Modeled Reading: Expressive Reading
Individualized Practice: Say It Like the
Character; Paired Reading/Echo Reading
Fluency Performance: Write a New Scene
(Writing); Dramatization (Oral Presentation)
Featured Passage From:
Alexander and the
Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst
pages 24–29
Key Vocabulary: terrible, horrible
High-Frequency Words: was, there, were,
too, hot, went, down
It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very
bad day.
Modeled Reading
There were lima beans for dinner and
I hate limas.
Before Reading
You may want to begin by writing the Featured
Passage on the board or on chart paper.
Relate to personal experience. Ask children: Have
you ever had a day when everything seemed to go
wrong? What happened? How did it make you feel?
Tell children they are going to read a book about a
boy who is having a very bad day.
Talk about key vocabulary words. Introduce the
words terrible and horrible. Ask children if they know
what these words mean, confirming that they mean
the opposite of good. With the class, brainstorm a
list of synonyms such as rotten, lousy, awful, hideous,
disgusting, dreadful, ghastly, etc. Have children
add these words to the class word wall and to their
individual word banks.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad Day
There was kissing on TV and I hate kissing.
My bath was too hot, I got soap in my eyes,
my marble went down the drain, and I had
to wear my railroad-train pajamas. I hate my
railroad-train pajamas.
TM & © Scholastic Inc. Excerpt from ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY by Judith Viorst. Text copyright © 1972 by Judith Viorst.
Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. All rights reserved.
Lesson Objectives:
Page 1 of 2
During Reading
Paired Reading/Echo Reading
• Read the passage aloud, then ask children: What
has gone wrong for Alexander? Is he in a good
mood or a bad mood? How can you tell?
• Form pairs of proficient readers, and have
them practice reading the rest of the book
together. Encourage them to take turns reading
alternate pages.
• Repeat the passage once more in an appropriately
sour tone. You might even make faces as you read
to emphasize Alexander’s ill temper. Ask children
to comment on how you read the passage.
Confirm that you read it as if you were Alexander.
You used your voice to express how Alexander
is feeling.
• Explain: To read with expression, you have to
pretend that you are the character. Imagine
what it’s like to be that character, and read the
character’s lines to show the character’s feelings
or mood.
Individualized Practice
Repeated Reading:
Say It Like the Character
• Form groups and have children practice reading
the passage aloud with expression. Remind them
to read it as if they are Alexander.
• After groups have had sufficient practice, invite
volunteers to take turns reading the passage
aloud for the class.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad Day
Fluency Performance
Write a New Scene (Writing)
• Ask the class to imagine another terrible,
horrible, no good, very bad thing that could
have happened to Alexander. List some of their
ideas on the board.
• Form groups of children, and have them write a
new scene for the story. They can choose from the
list of ideas on the board or invent a situation of
their own.
TM & © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
• To provide a contrasting example, read the
passage again without any expression. Ask
children which reading they enjoyed more
and why.
• While partners practice reading, circulate and
conduct Echo Reading with struggling readers,
focusing on phrases from the passage that contain
high-frequency words. Read the passages “There
were lima beans,” “My bath was too hot,” and “my
marble went down the drain,” and ask children to
Echo Read each phrase after you.
Dramatization (Oral Presentation)
• Invite a group to come forward. Have some
children choral read the group’s text while others
in the group act out the scene.
• Continue in this way until all the groups have had
a chance to present their new scenes to the class.
Page 2 of 2
Modeled Reading: Dates and Numbers
Individualized Practice: Cooperative Repeated
Reading; Buddy Reading/Echo Reading
Fluency Performance: Diary of a Bug
(Writing); Read Aloud (Oral Presentation)
High-Frequency Vocabulary: should, earth,
gives, everything, need, never, don’t, about,
being, can’t
Key Vocabulary: tunnels
Modeled Reading
Before Reading
Featured Passages From:
Diary of a Worm
by Doreen Cronin
pages 6–7 and 28–29
March 20
Mom says there are three things I should
always remember:
1. The earth gives us everything we need.
2. When we dig tunnels, we help take care
of the earth.
3. Never bother Daddy when he’s eating the
newspaper.
