Fruit
Level A

About the Book

Text Type: Nonfiction/Concept Book
Page Count: 10
Word Count: 31

Book Summary
This informational text introduces students to the printed vocabulary that names examples of nutritious foods. Students may be surprised to find the tomato, which is a large berry, included alongside lemons, apples, and bananas. Repeated high-frequency words reinforce fluency and support the decoding of new vocabulary.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

  • Visualize

Objectives

  • Visualize information from the book
  • Classify information
  • Identify words that rhyme
  • Associate the letter Tt with the sound /t/
  • Understand that some words name people, places, and things
  • Categorize words

Materials

  • Book -- Fruit (copy for each student)
  • Chalkboard or dry erase board
  • Classify information, rhyme worksheets
  • Word journal (optional)

Indicates an opportunity for student to mark in the book. (All activities may be completed with paper and pencil if books are reusable.)

Vocabulary

  • High-frequency words: this, is, a
  • Content words: cherry, pear, banana, tomato, apple, orange, lemon, fruit

Before Reading

Build Background

  • Have students close their eyes and picture an orange in their minds. Have them picture its shape and color. Ask them to think about how it feels in their hands and what it smells like. Have students keep their eyes closed as they say some words that describe the picture of the orange in their minds.
  • Have students open their eyes. Show them a real orange and let them smell it and touch it. Talk about how their mind-picture of the orange is similar to and different from the real orange.
  • Expand the discussion by asking students to identify their favorite types of fruits. Encourage students to talk about what the word fruit means. (Fruit is a part of a plant that has the seeds in it.) Prompt with questions, such as: When do you eat fruit? Why do you eat fruit? Is all fruit sweet? Is all fruit small? What does it mean when fruit is "in season?"

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

  • Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask what they might read about in a book called Fruit. (Accept any answers students can justify).
  • Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name). Have them name the fruits they see. Ask students what they know about each of the fruits pictured.

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Visualize

  • Explain that good readers often visualize, or make pictures in their mind, as they read. Readers often use what they already know about a topic to make the pictures in their mind.
  • Model how to visualize.
    Think-aloud:     As I look at the picture of the apple on the title page, I picture a dark, shiny red apple. It is the size of a baseball, but it is not as round. Picturing the apple in my mind will give me a better understanding of this fruit.
  • As students read, encourage them to use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted strategy presented in this section. For tips on additional reading strategies, click here.

Introduce the Vocabulary

  • As you preview the book, use the vocabulary and language pattern of the book. Say: What kind of fruit is this? Yes, this is a cherry.
  • Encourage students to add new vocabulary words to their word journals.
  • Model how to work out words they do not know. For example, point to the word banana on page 5.
    Think-aloud: If I didn't know what this word said, I could first look at how it starts. I see the letter b and I know this stands for the /b/ sound. I can also recognize the word part an, so I know the first part of the word is ban. I see another an and then an a, and I can put the parts together to read banana. Then I check the picture for clues and I see a banana in the picture.
  • For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

  • Have students read to find out about fruit. Remind them to visualize each fruit in their mind as they read.

During Reading

Student Reading

  • Guide the reading: Give students their copy of the book. Have a volunteer point to the first word on page 3. Read the word together (This). Point out where to begin reading on each page. Remind students to read words from left to right. Point to each word as you read it aloud while students follow along in their own book.
  • Ask students to place a finger on the page number in the bottom corner of the page. Have them read to the end of page 4, using their finger to point to each word as they read. Encourage students who finish before others to reread the text.
  • Ask students to share what they visualized as they read. Model visualizing.
  • Think-aloud: I pictured a cherry in my mind when I read page 3. I have eaten a cherry before. I pictured it on top of an ice-cream sundae, like a little red ball.
  • Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to visualize as they read.

