Hippo's Toothache - Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans for HIPPO'S TOOTHACHE level I

Text Type:
Fiction / Fantasy

Reading Level:
I

Word Count:
276

Pages:
18

Text Summary
Hippo's Toothache is about Harry the Hippo, who lives in the jungle and has a horrible toothache. His animal friends try to help him and decide that they should pull out his tooth. One by one, they try unsuccessfully to extract the tooth. Finally, the tooth is pulled. The story has a surprise ending.

Reader Supports

Repeated use of story vocabulary

Simple story that builds logically from one page to the next

Reader Challenges

Limited picture support

Some difficult vocabulary; large number of high utility words

Less reliance on pattern

Dialogue

Lesson Objectives
Reading Strategies
Children should use a variety of strategies to decode words and bring meaning to print. The targeted strategy for this lesson is: Predicting.

Predicting what is going to happen next is a way for children to guide their own reading. They will want to know whether or not their predictions were correct. This gives them specific goals while reading and improves both comprehension and recollection.

Word and Print Skills
Phonological Awareness
Segmenting sounds

Phonics
Consonant clusters

Word Work
High Utility Words
they, his, she, he, I, we

Capitalization

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as children work to understand the text. The targeted comprehension strategies for this lesson are: Rereading, and using Think-Alouds.

Rereading helps children check for understanding to foster fluency, to improve word recognition, and to recall details. Think-Alouds help children to focus on the details of the story, improving comprehension and retention of the events of the story.

Visual Learning
Children will learn the importance of noticing picture details, and how those details can support the text and increase comprehension.

Targeted Vocabulary Words
High Utility Words
they, his, she, he, I, we

Content Words
horrible, terrible, moaned, groaned, pulled, louder, later, panicked

Before Reading

Introducing the Book

Hold up the book, and show children the front and back covers, and the title page.
Ask: What is the difference between this kind of story and one that is not made-up? Show children an example of a nonfiction book that would have a tie to Hippo’s Toothache, such as a book about teeth.
Direct their attention to the cover of the book. Point out the title of the story, the author’s name and the illustrator’s name. Ask: Does the illustration help you to predict what will happen in the story?
Tell children that the story has characters, a setting, and a plot. The characters in Hippo’s Toothache are the animals. The setting is where the story takes place, and the plot is all the events that form story. Ask children to think about characters, setting, and plot as they read.
Turn to the title page. Ask: Why is the illustration on this page different from the one on the cover? (It sets the stage.) Where do you think the story is going to take place?
After looking at the cover and the title page, ask children if they can predict what will happen in the story. Write their predictions on chart paper. Explain that you will compare these predictions with other predictions they will make when they read the story.

Building Background
Discuss going to a dentist. Ask: Why do people go to the dentist? What does the dentist do? Why is it important to go to the dentist? What might happen if you don’t go to the dentist? Have you ever had a toothache? What did it feel like? How did it happen? What did you do about it?

Book Walk
Walk children through the story to acquaint them with the characters and setting of the story. As you turn the pages, ask children to look closely at the illustrations and think about what is happening. Pause on some pages to ask questions.

Reading Strategies
Strategies for Solving Difficult Words
Ask children what they do when they come to a difficult word. Ask: Do the pictures help you to understand and read the words? How do you figure out the meaning of a difficult word? Do you sound out the letters? Do you pause on a page and predict what might happen on the next page? Do you use Think Alouds? Ask children to share what strategies they use and record them on chart paper or the chalkboard. Discuss and check for understanding.

During Reading

Model Reading
As you read the story, prompt children to tell you what happened on that page and to predict what will come next. Model Think Alouds as a prediction strategy. Ask: What do you think will happen next? Write the predictions on chart paper. Use a different colored marker than that used for the first set of predictions. Take two to three predictions so children do not lose interest. Explain that over the course of a few weeks, everyone will have a chance to predict.

If children find some of the content words challenging or unfamiliar, pause long enough at each word to discuss it, and to assure understanding of it. Talk about the illustrations.

Ask children to look at the two sets of predictions. Compare what they predicted before the story and what they predicted after each page was read. How were their predictions different and how were they similar?

Student Reading
When you have completed the model reading, distribute Hippo’s Toothache to children. Allow them to read at their own pace, pointing to the words as they read. Provide them with hints for solving difficult words, for example, sounding out the first letter and subsequent letters, and looking for picture clues. Discuss how using strategies such as Think Alouds will help them make predictions as they read. Monitor their reading and provide prompts as necessary.

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
Ask children to share which strategies they used to help identify and solve difficult words or passages. Write responses on the chalkboard or add responses to the Strategies I Use chart.

To check for understanding of the story, ask: What was the plot of the story? Who were the characters in the story? What were their names? What was the setting of the story? What would have happened if the animals hadn’t pulled Harry’s tooth? What would you have done to help solve the problem?

Think Aloud
Page 17: The little mouse is very small. How could such a little mouse scare a big elephant? I don’t think she meant to scare Ella. I think she just wanted to help. Was there a hero in the story? Was it the mouse or the elephant? Do you always have to be big to be a hero? Ask children to reread the story with a partner. Have them take turns, pausing at the end of each page, thinking about what they have read, and retelling to their partner what happened.