You may want to begin by writing the Featured
Passages on the board or on chart paper.
Talk about earthworms. Activate background
knowledge by asking children what they know about
worms: How do they make their homes? What do
they eat? Tell children they are going to read about
a worm that writes a diary, adding: Worms can’t
really write diaries, so this isn’t a true story. In books
like these, some of the information might be true, but
some of it isn’t.
July 28
Three things I don’t like about being a worm:
1. I can’t chew gum.
2. I can’t have a dog.
3. All that homework.
TM & © Scholastic Inc. Excerpt from DIARY OF A WORM by Doreen Cronin. Text copyright © 2003 by Doreen Cronin.
Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
Lesson Objectives:
Talk about vocabulary words. Pronounce each of
the words three times, having children repeat after
you. Provide simple definitions, and use the words in
sample sentences, such as: You should never throw
garbage on the ground. This is also a good opportunity
to discuss contractions (don’t and can’t). Ask children
to choose two or three words to add to the classroom
wall and to their individual word banks.
Diary of a Worm
Page 1 of 2
During Reading
Buddy Reading/Echo Reading
• Read the passages aloud. Check comprehension
by asking children: What are three things the
worm is always supposed to remember?
• Form pairs of “buddies” to read the book together.
Have reading buddies decide whether they will
read the book together chorally or take turns
reading alternate passages.
• Point to the date at the top of each passage and
explain that this is how people write diaries:
In a diary, the date comes first. Then the writer
tells what happened on that day.
• While the rest of the class does buddy reading,
circulate and conduct Echo Reading with
struggling readers. Have children repeat after
you as you read each sentence aloud.
• Review the months of the year with the class and
the numbers 1–31 (if necessary) by saying them
together chorally.
Fluency Performance
Diary of a Bug (Writing)
• Remind children that this book was written in
the form of a diary. Ask: What bugs might keep
a diary? Record their responses on the board.
• Ask children to chime in, echoing the passage
as you read it again.
• Ask children to choose one of the bugs from the
list on the board. Have them write one or two
entries from a diary that the bug of their choice
might have written.
Individualized Practice
Read Aloud (Oral Presentation)
Repeated Reading:
Cooperative Repeated Reading
• Organize children into pairs.
• Have each child practice reading the passages
aloud with his or her partner. Partners should
listen, provide assistance if needed, and give
feedback. As they read, children should pay
particular attention to the pause after the date.
• Form small groups, and have group members
take turns reading aloud their diary entries to
each other.
TM & © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
• Repeat the passages once more. Model how
each date is read in a factual way—as if making
an announcement—with a slight pause before
reading the main body of the text. Demonstrate
the slight pause that also follows the reading of
the numbers in the numbered lists.
• Children may want to continue writing in their
“bug diaries.” If so, you can provide opportunities
for them to read aloud their entries to each
other periodically.
• Encourage partners to read other passages from
the book, pausing where appropriate.
• Work with younger or less proficient readers
to help them sound out unfamiliar words.
Diary of a Worm
Page 2 of 2
Lesson Objectives:
Modeled Reading: Dialect
Individualized Practice: Dialogue; Buddy
Reading/Echo Reading
Fluency Performance: Tall Tales (Writing);
Storytelling Contest (Oral Presentation)
Key Vocabulary: gauzy, mighty, peculiar, spied,
exclaimed, amazement, commenced, quaking
Modeled Reading
Before Reading
You may want to begin by writing the Featured
Passage on the board or on chart paper.
Talk about bayous. Explain to children that a bayou
is a marshy section of a lake or river, usually found
in Gulf states such as Louisiana and Mississippi.
Point these states out on a map, and ask if any of the
children have ever visited this area of the United
States. If time permits, allow children to research the
types of animals found in a bayou.
Talk about key vocabulary words. Pronounce each
word several times, encouraging children to repeat
after you. Point out that mighty in this context means
“very,” not “strong.” Provide simple definitions for
each word. Ask children to choose two or three words
to add to the classroom word wall and to individual
word banks.
A Million Fish . . . More or Less
A Million Fish… More
or Less
by Patricia C. McKissack
pages 5–9
It was early morning on the Bayou Clapateaux.
Hugh Thomas had just tossed his line into the
water when Papa-Daddy and Elder Abbajon
came rowing out of the gauzy river fog [. . .]
Papa-Daddy started right in. “The Elder and
me was just sayin’ that the Bayou Clapateaux is
a mighty peculiar place.”
“Take the time back in ’03, me and the
Elder here caught a wild turkey weighed five
hundred pounds!”
Hugh Thomas’s eyes filled with wonder.
“That’s a powerful big turkey.”
Quickly Elder Abbajon took up the story,
adding, “As we was marchin’ that gobbler home,
I spied a lantern that’d been left by Spanish
conquistadores back in the year 15 and 42.
And it was still burning!”
“After three hundred and fifty years!” Hugh
Thomas exclaimed in amazement.
Papa-Daddy lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Just when the Elder picked up that lantern,
the ground commenced to quaking, and the
longest, meanest cottonmouth I ever did see
raised up. . . .”
TM & © Scholastic Inc. Excerpt from A MILLION FISH... MORE OR LESS by Patricia McKissack. Text copyright © 1992 by Patricia McKissack.
Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Featured Passage From:
Page 1 of 2
During Reading
Buddy Reading/Echo Reading
• Read the passage aloud. Check comprehension by
asking: How much did the turkey weigh?
• Have children work in pairs to Buddy Read the
book together. Partners can decide whether they
will read the book together chorally or take turns
reading alternate pages.
• Repeat the passage once more, this time using a
very slight southern accent and emphasizing the
areas of text with dialect such as “sayin’,” “mighty
peculiar,” and “powerful big.” Explain that writers
often use dialect when they create dialogue to
show how people sound in the area they are
writing about.
• Demonstrate how children should read words
where the g has been dropped from words ending
in -ing (sayin’, marchin’). Explain that when
reading dialect, the reader should read the text
as it is written and shouldn’t try to correct the
pronunciations and grammar.
Individualized Practice
Repeated Reading:
Dialogue
• Form groups of four children. Have groups read
the Featured Passage as a dialogue, with each
child taking one of the following roles: narrator,
Hugh Thomas, Papa-Daddy, or Elder Abbajon.
• Remind children to read the dialect as it
is written.
• Children can also practice reading other dialogues
in the book as well.
Fluency Performance
Tall Tales (Writing)
• Say: The stories that Papa-Daddy and Elder
Abbajon told are examples of tall tales. A tall tale
is a story that is so exaggerated and silly that you
know it could never happen in real life. But that’s
what makes tall tales so fun to tell and listen to.
• Invite children to make up their own tall tales,
incorporating a dialect of their choice. Encourage
them to exaggerate, making their stories as
preposterous and outlandish as possible.
TM & © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
• Read the passage again chorally, several times,
as time permits.
• While the rest of the class does Buddy Reading,
circulate and conduct Echo Reading of the
Featured Passage with struggling readers.
Have children repeat after you as you read
each sentence aloud. Stop and help with dialect
as needed.
• Younger or less proficient children might find it
easier to simply write an ending to the tall tale
about the cottonmouth snake that Papa-Daddy
started to tell in the Featured Passage.
Storytelling Contest
(Oral Presentation)
• Hold a storytelling contest, inviting children to
share their stories with the class. Remind children
to read using their chosen dialect.
• Afterward, the class can vote on the most
outlandish or enjoyable tale.
A Million Fish . . . More or Less
Page 2 of 2
Modeled Reading: Tone
Individualized Practice: Impromptu Choral
Reading; Choral Reading/Echo Reading
Fluency Performance: Nature Description
(Writing); Read Aloud (Oral Presentation)
Key Vocabulary: still, shine, stained, furry,
brave, clearing, exactly
Modeled Reading
Featured Passages From:
Owl Moon
by Jane Yolen
pages 5, 9, 16–18
It was late one winter night, long past my
bedtime, when Pa and I went owling. There was
no wind. The trees stood still as giant statues.
And the moon was so bright the sky seemed
to shine. Somewhere behind us a train whistle
blew, long and low, like a sad, sad song.
