Build Background

• Ask students to tell about any pets or animals they are familiar with that are awake during the night (nocturnal). Prompt students to share what these animals might do while other animals--including people--sleep.

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

• Hold up the book and show students the front and back covers and the title page. Ask students what they think might happen in a book called Alistair's Night. Ask students to tell who they think Alistair is and what they think he might do during the night.

Introduce the Strategy: Self-question

• Review or explain that good readers often ask themselves I wonder why… or I wonder how… questions while they read. This strategy helps readers stay involved in and understand what is happening in the story.
• Have students look at the picture of Alistair on page 3. Model self-questioning.
• Think-aloud: As I read what time it is (2 a.m.), I wonder why Alistair thinks it's time to get up? I can tell from the picture that it's the middle of the night! I wonder if he is hungry. Maybe he heard a noise and wants to investigate. I'll have to keep reading to find out why he wants to get up!
• As students read, they should 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

• As you preview the book, ask students to talk about what they see in the pictures and use the vocabulary they will encounter in the text. Incorporate content vocabulary words while looking through the pictures or reinforce related comments made by students. For example, while looking at the picture on page 3, you might say: My neighbor has a grandfather clock that goes 'Dong!' on the hour every hour. Ask: Does anyone know what time this grandfather clock shows? (2 o'clock) I bet the clock will go 'Dong! Dong!'
• Introduce the strategy of using something known to solve an unknown word. For example, point to the word Dong! on page 3. Say: I know that if that word ended with -ing it would say Ding, but I notice it has an o instead of an i, so I am going to try another sound. Then read the sentence to students using the word dong and ask if the word dong makes sense and looks right.
• For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to find out about Alistair's night. Remind them to self-question with I wonder… questions as they read.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Give students their books and have them put a sticky note on page 9. Tell them to read to the end of this page. Tell students to reread the pages if they finish before everyone else.
• Ask students why Alistair is so intent on waking Becky and Dan (Alistair wants to play).
• Think-aloud: While reading, I used the self-questioning strategy whenever I was curious for more information. On page 8, Becky carried Alistair out of the room, but Alistair didn't want to go out. I wonder what kind of trick Alistair will try next to wake Dan or Becky. By self-questioning as I read, I am thinking about the story and what might happen next.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Encourage them to ask I wonder… questions as they read.

    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 the Reading Strategies

• Ask students what words they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
• Ask students to explain how they used self-questioning while reading the story. Model self-questioning.
• Think-aloud: As I reached the point in the story when Becky decided to get up and read, I asked myself, I wonder if Alistair will ever find the mouse he was looking for. By asking myself questions while reading, I was able to stay involved in the story and was always wondering what might happen next.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Identify character's point of view

• Discussion: Ask students who was telling the story of Alistair's Night (Alistair the cat).
• Introduce and model the skill: Tell students that one way to understand and follow a story is to think about the point of view from which the story is told. Ask: In Alistair's Night, is the story told from Alistair's point of view or from Becky's or Dan's point of view? (Alistair's)
• Ask students to identify examples that indicate Alistair's point of view (page 3: I wonder what Becky and Dan are doing? page 4: Lazy people! It's time to get up. I want to play.) Ask how the sentences might have been written if told from Becky's or Dan's point of view.
• Check for understanding: On the board, draw a simple T chart with the headings Teacher and Students. Use an example from a class event to write a sentence or two from the teacher's point of view, such as I was startled when I hurried into the classroom after lunch and found the room dark and silent. Suddenly, my students popped out from under their desks shouting, “Surprise!” Invite students to rewrite the sentences from the students' point of view under the Students column.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the point of view worksheet.
• Extend the discussion: Invite students to share examples of opposing points of view.

Phonemic Awareness: Manipulate initial sounds

• Tell students you are going to say some words from the story and you want them to replace the first sound of the word with /n/ as in night. For example, replace the first sound in fight with /n/ (night).
• Have students practice replacing the initial sound in each of the following words: get (net), go (no, know), me (knee), bed (Ned), that (gnat), you (new, knew), west (nest).
• The following words may be used for additional practice: lab (nab), rag (nag), sail (nail), game (name), tap (nap), wreck (neck), mice (nice), sick (nick), pickle (nickel), fine (nine), hip (nip), rod (nod), moon (noon), hose (nose), cow (now), purse (nurse), cut (nut).

Phonics: Silent letters

• Write the words know and night on the board and ask students to identify the initial sound of the words (/n/). Review or explain that while many words with the initial /n/ sound begin with the letter n, sometimes another consonant, a silent letter, may team with the letter n to make the /n/ sound. Explain that kn is a common combination for /n/. (Other spellings of the /n/ sound include gn as in gnome and pn as in pneumonia.) Have students brainstorm other examples and record them on the board under two columns headed with the examples know and night.
• Have students complete the phonics worksheet.

Grammar and Mechanics: Present-tense verbs

• Review or explain that a verb is a word, or words, that expresses an action, a happening, a state (of being), or a process. The tense of the verb indicates when the action happened.
• Write the following sentence from page 4 on the board: I want to play. Ask if Alistair is showing that he wants to play now (present tense) or in the past (past tense). Have students determine how the author would have written the sentence using past tense (I wanted to play).
• Use the following present-tense examples from the book and invite volunteers to change the examples to past tense on the board: It's lonely out here (page 9), I'm watching for burglars (page 13), I'm ready to sleep (page 16).

Vocabulary: Contractions

• Have students read page 3 together as a group. Review or explain that the word It's is a shortened way of saying two words, and that the mark, or apostrophe, takes the place of the missing letter(s). Tell students that this is called a contraction. Ask students to clap the syllables as they repeat the word contraction. Write It is on the left side of the board and It's on the right side of the board. Ask students to tell what letter the apostrophe is taking the place of (i). Point to the apostrophe in the word It's and ask students to tell what the mark is. Help students to clap the syllables as they say the word apostrophe.
• Have students turn to page 12 in the book. Ask them to read the page and tell what Alistair imagines himself as (Kitty Super Hero). Tell them to point to the contraction on the page (I'll). Write the words I will on the board. Explain that these two words can be shortened to the smaller word I'll by using an apostrophe in place of the letters wi. Write I'll on the board. Ask students to tell other common contractions.
• Check for understanding: Have students identify examples of contractions in the book. Ask them to tell the two words that have been joined to make the contraction. Have them tell what letter(s) the apostrophe replaces.
• Have students complete the contractions worksheet.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their books independently or with a partner. Encourage repeated timed readings of a specific section of the book. Additionally, partners can take turns reading parts of the book to each other.

Home Connection

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

Writing and Art Connection

• Have students select their favorite attempt of Alistair to wake Becky and Dan. Have them draw a picture of the attempt and write a caption to accompany their picture.

Math Connection

• Beginning with the example from the story (2 a.m.), have students practice telling time to the hour and half-hour using an educational clock.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• accurately demonstrate self-questioning while reading the story
• identify character's point of view in discussion and to complete a graphic organizer
• understand that words can be changed by manipulating the initial sound
• understand and recognize silent letters; use skill to complete a worksheet
• understand that verb tense indicates when something happens
• understand and match contractions to complete a worksheet