Text Type: Nonfiction/Informational
Page Count: 10
Word Count: 16 

Book Summary
Summer is a great season for outdoor activities such as picnics. In Summer Picnics, readers learn about all the things people can see while on a picnic during the summer. Strong picture-to-text connections make this an ideal book for emergent readers.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Connect to prior knowledge

Objectives

• Use the reading strategy of connecting to prior knowledge to understand text
• Identify main idea and details
• Discriminate initial sound /s/
• Identify initial consonant Ss
• Recognize and use periods
• Categorize words

Materials

• Book -- Summer Picnics (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Main idea and details, initial consonant Ss, periods worksheets

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

Vocabulary

• Content words: cups, foods, fun, hats, picnics, plates, shoes, summer, sun

Build Background

• Write the word picnics on the board and point to the word as you read it aloud to students. Repeat the process and have students say the word aloud.
• Invite students to name things they might take on a picnic and write them on the board.

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

• Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask what they think they might read about in a book called Summer Picnics. (Accept all answers that students can justify.)
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name).
• Write the following repetitive phrase on the board: Summer _____. Read the phrase aloud, pointing to the words as you read them to students. Have students read them aloud. Explain that these words repeat throughout the book.

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Connect to prior knowledge

• Explain to students that good readers make connections between what they already know and new information they read. Remind them that thinking about what they already know about the topic of the book will help them understand and enjoy what they read.
• Model connecting to prior knowledge using the information on the covers.
  Think-aloud: When I look at the front cover of Summer Picnics, I see a paper plate with a hot dog and some chips on it. I also see a basket in the background. Since the title of the book is Summer Picnics, the basket is probably a picnic basket. I know that when people go on a picnic, they pack the food, paper plates, and cups in a basket. I know that people eat, play, and have fun outdoors on picnics. The information I already know about summer picnics will help me read and enjoy the information in the book.
• 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 to students that every book has a big, or main, idea, which is what the book is mostly about. Read the title to students. Explain that the title often provides clues about the book's main idea. Invite students to share predictions about the main idea of this book.
• Explain to students that the main, or big, idea of this book is: Summer Picnics. Write the phrase Summer Picnics on the board. Point to each word as you read the phrase 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 summer picnics. On the back cover, I see a family sitting around a picnic table. They are eating hamburgers and hot dogs on paper plates. I know that hot dogs and hamburgers are foods that are often cooked and eaten on picnics. This is summer food. Since food helps to explain the big idea, it might be a detail in the book.
• Review the things people often take on a picnic that were discussed in the Build Background section. Discuss whether any of these things might be details in the book.

 Introduce the Vocabulary

• While previewing the book, reinforce the vocabulary words students will encounter. For example, while looking at the picture on page 4, you might say: Look at all the people wearing sandals. These are summer shoes.
• Remind students to look at the picture and the letters with which a word begins or ends to figure out a difficult word. For example, point to the word hats on page 3 and say: I am going to check the pictures and think about what would make sense to figure out this word. The pictures show some people wearing caps. When I look at the first part of the word, it starts like /h/. However, the word caps starts with the /k/ sound. I know that another word for caps is hats. The sentence makes sense with this word. The word must be hats.
• For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words and word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students use what they already know about summer and picnics to help them read the book. Remind them to think about the details that support the main idea as they read.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Give students their copy of the book. Have a volunteer point to the first word on page 3 (Summer). Point out to students where to begin reading on each page. Remind them to read the 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 many different plastic cups. I have used these types of cups at home and on picnics. They are light and easy to carry. They will not break like glass cups and can be thrown away when the picnic is over. These are summer cups.
• Invite students to share how they connected with what they already knew as they read.
• Review the main idea of the book: Summer Picnics. Ask students to tell whether or not cups is a detail that supports the main idea of the book and explain why (yes; the cups are something you might use during a summer picnic).
• Introduce and explain the main idea and details worksheet. Write the word cups on the board. Have students write the word and draw a picture that represents cups in one of the spaces 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 Summer Picnics. Have them choose one of the details from the book to draw on their worksheet. Ask them to label their drawing using the word from the book. Have students 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 summer picnics 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.

