LESSON 19 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Too Many Signs!
by E.J. Nikki
Fountas-Pinnell Level L
Humorous Fiction
Selection Summary
The mayor of Happytown is proud of all the signs in town. However,
when the townspeople demand the signs be removed, disorder
follows. Happiness and order return when the signs go back up and
the policeman stops issuing tickets.
Number of Words: 978
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Humorous fiction
• Third-person narrative
• The problem is presented on the first page.
• The mayor of Happytown knows signs maintain order.
• Townspeople don’t like getting tickets, so the signs are taken down.
• The solution to keep the signs but not issue tickets keeps everyone happy.
• Signs tell rules and maintain order.
• Disorder can make people unhappy.
• Compromises create good solutions to problems.
• Multiple characters to understand and follow development
• Multiple points of view revealed through character behavior and dialogue
• Variety of sentence length and complexity
• Split dialogue
• Some phrases set off in single quotation marks within sentences
• Terms related to local politics, some of which might not be familiar: townspeople, mayor,
elected, meeting
• Sound word: Tweet!
• Interjection: Hooray!
• Words with suffixes and prefixes: orderly, smoothly, safely, highly, unhappy, disorder
• Humorous, cartoon-like illustrations support the text.
• A variety of text within the illustrations
• Illustrations that are essential to interpretation of text
• Seven to thirteen lines of print on all pages
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Too Many Signs!
by E.J. Nikki
Build Background
Help children think about signs and their purpose. Build interest by asking questions such
as the following: What kinds of signs do you see all the time? How do signs help you?
Read the title and author and talk about the cover illustration. Have children read the signs
and talk about what activities they prohibit. Tell children that this story is humorous fiction,
so it will contain funny parts.
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:
Pages 2–3: Explain that this is a funny story about Happytown, a place where
there are many signs. But, if people don’t obey the signs, a policeman gives them
tickets. That makes the people in Happytown unhappy.
Suggested language: Turn to page 3. Here is a picture of a woman getting a ticket.
It looks like she is a jogger. What do you think she is getting a ticket for? How is
she feeling? How can you tell?
Pages 6–7: Explain that people in Happytown met with the mayor. Look at
the picture. How do the people feel? They want all the signs taken down. But
the mayor thought that if the town had no signs, the townspeople would live
in disorder. What happens if there is disorder? Are things calm, or are they
confused?
Page 8: Call attention to the picture. What is happening on this page? People are
doing the opposite of what they were allowed to do before. What is the opposite of
No Running?
Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to find out what happens
when the signs get taken down in Happytown.
Expand Your Vocabulary
disorder – chaos, p. 7
Grade 2
opposite – someone or
something that is completely
different from what is
expected, p. 8
2
orderly – well behaved, p. 2
relief – removal of something
painful or troubling, p. 14
Lesson 19: Too Many Signs!
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Read
Have children read Too Many Signs! silently while you listen to individual children read.
Support their problem solving and fluency as needed.
Remind children to use the Question Strategy
as they read.
and to think of questions
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite children to share their personal responses to the story.
Suggested language: What do you think was the funniest part of this story? Did it remind
you of anything that’s happened to you? Why?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, make sure children understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• At the beginning of the story,
signs maintain order, but people
receive tickets.
• Signs tell rules and maintain
order.
• Signs in the illustrations help
us understand the action of the
story.
• The mayor tries to teach the
townspeople a lesson, and he
succeeds.
• At the end of the story, signs
keep order, but the policeman
stops giving tickets.
• Disorder can make people
unhappy.
• Compromises create good
solutions to problems.
• The writer uses humor to show
the characters reacting to the
signs and lack of signs.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite children to choose a passage from the text to act out or present.
Remind them to differentiate dialogue from other forms of text.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the children’s reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind children to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Remind children that some words have silent consonants. For
example, sign, signs, whistle, caught, wrong, high, highly.
Grade 2
3
Lesson 19: Too Many Signs!
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have children complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 19.9.
Responding
Have children complete the activities at the back of the book. Use the instruction below as
needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Text and Graphic Features
Remind children that text and graphic features
like labels, captions, and maps can help them understand the story better. Model the skill,
using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
If I look at the chart on page 15, I can see that I need to find punctuation
marks to help me fill in the boxes. I know that there are a lot of
exclamation points in this story because of the signs and how upset
people are. I will start on page 2 and look for them. The first one I see is
on page 3 after the word Tweet. I’ll write down 3 on my chart and keep
looking. I know that exclamation marks show me that someone is very
excited when they speak so I’ll put that in the last box.
Practice the Skill
Have children describe how the graphic features in the illustrations in No More Signs!
helped them understand the story.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have children write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think beyond the text, they use what they know and their personal knowledge to think
about what happens in the story.
Assessment Prompts
• What words on page 2 help you understand the word orderly?
• How did the policeman change at the end of the story?
Grade 2
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair English-speaking and English language learners so that they
can check their understanding with each other.
Cultural Support Explain that police officers give tickets to people who break the law.
Provide examples, such as driving too fast or not stopping at a stop sign.
Oral Language Development
Check children’s comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches their English
proficiency. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: Look at the cover. What do
the signs say?
Speaker 1: What happens to the
townspeople if they don’t follow the
signs?
Speaker 1: Why is there a big
problem when the mayor of
Happytown agrees to take down
the signs?
Speaker 2: They say Keep Off Grass
and Don’t Touch.
Speaker 1: What is the policeman
going to do?
Speaker 2: He is going to give a ticket.
Speaker 2: The policeman gives them a
ticket.
Speaker 1: What do the townspeople do
when they get tired of getting tickets?
Speaker 2: They have a meeting with the
mayor and shout at him to take down
the signs.
Speaker 2: The townspeople
do the opposite of what they
are supposed to do. It causes
disorder in the whole town
because there are no rules.
Lesson 19
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 19.9
Think About It
Too Many Signs!
Think About It
Read and answer the questions.
1. Why do the townspeople want to get rid of
the signs?
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2. What are some signs that you see during your day?
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3. Why is everybody happy at the end of the story?
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IBWFUPQBZBOZNPSFàOFT
Making Connections The townspeople don’t understand how
important the signs are until the signs are taken away. Describe
a time when you learned that something was important only
after it was taken away.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Read directions to children.
Think About It
Grade 2, Unit 4: Heroes and Helpers
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Grade 2
5
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Name
Date
Too Many Signs!
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two
paragraphs.
When people make a compromise, they give up a little of what they want in
order to solve a problem. How did the people of Happytown reach a
compromise in the story? Do you think it was a good solution to their
problem? Why or why not?
Grade 2
6
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Lesson 19
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 19.9
Think About It
Too Many Signs!
Think About It
Read and answer the questions.
1. Why do the townspeople want to get rid of
the signs?
2. What are some signs that you see during your day?
3. Why is everybody happy at the end of the story?
Making Connections The townspeople don’t understand how
important the signs are until the signs are taken away. Describe
a time when you learned that something was important only
after it was taken away.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 2
7
Lesson 19: Too Many Signs!
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Student
Lesson 19
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 19.13
Too Many Signs! • LEVEL L
page
2
Too Many Signs!
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
But the people in Happytown were not happy.
Everyone was tired of following all the signs.
There were too many of them. And if they did
not follow the signs, the policeman gave them
a ticket.
Everyone was always getting tickets.
3
One day, Ms. Gold was running on the
sidewalk.
“Tweet!” The policeman blew his whistle.
“Stop running on the sidewalk!”
“But I am just trying to get some exercise,” said
Ms. Gold.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/73 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 2
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
1413631
Behavior
1
Lesson 19: Too Many Signs!
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