Text Type: Fiction/Realistic
Page Count: 16
Word Count: 192

Book Summary
Terell is a fussy eater. He eats the same foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. On Thanksgiving, Terell realizes none of his favorite foods are on the table. What will he eat? His grandmother knows how to solve the problem. What will she do? Terell's Taste Buds provides the opportunity to introduce story elements. Pictures support the text.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Retell

Objectives

• Use the reading strategy of retelling to understand and remember story events
• Identify story elements
• Discriminate initial and final consonant digraph /ch/
• Identify initial and final consonant digraph ch
• Identify and use exclamation marks
• Understand how to alphabetize words to the second letter

Materials

• Book -- Terell's Taste Buds (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Story elements, consonant digraph /ch/, exclamation marks, alphabetical order worksheets
• Discussion cards

     Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may be completed with paper and pencil if books are reused.)

Vocabulary

• High-frequency words: ate, every, said, that, they, this, with
• Content words: breakfast, dinner, fussy, habits, lunch, taste buds

Build Background

• Ask students whether there are foods they really like to eat and really dislike eating. Discuss reasons for liking and disliking certain foods.

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

• Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask what they think they might read about in a book called Terell's Taste Buds. (Accept any answers that 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: Retell

• Explain that good readers stop now and then during reading to retell in their mind what is happening in the story. Stopping to retell the events of the story helps readers remember and understand what they are reading.
• Explain that when people retell a story or event, they explain the details in order. Point out that people retell stories as part of their daily lives, such as sharing what happened at school or the events on a television show.
• Model retelling a familiar story in detail, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
  Think-aloud: In Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Goldilocks comes to a house in the forest that belongs to three bears: a mama bear, a papa bear, and a baby bear. The bears leave the house for a walk in the forest while their porridge is cooling. Goldilocks goes inside the house, even though no one is home. First, Goldilocks sees three bowls of porridge on the table. She tries each one. The first bowl is too hot, the second bowl is too cold, and the third bowl is just right, so she eats it all up. Next, she sees three chairs and sits in each one. The first chair is too hard, the second chair is too soft, and the third chair is just right. However, the chair breaks and Goldilocks falls to the ground.
• Continue retelling in detail to the end of the story. Invite students to suggest information for the retelling of this story.
• Have students place sticky notes on pages 6, 9, 13, and 15. Explain that as they read, they should stop on these pages to think about what has happened so far in the story. Encourage students to retell in their mind what happens in the story 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 Comprehension Skill: Story elements

• Explain that most stories have common parts. Stories have characters--the people or other animals the story is about. Stories also have a setting, or the place where the story happens. Most stories also have a problem that the main character needs to solve or fix by finding a solution.
• Model how to identify story elements using a familiar story.
  Think-aloud: In the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Goldilocks is the main character. Mother Bear, Father Bear, and Baby Bear are also characters in the story. The setting is the bears' house in the forest. The problem is that Goldilocks messes up the bears' house and gets caught by the bears. The solution is that the bears come home and frighten Goldilocks away.
• Have students think of familiar stories to share. Discuss the story elements (characters, setting, problem, and solution) of other familiar stories.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• While previewing the book, reinforce the vocabulary words students will encounter in the story. For example, while looking at the picture on page 3, you might say: It looks as though Terell is a fussy eater; he probably eats the same things every day.
• Remind students to look at the pictures and the letters with which a word begins or ends to figure out a difficult word. For example, point to the word dinner on page 5 and say: I am going to check the picture and think about what would make sense to figure out this word. The picture shows Terell eating pasta with butter and cheese for supper. When I look at the first part of the word, it starts like /d/. However, the word supper starts with the /s/ sound, so this can't be the word. I know that some people call the meal they eat in the evening dinner instead of supper. The word dinner starts with the /d/ sound. The sentence makes sense with this word. The word must be dinner.
• For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words and word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read to find out what happens to Terell and his taste buds. Remind them to stop reading at the end of each page with a sticky note to quickly retell in their mind the details of the characters, setting, and events so far in the story.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Give students their copy of the book. Have them read to the end of page 6 and then stop to think about what has happened so far in the story. Encourage students who finish before others to reread the text.
• Model retelling and identifying story elements.
  Think-aloud: I stopped after a few pages to retell in my mind what I had read so far. I learned that Terell was a picky eater and that he ate the same foods every day. He ate cereal and a banana for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and pasta with butter and cheese for dinner. Then I read that his eating habits were about to change on Thanksgiving. Terell is the only character I have read about so far. The setting will be someone's home at Thanksgiving. The problem is that Terell is a picky eater and will only eat certain foods. I can keep reading to find out the solution of the story.
• Introduce the story elements worksheet. Have students write information they know so far about the story elements.
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 9. Have them retell what they have read and record any additional story element information on their story elements worksheet.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to retell what they have read so far and think about the story elements to help them understand 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.

