Expand on the Reading

Lesson Plans for FAMILIES level I

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Have children write how their family is similar or different from the family in the book. Because this book discusses stepparents, stepsiblings, and half siblings, many children may feel comfortable writing about the various members that make up their immediate and extended family more so than in other circumstances. Take this opportunity to allow them to discuss how their family came to be, and encourage them to write as much as they feel comfortable writing. This can often be a difficult subject for children and may include a lot of feeling on the child’s part.

Math Connection
Have children figure out how many immediate family members they have and how many extended family members they have. Then have them create a math problem for another student to solve.
For example, say: If I have 5 immediate family members and 13 extended family members, how many family members do I have all together?

Reading Independently
Have children read the book independently or with a partner. You can also encourage them to read other books of their choice at the appropriate level.

Home Connection
Because many students may be unaware of how many relatives they have living out of town or out of state, send home a letter, asking parents to give you an approximate number of relatives their child has. Encourage them to list the number of aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings etc— as many details as possible. This should be done the week prior to reading this book, if possible. This way, if children don’t know how many relatives they have, you will be able to help them with the response sent in from the parent.
After you have read the book in class, you can send the book home to be read to or with family members.

Assessment

Monitor children’s responses in the Comprehending the Text section to assess how well they understand the text or story.
Monitor reading to see if children are using the effective reading strategies.
Assess children’s knowledge of s plural vs. apostrophe s, by checking the sentences they come up with in the Phonics activity.

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