Bear and Kangaroo - Lesson Plans

Bear and Kangaroo
Level E

About the Book

Text Type: Fiction/Fantasy
Page Count: 10
Word Count: 109

Book Summary
Bear and Kangaroo tells the story of two animal friends who are always trying to outdo each other. Charming illustrations show that the competition is good-natured. Repeated sentence patterns and character dialogue make this a fun book to read.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

Make, revise, and confirm predictions

Objectives

Use the reading strategy of making, revising, and confirming predictions
Compare and contrast characters
Blend phonemes
Read VCe long /a/ words
Identify action verbs
Recognize and write the high-frequency word I

Materials

Book -- Bear and Kangaroo (copy for each student)
Chalkboard or dry erase board
Compare and contrast, VCe long /a/ 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: am, can, said, too
Content words: kangaroo, bear

Before Reading

Build Background

Ask students to think of things they can do well. For example, a student might be good at running or jumping. Another might be good at telling time or counting.
Discuss the meaning of the words good, better, and best, and use each one in a sentence. (I make good cookies. My father makes better cookies. My grandmother makes the best cookies) Ask students to think of a person who is good at something, someone who is better, and another person who is the best.
Continue the discussion by discussing with sudents the words mean, meaner, and meanest. Explain to them that words like these are used to compare people, places, and things. Provide examples such as, Spot is a mean dog. Spike is a meaner dog. Bart is the meanest dog of all.

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 Bear and Kangaroo. (Accept any answers students can justify.)
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 to make decisions, solve problems, and learn new information. Emphasize that knowing how to make predictions is more important than whether the prediction is right, or confirmed.
Model using the cover pictures of the book to make a prediction.
Think-aloud: I know that readers can look at the cover of a book to get an idea of what the book is about. Looking at the cover pictures, I see a bear and a kangaroo. They are wearing badges. The bear's badge says "better." The kangaroo's badge says "best." I wonder why they are wearing these badges. Maybe they had a competition and the kangaroo won. I predict that the bear and kangaroo have a contest and the kangaroo wins. Making predictions about this book gives me a purpose for reading it because I want to find out if my prediction is right.
Have students use the pictures on the covers and title page to make a prediction before reading the book. Invite them to share their prediction.
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

Have students turn to page 3 in their book. Point out the word Kangaroo. Ask students to look at the letters at the beginning and ending of the word. Have students look at the picture on the page and tell you the word. 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 say words. They should also check whether a word makes sense by looking at the picture or rereading the sentence.
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 happens with Bear and Kangaroo. Remind them to make, revise, and confirm predictions as they read.

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 (I). 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 revising a prediction.
Think-aloud: Before reading, I predicted that the bear and the kangaroo have a contest and the kangaroo wins. So far, the bear and the kangaroo have done different activities, such as make mean faces and fishing. Each time, the kangaroo thinks it is better than the bear. Kangaroo seems to be bragging. I think that Bear will challenge Kangaroo to a contest and Bear will be better.
Have students think about the prediction they made before reading. Invite them to share the outcomes of their predictions.
Have students read the remainder of the book. Encourage them to continue to make, revise, and/or confirm predictions as they read the rest of the story.

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.
Invite students to discuss whether their predictions turned out to be true or whether they needed to be revised. Reinforce that making predictions about what they are reading helps them get meaning from the book and gives them a purpose for reading.
Think-aloud: I predicted that Bear and Kangaroo would have a contest, and Bear would win. This prediction was not correct. Kangaroo continued to say it was better than Bear. At the end of the story, Bear and Kangaroo both were good at hopping.
Discuss additional strategies students used to gain meaning from the book.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Compare and contrast

Discussion: Discuss which character was better at lifting. Ask which was better at juggling. Ask what Kangaroo was good at. Ask students how they feel when someone does something better than they do, or vice versa. Reinforce that everyone does something well.
Introduce and model the skill: Explain that one way to understand information in a book is to think about how the information is alike and different in each case. Tell students that when they read a book, they can compare and contrast the characters. This will help them understand the characters better. Tell them they can compare what the characters look like, what they say, and what they do. Make a large Venn diagram on the board and model how to compare and contrast the characters.
Think-aloud: One way these characters are alike is that they are both animals. I will write animals in the overlapping circles. I see that Bear has a short tail and Kangaroo has a long tail. This is one way they are different. I will write short tail for Bear and long tail for Kangaroo in the separate circles. I know that both of them can make a mean face, so I'll write that in the overlapping circle. But Bear can make a meaner face than Kangaroo. I will write makes a meaner face in the circle for Bear.
Check for understanding: Ask students to list another way that the characters are alike and another way that they are different.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the compare and contrast worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Instruct students to go through the book and color the pages that show pictures of things they do well.

Build Skills

Phonological Awareness: Blend sounds

Say the word fish by segmenting the sounds in the word: /f/ /i/ /sh/. Model blending the sounds together to say the word.
Say the following words, one at a time, by segmenting the sounds in the word: best, mean, face, juggle, bear. Have students blend the sounds together to say each word.

Phonics: VCe long /a/

Write the word cap on the board. Say the word with students. Add the letter e to the end of the word cap. Say the word with students. Have them tell the difference between the two words. Point out the VCe pattern in the word cape. Explain to students that the letter e at the end of the word changes the vowel to a long /a/ sound.
Have students turn to page 4 and read the first sentence. Then have them put their finger on the words make and face. Ask students what they notice about the vowel sounds in the words (both are long /a/).
Write the following words on the board: bake, race, game. Read the words with students. Have volunteers come to the board and circle the VCe pattern in each word.
Write other examples of words with the VCe long /a/ pattern: cape, same, tape, made. Have students read the words with you. Cover the letter e at the end of each word and have students reread each word.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the VCe long /a/ worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Grammar and Mechanics: Action words (verbs)

Remind students that some words name actions. Have them turn to page 6. Ask students to tell what the characters do with the berries. Ask them to put their finger on the word that tells what they do (eat).

Have students find and circle all the words in the book that name actions in the book (make, catch, eat, climb, juggle, lift, hop, said).

Word Work: High frequency word I

Say the following sentence aloud, pointing to yourself as you say each sentence aloud: Mr./Mrs./Ms. (your name) teaches the student. I teach the student.
Write the word I on the board and read the word aloud. Have students read the word with you. Ask students to explain who the word I refers to.
Explain that the word I is a word people use to talk about themselves. Point out that the word I is capitalized because it is another name people give themselves.
Have students use their name aloud in a sentence. Then have them substitute their name for the word I in the same sentence.

Have students locate the word I in their book. Have them circle the word I when they locate 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 brainstorm activities that they do well. Have them choose one activity to write about on a separate piece of paper. Have students illustrate a picture about their activity. Put the completed pages together to make a book.

Science Connection
Provide resources for students to research information such as the following: the biggest animal, the smallest animal, the fastest land animal, the smallest bird, the biggest tree, the smallest insect. Ask students to draw pictures of their findings and report to the class what they learned.

Assessment

Monitor students to determine if they can:

make, revise, and confirm predictions based on what they read
accurately compare and contrast the characters using a Venn diagram
correctly blend sounds together to say words
recognize and read words that contain the VCe long /a/ pattern
identify the action verbs in the book
identify, read, and write the high-frequency word I

Comprehension Checks

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