Ships and Boats - Lesson Plans

Ships and Boats
Level H

About the Book

Text Type: Nonfiction/Informational
Page Count: 14
Word Count: 270

Book Summary
From a simple canoe to a flashy cruise ship, students learn about all kinds of watercraft in this informative book. The book traces the history and development of boats and contains beautiful photographs.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

Connect to prior knowledge

Objectives

Use the reading strategy of connecting to prior knowledge to understand nonfiction text
Compare and contrast information
Discriminate long /o/ vowel sound
Identify long /o/ vowel digraphs
Identify and use adjectives
Understand and use content vocabulary words

Materials

Book -- Ships and Boats (copy for each student)
Chalkboard, dry erase board, or chart paper
Compare and contrast, adjectives worksheets

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: and, over, were, with, many, could
Content words: poles, paddles, oars, sails, propeller, tanker, sailboat, tugboat, ferryboat, fireboat, submarines, aircraft carrier, cruise ships

Before Reading

Build Background

Ask students to name different kinds of boats. Compile a list of familiar boats on the board, along with any other vocabulary they may suggest.
Invite students to share what each boat looks like and what it is used for.

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 Ships and Boats. (Accept any answers students can justify.)
Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, authors' names).

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Connect to prior knowledge

Explain to students that good readers make connections between what they already know and new information they read. Remind students that thinking about what they already know about the topic of the book will help them understand and enjoy what they read.
Model connecting to prior knowledge using information on the covers.
Think-aloud: When I look at the front cover of the book, I see a large ship. It has a lot of large sails. This reminds me of sailboats I have seen before. I know that sailboats use wind power to move through the water. Thinking about what I know might help me read new words and better understand this book.
Have students preview the pictures on the covers and title page of the book. Have them share how they connected with prior knowledge.
Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to think about what they already know about ships and boats as they read.
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

Reinforce new vocabulary by incorporating it into a discussion of the pictures. For example, on page 5, you might say: It looks as if that man is using a paddle or an oar to move the boat forward.
Model strategies students can use to work out words they don't know. For example, point to the word forward on page 5. Model using picture clues, flexibility with sounds, and rereading to say new words.
Think-aloud: When I first looked at that word, I noticed that it starts like a word I already know -- for. I thought about what I had read so far about the boat moving in the water. I thought about what would make sense and tried the word forward.
For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

As students read the book, have them think about what they already know about ships and boats to help them understand what they're reading.

During Reading

Student Reading

Guide the reading: Give students their copy of the book. Ask them to place a finger on the page number at 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 connecting to prior knowledge.
Think-aloud: On page 6, I read about a boat with a wooden frame. The boat reminded me of boats I've seen people use on lakes to go fishing. These boats are called canoes. Using what I already know helped me read this word.
Invite students to share how they connected with that they already know as they read.
Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to use what they already know about animals to help them understand new information as they read.

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 books. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
Think-aloud: On page 12, I read about a ship that is like a floating hotel. I know that people sometimes take cruises on large ships. People spend many days on these ships in rooms like hotels. These ships have everything they need to enjoy their vacation -- restaurants, swimming pools, shows, and more. Using what I know about ships and boats helped me to read this page.
Discuss with students how using what they already know about boats and ships helped them to understand what they read. Invite students to share how they connected to prior knowledge as they read.
Discuss additional strategies students used to gain meaning from the book.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Compare and contrast

Discussion: Invite students to tell if they have ever been on boats like those in the book. Have them tell how the boats they have been on were the same or different from those in the book.
Introduce and model the skill: Tell students that one way to understand new information is to think about how it is the same or different, or to compare and contrast it. Explain to them that one way to compare and contrast is to use a graphic organizer called a Venn diagram. Draw a Venn diagram on the board. Model comparing and contrasting two familiar items, such as a pencil and a marker, and writing the information on a Venn diagram.
Think-aloud: When I look at a pencil and a marker, I think of ways they are the same. A pencil and a marker are both used for writing. Both make parks on paper. However, I can erase pencil marks. I cannot erase marks from a marker. Pencil marks are grey. Markers make marks in color. These are ways that a pencil and a marker are different.
Check for understanding: Create a Venn diagram with the headings Log Boat and Frame Boat. Have students discuss with a partner one way these boats are similar and one way they are different from each other. Discuss their responses and write the information on the Venn diagram.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the compare and contrast worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.
Extend the discussion: Discuss with students how boats are kinds of transportation. Have students name other types of transportation people use.