Visual Learning
Ask children the following questions about the pictures in the story:
Page 4: How can you tell that Harry has a toothache?
Page 5: Do the animals look like they are just waking up? How can you tell?
Page 10: What is Milly the Gorilla doing? Why do you think she is raising her hand?
Page 14: What does the illustration tell you?
Page 18: Did Harry quit moaning and groaning? How can you tell?

Building Skills

Phonological Awareness
Sound Segmentation
Consonant /r/ and /l/ sounds as in Harry, horrible, terrible, Harriet, parrot, Ella, Polly, and Milly
Give children two sets of cards, one red and one blue. Explain that they are going to be listening for the /r/ and the /l/ sounds. When they hear the /r/ sound, they should hold up the red card; when they hear the /l/ sound, they should hold up the blue card.

Slowly say each word, stretching it out. (Harry, horrible, terrible, Harriet, parrot, Ella, Polly, Milly)
When children hear the /r/ and /l/ sounds, tell them to hold up the card that represents the correct sound.

Phonics
Consonant Blends
Reread the story. Ask children to listen carefully for the word with a gr sound. Write the words groaning and groaned on the chalkboard or chart paper. Underline the letters gr in each word. Explain to children that these letters stand for the /gr/ sound. Point out that often when g and another consonant appear together in a word, the sounds that both letters stand for are blended together. Provide other examples, like grab, grade, grain, grape, groan, grandma. Blend the consonants in each word aloud as you run your finger under each letter. Ask one of the children to underline the letters gr. Point to each of these clusters and have children say the sounds that the letters stand for. Continue by having children generate a list of words containing these sounds. List the words on the chalkboard or chart paper.

Word Work
High Utility Words
Help children write five sentences using the target high utility words. Have them make the sentences about themselves. For example: They said he should go to the library. She said he and I could go to the store. We were late for the movie.

When you have finished writing sentences on the chalkboard or chart paper, ask for volunteers to underline each of the high utility words in each of the sentences.

Capitalization
Point out how the animals’ names are capitalized in the story. Point out that the first letter of a name is always capitalized; the first letter of the first word in a sentence is always capitalized. Identify the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters. Have children write their own names using different art media such as glue, string, or sand. They can highlight the capital letters with special colors, ink, or other materials.

Expand on the Reading

Writing Connection

Reread Hippo’s Toothache. Ask children where the story took place. (jungle)
Explain that you are going to write a class story about the jungle. First, they must brainstorm what they think they know about jungles.
On chart paper or the chalkboard, write What We Know About Jungles. Prompt children with questions that will encourage them to share information. Ask: What animals live in the jungle? What food grows in the jungle? What do the animals do in the jungle? To help children make personal connections, ask them if they have been to a zoo. Ask them to tell what animals live
at the zoo, what they eat, etc. As children share, write their information under the heading on the chart paper.
Give sentence strips to children. Using the information they learned from the chart, children will write a sentence about a jungle. When they have finished, put all the sentences on chart paper or the chalkboard and read aloud. Working together, reorder the sentences to make a story.

Social Studies Connection
Going to the Dentist

Select books from the library about the dentist, fiction and nonfiction, and display them in the classroom. If children have a family member who is a dentist, invite him or her into the classroom to talk about the importance of keeping your teeth healthy, and how to do so: eating the right foods, brushing your teeth, flossing. Discuss with children the foods that are good for your teeth and foods that are bad for your teeth.
Display a chart with the headings, Good Foods and Bad Foods. Ask children to think about the kinds of foods that are bad for teeth, and the kinds that are good. Write their responses under the appropriate heading.
Have children find good food pictures in magazines. Tell them to cut them out, and paste them onto a piece of paper. Next, have them write the name of the food next to the cut-out pictures. Put the food cut-outs and sentences into a binder for the class library. Culminate with a food-tasting activity, providing snacks that are good for your teeth, like vegetables.

Reading Independently
Allow children to read independently or with a partner. When they have completed the book, tell them to look for books about other animals, for example, farm animals. Ask them to find out how farm animals are different from animals that live in a jungle or in a zoo. Invite them to share what they find.

Home Connection

Ask children to take the book home to read and share with a family member. Provide ideas to family members on how to read the book with their child (for example, asking questions about what the animals are doing, where they live, and what the child would have done if he/she were in the story).
Send home a list of content words and high utility words. Provide suggestions for displaying the words and for helping their child learn and practice the words.

Assessment

Monitor children as they read aloud in guided reading groups to check for understanding and to observe their use of appropriate reading strategies.
Make use of observational notes as you observe children reading independently or with a partner: Do they understand the story? How do they respond to unfamiliar words? What strategies do they use when working alone or with a partner?
Identify children who need further intensive attention as well as intervention.
Observe children’s ability to put words into sentences. Are they developing letter knowledge, letter-sound relationships, and knowledge of words? Do they interact with the Word Wall when they need help with difficult words? Do they understand the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters?
What strategies do they use when writing?

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