During Reading

Lesson Plans for HOW ZEBRAS GOT THEIR STRIPES level K

During Reading

Model Reading

As you read the story, stop once or twice and invite children to tell you what happened on that page and to predict what will come next. Write the predictions on chart paper. Use a different colored marker (than that used for the first set of predictions). Take only two to three predictions so that children do not lose interest. Tell children that over the course of a few weeks, everyone will have a chance to predict.
As you read, pause on unfamiliar vocabulary words. Help children to understand the meaning of each word before moving onto another page. Write the words on the chalkboard or chart paper.
Continue to develop an understanding of problem/solution. Ask: Were the donkeys having problems? What were they? What do you think could be done to help solve their problems?
At the end of the reading, tell children to look at the two sets of predictions. Compare what they predicted before the story and what they predicted after the story was read. Ask: How were the predictions different and how were they the same?

Student Reading
Distribute How Zebras Got Their Stripes to children. Ask them to read the book, beginning with the cover and title pages. Allow them to read at their own pace. Provide them with hints for solving difficult words. Say: When you come to difficult words, try sounding out the first letter and subsequent letters, and look for picture clues. Say: Ask yourself questions like, Does this passage make sense? Are there words that confuse me? Can I pronounce all the words? Does the word make sense? Monitor their reading and provide prompts as necessary.

Tell children to look for words that describe a person, a place, or thing. These words are called adjectives, for example, on page 6, look for the words soft grass. Soft is an adjective that describes the word, grass. After they have read the story, ask children to go back to the beginning and write the adjectives they found in the story.

To help children comprehend the problem/solution concept of the story, tell them to use the bookmark strategy as they read: bookmark the pages with a post-note where there is a problem, for example, on page 5: "The donkeys carried heavy bundles." At the end of the story, children can look at the problems and at the solution to their problem.

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