LESSON 28 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Curious About Playing Ball
Fountas-Pinnell Level B
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
Children tell how they can hit, kick, throw, and catch a ball.
Number of Words: 45
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Nonfiction
• Series of first-person statements on each page
• Children playing ball
• Physical activities
• There are many things you can do with a ball.
• Repetition of sentence pattern: I go out to play. Look at me ____.
• Pronoun change from I to We on final page.
• Four-word and five-word sentences in repeated pattern: I go out to play. Look at me ____.
• Pattern changes on last page: We go out to play. Look at us ____.
• Each page introduces name of depicted activity: hit, kick, throw, catch.
• Highlighted high-frequency words: look, out
• One-syllable action words: hit, kick, throw, catch, ball
• Color photographs support text.
• Photo above text on each of five pages
• One-line sentences, extra space between words
• Two lines of text on each page.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Curious About Playing Ball
Build Background
Read the title to children and talk with them about the cover photo. Encourage children to
talk about what they do when they play ball. Ask: What do you think you might read about
in this book?
Introduce the Text
Guide children through the text, helping with unfamiliar words so they can read the text
successfully. Here are some suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that in this book children tell about things they like to do with a
ball when they go out to play.
Suggested language: Turn to page 2. What can you see in the picture? The boy is
using a bat to hit a ball. So the boy says: I go out to play. Look at me hit. Say the
word out. Can you find the word out and put your finger under it? You will find the
word out on lots of pages in this book.
Page 3: Remind children that they can use the information in the pictures to help
them read. Look at the picture on this page. What can the girl do with the ball?
Yes, she can kick the ball. So she says: I go out to play. Look at me kick. Say the
word look. What letter would you expect to see first in the word look? Can you find
the word Look and put your finger under it? And you can see that the word Look
has an uppercase L because it comes at the beginning.
Page 4: Turn to page 4 and look at the picture. What can the boy do with the ball?
So what will he say? What can you do with a ball?
Now go back to the beginning and read to find out all the things the children can
do with a ball.
Words to Know
Have children turn to the Words to Know at the back of the book. Read each word aloud and
then together. Explain any unknown words. Tell children to look for these words as they read.
Words to Know
look
Kindergarten
out
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Lesson 28: Curious About Playing Ball
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Read
Now have children read Curious About Playing Ball 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: Which things in the book do you like to do with a ball? Why?
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
• Children can hit, kick, throw, and
catch a ball.
• There are many ways to play
ball.
• The writer uses the same
sentence patterns on each page.
• It is fun to play ball alone or with
other people.
• The photos show what the
children are doing with the ball.
• Children can learn to enjoy
sports at an early age.
• The Curious George icon appears
on every page interacting with
the child in the photograph.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Support
Concepts of Print
Have children point to the first word in each sentence and then point to the last word in
each sentence.
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 rhyme. Have children raise their
hands if the two words rhyme and keep their hands in their laps if the words do not
rhyme. Say pairs of words, including: ball and tall; ball and bat; look and book; can
and catch; hat and hit; hit and sit; kick and pick; kick and kite.
• Tracing Letters Materials: magnetic or cardboard letters or letter cards. Have children
choose a letter, say the name, and trace the letter.
Kindergarten
3
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Writing About Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Read the directions and have children complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 28.1.
Responding
Have children complete the vocabulary activities on page 7.
Building Vocabulary
Outdoor Action Words
Build on the action words in Curious About Playing Ball. Suggested language: Let’s think
about all the other things we go outside to do. What are some other things you can do
outside? Can you run? Can you climb? As children suggest names of activities, write their
words and sentences on the board or on chart paper. Begin the list with the words: We go
out to.
(Possible answers: run, play, jump, swing, hit, bike, swim, climb)
After children have made their suggestions, read the list aloud together, pointing to each
word. These are all things we go outside to do!
Writing Prompt
Read aloud the following prompt. Have children draw and write their response, using the
writing prompt on page 6.
What is your favorite way to play ball? Draw a picture of it.
Write about why you like to play ball this way.
Kindergarten
4
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English Language Learners
Front-Load Vocabulary Preview the photos to make sure children know the
following words: ball, hit, kick, throw, catch.
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 children.
Speaker 1: Name two things that
children can do in this book.
Speaker 1: Name all the things
children can do in this book.
Speaker 2: Possible answers: hit the
ball, throw the ball, kick the ball, catch
the ball.
Speaker 2: They can hit the ball,
kick the ball, throw the ball, and
catch the ball.
Speaker 1: What can the boy on page 2
do?
Speaker 1: What are the children
on page 6 doing?
Speaker 2: He can hit the ball.
Speaker 2: They are catching a
big ball.
Speaker 2: [Points to the children.]
Speaker 1: [Point to the picture on
page 3.] What can the girl do here?
Speaker 2: kick the ball
Lesson 28
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 28.1
Date
Curious About
Playing Ball
Words to Know
Words to Know
Words to Know
Circle the words look and out
in the sentences.
1. We do not look at the
2. I try not to kick the
look
out
as we run.
out.
What word means the same as see?
look
Read directions to children.
Words to Know
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Kindergarten
5
3
Kindergarten, Unit 6: Look at Us
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Name
Date
Curious About Playing Ball
What is your favorite way to play ball?
Draw a picture of it.
Write about why you like to play ball this way.
Kindergarten
6
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Lesson 28
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 28.1
Date
Curious About
Playing Ball
Words to Know
Words to Know
Words to Know
Circle the words look and out
in the sentences.
1. We do not look at the
2. I try not to kick the
look
out
as we run.
out.
What word means the same as see?
Kindergarten
7
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Student
Lesson 28
Date
BLackline master 28.21
Curious About Playing Ball • level b
page
Selection Text
2
Curious About Playing
Ball
Running Record Form
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Self-Correction
Rate
I go out to play.
Look at me hit.
3
I go out to play.
Look at me kick.
4
I go out to play.
Look at me throw.
I go out to play.
5
Look at me catch.
We go out to play.
6
Look at us catch.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/45 × 100)
(# errors + #
Self-Corrections/
Self-Correction)
%
1:
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Kindergarten
Behavior
Error
0
0
1
8
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cat
cut sc
0
Insertion
the
1
Word told
T
cat
cat
ˆ
Error
1413581
Behavior
1
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