Build Background

• Have students share any experiences they have had with fishing. If students have not been fishing, show them a picture of someone fishing and discuss what equipment is needed to catch a fish.
• Have students close their eyes and visualize themselves fishing at a stream. Ask them what sounds they hear and have them describe how they feel.
• If students have read other books in the Monsters series, have them brainstorm a web that lists the characters and their traits.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Strategy: Make personal connections to text

• Show students the covers of the book and have them look at the illustrations. Read the title. If students have read another book in the Monsters series, model making connections to previous experiences with the characters. If they have experience with going fishing, help them make connections between the book and their experiences.
• Think aloud: I recognize these characters on the cover from other books we’ve read. They are the Monsters. I remember that Jupe is usually very kind and often helps out the other characters. Bonk is sometimes a leader and thinks of games to play or things to do. As I read, I’m going to remember what I know about them because that will help me read this book.
• Continue previewing the book, asking students what they think is happening in the pictures. Have them connect to the Build Background activity by asking them to describe what the Monsters might be thinking, feeling, hearing, or seeing. Stop before the end of the book (page 8) and ask students how they think the story will end.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• As you preview the book with students, reinforce any difficult language patterns or vocabulary. For example, on page 5, say: What does Lurk catch? The weeds look a bit like salad, don’t they?
• Review with students how to figure out unfamiliar words. Remind them they can use letter-sound correspondences. They can think about what word would make sense and then read the sentence to check whether the word sounds right.
• For additional teaching tips on word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Give students the book and have them read to see if the Monsters do anything that reminds them of other experiences they have had with the characters or with their personal lives.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Ask students to read to the end of page 9. Ask them what happens next in the story. Ask whether the story reminds them of when they went fishing.
• Ask students to read to the end of the story. Remind them to use what they know about letters and sounds and the context to read any unfamiliar words.
• As students read, monitor their reading and intervene to help them work out words that they are having difficulty with.

    Tell 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 Reading Strategies

• Ask students what strategies they used to work out unfamiliar words. Have them tell you any places in the text that they have marked with a question mark, and suggest strategies they could use to work out the words.
• Ask students whether the story reminded them of their experiences with fishing. If students have read other Monster stories, ask whether knowing the characters helps them read this new story.

Comprehension: Sequencing

• Introduce and model: Remind students that all stories have a series of events that happen in a certain order. Explain that the order of these events in a story is important. Some things need to happen before other things can happen. Point out that sometimes things happen that make other things happen. Tell students that the order in which things happen in the story is called the sequence of events.
• Check for understanding: Read the first page with students. Ask them what is the first thing that happens on this page. Ask why they need to dig for worms before they can go fishing.
• Independent practice: Give students the Sequencing worksheet. Tell them that they will order the events in the story on the worksheet.
• Extend the discussion:

    Instruct students to use the last page of their book to draw a picture of their favorite Monster in the story. Have them write a sentence telling why they chose this Monster.

Phonemic Awareness: Segmenting phonemes

• Say the word fluff. Tell students you can segment the word into its 4 sounds: /f/ /l/ /u/ /f/. Have students segment the word sat into its 3 sounds.
• Say the following words one at a time, and have students repeat the words, segment the sounds, and tell you how many sounds they hear in each word: hunt, /h/ /u/ /n/ /t/ (4); back, /b/ /a/ /k/ (3); taste, /t/ long /a/ /s/ /t/ (4); shine, /sh/ long /i/ /n/ (3); chat, /ch/ /a/ /t/ (3); shut, /sh/ /u/ /t/ (3).

• Write the word fish on the board and read it with students. Ask them how many letters they see in the word. Then ask them how many sounds they hear. Point out that the letters s and h stand for one sound, /sh/.
• Repeat with the word catch, this time pointing out that the letters c and h stand for the /ch/ sound.
• Write the words ship, bush, chug, and match on the board and have students read each word. Have them tell you the number of letters and the number of sounds in each word.
• Have students brainstorm some words with sh and ch digraphs.
• Have students complete the Sh and Ch Digraph worksheet.

Vocabulary: Adjectives

• Remind students that some words are names of people, places, and things, and that we call these words nouns.
• Explain that we often use other words to describe nouns. Have students read the first sentence on page 6. Ask them to point out the nouns in the sentence (Snag, can). Ask students what kind of can Snag caught (tin). Explain that the word tin is an adjective that describes what kind of can Snag caught.
• Repeat with the next sentence and point out the adjective rusty that describes the word bucket.
• Have students complete the Adjectives worksheet by reading the adjective and noun, and then drawing a picture to show the noun as described by the adjective. You may need to provide coloring materials such as crayons or markers for students to complete their drawings.

Independent Reading

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

Home Connection

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

Writing

• Have students write a different ending to the story. Brainstorm ideas such as "the Monsters don’t catch anything, so they go home," "the Monsters go buy fish and chips instead," or "a bear scares them away and they run home."
• Write the ideas on the board and have students select an idea from the board, write 1 or 2 sentences about it, and draw a picture to go with their story.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• sequence story events in logical order.
• segment words into their phonemes and accurately determine the number of sounds in the words.
• identify words with ch and sh digraphs.
• identify and understand nouns and their adjectives.

Comprehension Checks:

• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric