Shared
Reading
The Circle Shell
Title
Vocabulary
The Circle Shell
Use suffixes
About the Text
Comprehension
Sandra finds comfort in learning
about the father she lost when she
was little.
Visualize details
Genre
Fluency
Vary volume for emphasis
Narrative
Technology
Running Words
1872
Search for information by key word
Search for information by preselected bookmarked pages
Content Words
CD-ROM Activities
boat shed, bodyboard, bystander,
headland, melon, rip, trumpet shell
Book Cover Maker
Squawk the Plank
Phonics
Identify prefixes and suffixes
Related AWARD Materials
­Texts
• The Circle Shell
CD-ROMs
• The Circle Shell
Cards
• Literacy Task Cards 8, 36, 48, 52
• Guided Reading Procedure Cards 1, 2, 6
© 2008 Wendy Pye Publishing Ltd
WEEK 3
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Guided Learning
Session 1
Guided Reading The Circle Shell
read a narrative text
Activate Background
• Use a copy of the book, or click on the Text button on the CD-ROM to project the book onto a
computer monitor or whiteboard. Read the title together.
– Have you ever found a shell?
– Where did it come from?
• Have students look at the illustrations to predict what will happen. Ask them to tell what is
happening as they look at the illustrations.
Read the Text
• Read pages 2 and 3 together. Use a think-aloud to model asking questions to clarify information. “As I read, I stop
and ask questions to make sure I understand what I’m reading. Did Sandra’s father drown recently or a long time ago?
Why did she say, ‘You’ve never actually told me how it happened. I’m old enough now.’? Oh, they left Sandra at her
aunt’s house. She must have been little. Finding the answer to my own questions helps me understand the story.”
• Help students set a purpose for reading by asking them to read to find the meaning of the circle shell.
• Have students read one or two chapters at a time to the end. Ask them to take notes to keep track of words they have
difficulty reading or use sticky notes to mark parts of the text they would like to talk about with the group. Encourage
students to make predictions as they read and change their predictions as they get information from the text. After
each chapter, they should confirm their predictions and make new predictions for the next section they read.
• Circulate and observe how students are applying strategies. Students should read silently to themselves and use
a quiet voice when they read to you.
Phonics Discuss Prefixes, Suffixes, and Base Words
identify prefixes and suffixes
TEACH
• Review the concepts of prefixes, suffixes, and
base words. Ask students to give an example of a
word with a prefix or suffix on page 5 of The Circle
Shell (quietly, unconscious).
­­• Begin by writing the following words on the
board: reuse, use, reusable, unused. Discuss which
words contain a prefix, which words contain a
suffix, and which words contain neither. Call on
volunteers to circle the prefixes and suffixes.
Independent and Small Group Tasks
Look Up a Word
search for information by key
word
Students use an online dictionary to
find a definition of the word “shell”
that best fits the text The Circle Shell.
They can also show that this word
has multiple meanings. They should
bookmark their dictionary.
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WEEK 3
© 2008 Wendy Pye Publishing Ltd
List Prefixes
identify prefixes and suffixes
Students work in small groups to make a list of the
words with prefixes and suffixes in The Circle Shell
or Hoppy and share their lists with the class.
Find and Spell Words
recognize/match vowel sounds
Students use Be a Word Detective Task Card
(8) to find words in the text with the long e vowel
sound. In pairs they can hold a spelling quiz.
Small Group
Session 2
Guided Reading The Circle Shell
Ask questions to direct a discussion about The Circle Shell.
Why do you think Olivia had never told Sandra about her father?
Why do you think Olivia decided to go back to Shelly Bay?
Do you think Sandra should have gone into the water while her mother
was gone? Why or why not?
• Return to the purpose for reading by choosing a volunteer to lead a discussion
about the meaning of the text. Help the group stay on topic, facilitate, and model when
necessary.
•
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Comprehension Visualize Text Details
visualize details
TEACH
• Ask students how the author makes the readers feel like they are caught in the rip current.
Students find sentences or passages that support their answers.
• Make a word web on the board.
– What words or phrases give you a mental picture of Sandra caught in the rip tide?
– What words or phrases made it feel real?
