Build Background

• Have students tell what they are wearing. Ask students to tell what they wear during the seasons that are different from the current one. Have students explain why their clothing changes as the seasons change.
• Expand the discussion by having students describe a familiar clothing item such as shoes. Ask students to tell the different types of shoes they wear in different seasons. Explain that shoes is the name of a big group that has many kinds of shoes in it, such as boots, sandals, and sneakers.

Book Walk

Introduce the Strategy: Connect life experience and use prior knowledge

• Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title. Ask students what they think this book will be about based on the title and the cover information. Model how to use prior knowledge.
• Think aloud: When I read a new book, I try to think about what I already know about the topic in the book. When I look at the picture of the dog on the front cover, I think about the dog I had when I was a little girl. I didn’t dress him up, but I did put him in my baby carriage. By looking at the title and the covers, I can predict that I may find out other things the dog wears in the book.
• Show students the title page and ask them what they see in the picture. Ask them if they have ever seen a dog dressed like this. Turn the pages in the book so students can see the pictures. If necessary, model once more for the students how you draw on your personal knowledge to make predictions about the book.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Go through each page of the book with the students. Ask them to talk about what they see in the illustrations and use the vocabulary they will encounter in the text. Ask them to name what they see in the pictures and have them draw on prior knowledge and experience with their own clothing. For example, point to the sweater on page 3 and ask: What is this? Why do you wear a sweater?
• Point out the words on the page. Explain that the words on the page tell them the story, and that the words are read left to right.
• Ask a student to come up and point on the book you are holding to the place where he/she should start reading, and in which direction he/she should go while reading.
• Reinforce new vocabulary and word-attack strategies by modeling how students can read unfamiliar words. Ask a volunteer to point to the word boots. Ask students how they know this word says boots. Model how they can use the picture clues to help them. Point out that they can check whether the word makes sense by reading the sentence and looking at the picture. Read aloud the phrase with the word boots and ask if they think it makes sense. Repeat with other vocabulary words if you feel students need more modeling. Remind students to look at the beginning and ending sounds in words, and/or word parts within words that they recognize, to help them sound out the word. They should check whether the word makes sense by looking at the picture and rereading the sentence.
• For additional teaching tips on reading and word-attack strategies, click here.
• For tips on teaching high-frequency words, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have the students think about clothes they wear at different times of the year that are like the clothes the dog wears in the book.

• Guide the Reading: Give students their books and have them put a sticky note on page 5. Have them read to the end of this page. Tell students to reread the pages if they finish before everyone else.
• When they have finished, ask students to tell the types of clothing they have read about. Ask students why think they the dog is wearing these clothes, or what they think the dog is planning to do. Have students point out clothes they are wearing that are similar and tell how this helps them understand the book. Model making connections to prior knowledge.
• Think aloud: I have a hat like this. I know that this is the kind of hat that I would wear in winter. This helps me understand what season it is in the book.
• Tell students to read the remainder of the book. 

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

Reflect on Reading Strategies

• Ask students what words they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they could read these words using decoding strategies and context clues. For example, point out the word my and ask students how they know this word doesn't say by. Focus on the sound of /m/ at the beginning of the word.
• Reinforce how using what they already knew about different types of clothing helped them understand and remember what they read.

Comprehension Skill: Compare and Contrast

• Introduce and Model: Have two students wearing different types of the same article of clothing, such as sweater or shirts, come to the front. Ask the other students to look at the articles of clothing the students are wearing and tell what they see that is alike (buttons, sleeves, zippers). Ask them to tell what is different.
• Discussion: Have students look at pages 5, 7, 9, and 12. Have them tell how the hats the dog wore are alike and how they are different.
• Independent Practice: Tell students to complete the Compare and Contrast worksheet. Discuss students' responses.
• Extend the Discussion:

    Instruct students to use the last page of their book to draw a picture of themselves wearing one of the articles of clothing the dog in the book wore. Have students share their pictures with the group.

Phonological Awareness: Identify rhyme

• Say the words hat and cat and have students repeat the words. Tell them that hat and cat rhyme because they have the same ending sound. Repeat the words and have students listen for the ending sounds.
• Say the words hat and pan and have students repeat the words. Tell them that these two words do not rhyme because they have different ending sounds. Repeat the words if necessary.
• Tell students you are going to say pairs of words. If the pairs rhyme, they should give you a thumbs up. If the pairs do not rhyme, they should give you a thumbs down. Say the following pairs one at a time: hen/pen; cat/kick; mice/nice; coat/goat; stop/go; plate/came; in/tin.

Phonics: Initial Consonant H

• Write the word hat on the board. Blend the word hat as you run your finger under each letter. Underline the h and explain that this letter stands for the /h/ sound they can hear at the beginning of the word. Ask students to repeat the word and listen for the /h/ sound.
• Have students see if they can find the word hat in the book.
• Write the words hen, hit, and hop on the board. Point out that each word has a different vowel. Model sounding out the first word by running your finger under the word as you blend the sounds together: /h/ /e/ /n/: hen. Have students sound it out with you. Then repeat with the other two words.
• Give students the phonics worksheet and explain what they are to do. When they are finished, discuss their answers.

Grammar and Mechanics: Naming words (nouns)

• Tell students that the words they read in the book are used to tell about things people wear. Explain that these words are called naming words. Have students look at page 3. Ask them to find the naming word that tells what the dog is wearing.
• Ask students to find the naming word on page 4. Reinforce that all of the clothing the dog wears are naming words.

    Instruct students to work together to underline the remaining naming words in the book and to color the article named on each page.

Vocabulary: Categorize Words

• Tell students that the words they read in the book are used to tell about things people wear and that these can be put into a big group called "clothes." Draw a large circle on the board with the word "clothes" in the center.
• Ask students to think of types of clothes, such as pants or shirts. Write the words students offer in small circles and attach with lines to the circle labeled "clothes.”
• Ask students to suggest different types of each article of clothing, such as blue jeans or t-shirts. Write each in a smaller circle and attach with lines to the article of clothing.
• Give students the categorization worksheet. Have students sort the clothes according to season, then have them sort into groups of their choosing and tell the names of the groups.
• Extend the activity by providing paper and markers for students to create their own picture/word cards that can be added to the picture card page provided.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their books independently or with a partner. Partners can take turns reading in the book.

Home Connection

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

Writing

• Write the sentence My ________. on the board. Ask students to finish the sentence with an article of clothing. Have students illustrate their sentences. Display on a bulletin board titled "Our Clothes."

Math Connection

• Model the activity in a large group setting before dividing students into groups of 5 or smaller. Use this book as an introduction to bar graphs and counting. Have students suggest articles of clothing and list them on the y-axis of a graph (draw pictures if needed). Write the numbers 1–5 on the x-axis. Have students count the number of items members of the group are wearing. For example, in a group of five students, three students might be wearing t-shirts. Show students how to draw the bar on the graph to show three t-shirts.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• tell how the items of clothing in the book are like items they are familiar with
• make comparisons between items of clothing in the book
• tell whether pairs of words do or do not rhyme
• associate the letter h with the sound /h/, and read simple CVC words starting with h
• correctly point out the naming words in the book
• categorize articles of clothing

Comprehension Checks