JOURNEY TO READTOPIA Reading Assembly Resource Packet om TROUPE www.BoomTroupe.com 773-235-8585Dear Teachers- We hope you enjoyed our Readtopia presentation. We put this packet together as a resource for you to use to support and revisit some of the reading concepts presented in Readtopia. In this packet you will find the following: e VISUAL ALDES- These can be photocopied and posted in your classroom for great visual reminders (if you take the copy to Kinko's they can copy it onto larger, thicker poster paper- just laminate it and you've got great posters!) Extended Response diagram- This is useful in teaching 3-5 students how to use the Readtopia concepts to achieve a well-written essay that targets ISAT standards Poem- This is a copy of the poem that Ruby, Sophie and Josh created at the end of their adventure through Readtopia. It's a great and fun way to help students remember these important reading concepts. LESSON PLANS- There is one lesson plan for each of the concepts mentioned in Readtopia, Each lesson can be modified for any grade level or to your choosing, Also included are some recommended books to use for the lessons. There are hundreds of other books, poems, short stories, etc, that would fit into the lesson plans, as well as actual lessons (consider this a starting point). Feel free to delve into all the wonderful resources that are out there! RESOURCE LIST- This is a list of books and stories referenced in the presentation (any of the books on the list would work for the recommended lessons- as would many wonderful others!) and helpful websites. We hope you find this packet useful as you help your students strive for reading success! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. Thanks again and happy reading!BOOKS; Fairy Tales from Hans Christian Andersen by Hans Christian Andersen © The Little Mermaid © The Ugly Duckling Classic Greek Myths to Read Aloud by William Russell Classic Fairy Tales to Read Aloud by Naomi Lewis Eric Carle's treasury of classic stories for children by Eric Carle The Grasshopper and the Ants The Mammoth Book of Fairy Tales by Mike Ashley ¢ Jack and the Beanstalk The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland A Bag Full of Pups by Dick Gackenbach (inference) Fairy Went A-Marketing by Rose Fyleman (inference) Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst (inference) Tim and the Beanstalk by Raymond Briggs (inference) Lunch by Denise Fleming (inference) Picture books by Eve Bunting Picture books by Kevin Henkes WEBSITES: http://www.edhelper.com http://www.rhischool.com http://www.classroomconnect.com http://www.harcourtschool.com http://www.abcteach.com http://atozteacherstuff.com/ http://www.lessonplanspage.com/aking Connections {adapted from Strategies that Work (Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis)} Objective: For students to be able to make text to text, text to self, and text to world connections. Grade level: 2-5 (can be modified accordingly) Materials: Suggested picture books per lesson Post it notes Chart paper or overhead transparencies Picture books by Eve Bunting (Smoky Night, The Wall, A Day's Work, Fly Away Home} 1) Over a few days, read books by Eve Bunting to students and keep track of story elements or characteristics that students notice about each book (keep track on overhead or chart paper-one for each book) 2) After reading desired # of books and making noted observations about each book, students should begin to notice similarities between the books and the way Eve Bunting writes (similar leads, vague endings, like characters, etc.) 3) Through these activities, students should be able to start comparing characters, actions, story events, plot, themes, lessons, writing styles, etc. between Eve Bunting’s works. 4) As an extension, introduce other author’s books and do the same study with them. Observations and text to text connections from the students should become stronger through this process. Text to self: © Picture books by Kevin Henkes (Qwen, Chrysanthemum, Julius. the Baby of the World and others) 1) Read Chrysanthemum to the class. 2) While reading, model to the students how to make the text to self connection by stopping at parts that you can connect to yourself, and write it on a post it note and stick into the book.3) Ask students if anything they heard while you were reading reminded them of anything that has ever happened in their lives. Ask them to make the connections. 4) Put the students into groups of 4, giving each group a different Kevin Henkes book and a package of post-it notes. 5) As a group, the students are to read the book they were given using the post-it notes to mark places where they can make their own personal connections. 6) When the group finishes reading the book, each individual student is to take one of the connections they made, and add it to the sheet attached. 7) Repeat steps 5 and 6 until all of the students have read all of the books. 