Build Background

• Ask students to tell about any interesting rocks they have collected or seen. Ask students where they think rocks come from.
• Explain that this book is a factual book that provides information about rocks. Point out that each page describes a type of rock.

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 Rocks. Ask how the rocks in the book might be the same or different.
• Show students the title page. Talk about the information on the page (title of book, author's name).

Introduce the Strategy: Self-monitor

• 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, and looks right.
• Model how to self-monitor using the think-aloud.
• Think-aloud: The first time I read page 3, I started to read, This is a rock, but then I noticed that the word (point to the word mountain) looked too long and didn't begin or end like rock; rock didn't look right. I thought about what else would make sense and begin with /m/ (make sound) and I realized it was mountain. 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 what they see in the photographs and use the vocabulary they will encounter in the text. Incorporate content vocabulary words while looking through the pictures and reinforce related comments made by students. For example, while looking at the picture on page 5, you might say: This boulder looks as if it broke off the mountain.
• Rehearse some of the book language, such as It broke off… while looking through the pictures.
• Introduce and model masking. Remind students that they can help themselves when they come to a tricky word by masking, or covering up, most of the word with their finger. They can then check the picture and think about what would make sense that starts like the sound showing. For example, on page 3, model masking all but the m of mountain. Say: This is a long, tricky word, but I am going to help myself by using the picture on the page and the sound/letter clues. Read the text, pausing and making the initial /m/ sound for mountain: This is /m/. Ask students to check the picture to see what starts with /m/ that would make sense (mountain). When students predict mountain, say: Now I'm going to run my finger under the rest of the word to make sure that mountain looks right and makes sense--yes!
• For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to learn about rocks.
• As students read, remind them 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 5. Tell them to read to the end of this page. Have them reread the pages if they finish before everyone else.
• Ask students what they notice about the rocks in the story so far (the rocks are getting smaller and have broken off the larger rocks). Model self-monitoring.
• Think-aloud: When I read page 5, I said This is a boulder. It fell off…, but as soon as I said fell off, I realized I didn't see the f in fell. I thought about what word would make sense that starts with the /br/ sound. I realized that broke would make sense. By stopping and checking my reading, I was able to correct the tricky part.
• Tell students to read the remainder of the book. Remind them to stop and ask themselves whether what they're reading makes sense, sounds right, and looks right.

    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

• Explain that self-monitoring helps a reader pay attention to the words and information in a book. It also gives the reader a chance to go back and look at any difficult words to be sure they make sense, sound right, and look right.
• Think-aloud: Stopping to notice when something isn't quite right as I'm reading lets me take a careful look at the words so that I can self-correct. It helps me read the book as the author wrote it and helps me better understand the information in the book.
• Ask students what words they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Sequence events

• Discussion: Ask students to explain what they learned about rocks and about how the biggest of rocks, mountains, can change into the smallest of rocks, dust.
• Introduce and model the skill: Tell students that one way to understand and remember new information is to think about the order of events from the first step to the last step. Model sequencing a series of familiar events, such as getting ready for school in the morning. On the board, list an initial event, such as getting up and getting dressed. Then draw an arrow that leads to the next event, such as eating breakfast. Continue drawing arrows to connect the sequence of events (brushing hair and teeth, getting dressed, etc.). Invite students to add events that lead to the start of the school day.
• Check for understanding: Referring to the first few pages of the book, ask students how the sequencing diagram could be used for Rocks (boulders are large rocks that broke off a mountain; stones broke off a boulder). Invite a volunteer to create and fill in the first event box on a sequencing chart by drawing a simple illustration of a large boulder on the board. Have the student draw an arrow that connects to the next event. Have another volunteer draw in the second box the next event (a stone, slightly smaller than the boulder).
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the sequence events worksheet following the example started as a group.
• Enduring understanding: In this book, you learned how rocks change size from big to very small. Now that you know this information, what other changes do you know of that happen in nature?

Phonemic Awareness: Sound discrimination

• Tell students you are going to say a word from the story. You want them to listen carefully to the first sound of the word (identify initial sound as a group). Next, you are going to say a group of words and you want them to clap on the words that start with the same sound. For example, if you say rock, identify the initial sound /r/ as a group. Then say the following words slowly: rat, rug, dog, rake, hat, run (students clap on rat, rug, rake, and run).
• Have students practice discriminating the first sound with the following groups: mountain /m/: man, fox, mop, mat; sand /s/: dog, sun, six, sad; boulder /b/: boy, big, bat, cab; pebble /p/: jar, pig, lake, pan; dust /d/: dog, doll, fan, zoo.

Phonics: Initial consonants

• Write the words rock, sand, and dust on the board and underline the first letter of each word. Review or explain that all words in the English language are made up of letters that are either vowels (a, e, i, o, u) or consonants. The underlined letters show the first consonant of each word.
• Explain that you are going to write some new words and you will ask for a volunteer to come up and identify the first consonant of each word. Choose simple words with two or three sounds (such as bug, six, ham, tea). Use known/familiar words and invite students to identify the first consonant of each word.
• Introduce and explain the initial consonants worksheet.

Grammar and Mechanics: Periods (full stops)

• Review or explain that writers use periods/full stops to mark the end of a sentence.
• Have students read page 3 together as a group, identifying the period/full stop at the end of the sentence. Very young readers may enjoy holding up a hand to indicate “stop!” like a traffic director.
• Choose a page that has two sentences, such as page 5 or 6, and read together as a group, emphasizing the period/full stop at the end of each sentence.

Vocabulary: High-frequency words

• Explain that there are some words in the book that are used frequently in other books and in our own writing. These words are called high-frequency words. It is helpful to be able to read and write the words automatically so that our minds can concentrate on trickier parts of reading and writing.
• From the list of high-frequency words of the story (this, is, a, it, the, off), select those that you feel the group may need to learn to a level of fluency or automaticity (writing/reading automatically without having to pause to think about it). Select one word at a time and have students use their individual board to write the word, then write it again faster, write it smaller, write it bigger, erase and write again, etc. Continue until the word is over-learned and automatic.
• Introduce and explain the high-frequency words worksheet.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their books independently or with a partner. Encourage repeated timed readings of a specific section of 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, Art, and Science Connection

• Visit a geology museum or arrange for a collection of various rocks for class display. Have students select a rock to observe and draw/color in as much detail as possible. Have students write a brief caption to go with their drawing. Display drawings with rocks and have students try to match drawings and captions with the actual rocks.

Match Connection

• Have students practice using balances/scales to balance various rocks with other manipulatives (unifix cubes, blocks, etc.) in the classroom.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• consistently self-monitor while reading the book
• accurately sequence series of events represented by rock changes in the book
• understand and use initial sound discrimination
• understand and identify initial consonants
• understand, use, and identify periods/full stops
• practice fluency and use of high-frequency words