Soup and a Sandwish - Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans for SOUP AND SANDWISH level I

Text Type:
Fiction / Tale

Reading Level:
I

Word Count:
320

Pages:
14

Text Summary
Soup and a Sandwish is a wonderful story about a boy who is tired of eating the same kind of lunch every day. He decides that if he can't get the sandwich he really wants, he will create it himself. The only problem is that he creates a bit more than he can handle. The text is supported by imaginative illustrations.

Reader Supports

Familiar topic

One-to-one picture correspondence

Reader Challenges

Unfamiliar story words

Figurative language

Surprise ending

Multiple sentences per page

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: Prediction.
Children are likely to use various strategies to help them decode words in this book. Encourage them to look for words within words, to go back and reread to make sure the sentence makes sense, and to use the pictures in the book to help them with the more difficult words.

Once children are able to see the idea of the story, they may be able to predict and/or visualize the outcome of some of the situations the boy in the book creates for himself.

Word and Print Skills
Phonological Awareness
Sh vs. ch
While reading the book, have children focus on the sh and ch sounds they encounter as they are reading. You can encourage them to give a thumbs up as they hear the sounds. This will be elaborated upon in the Building Skills, Phonological Awareness section found later in the lesson plan.

Phonics
Short /i/ sound
Throughout this book there are words that have a short i sound. Have children say some words that use the short i sound, and explain that when one is making the short i sound, the front part of the tongue is high in the mouth. The lips are rounded and the facial muscles are relaxed. If they make the sound, they will understand better what you are saying.
Some examples of words that have the short i sound are:
fish, bib, dish, drip, drink, dip, in, his, lip, lid, kiss, kick, it, thin, swim, zip, stick, six, sit, lift, etc.
See the Building Skills, Phonics section for more on this.

Word Work
High Utility Words
ate, use, saw, off

Punctuation
Recognition of the various types of punctuation marks used throughout the book.
(For more information see A mechanics activity under Word Work later in this lesson plan.)

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as children work to understand the text. The targeted comprehension strategy for this lesson is: Problem/Solution and cause/effect.

Using the beginning and ending of the story to show what the problem was and how the boy solved it through his "sandwish" is a good way to show that sometimes things happen for a reason. Although the boy didn’t initially want the lunch given to him, it was during the time that we was making his "sandwish" that he came to realize that what he had was exactly what he wanted.

Lesson: There has to be a happy medium; it is good to have wants and desires, but it is also good to be satisfied with what we have.

Visual Learning
Children will use the illustrations in the book to help them recognize details that will reinforce vocabulary and help them understand the text.

Targeted Vocabulary Words
High Utility Words
ate, use, saw, off

Content Words
Throughout the book, the author incorporate figurative language to help children visualize the sandwich that the boy in the story creates during his "sandwish." The following words fall into the category of descriptive or figurative words and should be reviewed with children prior to having them attempt reading the story. You may find others to include in the list as well. This will increase the chances of a successful reading experience.
jiggly, gigantic, mountain-high, glob, stacks, eye-watering, piling, mile-high, and monster.

Before Reading

Introducing the Book
Introduce the book by showing children the front and back covers, and the title page.
Ask: What do you notice on the covers and title page of this book? What predictions do you have regarding what this book may be about?
Show each of the pictures from the covers and title page and ask: If there were words coming from the boy, what do you think he might be saying?
Any questions that encourage prediction from children are appropriate.

Building Background
After looking at the covers and predicting what the book may be about, talk to children about what they enjoy eating. Things they have at home or at school for lunch are appropriate.
Ask: Do you often eat the same thing? Do you ever get bored with what you get for lunch? If you were able to make your own lunch, what would you like to make? Have you ever tried to make that didn’t come out quite the way you hoped it would have?

Book Walk
After introducing the book, go through it with children. Go through as much of the book as you feel is necessary, pointing out anything you think will challenge them as they are reading. This is a time when you are reminding them of the various Reading Strategies listed below, as well as familiarizing them with the format of the book. This step is to help reduce the anxiety that some children feel when they are faced with a book that has a lot of text and unfamiliar vocabulary.

Reading Strategies
Brainstorm with children what they can do if they come across a word or section that is difficult for them. Ask these questions to remind them about some strategies that can be helpful.

How will the pictures help you read the words?
What can you do when you come to a word you cannot read?
What can you do if you don’t understand a part you have just read?

During Reading

Model Reading
If you feel it is necessary, you can read portions from the book to children in order to model the proper intonation and fluency.

Student Reading
Have children read the book quietly or aloud at their own pace. Children should point to each word as they read. Remind them to use the pictures to help them and to segment the sounds in each word, sounding it out if they get stuck. Also, remind them to use the various strategies discussed earlier to help them if they get stuck: skipping words then going back and rereading, asking themselves if what they are reading makes sense, and looking at the pictures for clues.

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
This book is fun, and most children will enjoy retelling it. A good way to see how much they understood would be to have them summarize what the story was about. It will also give you a good idea as to whether children believe something like this could happen.

Ask: What was the book about? What problem did the boy in the story have? How did he solve his problem? Was there more than one problem in the story? Was the boy able to solve both? How? Can something like this really happen? Is it ok for people to wish/dream? What would you have done differently than the boy in the story? Do you think the author was trying to teach us something? If so, what was it?

Visual Learning
Much can be gained from pictures and illustrations in books, ask the following questions to see what children learned from the illustrations in this story.
Ask: What do the pictures of the boy tell you about his mood? How does the author’s description of the character match the illustrator’s depiction? How would you have drawn the character or the pictures?

Building Skills

Phonological Awareness
Beginning with the title of this book, children may notice the difference in how the word sandwich looks. This is a great book to focus on the differences between sh and ch. Have children say the two different sounds and listen and feel the differences as the say the two sounds. Have them pay attention to what their lips and tongue are doing as they say each sound. Then have them take the sand part of the words off and say wish and wich. It is very easy to hear and feel the difference of the two sounds. See if children can come up with other words in which the two sounds are used.

Phonics
Have children go through the book looking for words that have the letter i in them. Have them say the words aloud. Then, make a list with all the words from the story that have the short i sound in them. Have one of children write them down. These words can then be added to a word wall or class dictionary, if applicable.
See the Word and Print Skills, Phonics section of the lesson plan for more information.

Word Work
High Utility Words
To reinforce retention and recognition of high utility words, you may want to incorporate the words into your weekly spelling test or play "hangman" with them. Adding them to classroom word walls and dictionaries would be helpful as well, if applicable.

A mechanics activity
This book shows a variety of punctuation marks: commas, periods, apostrophes, hyphens, a colon (page 5), an exclamation point (page 11), a question mark (page 12), and quotation marks (page 14).
Have children go through and point out the different types of punctuation marks that they find. Write down what they find and have them explain, if they can, how and when to use the different types.

This would be a great book to use to start a class list of punctuation marks, if you don’t have one already. You can have children create the list, explaining how and when to use the different types of punctuation. If they create it, it will be more meaningful to them. You can have one of children in the room create a large copy of it to put up somewhere in your classroom, for future reference.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Have children write about what they would make if they could make their ideal lunch. They must list all the steps just as the boy in the story did. To help them with this , explain that anyone who reads their paper should be able to re-create their lunch just as they did originally.

Art Connection
Have children draw a picture of their ideal lunch with all the details, just as the illustrator did of the boys’ "sandwish."

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
Send the book home to be read to or with family members. In addition, children must tell the person they read with what they would make if they could make their ideal lunch, and how they would do it.

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 sh and ch words by giving two to three examples of each.

Go to "Soup and a Sandwish" main page