready, have students get into a circle to share. Have children whose illustration is from the beginning stand in one area, those with a picture from the end in another area, and those with an illustration from the end in another area. Help the children in each area arrange themselves in order of story events. There may be replications of events.
  3. When the areas are in order, have children come up one at a time to turn in their picture. Later, the teacher will post these outside the room in story order. The teacher (or a student) will print out the story title and author to identify the posted illustrations.

Session 2

Motivation:

  1. Have children open to the article, "An Elephant's Incredible Nose" by Buffy Silverman on page 12. Tell students that this is an informational article. Ask someone to explain how an informational article is different from a story. Guide a picture walk through the article (pages 12-16) and direct children's attention to the illustrations and captions.
  2. Have students explain what the illustrations tell us about elephants. Discuss their responses and record their "facts" on chart paper. Ask them to tell what they wonder or want to find out about elephants in this article. Record their wonderings on the chart.
  3. Tell them we'll read to find out which wonderings are answered for us in this article. They'll be able to search for information not given here in other sources.

Teacher Input:

  1. Teach each word that needs an introduction before reading. The choice of words for pre-teaching will differ based on children's level of reading. Some new words may be ones children have heard, but not yet met in print. If they are able to read most of the text, allow them to use the rich context to decode words in their listening vocabulary on their own. This allows authentic practice in using context clues.
  2. Introduce new vocabulary in the manner previously described (with letterboxes and word cards). Again, words you expect will be caught (grasped or understood) by students as they follow along (or read) are not pre-taught. However, understanding of untaught words is checked in follow-up discussion; they are taught after the first reading whenever it seems necessary. Sometimes, words we expect children to decode are unfamiliar or difficult.
  3. These words might need to be taught - trunk, breathe, muscles, rumble, trumpet, screech, warning, nudges, stumble, pluck, and squirt. Write each word in letterboxes (introduced in September) and discuss the sounded parts. This facilitates children's word identification and word writing. Write words on word cards, highlighting sounded parts by writing them with different colors. Review the word predator that was introduced with the September issue. Take it from the word wall and ask children to explain what a predator is. Immerse and marinate them in this word construction information in meaningful contexts.
  4. Introduce any other unknown words using the same procedure. Check the list of words identified by children during the picture walk to be sure words associated with this article are discussed thoroughly at this point. Have students identify the words that label actions. Ask children to demonstrate these particular actions.
  5. Tell children that they are to listen and follow along while you read the article. With older children, the reading may be done as supported guided reading. This means that students have had an opportunity to preview and practice what they will read. They can read solo or in a duet (two children reading in unison) as their classmates follow along. Stop at appropriate places to discuss the content and carefully monitor children's comprehension.

Guided Practice:

  1. Read pages 12 and 13, stopping at the end of each for discussion. Have the following web prepared on a piece of chart paper and begin to fill it in as children discuss the content after reading.
  2. Read aloud or follow the supported guided reading procedure with pages 14 and 15. Fill in the appropriate section of the web as children recall and retell the information found on these pages.

    Lifting, Picking-up, Reaching, Greeting

    _____________________

    _____________________

    "An Elephant's Incredible Nose"

    by Buffy Silverman

    Communicating

    _____________________

    _____________________
    Taking Care of Babies

    _____________________

    _____________________
    Baby Elephants Use Their Trunks

    _____________________

    _____________________
    Trunks As Water Hoses

    _____________________

    _____________________

  3. Continue this procedure with the remaining pages in the article.

Independent practice:

  1. Later in the day partners will reread the charts.
  2. Children will draw pictures to go with each area of the web. The teacher assigns children to illustrate particular facts. Be sure all facts are illustrated. Children dictate and the teacher scribes a label or caption for the picture. Older children can do the writing independently.
  3. As noted previously, children's responses are assessed for intended message and developmental level of word construction. Keep in mind that children need to build conceptual understanding of the function of written language before forms have a purpose. Knowledge of correct forms grows smoothly when preceded by an understanding of function.
  4. Children's illustrations are attached to the charts.

Sessions 3

Motivation:

  1. Say to students, "We've talked about how dogs and elephants use their noses. Can you think of any other animals that use their nose in interesting ways? Discuss responses.
  2. Tell students that today we'll read another informational article about more hard working animal noses.

Guided Practice:

  1. Have students turn to the article "Who Needs a Nose?" by Melissa Stewart on page 23. Discuss the illustrations. Invite comments and reactions. Continue examining and discussing the illustrations on pages 24-27.
  2. Introduce new vocabulary. Suggested new words that need to be taught are: anteater, termites, snout, insects, kiwi, shuffle, nostrils, creatures, mole, tentacles, burrow, stubby, scent, petrel, high-pitched, gavials, detectors, antennae, flick, forked, proboscis monkey, and droopy. Introduce any other words that you feel are unknown to children using the same procedure.
  3. Follow procedures for reading-aloud or supportive guided reading that were previously described. Read about one animal at a time and discuss how that animal uses its nose or nostrils.
  4. Have a 5 X8 index card prepared for each animal described in the article. On the lined side of the card, write the name of the animal clearly with a marker. Use a bright color. Have a card for anteater, kiwi, star-nosed mole, pig, great white shark, moose, giant petrel, bat, gavials, butterfly, snake, and proboscis monkey. As children share what they've learned, record the interesting facts about each animal on its card.