8) At the end of the lesson, the students should have the sheet filled out with one connection from each book. 9) Take time to discuss text to self connections and collect the sheets if you want to check on the students work. Text to World: © The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland 1) Read this book aloud to the class. This book is set during the Vietnam War. You might want to preface the reading with some background discussion about that time in history, and explain to students that we would be using this book to help us make connections to our world now. 2) As students are listening to the story being read, they are to be jotting, their thoughts about the story on sticky notes or in a journal. You will find that they might recall things that sound familiar to their own lives at first (text to self). 3) After the book is finished, call on students to share some of the thoughts they wrote down as they were listening to the story. Allow students to elaborate on connections that they made, and you might find that other students piggie back on what they are hearing. 4) Through the discussions on connections to students selves, connections to the world will start to peak as students think about the things they are hearing in relations to current events. 5) As an extension, you can chart the students responses regarding the story, and their text to world connections.Inference Lesson Objective: To help students understand inference, and to begin (this is introductory) to make inferences while reading. Grade Level: 3-5 iterials: Recommended picture books (see Resource List) 1) Open with “sometimes someone will try to tell you something without coming right out and saying it, this is called implying something. When you understand what is implied, you have inferred it.” 2) Give the students the following examples to demonstrate inferring (you can copy them onto overheads for visual learners) a. Turer almost wished that he hadn’t listened to the radio. He went to the closet and grabbed his umbrella. i. Which probably happened? 1. Turner had heard a weather forecast that predicted rain. 2. Tuer had planned to trade his umbrella for a bus ride. b. Bill and Jessica were almost done taking turns choosing the players for their teams. It was Jessica’s turn to choose, and only Kurt was left. Jessica said, “Kurt.” i, Weecan infer that 1. Kurt is not a very good player. 2. Jessica was pleased to have Kurt on her team, 3) Discuss the examples and talk about how inferring something from the text can help us to understand what we are reading or make something more clear. 4) Use one of the recommended picture books as a read aloud to continuing modeling inferences. Make a T chart to keep track of unclear sections in the book and work together to infer what the author meant. 5) This activity can either be continued as a Whole class activity or in small groups with many different books for the students to practice inferring, Students can either keep track of inferences on a T chart, or ‘on post it notes. 6) When activity is done, make sure to revisit what inferring is and allow students to present their book and post it notes/T chart to demonstrate finding inferences in their stories. * Variations of this activity can also be use with basal readers and small novel groups. Older students should eventually be able to identify places in books where inferences can be made and is a great way to add discussion to literature circles.Visualization Lesson Objective: Students will visualize images from the text and create pictures to help them understand the text. 5 Grade leve Materials: story books, descriptive literature pieces 1) Ask students: Ifyou close your eyes, can you see pictures in your mind? 2) Choose a favorite story book or descriptive literature passage (from a novel or poem). 3) Read the beginning of the piece, asking students to close their eyes and think about what they see as they listen. 4) After reading, ask students to share the images they saw in their minds. (*for younger grades, perhaps collect students responses on board or chart paper) 5) Read the end of the piece, asking the students to keep their eyes open while they are visualizing. 6) After the book is read, students can share any final images they have with the class. 7) Ask students to choose their favorite part of the book, the one where they had the most vivid image. 8) Pass out drawing paper and give the students time to illustrate what they saw in their minds when they heard their favorite scene. 9) Afier some drawing time, give the students time to share their drawings and talk about what they saw when they heard their scene (*for younger grades, perhaps read their favorite parts of the story again to go along with their pictures) 10) Ask students: How can seeing pictures in your mind help you understand the story? Possible extension ideas: . Take the students pictures and create a bulletin board to 20 along with the book or literature piece you chose. . Use the students pictures to create a classroom book.Support extended Response Sos Wrap it Up Topic Sentence Make Connections Create Mental Pictures syeq2q Make Inferences ExplanationsText to Self Connections Book Title: Situation in story: How this relates to me: Book Title: Situation in story: How this relates to me: Book Title: Situation in story: How this relates to me: