Build Background

• Write the word mom on the board and point to the word as you read it aloud to students. Repeat the process and have students read the word aloud. Ask students to explain the meaning of a mom.

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

• Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask them what they think they might read about in a book called Mom and I. (Accept any answer students can justify.)
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name).
• Write the repetitive phrase Mom and I are _______. on the board. Read the phrase aloud with students. Explain that these words repeat throughout the book.
• Explain that the baby animals tell the story on each page. Tell students that the word I refers to the baby animal. Ask which animal is speaking on page 3 (baby lion). Remind them to use letter and picture clues to identify words.

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Connect to prior knowledge

• Explain that good readers make connections between what they already know and new information they read. Remind students that thinking about what they already know about the topic of the book will help them understand what they read.
• Model connecting to prior knowledge using the information on the covers.
  Think-aloud: When I look at the front cover of Mom and I, I see two animals. They look like lions. One is small and one is large. The larger animal might be the parent of the smaller animal. The larger lion is also licking the neck of the smaller lion. I have seen mother cats lick their babies. I think the larger lion is the mother of the smaller lion. The information I already know about animals will help me read and understand the information in the book.
• Have students preview the pictures on the covers and title page. Invite them to share how they connected to prior knowledge based on these pictures.
• 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 Comprehension Skill: Main idea and details

• Explain that every book has a big idea, which is the most important thing the book is about. Read the title to students. Explain that the title often provides clues about the book's big idea. Invite students to share predictions about the main idea of this story.
• Explain that the main idea of this story is there are animal moms and babies. Write the following main idea on the board: There are animal moms and babies. Point to each word as you read the sentence aloud with students.
• Model how to identify details.
  Think-aloud: I know that every book has details that help explain the big idea. I know that this book is about different kinds of animal moms and babies. I see a picture of a mother and baby lion on the front cover. I know that lions are a kind of animal. Since this kind of animal helps to explain the big idea, lions might be a detail in the story.
• Invite students to use their prior knowledge to name other animals that can be mothers with babies. List these ideas on the board under the heading There are animal moms and babies. Discuss whether these ideas might be details in the story.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• While previewing the book, reinforce the vocabulary words students will encounter in the text. Remind students that they can help themselves when they come to a tricky word by looking at the first letter in the word and then checking the picture on the page to see what might start with the same sound and what might make sense in the story. For example, on page 3, point to the letter l in lions. Say: I am going to help myself by looking at the picture and thinking about what animal I see in the picture that starts like /l/ (make the /l/ sound).
• Invite students to identify the word (lions). Use the word in the sentence and ask students if the word lions makes sense.
• For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students use what they already know about animals to help them read the book. Remind them to think about details that support the main idea 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 (Mom). Point out where to begin reading on each page. Remind students to read words from left to right.
• 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 5, using their finger to point to each word as they read. Encourage students who finish before others to reread the text.
• Model connecting to prior knowledge.
  Think-aloud: On page 5, I see two animals. They both have very long necks. I know that giraffes have long necks. These animals might be mother and baby giraffes because one is larger than the other. Also, the smaller giraffe is standing very close to the larger giraffe. I know that parents often stay close to their children to protect them and keep them safe.
• Invite students to share how they connected with what they already knew as they read.
• Review the main idea of the book There are animal moms and babies. Ask students to explain whether giraffes are a detail that supports the big idea of the story and why (yes; giraffes are animals, and they can be both mothers and babies).
• Introduce and explain the main idea and details worksheet. Write the word giraffes on the board. Have students write the word and draw a picture of a mother and baby giraffe in one of the boxes on their worksheet.
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 8. Encourage them to share how they connected to prior knowledge as they read. (Accept all answers that show students understand how to connect to prior knowledge.)
• Ask students to think about other details they read that support the main idea There are animal moms and babies. Have them choose one of the details to draw on their worksheet. Invite them to label their drawing using the word from the book. Ask students to share the detail they drew and wrote about.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to use what they already know about animals to help them understand new information 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 read page 9, I saw an animal inside a pouch near the mother's belly. I thought about animals that live in their mother's pouch when they are little. I know that kangaroos have pouches. I also know that mothers care for and protect their children, and this is the way a kangaroo cares for and protects her baby. I used the information I already knew about kangaroos to help me understand the information in the story.
• Ask students to explain how thinking about what they already knew helped them to understand and remember the story.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Read the big idea on the board with students. Review the details students drew on their worksheet. Invite them to explain why each of the details on their worksheet matches the main idea of the story.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the main idea and details worksheet.
• Enduring understanding: In this story, you learned about animals that can be moms and children. Now that you know this information, how are these moms and children similar to and different from human moms and children?

