Build Background

• Show students a glassblown vase or bowl (picture or real). Have students tell other things they have seen that are similar. Have students discuss how they think the vase was made. Encourage them to ask questions about the vase and the way it was made. Record their questions on a chart.

Book Walk

Introduce the Strategy: Ask and answer questions

• Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask students what they think the book will be about. If necessary, remind them that they have just discussed glassblowing.
• Tell students that good readers ask questions about a book before they read it, and they look for the answers as they read. Model asking questions using the cover as a stimulus.
• Think aloud: I wonder what is happening to the glass bowl on the cover. Then I look at the back cover and see a beautiful glass bowl. I wonder if all glass bowls are made the same way. I'll look for the answers to these questions as I read the book.
• Encourage students to think of questions they would like to find the answers to while they are reading.
• Show students the title page. Talk about the information that is written on the page (title of book, author's name).
• Preview the photos in the book, encouraging students to ask questions about what they see.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• As you preview the book with students, use any words you feel may be difficult for them in the discussion. Provide opportunities for students to say the new vocabulary words, talk about their meanings, and use the words in sentences.
• Reinforce new vocabulary and word attack strategies by pointing to an object in the picture. For example, ask students to point to a picture of a pipe on page 6. Ask students to say the word and tell what sound they hear at the beginning. Ask students what sound they hear at the end of the word. Ask students to find the word on page 6 and explain how they know that the word is pipe. Have students look at the pictures and decide if the word pipe makes sense. Repeat the process with other vocabulary words if necessary. Remind students to look at the beginning and ending sounds in words, and/or parts within words that they recognize, to help them sound out the word.
• Encourage students to add the new vocabulary words to their word journals.
• As students read, they will use a variety of reading and word attack strategies. For a review of additional word attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Tell students as they read the book to look for the answers to their questions. Review the questions: What is the white thing the glass bowl is inside? Are all glass bowls made the same way?

Student Reading

• Guide the Reading: Give students books and direct them to read to the end of page 5. Tell the students to reread the pages if they finish before everyone else.
• Have students tell if they found the answers to any of the questions they had before they started reading. Model answering a question.
• Think aloud: I wanted to know what was happening on the front cover. I think the glass is being held in a very hot oven because the picture on page 4 looks a little like the one on the cover. I also wanted to know if all glass bowls are made the same way. I haven't found the answer to that question yet.
• Ask students to tell the first thing the glassblower does. Ask them to tell what he does after he has the glass on the end of his pipe.
• Remind the students to keep looking for the answer to questions they have about glassblowing as they read the remainder of the book. 

    Tell the students to make a small question mark in their books beside any word or words they do not understand or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

Reflect on Reading Strategies

• Word Attack: Ask students what words were difficult for them and how they figured out the words. Reinforce any strategies used, such as sounding out the word and verifying by context and/or picture clues. For example, look at page 6. Ask students how they know this word is bubble. Ask what sound the word begins with. Ask if the word bubble fits in the sentence.
• Comprehension: Reinforce that asking and answering questions helps them understand the story. (Asking and answering questions encourages students to be actively involved in their reading).
• Think aloud: Asking questions before I started reading and looking for the answers as I read helped me think about what I was reading. I found out how glassblowing is done.
• Direct students to page 6 in the book. Ask them to tell what the glassblower is doing. Ask what they think will happen if he blows too hard (relate to blowing bubble gum). Have students look at page 7. Have them find the word that tells what the glassblower is adding (colors). Continue the discussion by asking specific questions about the remaining steps in glassblowing.
• Discuss additional strategies the students used to gain meaning from the book.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Sequence

• Introduce and model sequence: Tell students to think about the way they make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Have them tell the steps in making the sandwich. Ask students if they think it is easier to remember how to make the sandwich if the steps are told in the right order or told in the wrong order. Have them explain. Explain that when an author writes a book like Glassblowing, he/she tells the steps in the order they happen, which makes it easier for readers to understand and remember what they read
• Check for understanding: Discuss the sequence of the book. Ask students to tell the first thing the glassblower does (relate to the "honey" demonstration if necessary, since this is not completely clear on page 4). Have students pretend that they are the glassblower and show what he does next (rolls the glass on the table). Ask students what the glassblower does next (blows into the pipe). Continue until all of the steps have been identified.
• Discussion: Ask students what a glassblower would need to do to stay safe while making a bowl (wear safety goggles, stay as far away from the oven as possible). Ask students why they think the man wants to be a glassblower. Ask where they think they can see glassblown bowls or vases.
• Independent Practice: Introduce and explain how to complete the Sequence worksheet.

