LEVEL B

Reading Student-Friendly Lesson Plan Ideas/Resources

Strategy/Behaviors Translation Resources
to teach
• SWBAT notice Good readers look at • Have students preview the book by
and interprets pictures in a book and flipping through the pages
detail in pictures make predictions • Have students express opinions about
about what the book the pictures and describe what’s in
will be about them
• Encourage students to use the
pictures to make predictions about
what the story will be about
• SWBAT locate “Good readers look at • Have students read a book and
high-frequency a book and know highlight the words they recognize
words (aka sight which words they can “right away”
words) in a text read right away” • Give students copies of familiar
poems with sight words highlighted;
use nursery rhymes; make flashcards
on a book ring
• SWBAT figure “To figure out tricky
out words by words, good readers
saying the sound look at the beginning
of the beginning sound of the word,
letters, rereading reread the sentence
from the and ask “what word
beginning of the would make sense
sentence and here?”
thinking about
what word would
make sense

• SWBAT “Good readers remind • Show children that when readers get
remember what themselves what the stuck on a tricky part, they stop and
the story is about book is about as they ask: “what is this book about?”
during reading read.” Show students why stopping and asking
this question at tricky parts will help them
figure out the tricky part
Word Work (after • Recognize a few easy high-frequency words quickly (e.g., the,
guided reading) and, my, like, see, is, can, in, it)
Each requires • Recognize and make a few CVC words (e.g., hit, cut, man,
only 1-3 minute dog, pet)
demonstrations • Write a few CVC words (e.g., run, cat, pet)
• Write a few easy high frequency words (e.g., can, like, the,
me, we, is)
• Match or sort pictures by initial sounds (bear, bike, bone)
 • Match or sort pictures by ending sounds (horse, glass, dress)
• Match or sort pictures with rhyming sounds (pen, ten, hen)
• Recognize letters by name and locate them quickly in words

LEVEL C
Reading Student-Friendly Lesson Plan Ideas Resources
Strategy/Behaviors Translation
to teach
• SWBAT locate “Good readers look at • Have students read a book and
high-frequency a book and know highlight the words they recognize
words (aka sight which words they can “right away”
words) in a text read right away” • Another way to frame it: “Before you
read this page, run your eyes over the
words and see if any of them are your
sight words. Point to those and read
them first.”
• Give students copies of familiar
poems with sight words highlighted;
use nursery rhymes; make flashcards
on a book ring
• SWBAT • Good readers stop *Place post-it notes at key points of the
remember what at different parts of book and then ask students to tell them
the story is about the book and ask: what just happened. Write out their ideas
during reading “what just on chart paper.
happened”? *Afterward, have students write (in 1
sentence) or draw out what they think
just happened in the story on post it
notes that you’ve placed throughout their
own copies of the book
• SWBAT use • “When good Sample Think Aloud/Modeling from an
picture details to readers get stuck Expert Teacher’s Elementary Classroom
figure out the on a hard word,
meaning of new they look at the
words picture to help
them figure it out.”
• SWBAT use • “Good readers • Have students preview the book by
pictures to make check to see if flipping through the pages and looking
predictions and their predictions at the pictures
then use text to are right by • Encourage students to use the
check those thinking about pictures to make predictions about
predictions. what they have just what the story will be about
read.” • While reading, have students use text
from the story to check the accuracy
of their predictions
 Words students can use…
• “I think…is going to happen”
• “I predict that…”
• “I bet the character is going to…”

Explain to students that predictions…

• help us get into the story
• make sense of the story
• can be right/ wrong
Phonics skills to ⇒ Consonant blends: br, cl, etc.
reinforce ⇒ Consonant digraphs: sh, ch, th
⇒ Short vowel sounds
⇒ A blending strategy: Tap each sound, touching your fingers to
your thumb. Now put the sounds together.
⇒ Attention to word endings (s and ed)
Word Work (after • Match pictures with letters using beginning or ending sounds
guided reading) • Recognize a few easy high-frequency words quickly (e.g., the,
Each requires and, like, here, look, see, is, can, in, it)
only 1-3 minute • Make several CVC words quickly (can, but, cat, hot, get)
demonstrations • Recognize several CVC words (e.g., get, sun, mat, not)
• Locate words rapidly using first letter and related sounds
• Say words slowly and write letters related to sounds

LEVEL D
Reading Student-Friendly Lesson Plan Ideas/Resources
Strategy/Behaviors Translation
to teach
• SWBAT • Good readers stop • Place post-it notes at key points of the
remember what at different parts of book and then ask students to tell
the story is about the book and ask: them what just happened. Write their
during reading “what just reflections out on chart paper
happened”? • Afterward, have students write (in 1
sentence) or draw out what they think
just happened in the story on post it
notes that you’ve placed throughout
their own copies of the book
• SWBAT make • “Good readers • Encourage students to make
text-to-self think about what meaningful text-to-self connections by
connections the words or framing this exercise in the following
when reading pictures in the way…
story remind them o “When I read or heard these
 of…” words…it reminded me of…”
o “When I saw a picture of…it
made me think about…”