Before Reading
You may want to begin by writing the Featured
Passages on the board or on chart paper.
Preview illustrations. Page through the book,
showing children the illustrations and asking them
to name the plants, animals, landforms, and other
natural phenomena shown in the pictures. Ask: What
do you think this book is about? What season is it?
How can you tell?
Talk about key vocabulary words. Pronounce each
word several times, encouraging children to repeat
after you. Provide simple definitions for the words,
saying, for example, that a clearing is “an area in the
woods where no trees are growing.” Ask children to
choose two or three words to add to the classroom
word wall and to individual word banks.
Owl Moon
[. . .] If you go owling, you have to be quiet,
that’s what Pa always says. I had been waiting
to go owling with Pa for a long, long, time.
We went into the woods. The shadows were the
blackest things I had ever seen. They stained
the white snow. My mouth felt furry, for the
scarf over it was wet and warm. I didn’t ask
what kinds of things hide behind black trees
in the middle of the night. When you go owling
you have to be brave.
TM & © Scholastic Inc. Excerpt from OWL MOON by Jane Yolen. Text copyright © 1987 by Jane Yolen.
Reprinted by permission of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights reserved.
Lesson Objectives:
Then we came to a clearing in the dark woods.
The moon was high above us. It seemed to fit
exactly over the center of the clearing and
the snow below it was whiter than the milk
in a cereal bowl.
Page 1 of 2
During Reading
Choral Reading/Echo Reading
• Ask children: What words would you use to
describe the woods at night in these passages?
(dark, quiet, scary)
• Form groups of proficient readers, and have them
Choral Read the rest of the book. Encourage them
to stop periodically to discuss the mood of the
text, and then to read the passages using their
voices to express the tone or mood.
• Read the first paragraph slowly, dragging out the
words long and sad. Say: When we read, we use
our voices to show the tone, or mood, of the words.
This phrase describes a train whistle. The words
long, low, and sad are clues that I should read
this slowly and sadly, dragging out the words.
• Read the second and third paragraphs in a hushed
voice, with an attitude of wonder. Explain: The
girl who is telling the story is excited, but she’s
also being very quiet so she doesn’t scare the owls.
When I read these passages I use my voice to show
that kind of quiet, hushed excitement.
Individualized Practice
Repeated Reading:
Impromptu Choral Reading
• Have children read the passages to themselves
and choose a line or two that they would like to
read aloud.
• Then read the passages aloud, inviting children
to join in when you get to the part that they have
chosen to read.
• Explain that some lines will be read by individual
children, while others will be read by several
children or even the whole class.
Fluency Performance
Nature Description (Writing)
• Have children write a description of a nature walk
they have taken. Tell them that a “nature walk”
doesn’t have to be somewhere far away. It can be
a walk through their own neighborhood or in a
city park.
• Encourage children to use vivid descriptive words
that tell about the sights, sounds, and atmosphere
of their nature walk.
TM & © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
• Invite volunteers to read the passages aloud,
individually or in groups using their voices to
demonstrate the tone or mood of the text.
• While proficient readers do Choral Reading,
circulate and conduct Echo Reading with
struggling readers. Read aloud the Featured
Passages one sentence at a time, having children
repeat it after you. As children gain confidence,
encourage them to take the lead while you
echo them.
Read Aloud (Oral Presentation)
• Have children read their descriptions aloud to
a partner.
• Partners should give feedback on the effectiveness
of the descriptions. Children can then revise their
work and read their descriptions aloud to the
class on a subsequent day.
• Tell children that if there are any lines in the
passages that no one has chosen to read, anyone
can jump in and read them.
Owl Moon
Page 2 of 2
Lesson Objectives:
Modeled Reading: Proper Nouns and
Foreign Names
Individualized Practice: Cooperative
Repeated Reading; Mumble Reading/
Read While Listening
Fluency Performance: Story Map (Writing);
Retelling (Oral Presentation)
Key Vocabulary: village, journey, temper,
servant, household, ignored, tended
Modeled Reading
Before Reading
You may want to begin by writing the Featured
Passage on the board or on chart paper.
