• Introduce and expose students to the long /u/ vowel sound represented by the VCe and variant vowel /oo/ spellings.
• Build oral comprehension skills.
• Model fluent reading.

Story Summary
Lucy and her mule, Duke, find a blue cube. However, they don't know what it is or where it came from. Lucy asks her friends to help her identify the blue cube. While the friends are offering ideas, they discover the cube's owner when a spacecraft zooms down, scoops it up, and flies off. 

Build Background
Ask students whether they have ever found an unknown object that they couldn't identify or figure out what it does. Ask them to describe the object they found. Invite them to share if they figured out the function of the object. 

Preview the Book
Read the title and ask students to identify the vowel sound at the end of the words blue and cube. Explain that you will read a story aloud that has many words with the long /u/ vowel sound. Have students say the long /u/ vowel sound. 

Write blue and cube on the board. Read each word aloud to students. Have volunteers come to the board and take turns circling the letters that stand for the long /u/ vowel sound in the words. Point out the different spellings that stand for the long /u/ vowel sound. 

Make a transparency of the copyright page of the book. Point out the box of Long /u/ words that shows the long /u/ words in the story. Read each word aloud with students, pointing out the different spellings that stand for the long /u/ vowel sound. Remind students that the variant vowel /oo/ sound, as in the word hoop, makes a sound similar to the VCe long /u/ pattern. 

Open the book and show students the illustrations on each page. Invite students to predict what the story might be about. 

During Reading
Read the story aloud with expression, emphasizing the long /u/ vowel sound in the words. Ask students to clap their hands each time they hear the long /u/ vowel sound. Point out that they might hear the long /u/ vowel sound in the middle or at the end of the word. 

Allow students to ask questions during reading. Pause occasionally to ask students to predict what might happen next. 

After Reading
Reader Response
Have students explain whether the book is fiction or nonfiction. Invite them to summarize the story and/or describe their favorite part. 

Comprehension
Ask specific questions that allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the book.

• What three things did Lucy and her friends think the blue cube was?
• Why did Lucy get her friends to help her figure out the blue cube?
• How did the blue cube end up in the rhubarb patch?