LESSON 3 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Curious About School
Fountas-Pinnell Level B
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
Children tell about the different things they like to do at school.
Number of Words: 50
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Nonfiction
• First-person narrative with multiple narrators, using We
• New idea on each page
• Things children like
• School activities
• Everyone likes to do different things at school.
• It is fun to do things together.
• Activities familiar to children
• Predictable language pattern on most pages
• Simple repeated sentence pattern: We can _____.
• Words related to school: paint, write, books
• Word meanings supported by photos
• Highlighted high-frequency words: do, find, funny, sing, no, they
• Some one-syllable words (climb, sing), some two-syllable words (pictures, stories)
• Plurals (books, ropes, snacks)
• Photos add information about what children do at school.
• Illustration of Curious George on each page
• Nine pages, with two or three lines of text on each page
• Print in same place on each page
• Initial capital letters and end periods
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Curious About School
Build Background
Read the title to children and talk with them about the cover photo. Ask: What do you think
the children in the photo like to do at school? Encourage children to talk about what they
do at school. Then ask: What do you think you might read about in this book?
Introduce the Text
Guide children through the text, helping with unfamiliar words so they can read the text
successfully. Here are some suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that in this book the children tell about things they can do at
school.
Suggested language: Turn to page 2. What do you see in the picture? Yes, the
children are painting. So they say: We can paint pictures. Now say the word we.
What letter would you expect to see first in the word we? Find the word We and
put your finger under it. And you can see that We starts with uppercase W because
it comes at the beginning.
Page 3: Remind children that they can use the information in the photos to help
them read. Look at the photo on this page. Now what are the children doing at
school? They say: We can read funny books. Say the word funny. What letter
would you expect to see first in funny? Find the word funny and put your finger
under it. Do you like funny books? Why or why not?
Page 6: What do the children do on this page? They take out their snacks. So they
say: We can eat snacks. They are good. Find the word They and put your finger
under it. Why does it start with uppercase T?
Page 10: Look at this picture. What do the children do on this page? They say: We
can sing. Do you sing? Say yes or no. Say the word sing. What letter would you
expect to see first in sing? Find sing and put your finger under it. Do the children
look like they enjoy singing songs? How can you tell? Do you?
Now go back to the beginning and read to find out what the children can do at
school.
Words to Know
Have children turn to the Words to Know at the back of the book. Read each word aloud and
then together. Explain any unknown words. Tell children to look for these words as they read.
Words to Know
do
find
Grade 1
funny
no
2
sing
they
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Read
Now have children read Curious About School softly while pointing under each word.
Observe children as they read.
Respond to the Text
Personal Response
Ask children to share their personal responses to the book. Begin by asking what they
liked best about the book, or what they found interesting.
Suggested language: Which things in the book do you like to do at school?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, make sure children understand these teaching points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Children can read books, write
stories, paint pictures, and do
many things at school.
• Everyone likes to do different
things at school.
• The writer uses the same
language pattern on many pages.
• School activities can be
educational and fun.
• The photos show what the
children can do at school.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Support
Concepts of Print
Practice early reading behaviors such as reading from left to right and locating the first
and last letters of each word on a page.
Phonemic Awareness and Word Work
Provide practice as needed with words and sounds, using one of the following activities:
• Rhyming Words Say the word can and have children repeat it. Ask them to name
rhyming words for can (fan, man, pan). Follow the same procedure with these words:
book (look, cook, hook); eat (seat, meat, feet); play (day, say, may).
• Sorting Letters Materials: lower case magnetic or cardboard letters or letter cards.
Have children sort the letters according to their features: tall or short; with or without
sticks; with or without circles; with or without tails.
Grade 1
3
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Writing About Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Read the directions and have children complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 3.1.
Responding
Have children complete the vocabulary activities on page 11.
Building Vocabulary
School Words
Build on the action words in Curious About School. Suggested language: Let’s think
about all the things we can do at school. What are some other things you can do
at school? Can you draw at school? As children suggest names of activities,
write their words and sentences on the board or on chart paper. Begin the list with
the words We can.
(Possible suggestions: run, play, listen, draw, write, paint, perform, read, learn, climb)
After children have made their suggestions, read the list aloud together, pointing to each
word. Then say: These are all things we can do at school!
Writing Prompt
Read aloud the following prompt. Have children draw and write their response, using the
writing prompt on page 6.
Draw a picture. Show one thing you like to do at school.
Write about why you like to do it.
Grade 1
4
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English Language Learners
Front-Load Vocabulary Make sure children know the meanings of the following
words: school, paint, read, snacks, climb, ropes, and kick. Also, you may need to explain
about the character Curious George who appears outside the frame of each picture.
Cultural Support Support Spanish speakers by pointing out cognates in the text.
Explain that some words are similar in Spanish and English, such as escuela and school.
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: Point to the children.
Speaker 1: What can the children do at
school?
Speaker 1: What do the children
eat for snack?
Speaker 2: Possible answers: read funny
books, paint pictures, eat snacks, kick
a ball, feed the pet, play games, write
stories, climb ropes, sing songs
Speaker 2: They eat fruit.
Speaker 2: [Points to children.]
Speaker 1: [Point to the picture on
page 3.] What do the children do
here?
Speaker 2: read books
Speaker 1: What do the children
climb?
Speaker 2: They can climb ropes.
Speaker 1: What do the children kick?
Speaker 2: They can kick a ball.
Lesson 3
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 3.1
Words to Know
Curious About School
Words to Know
Read the question. Write the answer in the
blank. Use words from the word bank.
Word Bank
do
funny
no
find
sing
they
Q: What may happen if you look for a lost item?
find
A: I may
it.
Q: What do singers do?
sing
A: They
songs.
Q: What answer does not mean yes?
No
A:
does not mean yes.
Q: What kind of play makes you giggle?
A: A
funny
Read directions to children.
Words to Know
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Grade 1
5
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play makes me giggle.
3
Grade 1, Unit 1: Around the Neighborhood
2/6/09 8:30:20 AM
Lesson 3: Curious About School
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Name
Date
Curious About School
Draw a picture. Show one thing you like
to do at school.
Write about why you like to do it.
Grade 1
6
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Lesson 3
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 3.1
Words to Know
Curious About School
Words to Know
Read the question. Write the answer in the
blank. Use words from the word bank.
Word Bank
do
funny
no
find
sing
they
Q: What may happen if you look for a lost item?
A: I may
it.
Q: What do singers do?
A: They
songs.
Q: What answer does not mean yes?
A:
does not mean yes.
Q: What kind of play makes you giggle?
A: A
Grade 1
play makes me giggle.
7
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Student
Lesson 3
Date
BLackline master 3.23
Curious About School • level b
page
Curious About School
Running Record Form
Selection Text
2
We can paint pictures.
3
We can read
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Self-Correction
Rate
funny books.
4
We can play games.
5
We can write stories.
6
We can eat snacks.
They are good.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/24 × 100)
(# errors + #
Self-Corrections/
Self-Correction)
%
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
cat
cut sc
0
Insertion
the
1
Word told
T
cat
cat
ˆ
Error
1413403
Behavior
1
Lesson 3: Curious About School
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