What Pet Should You Get?

What Pet Should You Get?
Level J

About the Book

Text Type: Nonfiction/Pro-Con
Page Count: 16
Word Count: 451

Book Summary
Almost every kid wants a pet. But how do you decide which pet is best for you? This book introduces readers to the idea of "pros" and "cons," and helps readers to look at multiple perspectives and opinions. Engaging photographs of kids and pets support the text.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

Connect to prior knowledge

Objectives

Use the reading strategy of connecting to prior knowledge to understand text
Understand and identify the difference between fact and opinion
Discriminate r-controlled sound /ar/
Identify words with r-controlled ar spelling
Identify and use adjectives
Identify and use synonyms

Materials

Book -- What Pet Should You Get? (copy for each student)
Chalkboard or dry erase board
Index cards
Fact and opinion, r-controlled ar, adjectives, synonyms worksheets

Indicates an opportunity for student to mark in the book. (All activities may be completed with paper and pencil if books are reusable.)

Vocabulary

High-frequency words: are, come, for, have, here, one, some, their, they, want, what, when, which, you, your
Content words: boring, cage, con, decide, opinions, playmate, pro, research, weird

Before Reading

Build Background

Make a large T-chart on the chalkboard, and label one side Good and the other side Bad. Write the synonym Pro above the word Good and synonym Con above the word Bad on the chart. Ask students if they have ever heard these terms before. Point out and discuss the icons on the front cover, as well as each word's meaning.
Ask students to share about pets they have or had at one time. Invite them to share good and bad reasons for having a pet. Write student responses on the chart.

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask what they think they will read about in a book called What Pet Should You Get? (Accept any answers students can justify.)
Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name).
Ask students to turn to the table of contents. Remind them that the table of contents provides an overview of what the book is about. Ask students what they expect to read about in the book based on what they see in the table of contents.

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Connect to prior knowledge

Explain that good readers make connections between what they already know and new information they read. Remind students that thinking about what they already know about the topic of the book will help them understand what they read.
Model connecting to prior knowledge using the information on the covers.
Think-aloud: When I look at the front cover of the book, I see a dog and someone holding a frisbee. This reminds me of the people I've seen with their dogs at the park. People take their dogs there to let them run and get exercise. Sometimes they play frisbee with their dog. When you throw a frisbee, dogs will chase it, leap into the air, and catch it. Thinking about what I already know helps me to enjoy what I read.
Read the Introduction aloud to students. Invite them to share how they connected to prior knowledge based on this section. Have students explain how this helped them to better understand the reading.
As students read, encourage them to use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted strategy presented in this section. For tips on additional reading strategies, click here.

Introduce the Comprehension Skill: Fact and opinion

Write the following sentences on the board: Dogs are animals. Dogs are the smartest animals. Ask students to tell which sentence someone could argue with.
Explain that books can sometimes contain both facts and opinions. A fact is information that is true. An opinion is information that some people believe but others do not. Have students identify which statement on the board is the fact and which one is the opinion.
Read page 6 aloud to students. Model identifying facts and opinions.
Think-aloud: When I read about dogs, I know that most people would agree that dogs come when you call them. This is something that most dogs do, so it can be considered a fact. However, I think many people could argue with the sentence Every kid should own a dog. This is one person's feeling about the kind of pet people should have. Not everyone would feel the same way about dogs as the author does. This is an opinion.

Have students turn to page 6 in their book. Invite students to write an F above sentences they believe to be facts and an O above sentences they believe to be opinions. Discuss their responses.

Introduce the Vocabulary

While previewing the book, reinforce the vocabulary words students will encounter in the book. For example, on page 6 you might say: The text says Get a dog for a great playmate. What clues do the photographs on page 6 provide to help you understand how a dog can be a good playmate? (Girl is smiling; dog is playing frisbee, jumping in the air).
Remind students to look at the letters a word begins or ends with, or break the words into "chunks," to figure out a difficult word. For example, point to the word research on page 15 and say: When I look at the parts of this word, I see the word search inside of it. The word starts with /re/ and I know that is a prefix. The word must be research. I will reread the sentence to make sure research makes sense in 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 find out the pros and cons of owning each type of pet. Remind them to think about what they already know about pets as they read.

During Reading

Student Reading

Guide the reading: Give students their copy of the book. Have them read to the end of page 7 and then stop to think about the events that have happened so far in the book. Encourage students who finish before others to reread the text.
Model connecting to prior knowledge.
Think-aloud: On page 7, I read about how people take their dogs for walks. This reminds me of the people I've seen walking their dogs early in the morning before they go to work. Pets, such as dogs, need a lot of attention and care.
Invite students to share how they connected with what they already know as they read.
Write the following sentences on the board: Dogs are hard pets to keep. They need lots of space to run. Ask students to identify which sentence states a fact and which one states an opinion.
Check for understanding: Have students read pages 8 and 9. Encourage them to share how they connected to prior knowledge as they read. (Accept all answers that show students understand how to connect to prior knowledge.)

