About the Book 

Text Type: Fiction/Realistic
Page Count: 16
Word Count: 567 

Book Summary
Juanito is excited to go over to his friend Jacob's to play. When he arrives, he finds Jacob's house to be quite different from his own. While there, Juanito learns about a lot of new things, such as a mezuzah, the Torah, and a shofar. But Juanito realizes that despite their differences, he and Jacob are going to be good friends.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Make, revise, and confirm predictions

Objectives

• Make, revise, and confirm predictions to understand text
• Identify author's purpose
• Understand the use of quotation marks
• Identify and understand the meaning of compound words

Materials

• Book -- At Jacob's House (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Index cards
• Prediction, author's purpose, quotation marks, compound words 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

• Content words: Hebrew, Jewish, mezuzah, mitzvah, Roman Catholic, Sabbath, shema, shofar, Torah

Before Reading 

Build Background

• Ask students to think about a time when they visited a new place for the first time. Invite them to share their experiences. Ask questions such as: How did you feel at first? How did this place compare to similar places like it?

Introduce the Book

• Give students their copy of the book. Guide them to the front and back covers and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage them to offer ideas as to what type of book it is and what it might be about.
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title, author's name, illustrator's name).

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Make, revise, and confirm predictions

• Explain to students that good readers often make predictions about what will happen in a book based on the series of events and what the characters say, do, and think in the story. As they read the story, readers make, revise, or confirm predictions based on what they learn from reading. Before reading a book, readers can use the title and illustrations as the basis for making predictions.
• Model using the title and cover illustrations to make a prediction.
  Think-aloud: Before I start reading a book, I look at the front and back covers and read the title. Then, based on what I see, I make a guess about what I'll read in the book.This is called a making a prediction. When I look at the front cover, I see two boys in the picture. The title of the story is At Jacob's House, so I think this might be a story about one boy visiting another boy at his house, and one fo the boys is named Jacob.
• Draw a large chart with three rows on the board. Label the three rows Before Reading, During Reading, and After Reading. Say: We can use a chart like this one to keep track of our predictions. First, we will write down what we think might happen in the story. Then, we will stop at certain points in the story to see if our predictions are correct. If they are not correct, we can make new predictions.
• Distribute a copy of the prediction worksheet to students. Point out that their worksheet looks just like the chart you drew on the board. Have students preview the covers of the book and the title page. Encourage them to make predictions about what they think might happen in the story and write it in the Before Reading row on their worksheet. Ask volunteers to share their predictions. Write their predictions on the class chart on the board.
• 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: Author's purpose

• Write the following words on the board: inform, entertain, persuade. Ask students if they have heard these words before. Invite them to share what they already know about the meaning of each of the words.
• Define each word for students and write the definitions on the board (inform means to give someone information about something; entertain means to amuse someone; persuade means to convince someone to think the same way you do). Provide an example of each kind of writing as you think aloud.
• Think-aloud: When authors write, they usually have a reason, or a purpose, for writing their story or book. The purpose usually is to inform, entertain, or persuade. For example, a book on sharks informs you. A comic book makes you laugh and entertains you. A commercial or advertisement uses words and pictures to persuade, or convince, you to buy their product.
• Explain to students that sometimes authors write for more than one purpose--for example, an author might write to entertain you but may also provide information on a topic.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Write the following vocabulary words on the board: mezuzah, mitzvah, Sabbath, shema, shofar, Torah. Say each word with students. Locate these words in the book. Point out that these words are italicized.
• Explain to students that the book does not contain a glossary with definitions for each word. Rather, the author gives us many clues to each word's meaning in the sentences around the word. For example, point to the word shofar on page 12. Have students read the first two paragraphs on page 12 and ask volunteers to suggest definitions for the word shofar. Ask students what clues led them to understand that a shofar is a trumpet-like musical instrument.
• Point out that the meaning of the word mitzvah cannot be determined from context clues. Ask students to name resources they can use to identify the meaning of this word (dictionary, Internet, and so on). Have a volunteer locate the word mitzvah in the dictionary and read aloud its meaning.
• Write the words Jewish and Roman Catholic on the board. Ask students to tell what they know about the meaning of each word. Briefly discuss that these words identify people practicing either Judaism or Catholic religion.
• Remind students that when they read they should always look for other words that might explain the meaning of unknown words.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to find out if their predictions about the book were correct, or confirmed, and what the author's purpose might be for writing At Jacob's House. Remind them to write additional predictions they make while reading in the During Reading column on their prediction worksheet.

