Reading Level:
K 

Word Count:
401 

Pages:
14 

Text Summary
When a young boy is distressed about having to entertain himself without computer games, his father presents him with an older kind of entertainment. The boy discovers the joy of reading books and the value of using his own imagination. He becomes so hooked on reading that he forgets all about the computer, even after it is fixed! Children will enjoy this story and might grow to appreciate reading a little more. 

Lesson Objectives

Reading Strategies
Children should use a variety of strategies to determine word meaning and comprehend text. The target strategy for this lesson is: Making connections between what they are reading and what they already know. 

Word and Print Skills
Phonics
Word families 

Word Work
Mechanics
Quotation marks
Multiple meaning words 

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as children work to understand the text. The target comprehension strategy for this lesson is: Author's Purpose. 

Visual Learning
Discuss the role of using your imagination when reading. 

Targeted Vocabulary Words

Content Words
computer, keyboard, monitor, mouse, screen

These are words that children will encounter in the text. You may want to discuss these words and have children add them to the dictionary or classroom word wall. 

Before Reading

Introducing the Book
Show children the book, and have them read the title and scan the illustrations to make initial predictions about the main idea or topic.
Ask and say: What do you see on the cover? What do you think this story is about? What do the illustrations tell you about the kind of text this is? Share with the group anything else that you can infer from the illustrations or title. 

Building Background
You will want to offer suggestions for eliciting prior knowledge and building background. Provide questions that get to what the child already knows about the topic. What do they know about computers?
Ask: What do people do with computers? Do you ever use a computer? How much time do you spend on the computer? What are you missing out on when you are using a computer? 

Book Walk
While doing your book walk, go through as much of the book as you feel necessary, pointing out things you believe will challenge children as they read. Look at the pictures with them and discuss what they see. You may want to write down some of the words they suggest. This step will help reduce anxiety that some children feel when faced with a book that has unfamiliar text.

Reading Strategies
Remind children to use any or all of the following strategies to help them in their reading.

• How will the pictures help you understand the text?
• How does what you read connect to what you already know?
• What can you do if you don't understand a part you just read? Reread any sentence or page that was difficult to make sure that you understand the text.

Ask children about the strategies they will use if they get to a difficult word. You may want to act as a role model to show them how it might look or sound as they are reading. Pretend to read, getting confused or slowed down because you are not understanding a part. Model a strategy to help yourself gain meaning through rereading, asking yourself questions, or looking at illustrations. 

During Reading

Student Reading
Hand the books out and ask children to read the introduction.
Say: Please read the first page and be prepared to share any connections you have made. Have children read the rest of the book independently. You may suggest they read through the book once, marking important points with sticky notes or a highlighter if the books are used as consumables. They may also mark any words or phrases they did not understand or could not pronounce. You can discuss and clarify these later. During this time, you may choose to work with another group or with individuals to monitor their oral reading and comprehension of parts of the text.
Say and ask: I want you to finish reading the book at your own pace. As you read, think about the author's purpose. Why do you think he wrote this story?  

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
Draw the group together and discuss their thoughts about the story.
Say: Share with the person next to you your thoughts about this story. After children have shared with one another, as a group discuss the most important points of the story. How did the boy feel about the computer in the beginning of the story? What words did the author use to help you understand or think that? What picture did you have in your mind as you read, "When the boy was playing, he didn't know if it was sunny outside or even if there was a tornado blowing away his house." Why do you think the author used the phrase "a very special" throughout the story? How did the boy feel when he was told the computer was going to be gone for two weeks? What words did the author use to let you know this? How did the boy feel about reading Leo the Lop? What words did the author use to let you know this? What does the sentence "Like a river the pictures from the words began to flow through his mind as he read the wonderful story." mean? Why do you think the author chose to describe what was happening in the boy's head as "like a river?" What happened after the computer was fixed and back on the desk? What does the last line mean? What was the author's purpose? Why do you think he wrote this story?  

Visual Learning
Ask: How did the illustrations help you understand the text? Did the illustrations change your understanding of the text? 

Building Skills

Phonics
Introduce or review word families with children. Say: Word Families are words that have the same ending, e.g., hat, cat, bat. Brainstorm or search through the text for words from the same word family, making a list of word families for the dictionary or the class word wall. 

Word Work

Quotation Marks
Discuss quotation marks with children.
Say: Point out a sentence that uses quotation marks in the text. What kind of punctuation is in this sentence? Yes, there are quotation marks. What do the quotation marks tell you? They are at the beginning and end of something that someone is saying. Discuss and search for quotation marks in the text, making a list for the classroom. Have each child dictate or write a sentence with quotation marks. 

Multiple Meaning Words
Discuss multiple meaning words with children.
Say: Some words have more than one meaning, like the word run. It can mean to go faster than walking by moving your legs: "He can run fast." Or it can mean to unravel as in a stocking: "She has a run in her stockings." The way a word is used in a sentence helps us understand its intended meaning. Let's read through the story and see if we can spot any words that may have multiple meanings. Some suggestions: monitor, screen, spread, mouse, mind, and play. Children may find more words. Have them make a list of compound words found in the text, discussing the words that make up the compound word and how their meaning changes as a compound word. These can be included in the class word wall or dictionary.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Individual Writing
Say: Books can be very powerful. Can you think of a book that is important to you? Share a book that is important to you, maybe the first book you read on your own. What would happen if we didn't have books? Let's write about a book that is important to us. Why is it important? Have children write about a story or book that is important to them. 

Math Connection
Have children chart how much time they spend on the computer versus reading books. This can be done individually and then combined on a class chart. Children can design the chart or you can give them a pre-made chart like this one.

4

3_

3

2_

2

1_

1

_

# of Hours

C

B

C

B

C

B

C

B

C

B

C

B

C

B

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Science Connection
Say: Where do we make the pictures we think about when we read books? In our brains. Our brains are amazing things. That's where we do our thinking and imagining. Let's learn a little bit more about them. Collect and share books, pictures, diagrams, and facts about the brain.  

Reading Independently
Invite children to reread the book independently or with a partner. They could then look for and read other books related to the story, such as Leo the Lop.

Home Connection
Invite children to take the book home to read with their family and share personal stories, the computer versus book chart, and facts about the brain. 

Assessment

• Monitor children's responses in the Comprehending the Text section to assess how well they understand the text or story.
• Monitor reading to see if they are using effective reading strategies.
• Assess their knowledge of the author's purpose.