Build Background

• Ask students if they have ever been lost. Have them tell when, where, and why they were lost. Have students tell what they did to find their way.
• Extend the discussion by talking to students about things they might do when lost, such as going to a cashier for help, staying in the same area, moving away from an adult who is making them feel uncomfortable, and screaming if someone unfamiliar tries to take them somewhere.

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

• Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask them where they think Gordon is. Ask them to tell what makes them think this.
• Show them the title page and have them confirm or revise their ideas of where the story takes place. Ask them to guess what might be happening in the story. Write their ideas on the board or on chart paper.

Introduce the Strategy: Make, and confirm or revise predictions

• Model how making predictions prior to reading helps them think about what they are about to read.
• Think aloud: I can use the pictures on the covers and the title to make a prediction about the book. I think the book is going to tell me about a boy who is trying to find his way to a place. I think the boy might be at school because I saw a playground in the background on the cover. I know that good readers look at the covers and think about what might happen in the story. When I do this before reading, it makes me want to read the book to find out what happens.
• As you show students pages 3 and 4, point out that the illustrations are the same as on the cover and title page so they don’t have any more information to revise or confirm their predictions. Ask what ideas they have after looking at page 5. Model using the art around the door in the illustration as a clue that this is a school.
• Show students pages 6 and 7 and ask for their ideas. Model using the maps on the walls as further clues that this might be a school.
• Stop previewing the book at page 7. Have students predict why Gordon is lost and how he might find his way. Write the predictions on the board or on chart paper.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• As you preview pages 3–7, model for students strategies they can use to work out words they don't know. Point to the word stairs on page 6. Say: I recognize that this word starts with an s-family blend. I know the sound these letters stand for is /st/. I also can see from the picture that he is walking up the stairs. I think the word is stairs. Now I will reread the sentence with the word to make sure it makes sense.
• Read the sentence out loud and ask students if the word stairs makes sense in the sentence.
• For additional teaching tips on word-attack and comprehension strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to find out if their predictions are correct.

Student Reading

• Guide the Reading: Give students their books and have them put a sticky note on page 7. Tell them to read to the end of this page. Tell students to reread the pages if they finish before everyone else.
• When they have finished reading, have students refer to the “Predictions” list written on the board. Ask students to tell the predictions they made that were correct. Put a check beside each one.
• Model making, and confirming or revising predictions: I predicted this was a school and the pictures helped me confirm this. Now that I have read the text, I can be sure that Gordon is in a school. Making and confirming or revising predictions as I read makes me a more active reader and I enjoy reading the book much more. Do you want to make any new predictions before you read the rest of the book?
• Encourage students to predict what Gordon will do after he sees the door. Tell students to read the remainder of the story. 

    Tell the 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

• Ask students what words they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they could read these words using decoding strategies and context clues. For example, point out the word hall on page 7. Ask students how they know this word says hall and not hill. Focus on the short a sound.
• Have students look at the “Predictions” list again. Ask them what other predictions were confirmed by reading the book. Then ask which predictions needed to be changed when they learned new information. Have students tell how thinking about what might happen, and then reading to find out if it did, helped them be actively involved in the reading process.

Apply the Comprehension Skill: Problem and solution

• Introduce and model: Explain that one way to understand a story is to think about a problem the character has in the book and how he/she plans to solve it. Use a relevant scenario to model problem solving and check students’ understanding of the skill. For example, have students pretend that someone forgot to bring his lunch. First, model identifying the problem (the student has no lunch). Next, tell why the student has the problem (he forgot to bring his lunch). Then, ask students what will happen if the problem isn’t solved (the student will be hungry). Last, ask for ideas on how the student can solve the problem (call his mom, ask his teacher, share lunch with a friend).
• Check for understanding: Have students decide what Gordon’s problem is in the story.
• Independent Practice: Give students the problem/solution worksheet to complete. Tell them to think about what the problem is, why Gordon has the problem, what will happen if he doesn’t solve the problem, and how the problem is solved. Discuss their responses.
• Extend the Discussion:

    Instruct students to use the last page of their book to draw one picture that shows someone having a problem and another picture that shows how the person solved it. Have students share their pictures with the group and explain the problem and solution.

