About the Book

Text Type: Nonfiction/Concept Book
Page Count: 10
Word Count: 24

Book Summary
Most children enjoy crawling under furniture and objects and will relate to the monkey as it does the same. The monkey guides children through a text with repeated high-frequency words and new vocabulary that names familiar things.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Make, revise, and confirm predictions

Objectives

• Use picture information to predict whether the story is real or make-believe
• Identify reality and fantasy
• Listen for medial short vowel sound /u/
• Associate the letter Uu with the sound /u/
• Understand that some words tell actions
• Identify position words

Materials

• Book -- Under (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Reality and fantasy, short /u/ 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 word: the, under
• Content words: chair, desk, table, bed, pillow, umbrella, swing, tree

Before Reading

Build Background

• When you have students' attention, put a book under a chair. Ask students to tell what you just did (put a book under a chair).
• Write the word under on the board. Tell students that this word tells where something is, or its position. Provide an example: I put the book under the chair.
• Ask students to name and discuss other things that can be "under" something. Provide additional examples if needed: The wastebasket is under the table. The map is under the flag. The chairs are under the desks.

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 Under. (Accept any answers students can justify). Ask students whether they think this book will be a fantasy or reality story about a monkey. Ask where the monkey is in the two pictures.
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name, illustrator's name).

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Make, revise, and confirm predictions

• Explain that good readers make predictions, or guesses, about what will happen in a story. Explain that making predictions can help people make decisions, solve problems, and learn new information. Emphasize that making predictions is more important than whether the prediction is right, or confirmed.
• Model making a prediction based on available information.
• Think-aloud: The monkey is under a stool and under a ball. The name of the book is Under. I think we will read about lots of places that the monkey is under. I wonder if the monkey goes under something and then gets stuck. I need to read the book to decide whether I need to revise my prediction.
• Show students the title page and have them make a prediction about 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 Vocabulary

• Reinforce new vocabulary and word-attack strategies by pointing to an object in the picture, such as the umbrella. Ask students what sound they hear at the beginning of the word. Ask what sound they hear at the end of the word. Have students find the word umbrella on the page and tell you how they know the word is umbrella. Repeat with other vocabulary words if necessary.
• Remind students to look at the beginning and ending sounds, and other parts that they recognize, to help them sound out words. They should also check whether the word makes sense by looking at the picture or rereading the sentence.
• For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read to revise or confirm their prediction based on the pictures and text in the book.

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 (Under). 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 5, using their finger to point to each word as they read. Encourage students who finish before others to reread the text.
• Think-aloud: I predicted that the monkey goes under something and gets stuck. From what I've read, this has not happened. However, the monkey seems to be making a mess. On page 5, food is falling to the floor. I think the monkey will make a big mess and get into trouble. That is my revised prediction.
• When they have finished, ask them if they can confirm any of their predictions about the book. Ask if they want to revise any predictions for the rest of the book.
• Point out that making predictions helps readers to think about what they are reading. Have students read the remainder of the book.

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.
• Reinforce that making predictions based on the cover and the pictures helps them be more involved with the story. Invite students to share the outcome of their prediction.
• Think-aloud: I predicted that the monkey would make a mess and get into trouble. Based on what I've read, my prediction was incorrect. The monkey continued to go under many objects, but he didn't make a mess or get into trouble. Making predictions helped me become more interested in reading the book. I wanted to keep reading to check that my predictions about the monkey were correct.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Reality and fantasy

• Discussion: Discuss with students the concepts of reality and fantasy by using familiar examples. For example, rainbows are real, but pots of gold at the end of every rainbow are fantasy.
• Introduce and model the skill: Tell students that some stories are about what real animals or people might do and other stories are about make-believe people, places, and events. Model the skill using a familiar fantasy story.
• Think-aloud: Many stories are fun to read because they are about things that are not real. We can use our imagination when we read these stories. I'm thinking of the story about the three little pigs. I enjoyed this story, but I knew that it was make believe, I know that real pigs don't talk, wear clothes, or build houses. However, it is possible to build houses out of different materials, such as bricks or wood. This is real.
• Check for understanding: Choose another familiar story. Ask students to identify elements of reality and fantasy in the story.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the reality and fantasy worksheet. When students have finished, have them share and discuss their pictures.

Extend the discussion: Instruct students to use the last page of their book to draw a picture of the part of the story they liked best. Have them dictate a sentence that tells why they liked this part. Have them share their pictures.

Build Skills

Phonological Awareness: Discriminate short /u/

• Have students listen carefully as you say the word bug, stressing the short /u/ vowel sound: /b/ /uuu/ /g/; bug. Have students repeat the word. Tell students that the sound in the middle of the word is /u/. Say the short /u/ vowel sound and ask the students to repeat it.
• Tell students you are going to say a poem that has lots of words with the short /u/ vowel sound in it. Have them listen as you say the poem through one time:

The monkey saw a bug in a rug.
The monkey saw a pup with a cup.
The monkey saw a cub with a tub.
The monkey saw a pug with a jug.
Now, let's think, you and me.
What did the little monkey see?
A bug, a rug, a pup, a cup,
A cub, a tub, a pug, a jug.

• Say the poem again, having students listen and join in when they can. Then repeat the poem and have them clap each time they hear a word with /u/.

Phonics: Short /u/

• Write the capital and lowercase Uu on the board. Ask students to name the letter. Tell them that the letter u stands for the /u/ sound they hear at the beginning of the word under and in the middle of the word cup.
• Have students look at the cover of the book to find a word that starts with /u/ (under). Have students look through the book to find another word that starts with /u/ (umbrella/page 8)
• Write the following words on the board: bug, cup, tub, nut. Model how to sound out the first word, moving your hand under each letter while blending the sounds. Hold the sounds, except for stop sounds, for one second (buuuug), and then say the word. Ask students to sound out the word with you. Repeat with the remaining words.
• Have individual students come up and circle the letter that makes the /u/ sound in the words.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the short /u/ worksheet. When students have completed the worksheet, discuss their answers.

Grammar and Mechanics: Action words

• Tell students that some words tell us what the characters are doing. These are called action words.
• Ask students to act out the following action words: sing, hop, shake, squat, clap. (Reinforce with "good job!" as students clap.)

Word Work: Position words

• Ask students to name the book they just read (Under). Tell students that the word under tells where something is. Ask students if they remember other words that tell where something is (in, out, on). Put a book under a chair and ask students to tell what you did. Extend the activity by repeating for in, out, and on.
• Arrange students in a circle and show them an object (paper/pencil). Model putting the book under the chair again. Give each student an item. Tell students that when it is their turn, they will put the item under something and say, I put the ___ under the ___.

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
Ask students to think of things they can be under. Write Under the ______ on a piece of paper for each student. Ask each student to give you a word to add the phrase. Write the word and ask the student to draw a picture to go with the phrase. Collect the pages and make into a class book.

Science and Art Connection
Explain that scientists often look under things to learn about other things. Take students on a walk around the school grounds. Point out things they may not notice on their own, such as a bug under a leaf, a seedling under a tree, or a rock under a bush. When the class returns to the classroom, tell students to draw a picture of one thing they saw under something. Help students label their pictures "a ___ under a ___." Collect pages and bind in a class book.

Assessment

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• make logical predictions about the book; revise and confirm predictions as they explore the book
• understand the difference between reality and fantasy on a worksheet
• tell which words have medial sound /u/ when hearing the words during discussion
• associate the letter Uu with the sound /u/ and correctly read CVC words with short /u/
• perform appropriate actions for given verbs during discussion
• use position words correctly in oral sentences

Comprehension Check

• Retelling Rubric

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