Reading Level:
K

Word Count:
574

Pages:
12 

Text Summary
Flying Kites is the third in a series of Hoppers stories that portray the Hopper family through different times of the year. It is March, and the little Hoppers go outside to fly their kites, against the wishes of their mother. Snubby Nose gets carried away by his kite, and the bunnies learn their lesson. 

Reproducible
Identifying character traits 

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

Phonics
Identify words with s-family blends
Word Work
Inflectional ending -ed
Understand how to add -ed to verbs to create past tense 

Targeted Vocabulary Words
enough, against, caught, trouble
These are words that students may have difficulty with. You may want to review and discuss these words and have students add them to the classroom word wall or dictionary. 

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as students work to understand the text. The target comprehension strategy for this lesson is: identifying character traits. 

Before Reading

Build Background
If students have read the first and second Hoppers stories, The Igloo and Valentine's Day, review what happened in those books. Have them recall the characters, and talk about what they remember about each one. Explain that the book they are about to read is another book about the Hoppers, and that it is part of a series. Make sure that students understand what a series is, and provide examples of other series the students might have read. Have them determine what makes these books a series.

Ask students if they have ever flown a kite. Have them recount their experiences with kites. Talk about what conditions are favorable and unfavorable for flying kites. 

Introduce the Book
Show students the cover of the book and read the title. Talk about the illustration.
Ask: What is happening in this picture? Can you recognize any of the characters? Who do you think will fly a kite? What might happen when the Hoppers go out to fly kites? 

Book Walk
Show students the first illustration. Ask them what they think is happening. Reinforce language that students will read in the text.
Ask: Who do you see with their faces pressed against the windowpane? What might the bunnies be thinking?
Continue to show students the pictures and have students make predictions about what is happening in the story. Stop with the picture of Snubby Nose being carried away by the kite, and ask them what they think might happen to him next. 

Reading Strategies
Remind students of what they can do when they come to a difficult word. Model the reading strategies they can use.
Say: When I come to a word I don’t know, there are several things I can do to figure it out. I can think about what word would make sense in the sentence. Sometimes the picture can help me figure out the word. I can sound the word out, using what I know about letter sounds. After I sound it out, I reread the whole sentence to see if the word makes sense.

During Reading

Set the Purpose
Give students their copies of the book. Give them sticky notes and tell them that they should mark any words they have trouble reading. Tell them you want them to read the story to find out what happens to Snubby Nose. Have students read the book while you monitor their reading. If it seems a student may be stuck on a word, intervene and model strategies he or she can use to read the word. 

After Reading

Reflect on Reading Strategies
Ask students what strategies they used to read words they didn’t know. Use words that students have highlighted with sticky notes to model how to figure out the words. 

Reflect on Reading Purpose
Discuss what happened to Snubby Nose after the kite carried him away. Ask students how they felt about the ending of the story. 

Comprehension Strategies:
identifying character traits
Discuss the characters in the story with students. Model for students how to determine character traits.
Model: We can learn about the characters in a story from their actions and from what they say. Let’s see what we can learn about Fluffy Tail from what she says and does. On page 5 she says “Mother said we must not leave the house.” On page 6 it says that Fluffy Tail is the last to leave the house. This tells me that Fluffy Tail is a bunny who tries to do what her mother asks, and she is worried about disobeying her mother.
Practice: Let’s see what we can find out about Snubby Nose from what he says and what he does. Who can find and read out what Snubby Nose says on page 5? On page 6? What does Snubby Nose do on page 6? What does all this tell us about Snubby Nose?
Apply: Give out the worksheet and have students list words they think describe Snubby Nose. Have them think about whether they use the word to describe Snubby Nose based on something he said or something he did. Have them share their ideas when they have finished. 

Building Skills

Phonics:
s-family blends
Write the words Snubby, swept, stand, stepped, and speck on the board. Have students read each word. Remind students that these words start with a blend, which is two sounds blended together. Ask students what they notice about these blends (they all include the letter s). Ask a volunteer to come up and circle the blend in the first word. Have students brainstorm a list of words that begins with /sn/. Repeat with each of the blends. 

Word Work:
inflectional ending -ed
Have students look at page 7 and find examples of words that end with -ed (cried, sailed, listened, howled) while you record them on the board. Explain that these words are past tense verbs and that this means they describe actions that have already happened. Circle the word sail in sailed. Explain that we can create past tense verbs by adding -ed. Ask a volunteer to circle the root word in listened and howled. Then talk about the word cried. Write the word cry on the board. Explain that when we add -ed to words that end with y, we need to change the y to an i, and then add -ed. 

Have students look at the words pressed and stepped on pages 5 and 6. Explain that sometimes when we add -ed, we need to double the final consonant.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection: character
Have students look at their completed worksheets to find the words they used to describe Snubby Nose. Then have them write a paragraph in their journals that describes him. Encourage them to describe how he looks and how he acts. 

Listening and Speaking Connection: character
Have students review what they know about Snubby Nose. Then ask students to work in pairs to develop a role play that shows Snubby Nose explaining to his mother why he went outside to fly his kite. Allow pairs to present their role play to the group. 

Reading Independently
Invite students to reread the book independently or with a partner. Students might like to read other books in a series, such as Reading A-Z’s Tommy Tales.

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

Assessment

• While students are reading the story, select one or two students and ask them to read a portion of the story out loud to you. Note which students seem to be stuck on words and intervene as necessary. During the Reflect on Reading Strategies, note the words students had difficulty with and discuss strategies they could use to help read the words.
• Monitor students’ responses after reading to determine how well they understand character and identify character traits.
• Observe students’ role plays to determine whether their characterization is consistent with the character development in the story.