Sample Lesson Think Aloud/Modeling

from author/expert educator Debbie
Miller

Sample of Student Work from a Lesson

on Text-to-Self Connections
• SWBAT • “Good readers • Words that students can use…
remember details make a picture in  “I’m imagining that…”
from text and their minds about  “I can picture how…sounds, feels,
pictures and what is going on in looks, tastes”
search for the story”
understanding • Tell students that picturing…
while reading …helps us be in the story
…makes the characters and events
come alive
…clears up confusing parts

Tell them that picturing is like… “having a

pretend movie screen in your heads so
you can watch the story”

Sample think aloud/modeling

• SWBAT use • “Good readers • Have students preview the book by

pictures to make check to see if flipping through the pages and looking
predictions and their predictions at the pictures
then use text to are right by • Encourage students to use the
check those thinking about pictures to make predictions about
predictions. what they have just what the story will be about
read.” • While reading, have students use text
from the story to check the accuracy
of their predictions

Words students can use…

• “I think…is going to happen”
• “I predict that…”
• “I bet the character is going to…”

Explain to students that predictions…

• help us get into the story
• make sense with the story
 • can be right
• can be wrong
• SWBAT figure “To figure out tricky Ask students to…
out words by words, good readers • Step 1: Put their finger under the first
saying the sound look at the beginning letter(s) and sound it out… (plural for
of the beginning sound of the word words with digraphs)
letters, rereading and end sound of the • Step 2: Put their finger under the last
from the word” letter and make that sound
beginning of the • Step 3: After they make both sounds,
sentence and have students ask themselves: what
thinking about makes sense here?
what word would
make sense

Phonics Skills to ⇒ Consonant blends: br, cl, etc.

Reinforce ⇒ Consonant digraphs: sh, ch, th
⇒ Short vowel sounds
⇒ A blending strategy: Tap each sound, touching your fingers to
your thumb. Now put the sounds together.
⇒ Attention to word endings (s and ed)
Word Work (after • Recognize a few easy high-frequency words quickly (at, an,
guided reading) am, do, go, he, in, like, me, my, no, see, so, to, up , we
Each requires • Add –s to words to make a plural and read them (cat/cats)
only 1-3 minute • Recognize several CVC words quickly (hot, bug, pin)
demonstrations • Make several CVC words quickly (can, but, cat, hot, get)
• Change the beginning letter to make a one-syllable word
(man/can)
• Change ending letters to make a new one syllable word
(cat/can)

LEVEL E
Reading Student-Friendly Lesson Plan Ideas/Resources
Strategy/Behaviors Translation
to teach
• SWBAT make “Good readers think Venn Diagrams like this one can often be
text-to-text about how characters a useful way to introduce the skill of
connections, with in the book they are finding similarities between characters in
a special reading book remind different books.
emphasis on them of characters in
finding similarities other books that they Sample Think Aloud/Modeling
between have read.”
characters in
books they have
read.
• SWBAT • “Good readers • Words that students can use…
remember details make a picture in  “I’m imagining that…”
from text and their minds about  “I can picture how…sounds, feels,
pictures and what is going on in looks, tastes”
search for the story”
understanding • Tell students that picturing…
while reading …helps us be in the story
…makes the characters and events
come alive
…clears up confusing parts

Tell them that picturing is like… “having a

pretend movie screen in your heads so
you can watch the story” and that doing
so helps to “make the story come alive”

Sample think aloud/modeling

• SWBAT use • “Good readers • Have students preview the book by
pictures to make check to see if flipping through the pages and looking
predictions and their predictions at the pictures
then use text to are right by • Encourage students to use the
check those thinking about pictures to make predictions about
predictions. what they have just what the story will be about
read.” • While reading, have students use text
from the story to check the accuracy
of their predictions

Words students can use…

• “I think…is going to happen”
• “I predict that…”
• “I bet the character is going to…”

Explain to students that predictions…

• help us get into the story
• make sense with the story
• can be right
• can be wrong
• SWBAT to figure • • Examples you can work on with
out some longer students include…
words by taking o words that have smaller
them apart words within them that they
might recognize (e.g, today)
o compound words (e.g.,
skateboard)
Word Work (after • Recognize a few easy high-frequency words quickly (at, an,
guided reading) am, do, go, he, in, like, me, my, no, see, so, to, up, we, look,
Each requires hers, this)
only 1-3 minute • Write or make many high-frequency words (e.g., this, here,
demonstrations look, like, but)
• Add –s or –es to a word to make it plural (bike/bikes,
glass/glasses)
• Read simple compound words (into, airplane)
• Use parts of known words to read new words (e.g., today)
• Change beginning, middle, or ending of a word to make a new
word (hop/stop, stop/stay/hat/hit)
• Say words slowly to write them letter by letter

LEVEL F
Reading Student-Friendly Lesson Plan Ideas/Resources
Strategy/Behaviors Translation
to teach
• SWBAT take • “Good readers look • Have students find words within tricky
apart compound for a word within compound words to figure out their
words to solve the word to figure meaning (e.g., doghouse, butterfly,
them out tricky words” mousetrap)
• SWBAT reread to • “Good readers go • Tell students that “sometimes we read
search for back and reread to and don’t really catch the story. When
meaning understand” this happens, we can reread to help
us understand what’s going on.”
• Make sure to model the act of
rereading for comprehension.

