Reading Level:
I

Word Count:
286

Pages:
16 

Text Summary
This is the first book in a series about the Monsters. Bonk decides to go camping by himself. He gets scared when darkness falls and he begins to hear strange noises. The noises turn out to be his friends Lurk, Uzzle, and Snag, who have come to join him. Although the Monsters aren't human, many of their emotions are. Readers will enjoy both the story line and the creative illustrations. 

Lesson Objectives

Reading Strategies
Use context clues and picture clues to work out meanings of words
Sound out unfamiliar words using known sound/symbol correspondences
Look for familiar word chunks within larger word chunks
Reread for sense 

Word and Print Skills
Phonological Awareness
Blending and segmenting
Phonics
R-family blends
Word Work
Compound words
High Utility Words
has, soon, with  

Comprehension
Make, revise, and confirm predictions
Identify character traits
Sequence events

Before Reading

Build Background
Ask students if they have ever been camping. Have them brainstorm the things they might take when they go camping and record these on a list on the board. Ask students to describe what happened when they went camping.

Introduce the Book
Show students the cover of the book and read the title. Talk about the illustration.
Ask: What kind of book do you think this might be? What clues are there in the picture that let you know that this is going to be fantasy story? Who do you think this might be on the cover? What is he doing? Do you think Bonk will do the same things you did when you went camping? 

Book Walk
Show students the first illustration in the book. Ask them what they think is happening. Reinforce the language that students will read in the text.
Say: What is Bonk packing in his backpack? Why does he need a flashlight? What kind of sandwich do you think he might like?
Continue with each page spread, talking about the pictures and reinforcing the words that students will find in the book. When you get to page 13, ask students to predict what will happen next. Don’t show them the pictures that follow, so that they can find out what happens when they read.
Say: Why do you think Bonk might be hiding under his blankie? What do you think is going to happen next?

During Reading

Set the Purpose
Give students their copies of the book. Tell them you want them to read the story to find out what happens to Bonk. Ask students to read the story out loud, each student reading at his or her own pace. Monitor their reading, and intervene if necessary to help them with unknown words and to model reading strategies.
Say: What does the word start with? What do you think might make sense here and start with that sound? Now read the whole sentence and see if the word makes sense. 

After Reading

Reflect on Reading Strategies
Discuss the strategies students used to read words they didn’t know.
Ask: Were there any words you didn’t know? How did you try to figure them out? Did you use the pictures to help you figure out the words? 

Reflect on Reading Purpose
Revise/confirm predictions
Discuss with students what happened at the end of the story.
Ask: Why was Bonk hiding under his blankie? Who was making the noises? Did the story end the way you thought it would? Why or why not? 

Developing Comprehension Strategies
Identifying character traits
Students can read more about the Monsters in later books in the series. In this lesson they can begin identifying the characters in the series and their special traits.
Say: Tell me the characters in this story and I’ll write their names on the board (Bonk, Uzzle, Lurk, and Snag). We can find out what they are like from the things they say and do in the book. The book says that Uzzle always worries about everything. Let’s find the part that says that and read it out loud. Now look in the book and see if you can find the word the book uses to describe Lurk. How does the book describe Snag? Bonk goes camping alone. What does this tell you about Bonk? 

Sequencing story events
Ask: What was the first thing that happened in the story? What is the first thing Bonk does after he sets up his tent? Let’s check that by looking in the book. What happened after Bonk finished his sandwich? Who can retell how the story ends?

Worksheet: Story sequence
Have students use the worksheet to write sentences telling what happened at the beginning of the story, what happened in the middle of the story, and what happened at the end. Have them use the pictures to help them describe the events from the beginning, middle, and end.  

Building Skills

Phonological Awareness: blending and segmenting
Say the word packs from the story by segmenting the sounds (/p/ /a/ /k/ /s/). Ask students to blend the sounds together and tell you the word. Repeat with these words from the story: camping, screeching, broken. Then say the word Snag and have students segment the sounds and then blend them together. Repeat with the words fun, sets, tent, and tree. 

Phonics:
r-family blends
Write the words brave (page 2) and branch (page 9) on the board. Have students turn to these pages to find and read the sentences where the words are found. Ask students what is the same about the two words (they both start with /br/). Circle the blend and have students read each word, emphasizing the blend (/b/ /rrrr/ /a/ /v/). Explain that /br/ is an r-family blend. It blends the letter r with another consonant sound to make a blend sound. Challenge students to find another r-family blend on page 2 (friend), page 8 (grunting), and page 11 (broken). Write the words on the board and circle the blends. 

Word Work:
compound words
Write the word fireflies on the board, and explain that this is a compound word because it is made up of two smaller words. Circle the two words, fire and flies. Write the word flashlight on the board, and have students read the word. Ask a volunteer to come up and circle the two words that make up the compound word flashlight. Repeat with the words backpacks and campfire. 

Word Work:
high-frequency words
Write the words has, soon, and with on the board. Explain to students that these are words that are used often in books and that if they can learn to read these words quickly, it will help make their reading faster. Point to each word, read it with students, and have them spell the word in the air with their fingers. Have students go on a word hunt in the book to find the high frequency words. Give them sticky notes and have them mark each word they find. Then have students read the sentences in which the words are found.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Have students draw a picture of themselves camping. Encourage them to include in their picture things they need when camping. Then have students write one or two sentences under their picture about camping.

Reading Independently
Invite students to reread the book with a partner. Have them alternate reading different pages in the book.

Home Connection
Invite students to take the book home to read with their families. 

Assessment

• Monitor students’ responses during the After Reading discussion to assess their understanding of the sequence of events. Review their completed worksheet to determine if they portray events from the story in logical order.
• Monitor students’ responses after reading to determine how well they understand character and identify character traits. Note whether they can return to the text to locate information about the characters.