LESSON 1 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Check Out the Library
by Kate Johanns
Fountas-Pinnell Level N
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
A library is a place that is full of information. Using books, the
Internet, CDs, DVDs, magazines, and newspapers, the library offers
people a variety of ways to learn more about almost any subject.
Number of Words: 839
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
• Third-person narrative
• Glossary of terms provided
• What to find in a library
• How to use the library
• History of ways of listening to music
• The library is full of information waiting to be discovered.
• The library is a wonderful place to visit.
• Descriptive language
• Conversational language
• A mix of short and complex sentences
• Exclamations
• Questions
• Some music-related terms, some of which may be unfamiliar: phonograph, cassette,
record player
• Multisyllable words, such as recording, phonograph, eventually, invention
• Full color photographs
• Thirteen pages of text, photographs on most pages
• Full-sentence captions
• Section headings
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Check Out the Library
by Kate Johanns
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of the library to visualize the selection. Build interest
by asking a question such as the following: What do you enjoy doing at the library? Read
the title and author and talk about girl in the cover photograph. Explain that every library is
different, but all of them provide ways to find information.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and nonfiction features. Help with
unfamiliar language so they can read the text successfully. Give special attention to target
vocabulary. Here are some suggestions:
Page 3: Explain that this selection tells readers what they can find at a library. Tell
students that captions can give clues about information in the text. Have students
read the caption aloud. Ask: Have you ever looked at newspapers or magazines at
a library? Have you ever checked out CDs or DVDs from the library?
Page 4: Explain to students that a librarian is a person who works at the library.
Suggested language: Librarians go to college to learn advanced skills that can
assist them in properly helping others. What skills do you think a librarian might
need?
Page 5: Read the caption. Tell students that before the computer was used
in libraries, titles of books were listed on cards in a card catalog. Suggested
Language: The entry in the card catalog for a book would mention where the book
was located.
Page 8: Have students look at the photo on page 8 and read the caption. Explain to
students that this is the phonograph that was invented by Thomas Edison. Discuss
the shape of the phonograph. Ask: In your opinion, what did Edison intend the
cone shaped part to be used for?
Page 14: Have students look at the Glossary of Terms. Remind students that
a glossary of terms is used to define vocabulary terms that are included in the
selection.
Now turn back to the beginning of the selection and read about what a library can
offer.
Target Vocabulary
advanced – to be very good at
something, p. 4
comfort – helps a person feel
less bad, p. 11
consisted – made up of different
parts, p. 5
Grade 4
intends – plans, p. 8
peculiar – odd or unusual, p. 6
mention – to speak about
something, p. 5
positive – completely sure, p. 3
mood – the way a person feels,
p. 11
talent – a special skill, p. 11
2
properly – the right way, p. 4
Lesson 1: Check Out the Library
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Summarize Strategy
parts of the selection in their own words.
and to put important
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the selection.
Suggested language: What did you learn about how music was recorded in the past?
What is your favorite part of the library?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• There are many different types
of formats in which to find
information in a library.
• The library is full of information
waiting to be discovered.
• The glossary of terms is useful
in helping readers understand
various content-related
vocabulary.
• A librarian can help people
understand how to find
information in a library.
• The library is a wonderful place
to visit.
• The way people listen to music
has evolved over the years.
• Captions help to explain the
photos.
• The photos contain a lot of
useful information.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choose a section of the text to read aloud to a partner.
Suggest that they try reading a couple of pages with an expression they would use if
they were telling a new student about the school library.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students 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 students that most past-tense verbs end in –ed,
such as consisted (p. 5) and contained (p. 5). Explain to students that in some cases,
however, only a d is added to the end of a present-tense verb when changing it to the
past, such as used (p. 7). Have students look through the book to find examples of
different past-tense verbs.
Grade 4
3
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Writing about Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Have students complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 1.1.
Responding
Have students use their Reader’s Notebook to complete the vocabulary activities on page
15. Remind them to answer the Word Teaser on p. 16. (Answer: mood)
Reading Nonfiction
Nonfiction Features: Photos and Text Clues Remind students that nonfiction has many
features to help readers find and understand important information. Photos and text clues
are two of these features. Explain that photos often add information that is not in the text.
Have students look again at the photo on page 5. Ask what information they can learn
from the photo (what a library’s computer card catalog looks like). Then have students
choose another photo in the book and tell what they can learn from it.
Text clues are another important source of information. They are verbal clues that signal
importance, such as To find a book, At first, and In addition. Have students find these text
clues in the book and make a classroom chart. Suggest that students add text clues to the
chart from their reading throughout the year.
Writing Prompt: Thinking About the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think about the text, they reflect back on the text. They notice and evaluate language,
genre, literary devices, and how the text is organized.
Assessment Prompts
• What words or images in the book help the reader understand what consisted on page
5 means?
• The main purpose of the selection is ______________________________________.
• What can readers tell about the library after reading this selection?
Grade 4
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair beginning and intermediate readers to read the text softly
aloud, or have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Remind students that this
selection shows what a fascinating place the library is.
Cognates The text includes many cognates. Explain the English word and its Spanish
equivalent: advanced (avanzado), mention (mención), positive (positivo), and talent
(talento).
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: What is this selection
about?
Speaker 1: What do you use to find
books at the library?
Speaker 2: the library
Speaker 2: You use the computer
catalog to find books at the library.
Speaker 1: How has the way
people listen to music changed
over the years?
Speaker 1: Who can show you how to
use the library?
Speaker 2: the librarian
Speaker 1: Who invented the
phonograph?
Speaker 2: Thomas Edison invented the
phonograph.
Speaker 2: People used to listen
to music on the gramophone.
Then, people listened to music
on record players. After that,
people used cassette tapes to
listen to music. Now, CDs are
available for people to listen to
their favorite types of music.
Lesson 1
Name
Date
Target Vocabulary
BLACKLINE MASTER 1.1
Check Out the Library
Target Vocabulary
Look at the Four-Square Map for peculiar. Fill in one more
synonym and one more non-example for peculiar. Then find
synonyms, antonyms, examples, and non-examples for the
rest of the Target Vocabulary words. Possible responses shown.
Vocabulary
positive
properly
consisted
mention
peculiar
mood
intends
comfort
talent
advanced
Synonym
strange
Antonym
ordinary
odd
peculiar
Non-exampe
a blue car
Example
a pink car
a black car
3
Target Vocabulary
Grade 4, Unit 1: Reaching Out
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Grade 4
5
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Name
Date
Check Out the Library
Thinking About the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think about the text, you reflect back on the text.
You notice and evaluate language, genre, literary devices, and how the text
is organized.
How are the old card catalogs different from computer library catalogs? Do
they have anything in common? How did the photographs and the glossary
help you to understand the differences between old card catalogs and
computer library catalogs?
Grade 4
6
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Lesson 1
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 1.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
Check Out the Library
Target Vocabulary
Look at the Four-Square Map for peculiar. Fill in one more
synonym and one more non-example for peculiar. Then find
synonyms, antonyms, examples, and non-examples for the
rest of the Target Vocabulary words.
Vocabulary
positive
properly
consisted
mention
peculiar
mood
intends
comfort
talent
advanced
l
Synonym
strange
Antonym
ordinary
peculiar
Non-example
a blue car
Example
a pink car
Grade 4
7
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Student
Lesson 1
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 1.23
Check Out the Library • LEVEL N
page
Check Out the Library
Running Record Form
Selection Text
2
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
When you hear a new song on the radio, are you curious
to learn more about it?
You could go to the music store and buy CDs, but CDs are
expensive. You could ask a friend, but your friend might not
know.
3
You could search the Internet, but sometimes it’s hard to
be positive that the information you find online is true.
There is a place where you can find lots of information
about your favorite band—the library. You might think that
libraries only have books, but you will actually find a lot more
when you visit one.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/99 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 4
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414002
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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