About the Book

Text Type: Fiction/Realistic
Page Count: 10
Word Count: 31

Book Summary
Cats, dogs, and cows leap in and then out of a big mud puddle. Readers will delight in what happens when the final visitors, the pigs, jump into the mud.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Retell

Objectives

• Use the strategy of retelling story events while reading to understand the text
• Identify story elements of characters, setting, and plot
• Discriminate words in sentences
• Associate the letter Cc with the sound /k/
• Identify when to use capital letters and appropriate ending punctuation in sentences
• Identify words that are opposites (antonyms)

Materials

• Book -- In and Out (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Plot, antonyms 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: the, go, in, out
• Content words: dogs, cats, cows, pigs, mud

Before Reading

Build Background

• Tell students to think of a time when they were very hot. Ask students to close their eyes and think how their skin felt, and what they did to cool off. Elicit "go for a swim," or "take a cool bath." Ask students to tell how they felt once they were cool (happy, relaxed).

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 In and Out. (Accept any answers students can justify).
• Ask students where they think the animals are and what they are jumping in and out of.
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name, illustrator's name). Ask where they think the dogs are and whether they think the dogs are in or out.

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Retell

• Explain to students that one way to understand and remember what they are reading is to stop now and then during reading to retell in their mind the details of what is happening in the story.
• Explain that when someone retells something, they explain the details of what happened in order. Point out that people retell stories as part of their daily lives, such as explaining what happened during a movie. Ask students to share other examples of when people might give a retelling.
• Model how to retell using a familiar story, such as the The Three Little Pigs.
• Think-aloud: In The Three Little Pigs, three pigs each decide to build a house. The first pig decides to make his house out of straw. He gathers all of the materials and builds his house. The second pig decides to build his house out of sticks. The third pig gathers the materials and builds his brick house. One day a big bad wolf comes to the house of the first little pig. He wants the pig to let him inside. The wolf tells the pigs "I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house down." Continue retelling in detail until the end of the story.
• 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 with the students, use the language pattern of the text, for example, say: Do the dogs go in or out in this picture? Yes, the dogs go in.
• Point out vocabulary words on the page by asking students: Which word says cats? How do you know?
• Remind students that they will need to look at the pictures, and at the beginning and ending letters of the words, to read them.
• Encourage students to add new vocabulary words to their word journals.
• For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students pause every few pages as they read to think about the details of what has happened in the story.

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 (The). 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 6, using their finger to point to each word as they read. Encourage students who finish before others to reread the text.
• Model how to retell while reading.
• Think-aloud: I stopped after a few pages to retell in my mind what I read so far. By page 6 I learned that two dogs went in and out of a puddle. It looked like the dogs shook the mud or water off of themselves. Then three cats jumped in and out of the puddle. One cat gave itself a bath.
• Have students read the remainder of the story, stopping every few pages to retell the story in their mind. Remind students to include details from the words and pictures when they retell.

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 to read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
• Reinforce that thinking about how to retell a story helps students understand and pay attention to what is happening in the story.
• Think-aloud: After the cats went in and out of the puddle, the cows went in and out. They did not look very happy after they got out.
• Ask students to retell what happened last in the story. Have them explain what was in the puddle.
• Invite students to practice retelling the story to a partner. Listen for the amount of detail and order of the story events.
• Discuss additional strategies students used to gain meaning from the book.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Identify characters, setting, and plot

• Discussion: Ask students how they think the animals felt in the story. Direct students' attention to the expressions on the faces of the characters. Ask students if they think this story is reality or fantasy and why.
• Introduce and model the skill: Tell students that stories have lots of parts. These parts are called story elements.
• Explain what each element means. Explain that characters are the people or animals in a story. The setting tells where and when the story takes place. The plot is what happens in the story.
• Think-aloud: I know that the characters are the people or animals in the story. There are not any people in this story, but there are several animals that go in and out of the puddle. There are dogs, cats, cows, and pigs. These are all the characters.
• Check for understanding: Ask students where the story happened. Ask how they can check to be sure (by revisiting the book). Encourage them to think where the puddle might be.
• Independent practice: introduce, explain, and have students complete the plot worksheet. Students can use the finished worksheet to retell the story to a friend or family member.

Extend the discussion: Instruct students to use the last page of their book to draw a picture of another animal they think would have fun jumping in and out of the puddle. Have students share their pictures with the group.

Build Skills

Phonological Awareness: Discriminate words

• Say the following sentence slowly: I see a dog. Say it again, and have students clap for each word they hear.
• Tell students that you are going to say some sentences one at a time. You want them to repeat the sentence while they clap for each word they hear. Say the following sentences, one at a time: The dogs go in. The cats go out. The pigs like the mud. Do you like to play in the mud? He got all muddy. Have students tell you how many words they hear in each sentence.

Phonics: Initial consonant Cc

• Write the letter Cc on the board and ask students what the letter name is. Tell students that the letter Cc stands for the /k/ sound they hear at the beginning of the word cat.
• Write cat on the board. Model how to sound out the word as you run your finger under each letter: /k/ /a/ /t/. Have students blend the word with you.
• Have students look on pages 5 and 6 to find the word cats. When they find the word, have them point to the letter in the word that stands for the /k/ sound.
• Challenge students to find another word in the book that starts with the /k/ sound (cows). Have them find both examples of the word on pages 7 and 8.

Grammar and Mechanics: Capitalization and punctuation

• Have students turn to page 3 and look at the sentence on the page. Explain that all sentences begin with a capital letter. Point to the capital letter in the sentence.
• Explain that this type of sentence tells something. Telling sentences end with a period. Point out the period at the end of the sentence.
• Have students check the other sentences in the book to see whether they begin with a capital letter and end with a period.

Have students circle the capital letters and underline the periods in each sentence of the book.

Word Work: Opposites (antonyms)

• Ask students to tell the name of the book they just read (In and Out). Point to and read the words In and Out. Tell students that these words are opposites.
• Ask students to tell the opposites for the following: black (white), under (over).
• Have students use the words in sentences. For example: The trash can is black. The paper is white. I climbed over the fence. You went under the fence.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the antonyms worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

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 Connection
Write the following sentences on the board: I go in. I go out. Point to each word as you read the sentences aloud to students. Discuss places the students go in and out of every day. Ask students to draw themselves going in and going out of something on a separate piece of paper. Have them label the pictures in and out.

Math Connection

Have students count the animals on each page and write the number on the page in the book.

Assessment

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• accurately retell story events in detail and in order during discussion
• identify the characters, setting, and plot in the story; record the events from the story on the graphic organizer
• count the number of words they hear in oral sentences
• associate the letter Cc with the sound /k/; locate words that start with the /k/ sound
• correctly locate capital letters and ending punctuation in the book
• demonstrate an understanding of opposite words and correctly illustrate their meanings on a worksheet

Comprehension Check

• Retelling Rubric

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