Level C/3
Costume Party
Fiction Teacher’s Guide
Skill & Strategies
Anchor Comprehension Strategies
•• Analyze Character
•• Summarize Information
Phonemic Awareness
•• Segment and blend onset and rime
Phonics
•• Identify initial p
•• Identify initial h
Concepts About Print
•• Sentence structure
High-Frequency Words
•• going, is, to
Concept Vocabulary
•• Costumes
Summary
•• A boy is having a party, and all his interesting friends are going.
B
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Theme: People and Culture
Social Studies Concept: People
celebrate to remember special
days or events.
e n c h m a r k
E
d u c a t i o n
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Small-Group Reading Lesson
athlete
princess
Activate Prior Knowledge
Party
Costumes
cowboy
ell
Before Reading
firefighter
Support Tips
for English-Language Learners
• Encourage students to draw on their prior knowledge to build ­background
for reading the text. Create an overhead transparency of the graphic
­organizer “Party Costumes” (left). Begin a discussion by asking students to
tell what kind of costume they would like to wear to a ­costume party.
Record their suggestions in the graphic organizer. Tell students they will
come back to the graphic organizer after reading the book.
Model Visualizing
• Read the title and have students examine the cover of the book. Say: A good
reader reads the title of a book and looks at the cover picture to get clues about
the story. The picture on this cover shows confetti and smiling ­children. I think
Before reading, focus on the use of
about times when I have seen confetti. I see a picture in my mind of parties.
personal pronouns to replace a name.
The children in the picture are wearing a crown, a cowboy hat, and a lion’s
Begin by saying: Maria is going to a
mane. I think about times when I have seen children dressed up this way. I see in
party. She is going to the party. Repeat
my mind a special kind of party—a costume party. The title and the ­picture tell
the sentences and ask students who
me that the story is about a costume party. I try to imagine the party and the
she is. (Maria) Repeat using other
costumes the children wear. I see a picture of a pirate and an astronaut. I
­student names, replacing she with he
wonder if the children in the story wear these kinds of ­costumes. I will read the
when referring to boys. Explain that we
book to find out.
Build Vocabulary and
Language Patterns
use he to refer to a boy and she to
refer to a girl. Frame a sentence that
describes a student in the group. Say:
___ is tall. Have another student complete the sentence by supplying the
correct pronoun, either he or she.
Have students practice the ­sentence
structure using pronouns with the
word is and an adjective or a noun.
CUES FOR STRATEGIC
READING
Visual Cues
• Look at the beginning letter (p in party).
• Look for familiar chunks within the
word. (pen in penguin).
Structure Cues
• Look for repeated language patterns:
. . . is going to the party.
Meaning Cues
• Think about what makes sense in the
sentence.
• Look at the picture to confirm the
meaning of the word.
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• Point out the thought bubble on page 3. Tell students that the child is
thinking about his party. He can see how it looks by making a picture in
his mind. Ask students to see pictures of the party in their minds.
Preview the Book
• Read the title and names of the author and illustrator to students.
Discuss what they see on the cover. Then show them the illustration on
the title page. Ask:
What do you see in the picture?
What do you think of when you see balloons and streamers?
• Preview the pictures with students, reinforcing the language used in the
text. For example, say: This boy is writing an invitation. What is he
­thinking about? How are the children dressed? Where are the children going?
Set a Purpose for Reading
• Have students turn to page 2 and whisper-read the book. Say: I want you
to read the book to find out what costumes the boys and girls wore to the
party. Monitor students’ reading and provide support when ­necessary.
Review Reading Strategies
• Use the cues provided to remind students that they can apply different
strategies to identify unfamiliar words.
Copyright © 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible page for classroom use.
No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 1-4108-0053-4
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During Reading
Observe and Prompt Reading Strategies
• Observe students as they read the book. Take note of how they are
problem-solving on text. Guide, or prompt, individual students who
cannot problem-solve independently.
After Reading
Reflect on Reading Strategies
• After students have completed their reading, encourage them to talk
about the reading strategies they used. Reinforce the good reading
behaviors you noticed by saying:
I noticed, [student’s name], that when you came to a word you didn’t
know, you went back and reread the sentence. Did this help you figure out
the word?
[ Student’s name], I saw you sound out the word cowboy. Did you look for
a familiar chunk within the word? Cowboy is a word made up of the two
words cow and boy. Did you see the words cow and boy?
Build Comprehension: Discuss Concepts
• L ocate facts: What costumes do the children wear to the party?
­(ballerina, pages 4–5; lion, pages 6­–7; princess, pages 8–9; cowboy,
pages 10–11; penguin, pages 12–13; pirate, pages 14–15)
•C
ompare and contrast: Look at the costumes in our graphic organizer.
Which ones are mentioned in the book? (Answers will vary.)
•U
se graphic features: Look at the picture on pages 2–3. What does the
­picture tell you about the boy? (Answers will vary. One possible answer:
Thinking about the party makes him happy.)
