Please Clean Up Your Room!
Written by Itah Sadu
Illustrated by Roy Condy
Text Type: Fiction: Narrative—Humorous Story
Summary: Christopher helps his neighbours and does most of his chores, except cleaning
up his room. His room is so messy that his family and friends find it disgusting and even
the bugs stay away. When Christopher’s goldfish begin to feel sick, they enlist the help of
thousands of cockroaches who invade Christopher’s messy domain, demanding that he
clean up his space. Christopher is so terrified, he quickly cleans up his room to the joy and
amazement of his family.
Text Features
• words in italic for emphasis
• words in capitals to differentiate text
Visual Literacy
• supportive illustrations
Strategy Teaching
• integrated throughout the lesson
• prompts focus on a range of strategies (Making Connections, Evaluating, Analyzing,
Inferring, Predicting, Synthesizing)
• the comprehension purpose for listening highlights Analyzing/inferring
Assessment Opportunities
• attend to reading
• participate in partner and whole-class discussions
• understand the inquiry question
• make connections and evaluate by providing an opinion and a supporting reason
Time: approximately 30–40 minutes
BEFORE READING
Establishing the Inquiry Focus
• Explain to students that you will be reading a book about a young boy who refuses to
follow through on one of his responsibilities at home.
Activating and Building Background Knowledge
• Review the term ‘responsibility’ and discuss the
types of responsibilities students have at home.
[Making connections]
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Why do you think these
responsibilities are important?
• Ask students to tell a partner about
the responsibilities they have at
home. Then have students share
with the whole group. [Making
connections]
Think about the types of responsibilities, or tasks, you have at home. What are you responsible for? Who decided on these tasks? Why are these tasks important to your family? What would happen if you didn’t complete your responsibilities? Pair with your partner to discuss your ideas. Be ready to share with the whole group.
• Display the Group Anticipation Guide BLM on an overhead or interactive
whiteboard. Read each statement aloud. Have students think about the statement
and then indicate if they agree (thumbs-up signal) or disagree (thumbs-down signal)
with the statement. Take a visual tally to see who agrees or disagrees with each
statement and record these numbers in the Before column of the chart. [Making
connections/evaluating]
Note: Depending on the time of year, you might want to provide students with
their own copy of the Group Anticipation Guide, and they can record their opinions
independently.
• Choose one of the statements (e.g., ‘Having chores and responsibilities helps you
grow up to be a good person.’) and ask students to work with a partner to explain
whether they agree or disagree and provide their reasoning. [Evaluating]
• Read the title of the book, Please
Clean Up Your Room! and the
names of the author and illustrator.
Ask students to interpret the
title and make connections with
personal experiences. [Analyzing/
making connections]
In this book, who do you think might be saying, “Please clean up your room!”? Why do you think that? Have you ever been asked to clean up your room? What would happen if you refused to clean up your room?
• Show the front cover of the text and ask students
what the boy on the cover may be feeling.
[Inferring]
• Ask students to make predictions
about what will happen in the text.
[Predicting]
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Literacy Place for the Early Years—Grade 1 © 2011 Scholastic Canada Ltd.
Look at the boy on the front cover. How do you think he is feeling? How do you know that? What clues do you see? Why might he be feeling this way?
The boy on the front cover is Christopher.
He refuses to clean up his bedroom. What
do you think will happen in the story
because he refuses to clean up his room?
Why do you think Christopher might not
want to clean his room? Setting a Purpose for Listening
• Ask students to listen to find out what
happens to Christopher when he refuses
to carry out his responsibility. Also remind
students to think about the statements on
the Group Anticipation Guide as the text is
read aloud. [Analyzing/inferring]
DURING READING
As I read the story, I want you to listen carefully to find out what happens to Christopher and his family when he refuses to clean up his room. Also think about the statements on the Group Anticipation Guide and gather information that agrees or disagrees with your opinions.
• Read the text with expression and enthusiasm. Since the text has a repetitive, poemlike section describing Christopher’s room, allow students to join-in on this section
throughout the text. Ensure that you take the time to share the illustrations as they
add immensely to the understanding of the story.
• Pause at various points in the text to discuss important aspects of the story.
Alternate between asking students to discuss as a whole group and with partners.
• Prompts for discussion include:
-- (p. 1) What kind of person is Christopher? Describe him to a partner. [Inferring]
-- (pp. 2–3) Look carefully at the picture of Christopher’s room. Turn to a partner
and describe Christopher’s room. [Inferring]
-- (p. 3) Why do you think Christopher might not want to clean his room?
