Nothing for Father's Day

Nothing for Father's Day
Level E

About the Book

Text Type: Fiction/Realistic
Page Count: 10
Word Count: 134

Book Summary
In Nothing for Father's Day, a dad who has received less than useful gifts the previous Father's Day tells his family that he wants nothing for Father's Day. The family honors his request but gives him something special that doesn't come in a box. The picture-to-text correspondence and repetitive text patterns contribute to the readers' enjoyment of the story.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

Make, revise, and confirm predictions

Objectives

Make, revise, and confirm predictions while reading
Understand cause-and-effect relationships in the text
Discriminate medial long vowel sounds
Read VCe long /a/ words
Identify and form regular plural nouns
Use high-frequency words have and has

Materials

Book -- Nothing for Father's Day (copy for each student)
Chalkboard or dry erase board
Cause and effect, plural nouns worksheets
Set of plastic or cut-out letters for each student: h, a, s, v, e (optional)
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: have, said, look, has, them
Content words: ties, socks, computer game, crash, everyone, enough

Before Reading

Build Background

Ask students to think of gifts they have given to another person. Ask how they chose the gift they gave. Ask students if they have ever received a gift they didn't like. Discuss with students polite responses for whenever a gift is offered.
Invite students to share what they know about Father's Day. Ask them to explain the purpose of the day. Ask them to suggest gifts that a father might like to receive.

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask what they might read about in a book called Nothing for Father's Day. (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 to students that good readers make predictions, or guesses, about what will happen in a story. Explain to them 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 good readers always look at the cover of a book to get an idea of what the book is about. Looking at the cover pictures, I predict that the mom and kids in the picture are planning what they want to give for Father's Day. I predict that one thing they might be thinking about is socks because this is something that my father always seemed to get each year. The back cover picture confirms that the father got some socks, but he doesn't seem happy about it. The title says Nothing for Father's Day, which makes me think that maybe the kids gave him socks last year and they can't think of anything else to get him. Making predictions about this book gives me a purpose for reading it because I want to find out if my predictions are right.
Invite students to make a prediction based on the covers of the book and the title page.
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

As you preview the book with students, introduce any difficult vocabulary. For example, on page 4, say: It looks like Dad has plenty of ties. I wonder if Dad thinks he has enough ties.
Model reading the difficult vocabulary.
Think-aloud: What sound does enough start with? I see two words on the page that start with the letter e. One word has a familiar part that I know says one. (Point to the word everyone as you say this.) Which word do you think says enough? Read the sentence to students and ask if they think the word enough makes sense in this 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 in the story and whether their predictions are correct.

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 (My). 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 5, 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: I predicted that the family couldn't think of what to get Dad and that's why the book is called Nothing for Father's Day. But I see I need to change my prediction. Dad said that he doesn't want anything. He thought he had enough ties and socks. I predict that they will give him something anyway.
Ask students whether or not they can confirm their prediction based on the words they read and the pictures. Have them revise their prediction or make a new prediction.
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 the family would give something to Dad for Father's Day. This prediction was correct. They gave Dad a big hug.
Discuss additional strategies students used to gain meaning from the book.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Cause and effect

Discussion: Ask students how the story ended. Ask them how the father in the story felt about Father's Day this time and how they know this.
Introduce and model the skill: Explain to students that one way to understand information in a story is to identify cause-and-effect relationships. Point out that an effect is something that happens and a cause explains why it happens.
Think-aloud: If I don't get up on time in the morning, I will be late for school. I will be late because I don't get up in time. Not getting up on time is the cause and being late is the effect.
Check for understanding: Help students identify and explain simple cause-and-effect relationships from the book. Have students reread page 4. Ask them: What caused everyone to laugh? That's right. The funny tie caused everyone to laugh.
Ask students what caused Dad to say he didn't want anything for Father's Day. Encourage them to infer how Dad felt about his previous gifts.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the cause and effect worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Extend the discussion: Instruct students to go through the book and color any pages that have gifts they have given their father for Father's Day.

Build Skills

Phonological Awareness: Discriminate medial long vowel sounds

Say aloud the word game, stretching the sounds in the word. Ask students to say the vowel sound they hear in the middle of the word. Say the long /a/ sound with students.
Say the following words, stretching the sounds in each word: mat, date, hop, run, lane, page. Have students clap when they hear a word with the long /a/ vowel sound.

Phonics: VCe long /a/

Write the word made on the board. Ask students to locate the word on page 5 in their book. Have a volunteer read the sentence in which the word is found.
Ask students to say the vowel sound they hear in the middle of the word made. Say the long /a/ vowel sound with students.
Have students cover the letter e at the end of the word made in their book. Have them say the new word aloud (mad). Ask students to say the vowel sound they hear in the middle of the word mad. Say the short /a/ vowel sound with students.
Explain to students that the letter on the end of the word mad changes the vowel sound from short /a/ to long /a/. Point out that these words are spelled with a consonant-vowel-consonant-e pattern. Point out that the final e has no sound.
Write the following words on the board. Have students read each word aloud: make, save, race, rake, fade.

Grammar and Mechanics: Plural nouns

Show students one item, such as a pen. Ask them to name the item (pen). Show students two pens. Ask them to name the items (pens). Write the words pen and pens on the board. Explain that naming words can tell the name of one thing (circle the word pen) or the name of more than one thing (circle the word pens). Ask students to tell how the words are different (an s has been added to show more than one).
Direct students to page 5. Ask them to tell what the father is wearing (hat). Write the word hat on the board. Ask students to find the word that tells that the father has more than one hat (hats). Ask a volunteer to change the word on the board to mean more than one hat.
Write the following words on the board: tie, sock, game, hug. Read each word with students. Have volunteers come to the board and change the words into a plural noun.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the plural nouns worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Word Work: High-frequency words have and has

Write the following sentences on the board: We have a plan. He has a plan. Ask students to identify the subject of each sentence (We, He). Underline these words on the board. Discuss with students how many people the word we refers to (two). Repeat with the word he (one).
Circle the words have and has in the sentences on the board. Point out that in this story, the word have is used with a noun that stands for two or more people or things, and the word has is used with a noun that stands for one person or thing. Have volunteers use the words have and has in sentences aloud. Point out that an exception to this rule exists with the word I. (I have a cat.)
Have students use plastic letters to practice spelling the words have and has, or have them write the words on a separate piece of paper.

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
Write the following sentence on the board: The best gift I ever gave was ____. Ask students to think of the best gift they have ever given to someone. Tell them to choose (or make up) one to write about and then illustrate the sentence.

Social Studies Connection
Have students ask their parents to tell about their favorite gifts. Use the information to make a graph showing their parents' responses.

Assessment

Monitor students to determine if they can:

make logical predictions about the story; revise and confirm their predictions as they get new information
correctly identify and draw causes or effects for each picture on the graphic organizer
correctly identify the middle sounds in words heard orally; correctly identify when word pairs have the same medial sound
read words that have the CVCe long /a/ pattern
identify and form regular plural nouns
correctly read, spell, and use high-frequency words have and has

Comprehension Checks

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