Reading Level:
L

Word Count:
580

Pages:
12 

Text Summary
None of the Hoppers except for Snubby Nose seem to know why February 14^th is a special day. The other Hoppers wonder what the big day is all about until they find their presents from Cupid. Snubby Nose is missing on Valentine’s Day, but he comes home with a surprise for Grandpa Grizzly. 

Lesson Objectives

Reading Strategies
Children should use a variety of strategies to comprehend text. The target strategy for this lesson is: Using illustrations. 

Word and Print Skills
Phonics
Double letters
Word Work
Mechanics: Exclamation marks
Targeted Vocabulary Words
Content Words:
Grizzly, Hoppers, arrow, finally, patter
These are difficult words that children will encounter in the text. You may want to 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: Retelling.

Visual Learning
Discuss what illustrations add to the story. You may ask children how the illustrations helped them understand the text. 

Before Reading

Introduce the Book
Show children the cover of the book. Quickly flip through the pages to show each illustration. Explain to children that this is a series. Each book uses the same characters to tell different stories.
Have children look at the illustrations in the book. Ask: What do you think this story is about? Who are the characters? Have you seen them before? As you show children the last illustrations in the story, ask what holiday it is. 

Build Background
Ask questions that uncover what children already know about the topic. What do they know about Valentines Day?
Ask: What is Valentine’s Day? What do you do on Valentine’s Day? Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day?
Explain that Valentine's Day came from a Catholic saint from Roman times. A Roman emperor, Claudius II, decided to outlaw marriage so that soldiers wouldn't use it as a reason to avoid battle. A priest named Valentine didn’t like the law. He secretly married couples in Rome. Later, this priest was sainted, and a holiday about love was created in his honor—Saint Valentine’s Day. 

Book Walk
Go through as much of the book as you feel is necessary, pointing out things you think will challenge children when 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 helps reduce the anxiety that some children feel when they are faced with an unfamiliar book.

Cover and title page
Say and ask: What do you think this book is about? Is it fiction or nonfiction? (Fiction) How can we tell from the first few pages? (Fanciful illustrations, animal characters, etc.)
Look through the first few pages.
Say and ask: When you look through this book, try to figure out what might be happening in the story. What can you tell so far from the illustrations? 

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

• How will the pictures help you understand the text?
• 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. Mark things you don’t understand.

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

Using the Worksheet
Introduce the worksheet and have children work on it as they finish reading. 

During Reading

Hand out books to children and ask them to read the first page.
Say and ask: Please read the book, and be prepared to summarize, or retell in your own words, the main events.
Have children read the book independently.
Say: I want you to read the book at your own pace. As you read, stop at the end of each page and think about the important points or events. Read through the book once, then read it again, stopping at the end of each page to mark facts, main points, or words or phrases you don’t understand. You may later address the words or phrases children did not understand. 

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
Draw children together again and discuss what they thought of this story.
Say: Share the main events of the story with the person next to you.
After children have shared with one another, discuss the main events as a group. 

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

Building Skills

Phonics
Introduce or review double letters. Have children identify some of the double letters in the book. Explain that doubled letters usually occur in the middle of words when there is a consonant sound between the syllables. Letters are also sometimes doubled before adding suffixes. For example: sag + ed = sagged 

Word Work
Mechanics: Exclamation marks
Say: Exclamation marks let the reader know that something is either supposed to be loud or is very important. They should not be used a lot in writing because they lose their strength. If someone shouts all of the time, we stop thinking that what they are shouting is important. The same is true in writing.
Have children find the sentences in the story with exclamation marks and identify the reason the author may have chosen to give emphasis to those sentences. Have children practice writing three sentences each that have exclamation points after them, such as Look out! 

Have children complete Worksheet 2.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Have children write a valentine to their favorite literary character or to the author of their favorite book. The valentine can thank the writer for teaching a lesson, or for writing a very good book. If you choose, you can find addresses for many authors online or through publishing companies and send the valentines to them. 

Social Studies Connection
Have children find out how Valentine’s Day has changed from the days of Ancient Rome to the present. Have them include the ways in which Valentine’s Day is celebrated, and the reasons for its celebration. They can find this information online or in the library. 

Reading Independently
Invite children to reread the book independently or with a partner. They might then look for and read other books about Valentine’s Day, or other series books, such as Reading A-Z’s Tommy Tales.

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

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 the story sequence.