Phonemic Awareness: Blend onset and rime

• Have students listen as you say the word find by separating it into its onset and rime: /f/ /ind/. Model blending the sounds to say the word.
• Tell students you are going to say some words but you are going to separate the words into their beginning (onset) sound and their ending sound (rime). You want them to tell you what the words are. Say the following words one at a time: /b/ /and/ band; /l/ /ak/ lake; /p/ /ink/ pink; /s/ /ent/ sent; /cl/ /ap/ clap; /ch/ /ez/ cheese; /d/ /ent/ dent; /l/ /ink/ link.

Phonics:

• Write the word went on the board and have students find and read the sentence it is in on page 6.
• Underline the n- blend in the word and tell students that the two letters stand for a blended sound /nt/. Have students read the word, emphasizing the final blend.
• Write the blend /nk/ on the board. Tell students this is another example of the sound of n blending with another sound. Have students say the blend with you. Then have them turn to page 10 and find a word with the final blend (thanked).
• Repeat with the blend /nd/. Then have students find 2 words on page 11 with this final blend.
• Have students brainstorm words with each of the final blends as you write them in 3 columns on the board. Have volunteers come up and circle the final blends.
• Give students more practice by giving them the n-blend worksheet.

Grammar and Usage: Quotation Marks

• Have students turn to page 8 in the book. Review or explain that there are special marks that show that someone in the story is talking. Tell students that these are found before the first word the person says and after the last word the person says. Have students find the quotation marks before the word Do and after the word is. Explain that Gordon speaks these words. Show students the preceding phrase, which says Gordon asked the teacher.
• Tell students that there are new quotation marks before and after the teacher’s answer. Have students find the quotation marks before and after the word Sure. Point out the phrase the teacher said and explain that this tells who is talking.
• Have 2 students take the role of the teacher and Gordon and have them say the sentences the way the characters might have said them.
• Have students look at page 9. Ask them to put one finger on the first set of quotation marks and another finger on the last set of quotation marks. Ask students to tell who is speaking.
• Have students turn to page 11. Tell them to underline the words that are spoken by Mr. Lewis and by Gordon. Monitor students’ responses and provide additional examples if needed.

Vocabulary: Often-confused words

• Have students turn to page 3 in the book. Ask them to find the sentence that tells why Gordon is standing alone in the hall. Write the word to on the board and ask them to find the word in the sentence. Explain that this word can be confused with another that sounds the same, but means something different. Write the word two on the board. Explain that the word to tells where something goes and that the word two tells how many or the number after one.
• Write the following sentences on the board: He went ___ bed. He has ___shoes. Have students tell which word completes each sentence.
• Click here for a vocabulary worksheet. Tell students to write the word that fits in each sentence.

Independent Reading

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

Home Connection

• Give students their books to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.

Writing and Art Connection

• Have students think about what they would do if they were unsure about where to go at school. Write the following sentence on the board: If I was lost, I would ________. Have students write and illustrate the sentence. Have students share their sentences and pictures with the group.

Social Studies Connection

• Have students look at the map on page 12. Explain that this is a map of Gordon’s school. Tell students that on some maps pictures are used instead of words. Have them find the pictures that stand for the lunchroom, the library, and the stairs. Give students butcher paper and have them make a map of the classroom. Tell them they can use pictures instead of words to show where things are. Display their maps on a bulletin board titled “We Can Find Our Way!”

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• make logical predictions using the pictures from the story, and then revise or confirm them once they read the text
• identify Gordon’s problem in the story and tell how he solves it
• listen to the words segmented into onset and rime and say each word correctly
• associate nd, nt, and nk with the phonetic elements /nd/ /nk/ /nt/.
• understand that quotation marks are used to show a speaker’s exact words
• understand and use the often-confused words to and two in cloze sentences.