A Visit to the Zoo - Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans for A VISIT TO THE ZOO level I

Text Type:
Nonfiction / Narrative

Reading Level:
I

Word Count:
328

Pages:
16

Text Summary
Come along with Danni and Fran as they go on A Visit to the Zoo. Going to the zoo isn't what it used to be. There are many innovative things to see and do at the zoo. There is even a school at this zoo! Can you guess which animals each girl chooses as her favorite? Read the book and find out.

Suggested Lesson Focus
The following skills are suggested for the lesson focus and strategies will be provided for these skills throughout the lesson. Most likely, other skills will be addressed in the course of reading and discussing the book.

Comprehension
Sequencing

Phonological Awareness
Initial and final consonants

Phonics
Vowel digraphs

Word Work
Synonyms

Mechanics/Grammar
Quotation or Talking Marks/Word Clues

Visual Learning
Look at the pictures with children and discuss the importance of pictures and illustrations in a book. Ask: Why are photos and illustrations important and how can they be helpful?
Although most children enjoy reading and learning about animals, names for animals can be difficult to read. The photographs in this book will be helpful to children as they are reading the text. For any word they may find difficult, they can look at the photograph as well as the first letter in the word to get help.

Targeted Vocabulary Words
High Utility Words
they, the, with, their, this
All of these words contain the th sound.

Content Words
The following content words are words you should consider reviewing with children prior to having them read independently. This will help children feel prepared and more successful as they are reading. This is a review of how to say the words as well as what they mean. These are only a few words. You may want to review the book to see if there are words that you want to add or delete from this list. visit, animal, beautiful, cage, huge, colorful, lion, mane, lioness, male, female, elephants, African, Indian, shower, flamingo, skinny, rhinoceroses, pointed, wrinkly, thick, school, surprised, teachers, volunteers, learning, ferrets, mandrill baboon, colorful, cheeks, favorite, giraffe, zebra, pajamas, tortoises

Before Reading

Introducing the Book
Introduce the book by showing children the front and back covers and title page.
Ask: What do you notice on the covers? What do you think the book will be about? What kinds of things do you think you may see as we read this book and look at the pictures?
There should be a lot of predictions going on at this stage. You can also use think-aloud strategies in this section.

Building Background
Talk to children about their experiences at zoos. Ask: How many of you have ever been to a zoo? Why do people go to zoos? What types of things do they have at zoos? Did you ever find or see something at the zoo that surprised you, other than a rare animal? Ask the question to relate back to the school the girls found at the zoo. What are your favorite animals to see when you go to the zoo and why? As children are answering your questions, write down the responses that relate to the book on the board or a piece of paper to refer back to later.

Book Walk
To help children become familiar with the book and its format, go through some of the pages pointing out the features you think may be difficult for them as they are reading. Point to some of the pictures and have children tell you what the animal in the picture is. After they have identified the animal, point to the word to show children what it looks like. This will help them as they do their independent reading. Any other vocabulary children may have difficulty with should be addressed during this section of the lesson. For example, have children turn to page 12 and ask: What is that statue the girl is standing next to? (A fountain.) At this point you can point to the word to show children what the word looks like.

During Reading

Model Reading
Provide a copy of the book to each child. Direct them to read silently or quietly to themselves. Tell those that finish before others to reread the book or to think about what they have read in order to respond to the purpose you set before the reading. Ask questions to remind children of strategies that will help them as they are reading.

How will the pictures help you read the words? (They give you hints as to what the words may be.)
What can you do when you come to a word you cannot read? (Look at the beginning and ending sounds, break up the word.)
What can you do if you don't understand a part you have just read? (Reread the sentence or page.)

You can also model this think aloud strategy:
Say: If I had a word that I didn’t know, I think the first thing I would do is look at the picture for help. If I still didn’t get it, then I would look at the word to see if I recognize the first letter to help me. I would try to sound out each letter in the word to help me figure out what the word might be and then look at the picture again. I will have to listen to myself as I say each letter and try to put them all together so I can try to hear what the word might be. Finally, I would go back and reread to make sure the sentence makes sense.
Before reading, explain that they should put post-its on any words they have trouble with or don’t understand. When everyone is done reading, you will go over those words as a group.

