LESSON 19 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Working in the Park
by Emma Lee
Fountas-Pinnell Level E
Realistic Fiction
Selection Summary
Tim helps his Aunt Sue at her work as a park ranger by watering
flowers, picking up trash, feeding ducks, and showing other children
where the ducks are.
Number of Words: 118
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Realistic fiction
• Third-person narrative, with chronological sequencing and a strong conclusion
• Setting clearly described
• A park ranger’s duties
• Helping others
• A park ranger is responsible for caring for a park and helping others.
• Helping others is satisfying.
• Simple, clear language
• Some dialogue
• Many simple sentences: The flowers were pretty.
• Some longer sentences: “Next, we need to pick up trash,” said Aunt Sue.
• Words relating to ranger responsibilities: park, ranger, pick, trash, feed, ducks
• Many high frequency words: were, work, great, one, water, flowers
• Some two-syllable words: ranger, water, flowers, children, today
• Pictures support each page of text
• Nine pages of text, illustrations on every page
• Three to five lines of text on a page
• Some pictures are labeled with words
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Working in the Park
by Emma Lee
Build Background
Read the title to children and ask them what the characters are doing in the cover
illustration. Encourage children to use their knowledge of parks or playgrounds to think
about the story. Anticipate the text with questions such as these: What can you see in
parks? What needs to be done to take care of a park?
Introduce the Text
Guide children through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that this story is about a boy named Tim who goes to work with
his Aunt Sue, a park ranger.
Suggested language: Turn to page 2. You can see Tim with his Aunt Sue. She’s a
park ranger. What kind of work might a park ranger do?
Page 3: Explain that some pictures in the book have labels to name people and
things. Point to the label in the illustration and read it. What kinds of flowers can
you see in parks near where you live?
Page 4: Turn to page 4. The book says: The flowers were pretty. Say the word
were. What letter would you expect to see first in were? Find the word were and
put your finger under it. What were Tim and Aunt Sue doing to keep the flowers
alive?
Pages 6–7: Have the children use the illustrations to predict other tasks park
rangers do. What are other ways Tim may help Aunt Sue at her job?
Now go back to the beginning and read to find out all the things Tim did with Aunt
Sue at the park.
Words to Know
flowers
great
Grade 1
one
water
2
were
work
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Read
As the children read, observe them carefully. Guide them as needed, using language that
supports their problem solving ability.
Respond to the Text
Personal Response
Ask children to share their personal responses to the story. Begin by asking what they
liked best about the story, or what they found most interesting.
Suggested language: How do you think Tim felt about his day with Aunt Sue?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help children understand these teaching points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Tim spends the day working
with his Aunt Sue, who is a park
ranger.
• A park ranger is responsible for
caring for a park and helping
others.
• The author uses words like first,
next, now, and then, to show the
order of events.
• They water flowers, pick up
trash, feed the ducks. Tim shows
other children where the ducks
are.
• Working makes people of all
ages feel good.
• The authors tells three ways Tim
and Aunt Sue work together, but
when TIm shows the children
the ducks, he is by himself.
• Aunt Sue tells Tim he is a great
park ranger.
• A park habitat is a special
environment for animals, plants,
and human visitors.
• Some words are labeled in the
illustrations.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Support
Fluency
Have children choose either of the two characters and read aloud a quotation from that
character. Remind them to think about how the character feels and to read the words with
the proper expression.
Phonemic Awareness and Word Work
Provide practice as needed with words and sounds, using one of the following activities:
• Clapping Syllables Have children hear and say syllables in words from the story.
Include some one-syllable words: ranger, work, water, flowers, pretty, great, children.
Have them clap on each syllable: rang-er, work, wa-ter, flow-ers, pret-ty, great, chil-dren.
• Build Sentences Materials: index cards. Write the high frequency words from
Working in the Park on index cards: were, work, great, one, water, flowers. Write other
vocabulary words from the story: park, ranger, pick, trash, feed, ducks. Have children
build sentences using the word cards and other words as necessary. Have them read
the sentences and illustrate them if they wish.
Grade 1
3
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Writing About Reading
Critical Thinking
Read the directions for children on BLM 19.7 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
Conclusions
Explain to children that they can use details to figure out
more about the story. Model how to use details to draw conclusions:
Think Aloud
When I think about story details, I can understand why Aunt Sue tells
Tim that he is a great park ranger. He helps her water the flowers, pick
up trash, and feed the ducks. Then, on page 9, he does even more. He
shows the children where the ducks are all by himself. The details help
me understand what a good job Tim does being a ranger.
Practice the Skill
Have children use details to come to a conclusion about whether or not Aunt Sue works
hard at her job as a park ranger.
Writing Prompt
Read aloud the following prompt. Have children draw and write their response, using the
writing prompt on page 6.
Why is Aunt Sue’s job important? Write a paragraph. Use details from the book to support
what you say.
Grade 1
4
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English Language Learners
Front-Load Vocabulary Make sure children know the meaning of the words ranger
and trash. Some children may need help in understanding the idea of public space used
for parks.
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: What job does Aunt Sue
have?
Speaker 1: What is the park like after
Tim and Aunt Sue pick up the trash?
Speaker 2: park ranger
Speaker 2: The park is clean.
Speaker 1: What does Tim do
when he goes to work with Aunt
Sue?
Speaker 1:What do Tim and Aunt Sue
do to the flowers?
Speaker 1: What does Tim show the
children?
Speaker 2: water them
Speaker 2: baby ducks
Speaker 2: He waters flowers,
picks up trash, and feeds the
ducks.
Speaker 1: What does Aunt Sue
say to Tim at the end of the day?
Speaker 1: What do they feed?
Speaker 2: ducks
Speaker 2: “You did good work
today. You are a great park
ranger.”
Lesson 19
BLACKLINE MASTER 19.7
Name
Think About It
Working in the Park
Think About It
Write an answer to the question.
Responses may vary.
1. Why is Tim a great park ranger?
He waters the flowers, picks up trash,
feeds the ducks, and helps children
find the ducks.
Making Connections Think about going to a
park that you have been to before. Write some
sentences about what you see and do there.
Read directions to children.
9
Think About It
Grade 1, Unit 4: Exploring Together
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5
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Name
Date
Working in the Park
Why is Aunt Sue’s job important? Write a
paragraph. Use details from the book to
support what you say.
Grade 1
6
Lesson 19: Working in the Park
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Lesson 19
BLACKLINE MASTER 19.7
Name
Think About It
Working in the Park
Think About It
Write an answer to the question.
1. Why is Tim a great park ranger?
Making Connections Think about going to a
park that you have been to before. Write some
sentences about what you see and do there.
Grade 1
7
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Student
Lesson 19
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 19.11
Working in the Park • LEVEL E
page
2
Working in the Park
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Self-Correction
Rate
Tim’s Aunt Sue was
a park ranger.
Tim went to work
with her one day.
3
“First, we need to
water the flowers,”
Aunt Sue said.
4
Tim and Aunt Sue
watered the flowers.
The flowers were pretty.
5
Tim and Aunt Sue
watered the flowers.
The flowers were pretty.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/47 × 100)
(# errors + #
Self-Corrections/
Self-Corrections)
%
1:
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 1
Behavior
Error
0
0
1
8
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
Word told
T
cat
cat

Error
1413439
Behavior
1
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