[Inferring]
-- (p. 4) Do you think Christopher should clean his room? Why or why not?
[Evaluating]
-- (p. 5) If you were Christopher’s friend, would you want to stay at his house?
Why or why not? [Making connections/evaluating]
-- (p. 9) What is a cockroach? Where do they come from? Why do people dislike
cockroaches? [Making connections]
-- (p. 11) How do you know this book is fiction (not true)? [Analyzing]
-- (p. 16) Why is this illustration funny? [Inferring]
-- (p. 24) Do you think Mr. Cockroach is a good or bad character? Back up your
opinion with details from the text. [Evaluating/inferring]
AFTER READING
• Review what happened to
Christopher and his family when
he refused to clean up his room.
Discuss how the situation was
solved. [Analyzing]
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Literacy Place for the Early Years—Grade 1 © 2011 Scholastic Canada Ltd.
In the story, Christopher refused to clean up his room. What was his reason for not cleaning his room? What happened to his family and friends as his room got messier? What did Christopher’s parents do to try to get him to clean up his room? How was the situation resolved? • Continue discussing the text using the following questions: [Evaluating]
-- What do you think might have happened if the goldfish hadn’t solved the
problem?
-- Why do you think Christopher’s parents wanted him to clean up his room?
-- Who was affected by Christopher’s decision to keep a messy room?
(Christopher, parents, grandmother, friends, goldfish) Do they have the ‘right’
to live in a clean space?
-- Do you think Christopher is a good pet owner? Why or why not?
• Return to the statements on
the Group Anticipation Guide
BLM. Have students confirm
or revise their opinion, based
on information from the text.
[Evaluating]
Let’s revisit the Group Anticipation Guide. I want you to think about the information you learned in the story. Do you agree or disagree with the statements? Has your opinion changed because of what happened in the story? Has the story made you think in a different way?
• Reread each statement and have students signal
their opinion (thumbs-up or thumbs-down).
Tally the number for each opinion and record
this number in the After column of the Group
Anticipation Guide. Compare the Before and
After columns to see if opinions have changed.
[Evaluating]
Let’s look at each column on our chart. Have our opinions changed on some of the statements? Did the story make us think in a different way? • Ask students what ideas they learned from this story that helped to answer the
question “Why do we have rules and responsibilities?” (Possible answers may include
safety, health, keeping the environment clean.) Record students’ suggestions on the
web organizer created in Introducing the Inquiry Unit. [Synthesizing]
FURTHER READINGS
• Discuss comprehension of vocabulary during a rereading of the text as it has many
descriptive words that may require clarification, e.g., ‘cheesy,’ ‘fungi,’ ‘cockroach,’
‘business,’ ‘terrified,’ ‘speck,’ ‘thoughtful.’
• Reread the text during another
session to find evidence of the
author’s thinking. Review the
statements on the Group Anticipation
Guide BLM and have students listen
for the author’s opinion. [Evaluating/
inferring]
We have recorded our opinions about each of the statements on the Group Anticipation Guide. As I read the story again, I want you to listen carefully to see if you can determine what the author might think about each of the statements. What clues does the author give you of her opinion?
• Complete the Author column on the Group Anticipation Guide, asking students to
suggest whether the author agrees/disagrees with each statement. Students can
provide clues from the text to justify their ideas. Compare the two After Reading
columns, students versus author, to see similarities and differences.
• On another occasion, reread the text to compare the illustrations of Christopher’s
bedroom (pp. 2–3 and pp. 28–29). In partners, students can discuss the changes in
the bedroom and what Christopher had to do to clean up his room.
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Literacy Place for the Early Years—Grade 1 © 2011 Scholastic Canada Ltd.
• Discuss the author’s
craft. Explain that authors
sometimes use repetition
when they write. Discuss
the effectiveness of the
technique and the possibility
of using this technique in
personal writing.
Let’s reread the pages where the author uses a poem-like section to describe Christopher’s room. Why do you think the author repeats this description throughout the story? Have you ever seen this technique used by another author (e.g., Robert Munsch)? Why is this technique effective?
• Remind students of the Inquiry Question, and ask if they have any further ideas
about why we need rules and responsibilities. Add their ideas to the web (e.g., fair
division of work in the home).
EXTENDING THE INQUIRY
You may consider using some of the following suggestions to extend the inquiry.
• Create a chart to compare the texts in this unit and other books you may read.