• 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.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Retell in detail the events of the story after Terell tasted the different foods.
  Think-aloud: Terell tasted the different foods so he could get the gift his grandmother promised him. After he tasted the foods, he discovered that he liked them. His grandmother said his taste buds were awake and that was her gift to him. Thanksgiving was a day Terell would always remember.
• Have students retell the story from the beginning to a partner. Listen for whether they include the following: correct events in detail, events in order, main characters, problem, and solution.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Discuss with students the characters in the story, the setting, and the problem and solution.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the story elements worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.
• Enduring understanding: In the story, Terell has a problem. He is a picky eater and will only eat certain foods. His grandmother promises him a gift if he will try the Thanksgiving foods. He tries them and discovers that he likes them a lot. Now that you know this information, why is it important to try new foods even when you think you won't like them?

Phonological Awareness: Discriminate initial and final consonant digraph /ch/

• Say the words cheese and lunch aloud to students, emphasizing the initial or final /ch/ sound. Have students say the words aloud and then say the /ch/ sound.
• Read page 5 aloud to students. Have them give the thumbs-up signal when they hear a word that begins with the /ch/ sound. Read page 4 aloud to students. Have them give the thumbs-down signal when they hear a word that ends with the /ch/ sound.
• Check for understanding: Say the following words one at a time and have students give the thumbs-up signal if the word begins with the /ch/ sound or the thumbs-down signal if the word ends with the /ch/ sound: lunch, chair, child, inch, watch, change.

Phonics: Initial and final consonant digraph ch

• Write the words cheese and sandwich on the board and say them aloud with students.
• Have students say the /ch/ sound aloud. Then run your finger under the letters in the words as students say each whole word aloud. Ask students which two letters together stand for the /ch/ sound in the words cheese and sandwich.
• Check for understanding: Write the following words that begin or end with the /ch/ sound on the board, leaving off the initial or final digraph: cherry, chart, inch, bench. Say each word, one at a time, and have volunteers come to the board and add the initial or final ch digraph in each word. Have students practice blending the sounds together to say each word.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the consonant digraph /ch/ worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Grammar and Mechanics: Exclamation marks

• Have students turn to page 7. Read the first sentence aloud. Then read the second sentence aloud. Ask students to tell which sentence was read with more excitement.
• Point out the exclamation mark in the second sentence. Explain to students that exclamation marks tell readers to read the words in the sentence with surprise or excitement. Point out that exclamation marks are not used in all sentences.
• Have students read aloud with excitement the sentence on page 13. Discuss why this sentence might be read with excitement (Terell is surprised that he liked the food).
• Check for understanding: Ask students to locate the other sentence in the book that uses an exclamation mark. Have them read the sentence with excitement to a partner.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the exclamation marks worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Word Work: Alphabetical order

• Review or explain the process of putting a list of words in alphabetical order by using the first and second letters.
• Write the words jelly and cheese on the board. Have a volunteer explain which word would appear first in alphabetical order (cheese) and why (because c comes before j in the alphabet).
• Write the words pasta and peanut on the board. Point out that the words begin with the same letter (p). Ask a volunteer to tell which word would appear first in alphabetical order and why (pasta because the second letter, a, in pasta comes before the second letter, e, in peanut).
• Check for understanding: Write the words butter and bananas on the board. Have a student come to the board and circle which word would appear first in alphabetical order. Point out to students that they must look at the second letter of these words to alphabetize them correctly.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the alphabetical order worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

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. Have students retell the story to someone at home. Remind them to use all of the story elements in the retelling.

Realistic Fiction Writing Connection
Have students draw a picture of a food they like and a food they dislike. Have them write sentences to tell about the pictures.

Visit Writing A–Z for a lesson and leveled materials on realistic fiction writing.

Science Connection
Discuss the food groups and the daily requirements for nutrition. Make a food pyramid and help students plan meals that meet the requirements.

Skill Review
Discussion cards covering comprehension skills and strategies not explicitly taught with the book are provided as an extension activity. The following is a list of some ways these cards can be used with students:

• Use as discussion starters for literature circles.
• Have students choose one or more card and write a response, either as an essay or a journal entry.
• Distribute before reading the book and have students use one of the questions as a purpose for reading.
• Cut apart and use the cards as game cards with a board game.
• Conduct a class discussion as a review before the book quiz.