During Reading 

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Ask students to review their prediction worksheet and then begin reading. Have them put a sticky note on page 8 and read to the end of this page. Encourage those who finish early to go back and reread these pages.
• Model confirming and revising predictions.
  Think-aloud: Before reading, I predicted that this story was going to be about one boy visiting another boy's house. That prediction was correct, so I will put a star by it on my chart. While reading, I also predicted that the boys would go to the playground to play basketball. I wrote this in the During Reading row on the class chart. So far, the boys only played on the sidewalk outside. I want to revise that prediction on my chart. I will write my revised prediction in the During Reading row on the class chart. (The boys play basketball in the driveway at Jacob's house.)
• Have students share which predictions they confirmed and/or revised on their individual worksheets. Guide students to put stars on correct predictions and to revise and write new predictions in the During Reading row.
• Review with students the events that happened so far in the story. Discuss with them what might be the author's purpose for writing the story. Clarify for students that to entertain does not necessarily mean that the book has to make them laugh. Write the examples on the board as students share them (to entertain by sharing a story about two friends; to inform by giving readers information about some Hebrew words and items).
• Introduce and explain the author's purpose worksheet. Have students write the information from the discussion on their worksheet.
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 12. When they have finished reading, have them share their predictions and the outcomes of their predictions. Remind them to revise or confirm their predictions and to write a star next to predictions they confirmed.
• Review with students the events of the second chapter. Discuss with them how the events of the chapter support one or more of the three purposes for writing a story. Have students record the information under the appropriate heading on their author's purpose worksheet.
• Have students read the remainder of the story. Ask them to continue to make, revise, and confirm their predictions as they read the rest of the story.

    Have students make a question mark in their book beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. Encourage them to use the strategies they have learned to read each word and figure out its meaning.

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: Making predictions before and during my reading of this book made the reading more interesting to me. I wanted to keep reading to see if I guessed correctly and how the information I gathered while reading changed my prediction. It's okay if my predictions were incorrect because I still understood and remembered what the story was about. I predicted that the boys play basketball in the driveway at Jacob's house. Based on what I read, I don't think that this prediction is correct. On page 8, the boys just started to dribble the basketball. They were likely playing in front of Jacob's house. However, the story doesn't mention the boys playing in Jacob's driveway. Since it was getting close to dinner, I can infer that they didn't go far. However, the rest of the story told how Juanito spent time inside Jacob's house.
• Ask students how the story ended and whether their predictions were correct.
• Independent practice: Ask students to explain or discuss how the strategy of making predictions helped them understand and remember the story. Invite them to share their completed worksheets with the group.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Review the three different purposes from their worksheet (to inform, to entertain, to persuade). Discuss the information students wrote so far on their author's purpose worksheet.
• Independent practice: Ask students to review the story and complete the author's purpose worksheet. Invite students to share the examples that they cited on their worksheet.
• Enduring understanding: Juanito saw many new and unfamiliar things in Jacob's house, and he learned a lot about someone else's culture. After reading At Jacob's House, what have you learned about how to learn from new experiences?

Build Skills 

Grammar and Mechanics: Quotation marks

• Show students the picture from page 5 in the book. Draw a speech bubble coming out of Juanito's mouth. In the speech bubble, write the following sentence: Can you come out to play? Say: When we read comic books or cartoons, we see the words the character is speaking in speech bubbles. But most books do not use speech bubbles. We have another way to show the words a character is saying--they are called quotation marks.
• Write the speech from the bubble on the board using quotation marks. Remind children that there should always be two sets of quotation marks, one where the character's speech begins and the other where it ends.
• Give each student an index card. Have them write Jacob's response to Juanito's question on the board. Remind them to use quotation marks. Observe students' responses. Invite them to share their responses.
• Have students turn to page 5 in their book. Reread the page aloud. Pause after each sentence to point out to students the words that signal who is speaking (asked, said).

    Have students turn to page 7. Have them write the name of the character speaking next to each sentence.

• Check for understanding: Write two sentences of dialogue on the board, leaving off the quotation marks. Invite students to rewrite the sentences on a separate piece of paper using quotation marks.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the quotation marks worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Word Work: Compound words

• Write the word doorbell on the board. Ask students which two words they see in doorbell (door and bell). Review or explain that when two short words are combined to form a new word with one new meaning, the new word is called a compound word.
• Have students turn to page 4 in the book. Read the following sentence: When Juanito got to Jacob's front door, he reached up and rang the doorbell. Have students put their finger on the word doorbell. Explain that the definitions of the two separate words can help students figure out the meaning of the bigger word (a bell near the door that people ring).
• Have students follow along as you read sentences at the top of page 4. Ask them to locate a compound word (basketball) and identify the two separate words that make up this compound word (basket and ball). Discuss the definition of each word, using the smaller words to figure out the meaning of the compound word.

    Check for understanding: Have students locate and circle compound words in the book. Discuss the meaning of each word. Ask students to name other compound words they know. List these words on the board.

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the compound words worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Build Fluency 

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently. Additionally, allow partners to read parts of the book with each other.

Home Connection

• Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. Have students share with someone at home the author's purpose for writing the story.

Extend the Reading 

Expository Writing Connection
Ask students to write about special customs that their family practices. Invite them to tell about such information as special objects they have in their home (books, mementos, and so on), special meals they eat, and holidays they celebrate.

Social Studies Connection
Have students ask their family from which country their ancestors came. Locate and place a pin or label on these places on a large class map.

Assessment 

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• consistently make, confirm, and revise predictions during discussion and on a worksheet
• correctly identify author's purpose during discussion and on a worksheet
• correctly use quotation marks during discussion and on a worksheet
• accurately identify compound words and their meaning during discussion and on a worksheet

Comprehension Checks

• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric

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