Record what is learned about rules and responsibilities after reading each text.
Why Do We Have Rules and Responsibilities?
Text
Home
School
Please Clean yes
Up Your
Room!
Community
What We Learned
- responsibility: cleaning
your room
- reasons: health, safety,
care about others, fair
division of work
• Invite students to act out the story of Please Clean Up Your Room! using puppets
from the Oral Language Kit and the Cockroach Puppets BLM. Ask the following
questions: If you were Christopher’s family or friend, what would you say to him?
What would Christopher say in return?
• Have
----
students think about the story and how it would change if:
the cockroaches didn’t help
Christopher’s Mom and Dad took away all of his privileges
the goldfish died
• Ask students to make a list of tasks (responsibilities) around the home, e.g., doing
dishes, making beds, taking the dog for a walk, feeding pets, tidying bedroom,
picking up toys, turning off lights, etc. Have them survey classmates to see how
many students help with each of the different tasks. Together, create a bar graph to
show how many students get involved in each activity.
• Provide opportunities for students to set, negotiate, and follow rules throughout the
day. Make-believe play situations as well as game-playing promote the necessity of
creating rules.
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Literacy Place for the Early Years—Grade 1 © 2011 Scholastic Canada Ltd.
• Observe students following the classroom rules and contributing positively to
the classroom environment. Notice and name how students contribute to group
effectiveness by:
-- asking questions and seeking clarification from peers
-- playing and working with others in pairs or small groups
-- making decisions in small groups to achieve common goals
-- listening attentively when working in groups
-- showing care for, and encouraging, other members of a group or team
-- taking turns and sharing equipment in pairs or small groups
-- talking about roles in completing a group task
• Read and discuss other books with characters that follow/do not follow rules or fulfill
their responsibilities. Encourage students to talk about their learning and to ask
questions. The following texts might promote extensive dialogue:
-- No, David! by David Shannon: Scholastic Inc., 1998 (Fiction: David, an
energetic and inquisitive child, seems to break all the household rules.)
-- David Goes to School by David Shannon: Scholastic Inc., 1999 (Fiction: David is
off to school and has great trouble behaving and following the rules.)
-- David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon: Scholastic, 2002 (Fiction: When David
gets in trouble, he has excuses right up until bedtime, when he realizes he
really is sorry and apologizing makes him feel better.)
-- Strega Nona: An Original Tale by Tomie dePaola: Half Moon Books, 1975
(Fiction: When Strega Nona goes on vacation, she leaves Big Anthony in charge
of her magic pasta pot. However, Big Anthony does not follow the rule about
the pot and is determined to show the townspeople how it works.)
-- Goldilocks and the Three Bears by James Marshall: Puffin, 1998 (Fiction: While
the three bears go for a ride on their bicycles, Goldilocks enters their house,
eats a bowl of porridge, tries out their chairs and beds, and then falls asleep.
Did Goldilocks ‘break the rules’?)
-- Goldilocks Returns by Lisa Campbell Ernst: Simon and Schuster Books, 2000
(Fiction: Thirty years after Goldilocks first met the three bears, she returns to
fix up their cottage and soothe her guilty conscience.)
-- Piggybook by Anthony Browne: Dragonfly Books, 1990 (Fiction: An overworked
and underappreciated Mrs. Piggott leaves her family to fend for themselves.
They literally turn into ‘pigs’ and realize that household responsibilities need to
be democratically assigned.)
-- Please Play Safe! Penguin’s Guide to Playground Safety by Margery Cuyler:
Scholastic Press, 2006 (Fiction: In this delightful tale, all of the characters
break the playground safety rules. By the end of the story, they realize the
rights and wrongs of playground play.)
-- Down the Road by Alice Schertie: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001 (Fiction: A
little girl is given the responsibility of buying eggs at the store all by herself.)
-- The Signmaker’s Assistant by Tedd Arnold: Puffin, 1997 (Fiction: Norman, the
signmaker’s assistant, takes advantage of the signmaker’s absence and then
regrets it.)
-- Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2002
(Fiction: Children at Napville Elementary School always ignore Officer Buckle’s
safety tips, until a police dog named Gloria accompanies him when he gives his
safety speeches.)
-- The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble With Chores by Stan and Jan Berenstain:
Festival, 2005 (Fiction: Papa Bear and the cubs do not want to join-in with the
household chores. Mama Bear lets things slip to teach everyone a lesson.)
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Literacy Place for the Early Years—Grade 1 © 2011 Scholastic Canada Ltd.