Build Background

• Ask students to think about some of the things they do at school every day. Have students share examples, such as reading stories, writing in journals, playing at recess, etc.
• Reiterate some of the examples of what children do at school. (Busy children share at school and they play at recess.) Model using the pronoun they since students will read it in the story.

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 Busy At School.
• Show students the title page. Talk about the information on the page (title of book, author's name).
• Have students look through the pictures in the book. Discuss and elicit some of the content words as students move through the book walk. Afterward, have them name some of the activities children do at school.

Introduce the Strategy: Self-monitoring

• Explain to students that good readers need to check their reading carefully and notice when something isn't quite right so they can correct themselves. They should always ask if their reading makes sense, sounds right ("Can you say it that way?”), and looks right.
• Model how to self-monitor.
• Think-aloud: The first time I read page 3, I started to read, The kids are busy at school, but then I noticed that the word (point to the word) children looked too long and didn't start with k as in kids; kids didn't look right. I thought about what else would make sense and start with ch- (make sound). I realized it was children. By checking my reading carefully and noticing the tricky part, I was able to correct myself and read the page as the author wrote it.
• As students read, they should 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

• As you preview the book, ask students to talk about the pictures and use the vocabulary they will encounter in the text.
• Reinforce new vocabulary by incorporating it into a discussion of the pictures. For example, on page 5, you might say (referring to busy children): They paint a picture.
• Explain or review that students can help themselves when they come to a tricky word by checking the pictures and thinking about the story. For example, model using meaning and visual cues on page 6. Say: I notice the children are playing. I'm going to read the words carefully to see if it says that they play ball or they play a game. Have students tell what letter they would expect to see in each example (b - ball; g - game) and have them confirm by looking at the words on the page as you show them. After confirming, say: As I look at the picture, it makes sense to say They play a game. I read the word carefully, so I know it looks right, too.
• For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the story to find out what the children do at school.
• Remind students while they read to check to make sure their reading makes sense, sounds right, and looks right.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Give students their books and have them put a sticky note on page 7. Tell them to read to the end of this page. Have students reread the pages if they finish before everyone else.
• When they have finished reading, ask students what words they had trouble with and model self-monitoring.
• Think-aloud: As I started reading on this page (page 7), I started to read They listen to a book. As soon as I started to say book, I realized I didn't see a b. I thought about what else would make sense that starts with st, and I realized that the word story would make sense. By stopping to notice that, I was checking my reading.
• Tell students to read the remainder of the story, checking their own reading (self-monitoring) as they finish the story.

    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 the Reading Strategies

• Ask students to share examples of their own self-monitoring while they read the story. Explain how the strategy helped them. (By checking on themselves, readers make sure that their reading makes sense, sounds right, and looks right.)
• Think-aloud: I helped myself while I was reading by checking my own reading and noticing when something wasn't quite right. I looked at the pictures as I read the words, and I thought about what would make sense, look right, and sound right. By checking my own reading, I made sure that I read carefully so that I could understand the book.
• Ask students what words they marked in their books. Model how they can read these words using word-attack strategies.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Compare and contrast

• Discussion: Invite students to compare their school day to that of the children in the book. Have them explain how their school activities are the same or different.
• Introduce and model the skill: Review or explain that organizing comparisons will help them better understand and remember similarities and differences. Draw a Compare/Contrast matrix (see comprehension worksheet for example) on the board and record the attributes of two familiar objects in the classroom (such as two different clocks, desks, chairs, etc.) to note similarities and differences.
• Check for understanding: Ask students to describe some of the similarities and differences in their school activities with those mentioned in the book.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the comprehension worksheet.
• Extend the discussion: Provide an opportunity for students to share their charts.

Phonemic Awareness: Discriminate initial sounds

• Explain to students that you are going to say a group of three words. Two of the words s6tart with the same sound, but one word starts with a different sound. You want them to listen and tell which two words start the same. Say: sing, song, game (emphasize initial sounds if necessary). Which two start the same? (sing, song).
• Have students continue discriminating initial sounds by orally identifying the two words that match. Use the following groups of words: fan, leaf, fish; pan, pig, soap; nest, dog, duck; mop, cake, cat; leaf, hat, lake; game, goat, toy.

Phonics: Identify initial consonants

• Write the word school on the board and ask students to identify the letter that school starts with (circle or underline s). Explain or review that the letter s is a consonant and that all letters that are not vowels are consonants.
• Write the following words from the book on the board and have students identify the initial consonant in each word: song, game, toys, numbers. Introduce and explain the phonics worksheet. Have students write the correct initial consonant under each picture.

Grammar and Mechanics: Periods (full stops )

• Review or explain that writers use a periods (full stop) to mark the end of a sentence. Have students turn to page 3 and read the sentence together. Have them hold their hand as a "stop" signal (like a traffic officer) when they come to the period (full stop). Use the same process for page 4 and other pages if needed for reinforcement.

    Tell students to identify the periods in the remainder of the book by highlighting the them. Check responses.

Vocabulary: High-frequency words

• Explain to students that the story contains many words that we use often in reading and writing, and that it is helpful to be able to recognize and read the words quickly.
• Say: I can practice the words in the book by playing a game called My Pile, Your Pile with a partner. First, my partner takes a turn showing me a flashcard word. If I read the word quickly, I put it in my pile. If the word is tricky for me, it goes in my partner's pile. When we're done with all the cards, my partner shows me the words that were tricky again so I can try to add them to my pile. The goal is for each student to try to get all of the flashcard words into his or her pile.
• Introduce and explain the vocabulary worksheet. Have students cut out their own words and pair with another student to play My Pile, Your Pile.

Independent Reading

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

Writing and Art Connection

• Have students draw a picture of themselves busy at school and write a sentence at the bottom about what they do at school (I read books, I play with my friends.) Use the pictures for a Busy at School bulletin board display.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• consistently self-monitor while reading the book
• compare their own school day with activities in the book
• understand and identify words that have the same initial sound
• accurately record the correct initial consonant with given pictures
• understand and identify periods (full stops)
• understand that high-frequency words should be recognized quickly; accurately read words in high-frequency word game