Reading Level:
K

Word Count:
482

Pages:
14 

Text Summary
The people of ancient Egypt lived on the banks of the Nile River and had unique beliefs about death. An introduction to the pyramids and their place in Egyptian culture gives readers an overview of life in ancient Egypt. 

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: Summarizing after each section. 

Word and Print Skills
Phonics
Vowel digraphs
Grammar
Verb Tense:
Inflectional ending (-ed)

Word Work
Content Words:
ancient, Egypt, pharaoh, preserved, mummy, pyramid, tomb
These are words children will encounter in the text. You may want to review and discuss these words and have children add them to the classroom word wall or dictionary. 

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: Summarizing.
This text contains many facts and much information. It will be important for children to summarize each page or section to gain understanding. 

Visual Learning
Discuss how to read diagrams, labeled pictures, and maps. Ask children what they need to pay attention to in order to successfully understand the information. In what order should they read the text, the diagrams, and the illustrations? 

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 what kind of text this is? What else can you guess from the illustrations and title? 

Building Background
Offer suggestions to elicit prior knowledge and build background. Ask questions that reveal what children already know about the topic. What do they know about mummies, pyramids, Egyptians, and pharaohs?
Ask: What does ancient mean? What are pyramids? Where do you find them? What do you know about pharaohs and mummies?
List information children know about ancient Egypt. This may also naturally bring up some of the content words children will encounter in the text. You may want to introduce the worksheet and complete the KNOW part of the chart. 

Using the Worksheet
Introduce and explain the first worksheet. Children should fill out the Want to KNOW section, which encourages them to find information and main points. Have children work on the worksheet as they read through each section of the text. 

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

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

• 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 in order to make sure you understand the text.

Ask children about the strategies they will use if they encounter a difficult word. You may want to act as a model to show them how such strategies might look or sound. Pretend to read, getting confused or slowing down because you do not understand a part. Model a strategy that will help children to gain meaning, such as rereading, asking questions, or looking at illustrations or diagrams. 

During Reading

Hand out the books to children and ask them to read the introduction.
Say and ask: Please read the first page and be prepared to summarize, or retell in your own words, the main points. What is the main thing you learn on this page about ancient Egypt?
Have children read the rest of the book independently. You may suggest they read through the book once, marking important points with sticky notes, and then read a second time, stopping to complete the worksheet as they come across the points they marked. 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 the text.
Say: I want you to finish reading the book at your own pace. As you read, stop at the end of the page and think about the important points or facts. Mark them with a sticky note. Read through the book once, marking facts, and then read it again to summarize and to complete the worksheet. 

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
Draw the children together and discuss what they have learned about ancient Egypt.
Say: Share with the person next to you the important facts you learned about ancient Egypt.
After children have shared with one another, discuss as a group the most important facts they learned about ancient Egypt. 

Visual Learning
Ask: How did the illustrations and diagrams help you understand the text? Did they change your understanding of pyramids, tombs, pharaohs, or mummies? 

Building Skills

Phonics
Review vowel digraphs ai as in gait, ay as in say, ea as in each, ee as in cheese, oa as in boat, oo as in boot, oo as in book, and ue as in blue.
Say: Vowel digraphs are a pairing of two vowels that make one vowel sound. Write the vowel digraphs ai, ay, ea, ee, oa, oo, oo, and ue on the board. Look at the vowel digraphs with children and brainstorm or search through the text for words with vowel digraphs, making a list of words for the class word wall or dictionary. 

Word Work
Verb Tense
Discuss verb tense with children.
Say: Verb tense shows the time of the verb's action in relation to the time at which the writer writes or the speaker speaks. The simple tenses indicate that an action is in the present, past, or future. The present tense uses the verb's infinitive (walk, run). Write verbs on the board. The past tense uses the verb's past-tense form (walked, ran). Regular verbs' past-tense forms are made by adding -ed or -d to the infinitive. Irregular verbs' past- tense forms change the spelling of the infinitive such as, run to ran. Future tense uses the helping verbs will or shall and the verb's infinitive form (will walk, will run).
Discuss and search for verb tense in the text, making a list for the classroom.
(-ed) Ending
Discuss inflectional ending (-ed) with children.
Say: As we have learned with verb tense, the ending of a word can change the meaning of the word. The -ed or -d ending is added to regular verbs to show past tense. Can we find any examples in the text? Look for words in the text, e.g., lived, used, ruled, believed, buried. Discuss how some verbs change the y to i before adding -ed.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Say: Ancient Egyptians had very interesting beliefs and built unique structures. We have learned a little about some of those things in this book. Each of you will choose one fact or key word and write what you have learned about that fact or word to add to our class book about ancient Egypt. Children can look up additional information about a fact or key word on the Internet or in other resources. They will then write and illustrate a page for a class book. 

Science/Social Studies Connection
Study maps of the Nile River/Egypt area of Africa. Learn about the countries the Nile River flows through. You might want to compare the ancient map of Egypt with a modern map of Northeast Africa. 

Reading Independently
Invite children to reread the book independently or with a partner. They could then look for and read other books about ancient Egypt. Children can use the KWLQ chart to research questions they may still have about ancient Egypt.

Home Connection
Invite children to take the book home to read with their families and share ancient Egyptian facts. 

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 children are using effective reading strategies.
• Assess children's knowledge of summarizing.