Have students make a small question mark in their book beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

After Reading

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

  • Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their book. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
  • Think-aloud: When I pictured an orange in my mind, I pictured its round shape. I thought about its bumpy, tough outer skin.
  • Discuss how making pictures in their mind makes the book more interesting and more fun to read. Ask students to share additional examples of how they visualized as they read the book.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Classify information

  • Discussion: Discuss the classification of tomato as a fruit. Reinforce the meaning of fruit so students understand why tomato is in this group.
  • Introduce and model the skill: Elicit from students that the main topic of the book is fruit. Explain that this is the main category and all the items mentioned in the book can be placed in the category of fruit. Explain that one way to organize information read is to put it into categories.
  • Make a two-column chart on the board labeled fruit and vegetables. Write the following words on the board: apple, pear, celery, carrots.
  • Think-aloud: I know that some of these words name fruit and some name vegetables. An apple and a pear are fruit. Celery and carrots are vegetables. Write the words under the correct heading.
  • Check for understanding: Have students check the book to name other foods that can be placed under the heading Fruit. When they have listed all the fruits mentioned in the book, have them add any others they can think of. Then have them name vegetables they know to add to the list under the heading Vegetables.
  • Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the classify information worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Extend the discussion: Instruct students to use the last page of their book to draw a picture of their favorite fruit. Have students share their pictures with the group.

Build Skills

Phonological Awareness: Identify rhyme

  • Say the words cat and hat and have students repeat the words. Tell students that the words rhyme because they have the same sound at the end: /at/. Repeat the words and have students listen for the rhyming sound.
  • Say the words cat and hut. Tell students these words do not rhyme because they have different sounds at the end: /at/ and /ut/. Have students repeat the words and listen for the ending sounds.
  • Say the following word pairs, one at a time: cake/cat; man/pan; car/star; dog/dig; bike/hike; feet/fat; cup/pup; jump/pump. If the words rhyme, have students clap their hands. If the words do not rhyme, have them should shake their heads.
  • Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the rhyming words worksheet. If time allows, have them discuss their answers.

Phonics: Initial consonant Tt

  • Say the word tomato and ask students what sound they hear at the beginning.
  • Write the letter Tt on the board and ask students to name the letter. Tell them that the letter Tt stands for the sound they hear at the beginning of the word tomato. Have students practice writing the letter Tt on a separate piece of paper while saying aloud the sound the letter stands for.
  • Tell students that you are going to show them how to read some words that begin with the /t/ sound. Write the words top, tap, and tip on the board. Ask students what is the same about the words (they all start with the letter Tt).
  • Model saying the first word, running your finger under each letter as you blend the sounds: /t/ /a/ /p/. Then have students sound it out with you. Repeat with the remaining words.

Grammar and Mechanics: Naming words (nouns)

  • Tell students that there are words that name things. Have them turn to page 3 to find a word that names a kind of fruit (cherry).
  • Ask each student to tell a naming word they read in the book. Reinforce that all of the fruits in the book are naming words. Tell them that we call these naming words nouns.
  • Ask students to identify nouns that name objects in the classroom.

Word Work: Categorize words

  • Refer to the list of fruits and vegetables on the board. Tell students that all of these words are nouns.
  • Create another category for foods, for example, snacks, meats, soups, etc. Have students brainstorm words that fit into the category. Remind students that all the words in the list name kinds of food and are nouns.

Build Fluency

Independent Reading

  • Allow students to read their book independently or with a partner. Additionally, partners can take turns reading in the book.

Home Connection

  • Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.

Extend the Reading

Writing and Art Connection
Instruct students to finish the following sentence on a separate piece of paper: If I were a fruit, I would be a/an____. Ask students to draw themselves as the fruit they have chosen. (Allow invented spelling or take dictation for the students.)

Math Connection
Make a fruit chart with headings such as: Apples, Bananas, Pears, Oranges, and Grapes. Have each student draw a picture of one of the fruits to place at the top of the chart. Survey the students in the group or class to find out how many like apples best. Ask students to place a tally mark on the chart for each person who raises his or her hand. Repeat for the other types of fruit. Discuss the findings.

Assessment

Monitor students to determine if they can:

  • actively participate in the visualization activity and tell what they are visualizing
  • correctly classify foods into groups during discussion
  • associate the letter Tt with the sound /t/ during discussion
  • identify whether pairs of spoken words rhyme on a worksheet
  • understand that nouns name things; locate nouns in the book
  • identify and categorize food words during discussion

Comprehension Check



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