LESSON 4 TEACHER’S GUIDE

The Fire Fighter

by Jacob Walker

Fountas-Pinnell Level A
Informational Text
Selection Summary
A fire fighter shows the clothes worn when fighting fires.

Number of Words: 25

Characteristics of the Text

Genre • Informational Text
Text Structure • First-person narrative describing four items of clothing used to fight fires
• Fire fighter doesn’t introduce self until the last page.
Content • Fire fighting clothes
Themes and Ideas • Fire fighters need special clothing to keep them safe.
Language and • Simple repetitive language
Literary Features • First-person narrator
Sentence Complexity • Repetitive sentence pattern, changing only one or two words on each page
• Three- or four-word sentences
• Simple sentence structure: Look at my ___.
Vocabulary • Words relating to clothing: hat, coat, boots, gloves
Words • High-frequency words: look, my, me
Illustrations • Photographs that support the text
Book and Print Features • Five pages, with one line of text and one photograph on each page
• Photographs with labels: hat, coat, boots, gloves, fire fighter
• Large print and good spacing between words
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

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The Fire Fighter by Jacob Walker

Build Background
Read the title to children and talk with them about what they see in the cover picture. Ask
them what they know about fire fighters. Then ask: What do fire fighters do? Why would
fire fighters need to wear special clothes?

Introduce the Text

Guide children through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary. Explain important text features, such as the repetition of the
phrase Look at my. Here are some suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that in this book a fire fighter tells about all the special things worn
on the job. Explain that the pictures in the book have labels to name things.
Suggested language: Turn to page 2. The label in this picture says hat. Point to
the label. The fire fighter says: Look at my hat. Say look. Look begins with the /l/
sound. Find the word Look and put your finger under the first letter, L. And you can
see that Look starts with uppercase L because it comes at the beginning.
Page 3: On the next page, the fire fighter says: Look at my coat. Say the word my.
What letter would you expect to see first in the word my? Find the word my and
put your finger under it.
Page 4: Remind children that they can use information in the pictures to help them
read. On page 4, you can see a picture of a pair of boots. What do you think the fire
fighter will say on this page?
Page 5: Now what will the fire fighter say?
Now go back to the beginning and read to find out about all the things the fire
fighter wears on the job.

Words to Know
look me my

Kindergarten 2 Lesson 4: The Fire Fighter

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Read
Now have children read The Fire Fighter softly while pointing under each word. Observe
children as they read.

Respond to the Text

Personal Response
Ask children to share their personal responses to the book. Begin by asking what they
liked best about the book, or what they found interesting.
Suggested language: What do you notice about the clothes a fire fighter wears?

Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, make sure children understand these teaching points:
Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text
• A fire fighter needs special • Fire fighters need special • The writer uses the same
clothes to fight fires. clothing to keep them safe when sentence pattern on each page.
they are fighting fires.
• A fire fighter wears a hat, coat, • The author doesn’t show who is
boots, and gloves. talking until the last page.
• Labels in the photos tell the
names of the clothes.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

Choices for Support

Concepts of Print
Practice early reading behaviors such as reading from left to right and understanding that
you say one word for one group of letters when you read.

Phonemic Awareness and Word Work

Provide practice as needed with words and sounds, using one of the following activities:
• Listening Game Have children listen for words that begin with the same sound. Have
children raise their hands if the words begin with the same sound, and keep their
hands in their laps if the beginning sound is different. Say pairs of words, for example:
hat and helmet, coat and cone, boots and roots, hat and cap, gloves and globe, fire
and tire, etc.
• Blend the Sounds Say words sound by sound and ask children to say the words.
Begin with /h/ /ă/ /t/. What is the word? (hat) Continue with these words: /k/ /oˉ/ /t/
(coat), /m/ /eˉ / (me), /m/ /iˉ/ (my), and /c/ /ă/ /p/ (cap).
• Tracing Letters Materials: magnetic or cardboard letters or letter cards.
Have children choose a letter, say the name, and trace the letter.

Kindergarten 3 Lesson 4: The Fire Fighter

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Writing About Reading
Critical Thinking
Read the directions for children on BLM 4.2 and guide them in answering the questions.

Responding
Read aloud the questions at the back of the book and help children complete the activities.

Target Comprehension Skill

Text and Graphic Features Remind children to think about how the words
work with the photographs. Model how the words go with the photos.

Think Aloud

On page 6, the words and the photograph help to tell me about the fire
fighter. The words say: Look at me. The label says: fire fighter. The photo
shows a fire fighter ready to fight a fire. I can tell that this is the fire
fighter who has been talking in the book because I can see all the clothes
the fire fighter has put on to be ready for work.

Practice the Skill

Have children choose another page in the book and tell how the words go with the photo.

Writing Prompt
Read aloud the following prompt. Have children draw and write their response, using the
writing prompt on page 6.
Draw a picture of a fire fighter at work.
Write about what the fire fighter is doing.

Kindergarten 4 Lesson 4: The Fire Fighter

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
English Language Learners
Front-Load Vocabulary The following words may be challenging to children: fire
fighter. coat, boots, and gloves.

Oral Language Development

Check the children’s comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches their
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the child.
Beginning/ Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: Point to the hat. Speaker 1: What do fire fighters wear on Speaker 1: What do fire fighters
their feet? wear?
Speaker 2: [Child points to the hat.]
Speaker 2: They wear boots. Speaker 2: They wear hats, coats,
Speaker 1: Point to the coat.
boots, and gloves.
Speaker 1: Who is on page 6?
Speaker 2: [Child points to the coat.]
Speaker 2: the fire fighter
Speaker 1: What does the fire fighter
wear on his hands?
Speaker 2: gloves

Lesson 4
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.2
Name Date

Think About It
The Fire Fighter
Think About It

Children look at the pictures and circle the one that answers the question.

1. What is something else the fire fighter needs?

Children think about the job they want when they grow up. Children draw a picture of something they would
need for that job.

2.

Read directions to children.

Think About It 4 Kindergarten, Unit 1: Friendly Faces
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GK_246208RTXEAN_BLM4.2.indd 1 2/24/09 11:07:43 AM

Kindergarten 5 Lesson 4: The Fire Fighter

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Name Date

The Fire Fighter

Draw a picture of a fire fighter at work.

Write about what the fire fighter is doing.

Kindergarten 6 Lesson 4: The Fire Fighter

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
 Lesson 4
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.2
Name Date

Think About It
The Fire Fighter
Think About It

Children look at the pictures and circle the one that answers the question.

1. What is something else the fire fighter needs?

Children think about the job they want when they grow up. Children draw a picture of something they would
need for that job.

2.

Kindergarten 7 Lesson 4: The Fire Fighter

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
 Lesson 4
Student Date BLACKLINE MASTER 4.6

The Fire Fighter • LEVEL A The Fire Fighter

Running Record Form

page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections

2 Look at my hat.

3 Look at my coat.

4 Look at my boots.

5 Look at my gloves.

6 Look at me.

Comments: Accuracy Rate Self-Correction

(# words read Rate
correctly/19 × 100) (# errors + #
% Self-Corrections/
Self-Corrections)
1:

Behavior Code Error Behavior Code Error

1413462

Substitution cut 1
Read word correctly ✓ 0 cat
cat
Self-corrects cut sc 0
cat
Repeated word, ® 0
sentence, or phrase cat Insertion the 1
cat
—

Omission cat 1 Word told T 1
cat

Kindergarten 8 Lesson 4: The Fire Fighter

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