• Reread page 21. Ask students to close their eyes and imagine they are Sandra, fighting the
rip tide. Have them share what they felt and thought.
Independent and Small Group Tasks
Sketch a Picture
express ideas through art: draw
Students use Sketch a Picture You See
in Your Mind Task Card (52) to draw
an image that Sandra’s adventures in The
Circle Shell bring to their mind.
Write What You Visualize
visualize details
Students write a paragraph or poem
expanding on the details of their
visualization of being caught in a rip
current. They could draw a picture
illustrating their sentence or passage.
Book Cover Maker
use font attributes to enhance
presentation
Students use the Book Cover Maker
task on the CD-ROM to design their own
book cover for The Circle Shell.
WEEK 3
© 2008 Wendy Pye Publishing Ltd
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Guided Learning
Session 3
Guided Reading The Circle Shell
•
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–
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•
Review the story, then call on volunteers to read selected pages from the text that tell
how Sandra was learning to surf with a bodyboard;
how Sandra felt about Tony;
what happened when Sandra regained consciousness.
What did you as the reader need to know to help you understand the text?
Was it important to know what bodyboarding is?
What does the author want the reader to know?
Ask students to prepare a short presentation on the book to share on Day 4. See Shared
Reading Day 4 for ideas.
Vocabulary Understand How Suffixes Change Word Meaning
use suffixes
TEACH
• Ask students what they know about suffixes.
Reinforce that a suffix, such as -ful, is added to the
end of a base word.
• Ask students how they recognize and use suffixes
to understand word meanings. Explain the steps
they should use:
1. Identify the word with the suffix by its ending,
for example, -able, -ly, -ful.
2. Separate the word into its base word and suffix.
For example, painful is made up of the word
pain and the suffix -ful.
3. Figure out how the suffix changes the meaning
of the base word. For example, pain means “a
feeling of discomfort.” Painful means “full of or
having pain.”
• Write the story words with the suffix -ful (powerful,
mouthful, thoughtful, wonderful, painful) on the
board and have students name the base word and
the suffix. Discuss the meaning of each word and
call on volunteers to use the word in a sentence.
Independent and Small Group Tasks
Write a Description
create descriptive texts
Students use Write a Description Task Card
(36) to describe Shelly Bay from the text.
Squawk the Plank
List Suffixes
Students Squawk the Plank on the
CD-ROM and play against the computer or
against a partner.
In pairs, students read the room, or other
texts, to find words with suffixes or prefixes
and discuss their meanings. They could
collaborate as a large group to create a twocolumn chart (prefixes/suffixes) of the words
and take turns circling the prefixes and
suffixes.
spell content words
build vocabulary informally
through classroom experiences
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© 2008 Wendy Pye Publishing Ltd
identify prefixes and suffixes
Small Group
Session 4
Guided Reading The Circle Shell
•
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•
Recall the text with students.
What is the text about?
Is it about bodyboarding, death, or relationships? How do you know?
What other interpretations of the text could there be?
Talk about students’ interpretations of the text and how all our experience and
knowledge is different so we interpret what we read in texts differently.
• Students share their presentations with the class in Shared Reading time.
Fluency Read Together
vary volume for emphasis
TEACH
• Look at page 21 using the CD-ROM and read the page together. Read the last paragraph aloud and
discuss how Sandra was feeling when she shouted. Read the last paragraph in a soft, quiet voice, then
in a loud voice. Ask students to listen for the difference in volume and what it adds to meaning.
– Should Sandra’s words be read in a quiet or loud voice? Why?
– How does the meaning change when you change the volume of your voice?
– How does it help you understand the text?
Independent and Small Group Tasks
Give a Book Talk
tell/retell stories
Students use Give a Book Talk Task Card
(48) to present a talk about the text.
Read in Pairs
vary volume for emphasis
Look Up a Word
search for information by preselected bookmarked pages
Students work with a partner to practice
varying volume as they read. They select
a page and read aloud to each other to
demonstrate varying volume and show how
it affects the emphasis and meaning.
Students use the bookmarked online
dictionary to find a definition of the word
rip that best fits the text The Circle Shell.
They can also show that this word has
multiple meanings.
WEEK 3
© 2008 Wendy Pye Publishing Ltd
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