Build Background

• Tell students that Why Robins Hop is a kind of folktale called a pourquoi. Explain that pourquoi is a French word that means why and that stories like these explain why certain things in the world (usually in nature) are the way they are. The tales are passed down from generation to generation. Even though pourquoi stories are not factual, they provide a fun and different way of looking at the world around us.

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

• Give students a copy of the book and have them preview the front and back covers and read the title. Ask: What do the pictures make you wonder about the book?
• Discuss the information on the title page (title of book, author's name, illustrator's name).

Introduce the Strategy: Self-question

• Explain to students that one way to understand a story is to ask questions about the book before and during reading, and then to read the book to answer the questions. Explain that good questions often begin with I wonder…
• Model how to ask an I wonder… question.
• Think-aloud: I see footprints on the front cover of the book. I wonder what footprints have to do with why robins hop. I will have to read the book to find out. I will remember to use the pictures and the information in the book to ask myself questions as I read. Then I will see if I can find the answers in the book.
• As students read, they should use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted strategy presented in this section. For tips on additional reading strategies, click here.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• As you preview the book, ask students to talk about what they see in the pictures. Use the vocabulary they will encounter in the text. Model how they can use what they know about birds to help them work out words. For example, on page 9, you might say: It as if these two birds are a hummingbird and a sparrow. Continue by having students repeat the language you used. Say: Do you know which bird is which? Say the names with me. (Repeating the book language will support students when they come to difficult parts of the text.)
• Remind students that they should check whether a word makes sense by rereading the sentence.
• For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to answer their I wonder… questions about Why Robins Hop.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Give students their books and have them put a sticky note on page 6. Tell them to read to the end of this page. Ask students to reread the pages if they finish before everyone else.
• When they have finished reading, ask students what words were tricky for them. Discuss strategies they can use to help themselves work out difficult words.
• Model answering an I wonder… question.
• Think-aloud: As I was reading and came to page 4, I read that the fox followed the tracks of what he thought was a chicken. Then I read that the fox started chasing and eating robins because the bird tracks all looked the same. I still don't know exactly what tracks have to do with why robins hop. I wonder if it has something to do with the fox eating the robins. I'll have to keep reading to find out.
• Have students read the remainder of the story to find out why robins hop.

    Tell students to make a small question mark in their books beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

Reflect on the Reading Strategies

• Ask students what words they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
• Reinforce that asking questions in their minds helps them understand and stay interested in the story.
• Discuss some of the I wonder… questions students asked themselves during reading. Ask: How did your questions help you?

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Problem and solution

• Discussion: Ask students what they thought about Owl's solution to the birds' problem.
• Introduce and model the skill: Write problem and solution on the board. Explain that a problem is something that is difficult to deal with or hard to understand, and a solution is the answer to the problem. For example, if I were to get wet every time I went outside in the rain, I would have a problem. If I were to decide to put on my raincoat before I went outside, I would have a solution.
• Explain that most stories contain a problem and a solution. After the problem in the story is revealed, a series of events usually takes place. These events all lead up to the solution of the story. Stories would be very boring if there were no problem and solution because nothing much would happen.
• Check for understanding: Ask students to name a common problem (forgetting lunch money, missing the bus). Then have them provide a solution (putting their lunch money in their backpacks the night before, getting to the bus stop five minutes earlier).
• Ask a student to identify the problem in Why Robins Hop (the fox was eating the robins because he couldn't tell the bird tracks apart).
• Independent practice: For additional practice identifying the problem and solution in the story, have students complete the worksheet. Discuss their responses.

Phonemic Awareness: Medial short /o/

• Review the sound of short /o/ with words from the book: fox, not, hop. Have students listen for the short /o/ sound as you say the words. Have them repeat the sound and the words. Tell students you are going to say a list of words. Have them give the thumbs-up sign when they hear the short /o/ sound in a word. Say: problem, birds, fox, robin, tracks, thought, belong, fast, done, proper, hop, not, search,

Phonics: Vowel y

• Explain that the letter y is sometimes used as a vowel. Write why and fly on the board and have students listen as you say the words aloud. Ask what vowel sound they hear in the words (long /i/). Ask what letter stands for the long /i/ sound in these words (y). Write the words many, normally, easily, finally, and only on the board. Ask students to read the words and tell you the vowel sound the letter y stands for in these words (long /e/).
• Have students look through the book to find examples of words that contain y used as a vowel. Create a T-chart on the board. Label one side y sounds like long /i/ and the other side y sounds like long /e/. Have students tell what sound the y makes in each word and then tell which category the word belongs in.
• For additional practice, have students complete the vowel y worksheet.

Grammar and Mechanics: Exclamation marks

• Explain that writers use exclamation marks to show that something is supposed to be read loudly or is very important. Exclamation marks should not be used too often in writing because they lose their strength. If someone shouts all of the time, we stop thinking that what he or she is shouting is important. The same is true in writing.
• Have students turn to page 4. Reread the page aloud. Ask: What do you think the purpose of this exclamation mark is? (to show importance) Then, turn to page 13. Read the page aloud. Ask: Why do you think the author uses exclamation points on this page? (to show loudness)

    Have students use the inside back cover of their book to write three sentences that have exclamation marks at the end, such as Watch out!

Vocabulary: High-frequency words

• Review the high-frequency word list at the start of the lesson: once, knew, they, other, only, together
• For additional practice, have students complete the high-frequency words worksheet.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their books independently or with a partner. Encourage repeated timed readings of a specific section in the book. Additionally, partners can take turns reading parts of the book to each other.

Home Connection

• Give students their books to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.

Writing Connection

• Have students write a pourquoi tale of their own. Review the major elements of pourquoi tales (they explain why something exists, they are usually about nature, they have animal and human characters, they are not true). Have students include these elements in their stories. Allow time for students to complete their tales. Give them an opportunity to read and/or share their stories with the class.

 Literature and Drama Connection

• Provide print and Internet resources for students to continue exploring pourquoi tales. Read several stories aloud to the class. Discuss students' reactions. Have them identify the pourquoi elements in each tale. Make sure that students understand that these stories are not true and should not be considered historical fact. Give students the opportunity to act out the stories as skits.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• ask themselves questions about the text before and during reading to aid in understanding
• identify the problem and solution in discussion and to complete a worksheet
• identify medial short /o/ in words said orally
• recognize and sort words that contain vowel y
• identify, understand, and use exclamation marks
• identify high-frequency words in text

Comprehension Checks

• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric