Caretakers - Lesson Plans

Caretakers
Level D

About the Book

Text Type: Nonfiction/Informational
Page Count: 10
Word Count: 86

Book Summary
All around us, people in our communities take care of different things. What would we do without a road worker, a vet, a dentist, and a police officer? Students will understand that everything, from pets to people to roads, needs care.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

Connect to prior knowledge

Objectives

Use the strategy of connecting to prior knowledge to understand the text
Classify information
Discriminate the short /i/ vowel sound
Associate the letter Ii with the short /i/ vowel sound
Recognize pronouns
Recognize and read high-frequency words a, is, and this

Materials

Book -- Caretakers (copy for each student)
Chalkboard or dry erase board
Classify information, short /i/ 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 words: this, is, a, he, she
Content words: gardener, road worker, roads, babysitter, babies, dentist, teeth, vet, animals, doctor, people, firefighters, police officers

Before Reading

Build Background

Write the word caretakers on the board and read it aloud to students. Have them repeat the word. Ask them if they know what the word means. Point out that the word is made up of two words: care and taker. Discuss the definition of the word as a group.
Ask students to think of people who are caretakers in their community. Ask students questions such as: Who puts out fires? Who helps you when you are sick? Record their ideas in a list on the board.

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

Show students the front cover of the book and read the title with them. Ask what they might read about in a book called Caretakers. (Accept any answers students can justify.) Ask students what the girl in the picture might be doing. Ask them to identify familiar caretakers from the picture. Ask students to share experiences they have had with any of the caretakers pictured on the cover.
Show students the back cover and ask them to identify the caretaker. Ask them why it is important to make regular visits to the dentist.
Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name, illustrator's name).

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 what they read.
Model connecting to prior knowledge using the information on the title page.
Think-aloud: When I look at the title page, I see a man holding something near the mouth of a dog. I know that people sometimes give their pets treats. I know from our discussion in the Build Background section that a caretaker is someone who takes care of someone or something. In the picture, the dog's tongue is hanging out. This reminds me of something I do when I am sick and go to the doctor. The doctor asks me to stick out my tongue so she can see the back of my throat. The title of the book is Caretakers. I know that dogs go to a doctor called a vet when they are sick. Thinking about what I know might help me to read new words.
Have students preview the pictures on the covers and title page in the book. Have them tell about their experiences with the caretakers they see in the pictures.
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

Use the book walk as an opportunity to introduce unfamiliar vocabulary to students and to model any difficult language patterns. For example, on page 4, ask: Where is this caretaker working? What do we call a caretaker who works in a garden?
As vocabulary words are mentioned, have students point to the corresponding word to help them make the picture/word connection. For example, on page 4, ask: Which word says gardener and which word says garden? Reinforce that both words start with the same sound but have different ending sounds. Point out that the word gardener has an -er ending that is added onto the end of the word garden. Remind students that they can look for familiar endings and word parts within unfamiliar words. They should also reread the sentence to check that the word makes sense.
Encourage students to add the new vocabulary words to their word journals.
For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

Have students read to find out what the text has to tell them about caretakers. Remind them to think about what they already know about caretakers and use their knowledge to help them understand what they are reading.

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 (Caretakers). 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 6, using their finger to point to each word as they read. Encourage students who finish before others to reread the text.
Model using prior knowledge to make connections to the text.
Think-aloud: When I read about the road worker, I thought about times that I have seen construction on the roads. Sometimes the workers hold signs to remind drivers to drive slowly. Sometimes they use big machines to push dirt and dig holes. The workers usually wear bright orange vests so that drivers and other people can easily see them.
Invite students to share how they connected with what they already knew as they read.
Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to use what they already know about caretakers 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.