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 10, I thought about picnics and all of the things people do in the summer. The pictures show people playing on the beach, blowing bubbles, and flying a kite. I also see people dancing and jumping. The people are all outdoors. I know that it is warm outside in the summer. These activities are all fun things people can do outdoors in the summer while on a picnic. I used what I already knew to read this page and better understand the story.
• Have students draw a picture on a separate piece of paper showing how they connected to prior knowledge while reading. Invite them to explain their picture to the rest of the class.
• Ask students to explain how thinking about what they already knew helped them understand and enjoy reading the book.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Read the main 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 supports the main idea of the book.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the main idea and details worksheet.
• Enduring understanding: In this book, you learned about many things you might see while on a summer picnic. Now that you know this information, why is summer a good time to have a picnic?

Phonological Awareness: Discriminate initial consonant sound /s/

• Say the word summer aloud to students, emphasizing the /s/ sound. Have students say the word aloud and then say the initial /s/ sound.
• Read pages 7 and 8 aloud to students. Have them clap their hands when they hear a word that begins with the /s/ sound.
• Check for understanding: Say the following words one at a time and have students give the thumbs-up signal if the word begins with the /s/ sound: fun, summer, cups, sun, sounds, plates, sandals.

Phonics: Identify consonant Ss

• Write the word summer on the board and say it aloud with students.
• Have students say the /s/ sound aloud. Then run your finger under the letters in the word as students say the whole word aloud. Ask students which letter stands for the /s/ sound in the word summer.
• Have students practice writing the letter Ss on a separate piece of paper as they say the sound of the letter.
• Check for understanding: Write the following words that begin with the letter Ss on the board, leaving off the initial consonant: sat, sun, sit. Say each word, one at a time, and have volunteers come to the board and add the initial Ss to the words.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the initial consonant Ss worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Grammar and Mechanics: Periods

• Write Summer hats on the board. Read the words aloud with students. Explain that books contain signals that tell readers when to stop reading between words. Write a period after the word hats. (Note to teacher: Reading A–Z provides concept books at Level aa. Each page contains simple 2- to 4-word lines that use high-frequency words and nouns in a 1:1 correspondence with the picture. These phrases or sentence fragments are usually predictable and consist of a one-word change from page to page, helping to build vocabulary and introduce initial capitalization, ending punctuation, and book-handling skills in early readers.)
• Explain that the signal is called a period. Have students say the word aloud. Point out that the period is like a stop sign because it tells readers when to stop reading between words.
• Ask volunteers to tell about something they would do on a picnic. Write each description on the board, leaving off the period. Read the descriptions aloud to students without stopping. Then have volunteers come to the board and add a period to each description. Reread the descriptions and stop reading after each period.

      Check for understanding: Have students reread the book and highlight all the periods in the book.

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the periods worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Word Work: Categorize words

• Write the heading Summer Clothes on the board. Ask students which words from the book tell about summer clothes (hats, shoes). Write these words under the heading on the board.
• Have students brainstorm other types of summer clothes and write them under the heading Summer Clothes. Discuss with students why all the words go together (they all tell about the types of clothing worn in the summer).
• Check for understanding: Write the heading Summer Eating on the board. Ask students to identify which words from the book tell about things used for eating on picnics (food, plates, cups). Write these words under the heading on the board.
• Have students brainstorm other things used for eating on picnics and write them under the heading Summer Eating. Discuss why all the words go together.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently. 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 they connected with what they already knew as they read the book together.

Informational Writing and Art Connection
Have students draw a picture of something they might see or do on a picnic. Have them write a label for what they drew using the pattern Summer _______. Combine the pages into a class book. Reinforce periods and text that matches the picture.

Science Connection
Discuss the four seasons with students. Then discuss activities that students can do in each season. Talk about how these activities are alike and different. Discuss why certain activities are done in a certain season.