•U
se creative thinking: What costume would you like to wear to a party?
(Answers will vary.)
• Use the Comprehension Assessment Tips on page 4 to evaluate how
students answer different types of questions.
• To practice text-dependent reading strategies, use the Comprehension
Through Deductive Reasoning card for Costume Party.
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ell
Support Tips
for English-Language Learners
The concept of a costume party may be
­unfamiliar to some students. Tell them that
sometimes people have parties where they
ask their guests to dressup and pretend
they are someone else or an animal. They
have fun making believe. Take a picture
walk through the book and have ­students
name as many costumes as they can.
Provide support If they lack the vocabulary
to name any of the costumes..
Skills Support tips
Use the Skills Bank
Based on your observations of ­students’
reading behaviors, you may wish to select
activities from the Skills Bank (pages 6–9)
that will ­develop students’ reading
strategies.

Assessment Tip
Check a student’s reading strategies by
asking the student to read several
pages aloud while other students
whisper-read. Note whether the
­student is using visual, structure, and/
or meaning cues to self-correct and to
make sense of the text.
Make Fiction-to-Fact™
Concept Connections
If students have read Thanksgiving Then
and Now, ask:
• In which book do you read about real
people celebrating an important day?
(Thanksgiving Then and Now) How many
celebrations are in this book? (2) What is
similar about these two celebrations?
(Families gather to share a meal, to play
music, and to have fun.)
•H
ow is the party in Costume Party similar
to Thanksgiving? (The boys and girls in
the story also gather to have fun. They
probably also have music and food.)
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Small-Group Reading Lesson

Comprehension
Assessment tips
Monitor Comprehension
• Are students able to locate
­specific answers to textdependent questions in the text?
If they are having difficulty, show
them how to match the wording
of the question to the wording
in the text.
• Are students able to find answers
to questions that require a
search of the text? If they are
having difficulty, model how you
would search for the answer.
• Can students combine their
background knowledge with
information from the text to
make inferences? You may wish
to model how you would answer
the question.
Build Comprehension: Summarize Information
Model
• Create an overhead transparency of the graphic organizer “Costume
Party” on page 12 or copy it on the board. Begin a discussion of how
the ­students might summarize the information in the book. Model for
­students how to record this information. Use the following think-aloud.
hen I read a story, I can better remember what I read if I write the most
W
important information on a web like this one. I can list the costumes the
children wear to the party on this web. The first costume I see in the book is
a ballerina. I will write “ballerina” in one of the outer circles. Now let’s find
and record the other costumes children wear to the party.
Practice and Apply
• Guide students as they identify the costumes named in the text. Record
the information on the web. If you think students can complete the web
independently, distribute copies and monitor their work. Allow time for
students to share their recorded information. Have students use the
information on the web to retell the story.
Costume Party
• Are students’ answers to creative
questions logical and relevant to
the topic?
• Do students’ completed graphic
organizers reflect an ability to
identify key words and record
them on the web to summarize
content? If necessary, provide
more modeling.
pirates
penguin
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lion
ballerina
Costumes
princess
cowboy
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Interactive Writing
• Have students use the information in the graphic organizer to write a
sentence that summarizes information about the story. Say: The author
shows us some costumes that boys and girls wear to a party. Our web is a
good summary of the costumes that the children wear. Let's look at the
web to remember those costumes. What sentence could we write that
would tell about the costume party? (Possible sentences: “Two children
are pirates.” and “The cowboy wears a hat.”)
• Repeat the sentence aloud several times with students so they
internalize the language pattern. Collaborate with them to write the
sentence on chart paper or on the board, one word at a time. Start by
saying the first word slowly. Ask: What sound do you hear at the
beginning of this word? What other sounds do you hear? Let students
write the known sounds in each word, and then fill in the remaining
letters for them. Continue until the sentence is completed.
Write Independently
√√√
√√√ √√
√√√
The lin lkt fune.
The lion looked funny.
• Have students write their own sentences based on the text. You might
suggest that they tell what costume they like best. Encourage them to
articulate words slowly, use spaces between words, and write known
words fluently.
• When students have completed their sentences, talk with them
­individually. Validate their knowledge of known words and letter/
sound correspondences by placing a light check mark above students’
contributions. Provide explicit praise as you write the ­message
conventionally for students to see.
FLUENCY
SUPPORT TIPS
Model Fluency
Reread for Fluency
• Read sections of the book aloud
to students to model fluent
­reading of the text.
• Ask students to reread Costume Party with a partner. Have them take
turns reading the text to each other. After one student has read a
page, the partner can describe the costume in the picture.
• Model using appropriate phrasing,
intonation, volume, expression,
and rate.
Connect to Home
• Have students listen to you read a
portion of the text, and then have
them read it back to you.
• Have students read the take-home version of Costume Party to family
members. Suggest that each family member think of a costume he or
she would like to wear to a party. Family members might even dress
up in ­costumes and have fun.