Ask students to work with a partner to identify one fact and one opinion on pages 8 and 9. Have them write an F above the sentence they believe to be facts and an O above sentences they believe to be an opinion. Invite pairs to share and explain their answers. Write their facts and opinions on the board.

Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to use what they already know about pets to help them understand new information as they read.

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

After Reading

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their book. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
Think-aloud: When I read page 10, I thought about all of the fish I've seen swimming in the tanks at the pet store. Some are big and some are very small. Sometimes they seem to stare at me through the glass, opening and closing their mouths with puckered lips.
Ask students to explain how thinking about what they already know helped them to understand and remember the contents of the book. Invite students to share additional ways they connected to prior knowledge.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

Discussion: Review with students the difference between a fact and an opinion, and the facts and opinions listed on the board.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the fact and opinion worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.
Enduring understanding: This book told both facts and opinions about pets. Now that you know this information, why is it important to tell the difference between facts and opinions while reading?

Build Skills

Phonological Awareness: Discriminate r-controlled /ar/

Say the word hard aloud to students, emphasizing the r-controlled /ar/ sound. Have students say the word aloud and then say the r-controlled /ar/ sound.
Say the following words from the book, one at a time: yard, worst, bark, forth, ever, house. Have students give the thumbs-up signal when they hear a word with the r-controlled /ar/ sound as in the word hard.
Check for understanding: Say the following words one at a time: cart, great, lizard, bark, weird, whether. Pause after saying each word and have students give the thumbs-up signal for each word with the r-controlled /ar/ sound as in the word hard.

Phonics: Identify r-controlled ar

Write the words hard on the chalkboard or chart paper. Read the word aloud and then have students say it with you.
Tell students that the letter r can affect the sound of the vowel before it. Reread the word hard as you run your finger under the letters in the word. Ask students to identify the letters that stand for the /ar/ sound in the word.
Write the ar letter combination on the board. Have students practice writing the letter combination on a separate piece of paper while saying the sound the combination stands for.
Check for understanding: Write the following words on the board: part, bark, card, leaving out the ar letter combination. Have students complete and write each word on a separate piece of paper. Then have them read each word aloud to a partner.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the r-controlled ar worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Grammar and Mechanics: Adjectives

Write the following sentence on the board: Pets can make good friends. Ask students to tell the word that describes friends (good). Explain that good describes the type of friend a pet can be.
Remind students that adjectives are words that describe people, places, and things. Adjectives often come right before the person, place, or thing.

Ask students to turn to page 10. Have them work with a partner to find and circle adjectives.

Check for understanding: Have students name five nouns total. Write the list of nouns on the board. Have them write an adjective for each noun on a separate piece of paper. Invite students to share their list of adjectives. Write the adjectives for each word on the board next to the noun.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the adjectives worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Word Work: Synonyms

Write the following sentence on the board: You have to take them on walks even if it is cold. Point to the word cold. Ask students to suggest other words that have the same or similar meaning as cold. Write these words on the board.
Explain that a word that has the same, or very similar, meaning as another word is called a synonym. Writers use synonyms to add variety and avoid using the same word over and over when writing.
Write the following sentence on the board: Some have to stay in one tiny box. Point to the word tiny. Have students work with a partner to identify a synonym for this word. Invite pairs to share their synonym.
Check for understanding: Write the following words on the board: pretty, great, bad. Have students write a synonym for each word on a separate piece of paper. Invite students to share their words.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the synonyms worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Build Fluency

Independent Reading

Allow students to read their book independently. Additionally, partners can take turns reading parts of the book to each other.

Home Connection

Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. Ask them to discuss the "pros" and "cons" of their family pet or the pet of a relative or friend.

Extend the Reading

Persuasive Writing and Art Connection
Invite students to draw a picture of their favorite animal. Then have them write a paragraph telling the pros and cons of having that animal as a pet.

Math Connection
Ask students to draw and label their favorite pet on an index card. Use the cards to create a bar graph of favorite pets. Discuss which pet received the most and least votes. Invite students to share other conclusions they can draw from the graph.

Assessment

Monitor students to determine if they can:

accurately and consistently use the strategy of connecting to prior knowledge during discussion
accurately and consistently identify facts and opinions in text during discussion and on a worksheet
accurately discriminate words with the r-controlled /ar/ sound
correctly associate the ar letter combination with the r-controlled /ar/ sound
correctly identify adjectives in text during discussion and on a worksheet
accurately recognize synonyms as words with similar meanings and match synonyms correctly on a worksheet

Comprehension Checks

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