Talk about fairy tales. Ask children if they know the
stories of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, or Snow
White. Ask: What do these stories have in common?
Point out that they are all fairy tales. Tell children that
the story they are going to read is an African fairy tale.
Talk about key vocabulary words. Pronounce each
word several times, encouraging children to repeat
after you. Explain, for example, that a journey is a
long trip and that temper, in this context, means
“mood.” Ask children to choose two or three words
to add to the classroom word wall and to individual
word banks.
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
Mufaro’s Beautiful
Daughters
by John Steptoe
pages 5–11
A long time ago, in a certain place in Africa,
a small village lay across a river and half
a day’s journey from a city where a great
king lived. A man named Mufaro lived in this
village with his two daughters, who were called
Manyara and Nyasha. Everyone agreed that
Manyara and Nyasha were very beautiful.
Manyara was almost always in a bad
temper. She teased her sister whenever
their father’s back was turned, and she had
been heard to say, “Someday, Nyasha, I will
be a queen, and you will be a servant in my
household.” [. . .]
Nyasha was sad that Manyara felt this way,
but she ignored her sister’s words and went
about her chores. [. . .]
One day, Nyasha noticed a small garden
snake resting beneath a yam vine. “Good day,
little Nyoka,” she called to him. [. . .] She bent
forward, gave the little snake a loving pat on the
head, and then returned to her work.
From that day on, Nyoka was always at
Nyasha’s side when she tended her garden.
TM & © Scholastic Inc. Excerpt from MUFARO’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS by John Steptoe.
Copyright © 1987 by John Steptoe. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
Featured Passage From:
Page 1 of 2
During Reading
• Read the passage aloud. Prompt children to
reflect on the story’s genre by asking: How is this
part of the story like the beginning of Cinderella?
• Direct children’s attention to the passage on the
board. Point out the names Mufaro, Manyara,
Nyasha, and Nyoka. Tell children: These are
African names. Do you know how to say them?
Whenever we see names or words from other
countries in a book, we can check to see if the
author tells us how to pronounce them.
• Turn to the first page of the book. Say: This
introduction shows us how to pronounce
the names.
Mumble Reading/Read While
Listening
• Have proficient readers Mumble Read the rest of
the book. Remind them to read to themselves in a
low voice, and to practice pronouncing the names
of the characters correctly.
• While proficient readers are Mumble Reading,
read the rest of the book aloud to struggling
readers. Stop periodically and allow children
to ask questions about what you’ve read. Invite
volunteers to read some passages aloud with you.
Fluency Performance
Story Map (Writing)
• Read the passage again chorally, several times,
as time permits.
• Have children copy the map, adding the problem,
events, and resolution using their own words. Or
provide children with a copy of a map from the
Teacher Resources CD-ROM.
Individualized Practice
• Ask children to write a new ending for the story
and to add this new resolution to their story maps.
Repeated Reading:
Cooperative Repeated Reading
• On the board, create a frame for a story map.
Include the following elements: Title, Setting,
Main Characters, Problem, Events, and
Resolution. Work with the class to fill out each
part of the map.
TM & © Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
• Write moo-FAR-oh, nee-AH-sha, mahn-YAR-ah,
and nee-YO-kah on the board. Explain that in a
pronunciation guide, the word part(s) that are in
all capital letters are the part(s) of the word that
should be stressed. Demonstrate by saying all four
names correctly and have children repeat after
you several times.
Retelling (Oral Presentation)
• Organize children into pairs. Pairs can decide
whether to practice rereading the Featured
Passage, or to choose a new passage from the book.
• Demonstrate how you might retell the story in
your own words using the story map on the board
but adding a new ending.
• Each child should practice reading the passage at
least three times. Partners should listen, provide
assistance if needed, and give feedback. As they
read, children should pay particular attention to
the pronunciation of the proper nouns.
• Invite volunteers to take turns retelling the
story using their own story maps and their new
alternate endings. Other children can retell the
story on subsequent days.
• Older or more proficient children may also fill
out the Cooperative Repeated Reading Response
Form from the Teacher Resources CD-ROM.
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters
Page 2 of 2