Independent Practice:

Children can work with a partner to read over the cards. Assign partners a card to illustrate. They'll add an illustration to the unlined side of another card. If the class is larger that 24 students, you could prepare a card for dog and elephant and/or assign more than one dyad to an animal. Animal information cards and illustrations can be used to create a Match the Nosy Animals game. Children match the animal card to the appropriate illustration. This game can be done at a Learning Center. The game stimulates a lot of rereading. Rereading builds sight vocabulary and fluency. It also increases comprehension and confidence. The game could be taken home on a rotating basis and played with family members.

Session 4

Motivation:

  1. Ask students if they've ever had the sniffles and other cold symptoms. Have children describe symptoms they had, how they felt, and what they did to get better.
  2. Tell students that today's story, "Sleepy, Sneezy, and Grumpy" by Charnan Simon is about a boy named Jamil who feels like they once did.

Teacher Input:

  1. Review "What Good Listeners Do". Have these behaviors on a chart posted in the room.

    Good listeners
    Pay attention to the speaker.
    Look at the speaker.
    Think about what the speaker is saying.
    Are ready to ask the speaker questions about what they heard.
    Are ready to talk about what they heard.
  2. Explain that they will be listeners as you read the story aloud. They're to listen for information. This is purposeful listening. They are to evaluate the story and form opinions about the accuracy of information based on their experiences. This is critical listening (Miller, 2000).
  3. New words suggested for direct teaching before the reading include scowled, comforter, snug, stuffy, mucus, hesitated, irritating, soggy, accusingly, sympathetically, sensors, and buckeroo. Follow procedures previously described for working with these words.

Guided Practice:

  1. Have chart paper ready with the following subtitles. Read the story aloud, stopping at the end of each page to discuss the content. Draw children's attention to the subtitles and ask them to dictate statements that could be added to the chart. The teacher scribes these or you can share the pen if writers are able to add sentences or parts of sentences. When the chart is completed, read it over together. Point out how well they listened for the purpose that was given.

    "Sleepy, Sneezy, and Grumpy" by Charnan Simon

    Jamil's Symptoms

    What's Causing Jamil's Symptoms

    What's Jamil Doing to Get Better


  2. Tell students that you want them to think about the story and their own experiences (text-to-self experience) and decide if Jamil's cold remedies were good ones (critical listening). Ask students to think about what Jamil did to get better and how his parents and friend helped him. Have students talk with a partner about what they did to get better when they had a cold and how people helped them. Have them decide whether Jamil's remedies were good ones, if their remedies were better, or if both were equally good. Partners are invited to share ideas.

Independent Practice:

Later in the day partners can reread statements on the chart. They can also write in their journal using the following starter.

When I'm sick people help me feel better by . . .

Children draw scenes that depict the information in their message. Younger children could "write" (at their developmental level of message construction) a sentence or the teacher could scribe children's dictated labels or captions.

Session 5

There are numerous verbs included in the new words taught with this issue. Review these. Have children sort verb word cards in an open sort. In an open sort, they decide the categories (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, & Johnston, 2000). These can be by sound characteristics, letter pattern similarities, or meaning categories. Groups record their categories on chart paper and share them with the class. Open sorts spark a lot of discussion about words.

Informational Big Book:

Bind the large charts into a Big Book. This can be left in the classroom library for independent reading time. Children can also take turns bringing it home to share with parents. If you can, it's a good idea to laminate the pages before binding them. It makes the book more durable.

Another Narrative Selection in the Issue

"Yo Wants to Know" by Lea and Alan Daniel

Use the narrative for a read-aloud lesson to emphasize the pleasure of reading and build listening comprehension. Children can partner up with copies of the issue and follow along as the teacher reads. Invite children to choral read (read in unison) with you if they can and/or want to try. It may turn out to be echo reading - children are reading a nanosecond behind you. Allow children's comments, responses, and reactions to guide after-reading discussions. The teacher also interjects or shares ideas, but doesn't attempt to control the direction or flow of the discussion.

Overall Assessment:

  1. The teacher will record observational notes on children's oral responses and their ability to work together with a partner or in groups.
  2. Oral responses in discussions and students' retellings are assessed for listening and comprehension competency.
  3. Children's ability to clearly express their ideas will be assessed.
  4. Work samples are analyzed for message quality. The developmental level of word construction is assessed when children write their own labels or captions.
  5. Children's essay (for session 4) will be evaluated for message quality and the developmental level of technical skills (grammar, punctuation, and spelling).
  6. Children's illustrations will be evaluated for the number and accuracy of details represented.
  7. The teacher will monitor children's growing ability to analyze and sort words in different ways.
  8. Children's transfer of new words to their speaking vocabulary will be monitored. When children engage in supported guided reading, their fluency with word recognition will be noted.
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