Build Skills

Phonological Awareness: Discriminate long /o/ vowel sound

Say the word boat aloud to students, emphasizing the vowel sound in the word. Have them say the word with you, emphasizing the long /o/ vowel sound. Have students say the long /o/ vowel sound with you. Point out that the sound in the word is the long /o/ vowel word.
Say the following words to students: coat, pie, goat, paint, rope, dime, ghost, note. Pause after saying each word and have students show the thumbs-up signal if the word contains a long /o/ sound.
Ask students to name other words they know that contain the long /o/ vowel sound. Repeat each word with students, emphasizing the long /o/ sound in the word.

Phonics: Long /o/ digraphs

Write the word boats on the board. Have students find the word on page 3 and read the sentence in which it is found.
Ask students what vowel sound they hear in the middle of the word (long /o/). Circle the oa letter combination in the word. Explain to students that in some words, two vowels together make one sound, and the first vowel usually represents its long sound.
Write the following words on the board: float, goat, coat, soap, soak. Read each word with students. Have volunteers come to the board and circle the letters that stand for the long /o/ vowel sound.
Write the word row on the board and say the word aloud with students. Have them identify the vowel sound (long /o/). Circle the ow letter combination and explain or review that this letter combination is another spelling for the long /o/ vowel sound.
Write the following words on the board: crow, grow, mow, snow, throw. Read each word with students. Have volunteers come to the board and circle the letters that stand for the long /o/ vowel sound.

Grammar and Mechanics: Adjectives

Review or explain to students that sometimes writers compare things in their writing. When they compare two persons or things, they usually add -er to the word. Say: The paddle on page 5 is long, but the paddles they used for the ships on page 7 are longer. Write the words long and longer on the board and have students read them aloud.
Explain to students that when a writer compares three or more persons or things, they usually add -est. Have students reread page 3. Ask them to find the word the author uses to describe how boats moved things before cars, trains, or airplanes (fastest). Explain that the -est ending is the form of a word that shows how these items compare to each other.
Write the words slow, slower, and slowest on the board. Read each word with students. Have pairs of students use each word in oral sentences. Have them share their sentences aloud.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the adjectives worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Word Work: Content vocabulary

Write the following words on the board: log boat, frame boat, sailboat, cruise ship, tugboat, and fireboat on the board. Review with students the pages in the book that identify each kind of boat. Have them share what they know and learned about each boat. Provide opportunities for students to use the words in sentences.
Provide students with blank index cards. Have them draw and label a picture of each kind of boat on the front of the index cards. On the back of each card, have them write a sentence about the boat.
Invite students to share their drawings and sentences with a partner.

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
Have students imagine that they will take a trip on a boat. Have them write a story describing the kind of boat, where they go, and what they do. Have them draw a picture about their trip. Invite them to share their story.

Science Connection
Show students several small objects that will sink or float. Have students predict whether the items will sink or float. Then have them place each item in the water and observe the outcome.

Assessment

Monitor students to determine if they can:

consistently use the reading strategy of connecting to prior knowledge to understand informational text
correctly compare and contrast information during discussion and on a worksheet
accurately discriminate the long /o/ vowel sound during discussion
accurately identify long /o/ vowel digraph letter combinations in words during discussion
correctly identify and use adjectives that compare during discussion and on a worksheet
correctly understand and use content vocabulary words during discussion and on index cards

Comprehension Checks

Go to "Ships and Boats" main page