Setting the Purpose
At this point, remind students that they need to pay close attention to the order in which the girls see the animals. They will be using the information on the comprehension worksheet.

Using the Worksheet
Pass out the comprehension worksheet. Children will need to write a number next to the animal’s name according to the order in which they are shown in the book. For example, on page 4 is the lioness, page 5 is the lion. On the worksheet they would put one next to lioness, two next to lion, three next to elephant, four next to flamingo, five next to rhinoceroses, six next to ferret, seven next to mandrill baboon, eight next to giraffe, nine next to zebra, and ten next to tortoise. These numbers will help children later when it comes time for them to cut out the names and put them in order.

After Reading

When children have finished reading the book, ask questions to get at their level of understanding of the text. These questions should tie into the questions you asked while building background.
Ask: Who did the girls go to the zoo with? (Their aunt.) What was the Indian elephant doing when the girls got to its enclosure? (Giving itself a dust shower.) What were they surprised to find at the zoo? (A school.) What are the names of the people who are inside the zoo teaching? (Volunteers.) Danni was funny when she said that a zebra looks like something. What did she say? (She said he looks like he is wearing pajamas.) Which two animals were the girls’ favorites? (The baboon and the tortoise.)

Ask children if they liked the book. Ask them if they had any difficulties with the words? Ask anyone who has used a post-it to show you the word. You can go over the word with each child one-on-one or with the group, depending on what is appropriate. Ask children if there was any part of the book they found particularly difficult. Discuss these aspects of the book and take all comments and feedback. During this time, you can also discuss what children thought the author’s message was. Ask them what they liked best about the book and if they learned anything new. You can also go back and look at the photos in the book and ask for any comments children have regarding the photos. You can ask: Do the animals look happy to you? Which picture was your favorite? How did the pictures in this book help you with your reading and what did you learn from them?

Building Skills

Phonological Awareness
Initial and Final Consonants
Look through the book and look for words that begin and end with consonants—for example: visit, sisters, turns, doesn’t, school, animals, children, etc. Write them on the board or a piece of paper. Have children look at and pronounce the words. Make sure that they are saying the words in a way that allows you to hear the initial and ending sounds.

Phonics
Vowel Digraphs
Looking through the text, there are many words that contain vowel digraphs. Explain to children that vowel digraphs are two or more vowels that are next to each other in a word that make up only one sound. The following words from the book contain vowel digraphs: aunt, each, hears, doesn’t, near, teachers, learning, you’ll, guess, wearing, please, tortoise, their, and treats. Write three or four of the words from the book on the board or paper. Have children look at the words and say them, listening to the sounds that the digraphs make. See if they can look through the book and find others. Remind them to say the word aloud and listen to make sure that the vowels are only making one sound. You can use lion or Indian as examples of words that have two vowels together that make more than one sound.

Word Work
Synonyms
Talk to children about the fact that the words used to describe the animals are called adjectives and are describing words. Have them look through the book and tell you all the describing words used. List them on the board or a chart. Next, talk to children about the fact that other words can be used to describe the animals as well. Ask them to come up with words that could have been used in the book that would have meant the same or almost the same thing as the word used. Write these new words next to the original word used in the book. Tell children that the words they came up with are called synonyms. If you have a thesaurus available, you can share it with them and explain that a thesaurus is a book that is full of synonyms and antonyms to help writers be more creative as they write.

Mechanics/Grammar
Quotation or Talking Marks/Word Clues
Throughout this book, Fran and Danni have various conversations. Look through the book and ask: What clues are there that show us that the girls are talking? (Word clues like says or asks and quotation or talking marks.) Have children go through the text, raise their hands, and tell you some of the quotes from the book.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Have children write what their favorite animal is at the zoo and why.

Science or Art Connection
As a science connection, this book can be used while doing a unit of study on animals. It can introduce the idea that, while some animals may not live in the wild where you live, they can still be seen in places like zoos. It can also be used as a starting point for discussions regarding how children feel about keeping animals in zoos.
As an art connection you can have children illustrate their writing from the Writing Connection section above.

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

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