Text Type: Nonfiction/Concept
Page Count: 10
Word Count: 25

Book Summary
What would you pack in your picnic basket? We Pack a Picnic shows the food two friends pack for their picnic. Students have the opportunity to ask and answer questions as they read this book. Detailed, supportive illustrations, high-frequency words, and repetitive phrases support beginning readers.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Ask and answer questions

Objectives

• Use the reading strategy of asking and answering questions to understand text
• Classify information
• Demonstrate word awareness
• Identify initial consonant Pp
• Recognize and use singular and plural subjects
• Alphabetize words

Materials

• Book -- We Pack a Picnic (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Picture cards, ask and answer questions, initial consonant Pp, singular/plural subjects worksheets
• Discussion cards

      Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may be demonstrated by projecting book on interactive whiteboard or completed with paper and pencil if books are reused.)

Vocabulary

• High-frequency words: a, we
• Content words: apples, carrots, cheese, crackers, drinks, grapes, pack, picnic, sandwiches

Build Background

• Write the word picnic on the white board and point to the word as you read it aloud to students. Repeat the process and have students say the word aloud.
• Ask students if they have ever been on a picnic. Discuss the types of foods that might be packed for a picnic.

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 We Pack a Picnic. (Accept all answers that students can justify.)
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name, illustrator's name).
• Write the following repetitive sentences on the board: We pack _____. Read the sentence 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: Ask and answer questions

• Model how to ask questions as you preview the book.
  Think-aloud: I see two girls putting things into a picnic basket. I wonder what they are putting in their basket. I'll write that question on the board. (What are the girls packing in their basket?) The picture on the back cover shows the girls sitting on a blanket with food spread all around them. They are on a picnic, and they have sandwiches to eat. I wonder what kinds of sandwiches they are eating. I'll write that question on the board. (What kinds of sandwiches might be taken on a picnic?)
• Show students the title page and ask what they see in the picture. Ask students what questions they might ask about the picture. If necessary, model once more for students how to ask questions 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 Comprehension Skill: Classify information

• Explain to students that readers often think about the objects in a book and what they have in common. Thinking about what objects have in common and sorting them into groups helps readers understand and remember what they read.
• Cut out the pictures from the picture cards worksheet and place them in a pocket chart or display on white board.
• Model how to classify information using the pictures.
  Think-aloud: As I thought about how to group these objects, I started by asking myself what they had in common. I noticed that the apple is a fruit. I will group this picture under the Fruit heading. I also noticed that the carrot is a vegetable. I will group this picture under the Vegetable heading.
• Sort through the remainder of the picture cards, asking for volunteers to put the pictures under one of the headings. (Accept any answers students can justify).

Introduce the Vocabulary

• While previewing the book, reinforce the vocabulary words students will encounter. For example, while looking at the picture on page 3, you might say: It looks as though the girls pack grapes.
• 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 picnic on page 10 and say: I am going to check the picture and think about what would make sense to figure out this word. The picture looks like two girls eating lunch. When I look at the first part of the word, it starts like /p/. However, the word lunch starts with the /l/ sound, so this can't be the word. I know that when people eat lunch outside on a blanket, it's called a picnic. The word picnic starts with the /p/ sound. I also hear the /k/ sound at the end of picnic. This word has the letter c at the end which makes the /k/ sound. The sentence makes sense with this word. The word must be picnic.
• 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 food and picnics to ask questions as they read. Remind them to think about the types of foods they read about.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Give students their copy of the book. Have a volunteer point to the first word on page 3 (We). 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 their 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 asking and answering questions and classifying information.
  Think-aloud: On page 3, I see one of the girls packing grapes. I know that grapes are a type of fruit. I wonder if they will pack any other fruit. What are some other fruits they might want to pack for a picnic?
• Invite students to share some questions they asked as they read.
• Review how to classify information. Make a list on the white board of other fruits that might be taken on a picnic.
• Introduce and explain the ask and answer questions worksheet. Project the worksheet on the white board. Read the first question and have students answer it by drawing a picture of a fruit that might be taken on a picnic.
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 8. Encourage them to share questions they asked as they read. (Accept all answers that show students understand how to ask and answer questions.)
• Read the second question on the worksheet aloud with students. Ask them to think about the answer to the question. Have them draw a picture on their worksheet to answer the question. Have students share what they drew.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to think about question they may have 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.