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.
Think-aloud: As I read page 7, I thought about my visits to the dentist. I thought about how the dentist carefully checks my teeth for cavities. The dentist also cleans my teeth with special tools. Using what I already knew helped me understand this part of the book.
Discuss with students how using what they already knew about caretakers helped them understand what they read. Invite them to share additional examples of how they connected to prior knowledge as they read.
Discuss additional strategies students used to gain meaning from the book.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Classify information

Discussion: Ask students how our communities might be different if we didn't have caretakers.
Introduce and model the skill: Show students the following objects: pencil, ruler, book, paper, crayon. Discuss with students how to sort the objects into two groups. Explain that sorting information into groups can help readers think about and remember what they read.
Check for understanding: Divide students into groups. Give each group the following objects: pencil, ruler, book, paper, crayon. Have them sort the objects into two or more new groups. When finished, discuss their responses.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the classify information worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Extend the discussion: Instruct students to use the last page of the book to draw a picture of themselves as the caretaker they would most like to be. Have them share their picture with the group and explain why they chose that job.

Build Skills

Phonological Awareness: Discriminate the short /i/ vowel sound

Say the word lip aloud, stretching the sounds in the word. Ask students to say the vowel sound they hear in the middle of the word. Say the short /i/ vowel sound with students.
Say the following words aloud and have students point to their lip (for short /i/) if the word contains the short /i/ vowel sound: bike, hid, sit, bat, top, fit.

Phonics: Short /i/

Have students turn to page 4 and put their finger on the word this as you say it aloud. Ask them to say the vowel sound they hear in the middle of the word this. Review the short /i/ vowel sound. Say the word to them again as you run your finger under the letters. Ask students to identify the letter in the word this that stands for the short /i/ vowel sound.
Write the following words on the board, leaving out the letter i in each word: sit, fin, him, lip, hid, pig. Have volunteers complete the words. Then have students blend the sounds in the words together as you run your finger under the letters.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the short /i/ worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Grammar and Mechanics: Pronouns

Read page 4 aloud to students. Have students put their finger on the word he. Ask them who the word he refers to in the sentence (the gardener). Tell students that the word he is called a pronoun. Ask them how many people the word he stands for (one). Repeat the process with the word she on page 5.
Say the following sentence aloud: Jon is standing. Ask a volunteer to say the sentence again, replacing the word Jon with a pronoun.
Have students turn to page 10 and put their finger on the word they. Ask them who the word they refers to in this sentence (firefighters and police officers). Ask students how many people the word they refers to (more than one).
Say the following sentence aloud: Ellie and Al are standing. Ask a volunteer to say the sentence again, replacing the words Ellie and Al with a pronoun.
Have students use the pronouns he, she, and they in oral sentences.

Word Work: High-frequency words a, is, and this

Write the words a, is, and this on the board. Read each word with students. Explain that these words are used often in the books that students read.
Have students turn to page 4 in their book. Read the first sentence aloud with students. Ask them to point to the words a, is, and this. Have students practice writing each word on a separate piece of paper.
Write the following sentence on the board. This is a _____. Hold up different objects, such as a pen, a book, and a cup. Ask volunteers to complete the sentence by orally naming the object. Have them come to the board and point to each word in the sentence as they read it.

Build Fluency

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.

Extend the Reading

Writing and Art Connection
Ask students to choose a caretaker from their community and draw a picture showing how that caretaker can help them. Have them write a sentence about the caretaker. Put their pages together in a book titled Caretakers.

Social Studies Connection
Have students generate questions about the job of a firefighter or police officer. Invite a local firefighter or police officer to visit the classroom to talk about their jobs as caretakers and answer students' questions. Ask students to draw pictures of what they learned.

Assessment

Monitor students to determine if they can:

use their prior knowledge of caretakers to help them read the book
correctly classify information from the text during discussion and on a worksheet
discriminate words with the short /i/ vowel sound
correctly read CVC words that contain the short /i/ vowel sound; correctly associate the letter Ii with the short /i/ vowel sound
identify pronouns he, she, and they in the book; tell how many people each pronoun stands for; use the pronouns correctly in oral sentences
accurately read, write, and use high-frequency words a, is, and this during discussion

Comprehension Checks

Go to "Caretakers" main page