LESSON 16 TEACHER’S GUIDE
The Sun
by Farra Allen
Fountas-Pinnell Level D
Informational Text
Selection Summary
The sun in the sky is important to the cycle of growth. The sun helps
the trees, grass, plants, and apples grow. Then birds nest in the trees,
cows eat the grass, rabbits eat the plants, and people eat the apples.
Number of Words: 119
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Informational Text
• Each two-page spread focuses on one aspect of what the sun helps grow.
• Underlying main idea and details text structure
• Living things that need the sun to grow: trees, grass, plants, apples
• Uses of what the sun helps grow
• Living things on Earth depend on light from the sun.
• Animals and people use what the sun helps grow.
• Repeating sentence pattern: Look at the sun. It is in the sky. It can help the ____ grow.
• Meaning provided through integration of photos with text.
• Simple sentences: Look at the ___.
• Some longer sentences with more than six words
• Content words with meanings reinforced by photos and labels
• One- to two-syllable words
• Repeated use of high-frequency words: eat, grow, help, is, like, look
• Photos support each page of text
• Nine pages of text, with photos on every page
• Labels on photos identify objects and animals.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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The Sun
by Farra Allen
Build Background
Read the title to children and talk with them about the sun. Ask them how they think the
sun helps us and other living things. Encourage children to use their knowledge of the sun
and what it does to think about the book. Ask questions such as the following: What needs
sunlight to grow? Do flowers need the sun?
Introduce the Text
Guide children through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary. Explain important text features such as the repitition of the
phrases: Look at the sun. It is in the sky. The sun can help the ___ grow. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that this book tells how the sun helps living things. Point to the
labels in the illustration and read them. Explain that pictures in this book have
labels to name things.
Suggested language: Turn to page 2. Can you see the sun here? What living
things can you see? The sentence reads: The sun can help the trees grow. Now
say help. What letter do you expect to see first in help? What kinds of things can
help a tree grow?
Page 3: Remind children that they can use pictures to help them read. Look at the
photo. What do you see in the photo? Look at the birds. They like to sit in the trees.
Pages 4–5: Turn to page 4. What does the sun help grow on this page? Yes, it can
help the grass grow. Now look on page 5. After the grass grows, what happens?
Yes, the cows like to eat the grass. Say eat. Eat begins with e. Find eat, put your
finger under it and say it.
Now go back to the beginning and read to find out why the sun is so important to
living things.
Words to Know
bird
eat
Grade 1
grow
help
2
look
they
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Read
As 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 book. Begin by asking what they
liked best about the book, or what they found interesting.
Suggested language: What do you think is the most important thing the sun can do?
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
• The sun is in the sky.
• The sun helps things on Earth
grow.
• The writer uses the same
language on each page but
changes the name of what the
sun helps grow and the animals.
• The sun can help trees, grass,
plants, and apples grow.
• Then birds sit in the trees,
cows eat the grass, rabbits eat
the plants, and people eat the
apples.
• Animals and people use what the
sun helps grow.
• Challenging words are labeled in
the photos.
• The last page is different,
because it doesn’t use the same
sentence pattern.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Support
Concepts of Print
Have children match one spoken word to one written word while reading and writing.
Phonemic Awareness and Word Work
Provide practice as needed with words and sounds, using one of the following activities:
• Listening Game Remind children that when two letters come together at the
beginning of a word, they can be blended together. Write sky and say “s-k-y” as you
point to each letter. Ask children to listen for blends as you say pairs of words. Tell
them to raise their hands if they hear a blend and to keep their hands down if they do
not hear a blend. Use words such as these: pan-plants, bring-bang, grass-gas, teatree.
• Build Sentences Materials: index cards, sentence strips. Write the high-frequency
words from The Sun on index cards: Look, the, is, help, grow, like, eat, birds, they, we.
Then have children write sentences that include the words on the index cards.
Grade 1
3
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Writing About Reading
Critical Thinking
Read the directions for children on BLM 16.7 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
Main Ideas and Details
Remind children that main ideas are the most
important ideas in a book. Details tell about the main idea. As they read, they can look for
main ideas and details. Model how to think about main ideas and details:
Think Aloud
Most of the pages in this book name things that the sun can help grow.
I think that’s the most important idea—the main idea—of this book: The
sun can help things grow. Now I look for details that support the main
idea. On page 2, I read that the sun can help the trees grow. Helping trees
grow is a detail that supports the main idea.
Practice the Skill
Have children find other details in the book that support the main idea that the sun can
help things grow. Have them use the details to complete the diagram on page 11.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Read aloud the following prompt. Have children draw and write their response, using the
writing prompt on page 6.
Draw a picture of something the sun can help grow that is not in the book.
What did the sun help grow?
Grade 1
4
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English Language Learners
Front-Load Vocabulary Use the photographs and labels to make sure children know
the meanings of sky, grass, plants, rabbit, and apples.
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: Where is the sun?
Speaker 1: What do the cows like to
eat?
Speaker 1: What does the sun do
for apples?
Speaker 2: They like to eat grass.
Speaker 2: The sun helps them
grow.
Speaker 2: [Points to sun.]
Speaker 1: Point to the rabbit.
Speaker 2: [Points to rabbit.]
Speaker 1: What does the rabbit like to
eat?
Speaker 1: What can people do
with the apples?
Speaker 2: It likes to eat the plants.
Speaker 2: The people can eat the
apples.
Lesson 16
BLACKLINE MASTER 16.7
Name
Think About It
The Sun
Think About It
Write an answer to the question.
Responses may vary.
1. How does the sun help animals and plants?
The sun helps plants grow so that
animals can eat them.
Making Connections Think about how the sun
helps you. Write some sentences about the sun.
Read directions to children.
Think About It
9
Grade 1, Unit 4: Exploring Together
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5
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Name
Date
The Sun
Draw a picture of something the sun can help
grow that is not in the book.
What did the sun help grow?
Grade 1
6
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Lesson 16
BLACKLINE MASTER 16.7
Name
Think About It
The Sun
Think About It
Write an answer to the question.
1. How does the sun help animals and plants?
Making Connections Think about how the sun
helps you. Write some sentences about the sun.
Grade 1
7
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Student
Lesson 16
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 16.12
The Sun • LEVEL D
page
4
The Sun
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Self-Correction
Rate
Look at the sun.
It is in the sky.
It can help
the grass grow.
5
Look at the cows.
The cows like to eat
the grass.
6
Look at the sun.
It is in the sky.
It can help
the plants grow.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/41 × 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
1413436
Behavior
1
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