• 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.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Explain to students that asking and answering questions about the books we read helps us to better understand and enjoy what we read.
• Think-aloud: When I read page 8, I thought about the kind of food the girls are packing. I know that carrots are vegetables. I wonder what other kinds of vegetables might be taken on a picnic. What are other vegetables that might be taken on a picnic?
• Ask students to explain how asking and answering questions helped them to understand and remember the information in the book.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the ask and answer questions worksheet.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Read the questions on the worksheet about each of the foods. Review the objects students drew on their worksheet. Invite them to explain why each of the pictures they drew matches the category of food in the question.
• Enduring understanding: In this book, you learned about some of the foods that can be packed for a picnic. Now that you know this information, why is it important to take a variety of foods on a picnic?

Phonological Awareness: Word awareness

• Say the following phrase aloud: We pack grapes. Say the phrase again, clapping each word as you say it aloud. Explain that you said three words. Have students repeat the process with you.
• Explain to students that each clap represents a word. Point out that words in a sentence are separated by short pauses as they are read aloud. The pauses help listeners know where one word ends and a new word begins.
• Say the following phrase aloud: We pack cheese, too. Then have students clap each word in the sentence as they say it aloud with you. Ask them to identify the number of words in the sentence (4).
• Check for understanding: Say additional sentences aloud that contain one-syllable words. Have students clap and count the number of words together.

Phonics: Identify initial consonant Pp

• Write the word pack on the board and say it aloud with students.
• Have students say the /p/ sound aloud. Then run your finger under the letters in the word as students say the whole word aloud. Ask students to identify which letter represents the /p/ sound in the word pack.
• Have students practice writing the letter Pp on a separate piece of paper while saying the /p/ sound.
• Check for understanding: Write the following words that begin with the /p/ sound on the board, leaving off the initial consonant: pit, pat, pan. Say each word, one at a time, and have volunteers come to the board and add the initial Pp to each word.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the initial consonant Pp worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Grammar and Mechanics: Singular/plural subject

• Write the following sentence on the whiteboard: We pack grapes. Read the sentence aloud with students. Explain that every sentence has a subject that tells who or what the sentence is about. Point out that the word We is the subject of this sentence or who the sentence is about.
• Write the following sentence on the whiteboard: I pack grapes. Have a volunteer come to the board and point to the subject (I).
• Reread the sentences aloud with students. Ask students how many people the first sentence tells about (2 or more). Explain that the word we tells about more than one person. Ask students how many people the second sentence is telling about (1). Point out that the word I tells about only one person.
• Ask volunteers to make a statement about packing a picnic with a friend. Write each sentence on the board, underlining the subject (We).
• Ask volunteers to make a statement about packing a picnic on their own. Write each sentence on the board, underlining the subject (I).
• Check for understanding: Have students use the words I and We in oral sentences to describe where they might go on a picnic.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the singular/plural subject worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Word Work: Alphabetize

• Review or explain to students that words are sometimes placed in a list by alphabetical order. Words are placed in alphabetical order by first looking at the beginning letter in each word and then deciding which letter comes first in the alphabet.
• Write the words pack and apples on the board. Underline the first letter in each word. Ask students which letter comes first in the alphabet, p or a. Explain that the word apples would come first in an alphabetical list.
• Write the words crackers and pack on the board. Have students identify the initial letter in each word (c and p). Ask students to identify which letter comes first in the alphabet (c). Explain that the word crackers would come first in an alphabetical list.
• Check for understanding: List the content vocabulary words in the following order on the board: picnic, cheese, drinks, grapes, sandwiches. Have students write the words in alphabetical order on a separate piece of paper. When they have finished, discuss their answers.

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 classify information about different types of foods from the book with someone at home.

Concept Writing and Art Connection
Have students draw a picture of a food they might take on a picnic. Under the picture, have them write one sentence telling about their picture.

Science Connection
Discuss the types of foods in the book. Introduce students to the food pyramid (www.mypyramid.gov). Encourage them to categorize the foods from the book based on the food pyramid. Have students work in groups to draw and label healthy picnic lunches that meet the food pyramid requirements.

Skill Review
Discussion cards covering comprehension skills and strategies not explicitly taught with the book are provided as an extension activity. The following is a list of some ways these cards can be used with students:

• Use as discussion starters for literature circles.
• Have students choose one or more cards and write a response, either as an essay or a journal entry.
• Distribute before reading the book and have students use one of the questions as a purpose for reading.
• Cut apart and use the cards as game cards with a board game.
• Conduct a class discussion as a review before the book quiz.