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Skills Bank
Phonemic Awareness: Segment and Blend Onset and
Rime
• Say the onset and rime for pat: /p/ /at/. Ask students to tell what word
is formed by the sound /p/ followed by /at/.
• Repeat the activity, asking students to tell what word is formed by the
following onsets and rimes: /k/ /ap/ (cap); /b/ /ag/ (bag); /n/ /ap/
(nap); /p/ /an/ (pan).
• Say cat. Ask students what sound they hear at the beginning of cat.
(/k/) Then ask what sounds follow /k/. (/at/) Say each of the following
words and have students identify the onset and rime: pig (/p/ /ig/); dog
(/d/ /og/); pen (/p/ /en/).
party
princess
penguin
pirate
Phonics: Initial p
• Say: party, princess, penguin, and pirate. Write these words on the
board. Ask students what sound they hear at the beginning of each
word. (/p/) Ask them what letter is at the beginning of each word. (p)
• Have students offer other words that begin with the /p/ sound. (pen,
pencil, paper, pie, pack) Write the words students suggest on the
board. Invite volunteers to come to the board and circle the initial p in
each word.
Phonics: Initial h
• Read the sentence on page 2. Point to the words He and having as you
read them. Ask students what sound they hear at the beginning of each
word. (/h/) Ask them what letter is at the beginning of each word. (h)
• Have students offer other words that begin with the /h/ sound. (happy,
house, home, him, her) As students offer each word, write it on the
board. Ask volunteers to come to the board and circle the h at the
beginning of each word.
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Concepts About Print
• Open the book to page 2 and show the page to the group. Point out
that “He is having a party” is a sentence. It begins with a capital letter
and ends with a period.
• Turn to page 4. Ask: How many sentences are on this page? (2) What
does the first sentence start with? (capital S) What is at the end of that
sentence? (a period) Repeat the questions for the second sentence on
the page.
He is having a party.
High-Frequency Word Vocabulary
• Write this sentence fragment on the board: _____ is going to _____.
Ask pairs of students to find the high-frequency words is, going, and
to in the book. Have volunteers read aloud sentences in which the
words appear.
• Ask students to think of places where children might go. List their
suggestions on the board. Possible suggestions: a party, school, a
doctor’s office, the beach, or the store.
___ is going
to ___ .
• Ask a volunteer to complete the sentence fragment using one of the
places students named. For example: She is going to school.
• Repeat the activity for each suggested location, writing the completed
sentences on the board. Direct students to choose one sentence and
write it on their papers or in their reading journals. They can draw a
­picture to go with their sentence.
Concept Vocabulary: Costumes
• Ask students to think of costumes they might wear to a party.
Challenge each student to come up with two costumes. (Possible
­costumes: astronaut, police officer, dinosaur, doctor, cat, elephant, baby,
and superhero.)
• Record suggestions on the board. Then ask each ­student to choose
one costume and draw a picture of someone dressed in it. Post all
pictures on a bulletin board titled “Costume Party.”
• Help students make labels for all the pictures on the board.
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Louis Pasteur
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Skills Bank
Build Comprehension
Analyze Character
••Explain Create an overhead transparency of the graphic organizer
“Costume Party” on page 9 or draw it on the board. Say: The
people or animals that a story is about are the characters. When we
think about who the characters are and why they act the way they do,
it is called analyzing characters.
••Model Say: Let’s analyze the characters in Costume Party. To
analyze characters, I need to ask myself whom this story is about.
Take a picture walk through the story and identify the children in
each picture. Say: I see that the characters in this story are children
who are going to a costume party. That means they will dress up in
fun clothes for the party. In the center of the Web on the graphic
organizer, write children going to a costume party. Then say: We
know who the characters are: children at a costume party. Now we
need to analyze them, or tell about who they are and why they are
dressing up for the party. Let’s start by telling some of the costumes
the children are wearing. I see that a ballerina, a penguin, and
two pirates are all going to the party. In the first web oval, write
ballerina, penguin, and pirates.
••Guide Say: Let’s analyze what the characters are like. How do you
think the children chose their costumes? How did they decide what
clothes to wear? (Allow time for students to respond, assisting
if needed.) Yes, I think you would have to be creative to choose a
costume. I think these children are creative. In the second oval on
the graphic organizer, write creative. Then turn to pages 4 and 5
and ask: Do you think you would need a good imagination to dress up
as someone else? Why or why not? (Again allow time for students to
respond.) Yes, I think you need a good imagination to pretend you are
someone else. These children must be imaginative. In the third web
oval, write imaginative.
••Apply Ask students to work with a partner to analyze the
characters throughout the rest of the story. Remind them to think
about who the characters are and why they act the way they do.
After each partnership shares, record their ideas on the graphic
organizer. Finally, read the completed graphic organizer aloud and
invite students to echo-read.
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Name _______________________________________________________ Date __________________
Costume Party
Analyze Character
Costume Party
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Notes
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Notes
Costume Party
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Name _______________________________________________________ Date __________________
Costume Party
Costumes
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