Build Skills 

Phonemic Awareness: Discriminate initial /m/

• Say the word mom and emphasize the initial /m/ sound. Have students say the word aloud and emphasize the initial /m/ sound.
• Say the following words, one at a time: monkey, nest, lizard, music. Have students give the thumbs-up signal when they hear a word that begins with the /m/ sound.
• Check for understanding: Say the following words one at a time: sun, mud, mice, pig. Have students give the thumbs-up signal if the word begins with the /m/ sound.

Phonics: Initial consonant Mm

• Write the word mom on the board and say the word aloud with students.
• Have students say the /m/ sound aloud. Then run your finger under the letters in the word as students say the whole word aloud. Ask students what letter stands for the /m/ sound at the beginning of the word mom.
• Have students practice writing the letter Mm on a separate piece of paper as they say the sound the letter makes.
• Check for understanding: Write the following words that begin with the letter Mm on the board, leaving off the initial consonant Mm: mix, mug, mud. Say each word, one at a time, and have volunteers come to the board and add the initial consonant Mm in each word. Have the remaining students practice writing the letter Mm on a separate piece of paper as they say the sound the letter makes.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the initial consonant Mm worksheet.

Grammar and Mechanics: Proper Noun (I)

• Turn to page 3 and read it aloud to students. Point to the words Mom and I. Ask students to explain to whom the word I refers to (the lion cub).
• Have students use the phrase Mom and I ________ to explain something about themselves. Ask students to explain to whom the word I refers to in their sentence (themselves).
• Explain that the word I is a name a person calls himself or herself. Remind students that because names of people always begin with a capital letter, the word I must also begin with a capital letter.

    Check for understanding: Have students reread the story and underline the word I. Then have them circle the animal in the picture to whom the word I refers.

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the proper noun worksheet.

Word Work: High-frequency word and

• Tell students that they are going to learn a word that they need to be able to recognize and read quickly. Write the word and on the board and read the word aloud. Have students read the word with you.
• Have students write the word on a sheet of paper as you spell it aloud with them, pointing to each letter on the board as you say the letter name. Encourage them to practice writing the words several more times on the paper.
• Read the sentence on page 4 aloud to students. Ask them how many elephants they see in the picture (two). Then read the sentence on page 5 aloud to students. Ask them to explain how many giraffes they see on the page (two). Point out that the word and is used to list more than one person, place, or thing.
• Check for understanding: Have students use the word and in a sentence to tell about two animals in the book. (For example, I read about lions and bears.)

Build Fluency 

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently or with a partner. Encourage repeated timed readings of a specific section in the book. Additionally, partners can take turns reading parts of the book to each other.

Home Connection

• Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. Have them share with someone at home how both of them connected with what they already knew as they read the story together.

Extend the Reading 

Writing and Art Connection
Provide animal books for students to preview. Have students choose an animal and draw a picture of the mother and baby on a separate piece of paper. Have them write a sentence under their picture using the phrase Mom and I are ________. Make a class book for students to read.

Social Studies/Science Connection
Read aloud to students the facts listed beside each animal in the book. Discuss with students where each animal is found in relation to where students live. Help students locate each animal's home on a globe.

Assessment 

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• consistently connect to prior knowledge to understand text during discussion
• accurately identify the main idea and details during discussion and on a worksheet
• accurately discriminate words that begin with the /m/ sound
• accurately identify and write the letter that stand for the /m/ sound during discussion and on a worksheet
• identify and capitalize the word I during discussion and on a worksheet
• identify, read, write, and understand the use of the high-frequency word and

Comprehension Checks

• Retelling Rubric

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