Phonemic Awareness: Segment onset and rime

• Say the word glass. Tell students you can separate the word into its beginning sounds and it ending sounds: /gl/ /as/. Explain that the beginning sound is a blend of the two sounds /g/ and /l/.
• Say the word flag and have students segment it into its onset and rime: /fl/ /ag/. Explain that the beginning sound is another l-family blend.
• Say the following words one at a time and have students segment each word into it’s l-family blend onset and rime: black, plan, sleep, clock, blew, glide, plot, flame, slid, clean.

Phonics:

• Write the blends gl, bl, sl, cl, fl, and pl in a row across the board. Explain that these are l-family blends and that a consonant sound blends with the letter l to form the blend. Say each blend as you run your finger under the letters. Have the students repeat each blend.
• Challenge students to find a word on page 3 that begins with the gl blend (glassblowing, glass). Repeat with the bl blend on page 6 (blow), the fl blend on page 8 (flow), and the sl blend on page 12 (slowly).
• Write the following words under the appropriate blend: glad, blot, sled, club, flip, plan. Run your finger under the letters of each word as you say the word. Have the students say the words with you. Ask volunteers to come up and circle the l-family blends in the words.
• Give students the l blend worksheet, go over the example provided, and instruct students to complete the worksheet. When completed, discuss their answers.

Grammar and Mechanics: Verbs as Action Words

• Review or explain that there are special words that tell action. Explain that these words tell things that people do, like walking, talking, and playing.
• Direct students to page 5. Tell students that there are two action words on this page. Explain that one is in the first sentence, and that it tells what the glassblower did with the long pipe. Ask students to find the action word (dip). Have students find the other action word on the page (roll). Ask students to tell who is doing the action (glassblower). Note: Some students may think that the words smooth and cool are action words. Explain that the action in the sentence is rolling and that the glass becomes smooth and cool because of the action of rolling.
• Reinforce by directing students to page 6 and asking them to find the action words (blow, try). Check to make certain that students understand that the word blow in the last sentence is not the action word in the sentence.
• Have students circle the other action words in the book. Discuss their answers.

Vocabulary: Content Vocabulary

• Tell students that many of the words they read in the book are used to tell about glassblowing. Provide opportunities for students to talk about difficult words such as gooey and colors. Provide opportunities for students to say the new vocabulary words, talk about their meanings, and use the words in sentences.
• Click here for a Vocabulary worksheet.

Independent Reading

• Allow the students to read their books independently or with a partner. Partners can take turns reading parts of the book.

Home Connection

• Give the students their books to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.
• Give the students their worksheets to take home. They can complete them with the help of their parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.

Writing Connection

• Provide drawing paper. Tell the students to copy the following sentence and illustrate: If I were a glassblower, I would make__________. Model for the students using an example such as If I were a glassblower, I would make a blue bird. Display the students' work on a bulletin board titled "If We Were Glassblowers…"

Science and Art Connection

• Have students create their own works of "glass" art by creating crystal gardens. Provide broken pieces of brick or a terra cotta clay pot for students to place in a glass bowl or jar. Combine the following in a plastic juice container: 1 teaspoon water, 1 teaspoon ammonia, 4 teaspoons bluing, 1 teaspoon vegetable dye, 4 teaspoons salt. Give students plastic gloves and goggles to wear while pouring the mixture. Have each student pour a small amount of the mixture over the brick or clay shard. Have students continue to add the solution each day until their crystal garden has grown to the desired size. (Note: Bluing, ammonia, and vegetable dye can be found at your local grocery store.)

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• Ask and answer questions about text information
• sequence information
• identify the sounds of l blends
• identify words that start with l-family blends
• recognize that verbs can describe an action
• understand and use content vocabulary