• SWBAT to use • “Good readers • Song that David Yi used to teach this
context clues to back and read the skill
figure out the sentence again to • Exemplar mini-lesson
meaning of novel figure out tricky
words words”
• SWBAT • “Good readers use Tell students that…
demonstrate punctuation to • “A period tells us to take a quick break
awareness of figure out how text and then keep going.”
punctuation by sounds.” • “Reader’s voices change when they
pausing, see a question mark”
phrasing, and
reading with
inflection
• SWBAT to read • “Readers figure out • Teach children to look through the
longer words by words by moving whole word from left to right to find
 breaking them through the whole familiar word parts to help them (e.g.,
down into familiar word” they might recognize “ea” in the new
word parts word easy by recalling the word “ear”.)
• SWBAT provide • “When readers • When they retell, have them…
an oral summary finish a story, they o Use characters’ names
of what tell someone about (characters)
happened in a what happened” o Tell where the story is taking
story (great to place (setting)
first teach via o Include the important parts of
interactive read the story (have them ask
aloud) themselves: “is this an
important part of the story?”.
Make sure they focus on an
1-2 key events)
• Teach them to start the retelling by
saying: ”This book is about…”
• Exemplar min-lesson (interactive read
aloud)
Word Work (after • Recognize many high-frequency words quickly (e.g., all, are,
guided reading) be, but, for, got, had, of, on, then, this, your)
Each requires • Write many high-frequency words quickly
only 1-3 minute • Review high-frequency words from previous levels
demonstrations • Change words to add simple inflectional endings (-ed, -ing;
stopped, stopping)
• Change words to make plurals by adding –es (box/boxes,
glass/glasses)
• Recognize words that have short (CVC: pet) and long (CVCe:
bike) vowel patterns
• Take apart compound words (doghouse, butterfly)
• Take apart and make contractions with am (I’m) and not
(don’t)
• Add –s or –es to a word to make it plural (bike/bikes,
glass/glasses)

LEVEL G
Reading Student-Friendly Lesson Plan Ideas/Resources
Strategy/Behaviors Translation
to teach
• SWBAT to use • “Good readers go • Song that David Yi used to teach this
context clues to back and read the skill
figure out the sentence again to • Exemplar mini-lesson
meaning of novel out tricky words”
words
• SWBAT read • “Good readers • Teach students that some words just
fluently, chunk text to make kind of go together when we read, like
accurately, and it sound smooth” the words “peanut-butter-and-jelly”.
with appropriate Tell them that we don’t read those
phrasing words separately, but that we read
them as if they are one word,
peanutbutterandjelly.
• Explain to them that putting words
together helps words sound smooth
• SWBAT • “Good readers use Tell students that…
demonstrate punctuation to • “A period tells us to take a quick break
awareness of figure out how text and then keep going.”
punctuation by sounds.” • “Reader’s voices change when they
pausing, see a question mark”
phrasing, and
reading with
inflection
• SWBAT to read • “Readers figure out • Teach children to look through the
longer words by words by moving whole word from left to right to find
breaking them through the whole familiar word parts to help them (e.g.,
down into familiar word” they might recognize “ea” in the new
word parts word easy by recalling the word “ear”.)
• SWBAT provide • “When good • Tell students to use time words…
an oral summary readers tell o First…
with appropriate someone what o Then…/ After that…/Next…
details in happened in a o In the end…
sequence (great story from the • Important parts of fiction books =
to first teach via beginning to the beginning, middle (problem), end
interactive read end, it helps them (solution)
aloud) remember the • Important details of non-fiction books:
story better” facts that teach a reader something
new
• SWBAT • “Good readers add • Exemplar Graphic Organizers
remember details important details in
to support the their mind until
accumulation of their thinking gets
meaning bigger and bigger.
throughout the When they do this,
text they can figure out
what the book is all
about.”
Word Work (after • Recognize many high-frequency words quickly (e.g., all, are,
guided reading) be, but, for, got, had, of, on, then, this, your)
Each requires • Review high-frequency words from previous levels
only 1-3 minute • Change words to add simple inflectional endings (-ed, -ing;
demonstrations stopped, stopping)
• Change words to make plurals by adding –es (churches,
foxes, dishes)
• Take apart compound words (door-bell)
• Recognize words that begin with consonant digraphs (thin,
shell)
• Use what is known about words to read new words (not, got;
and, hand)