After Reading
Comprehending the Text
After completing the text have children work on worksheet number 1 Making Inferences.
Instruct children to look at and appreciate one another’s worksheets.
Think Aloud
What can I see in this collage? What is the artist thinking about? Are my ideas different or similar?
Run a team spelling competition, using words from the target vocabulary list, text, and phonics section of the lesson. Divide the class into two teams, Sharks and Red Dragons. Use a tape player and a tape with a bouncy snappy tune. Explain the rules. Each team will have a ball that is to be passed from one team member to the next while the music plays. When the music stops, the child (Sharks team) holding the ball must attempt to spell the word. If successful, award one point. If unsuccessful, instruct the child to consult team members for assistance and award half a point for team success. If the team effort fails, give no points, review the word on the board, and recycle it for another attempt. Allow Red Dragons to have their turn and then play music and pass the ball again.
Visual Learning
Use several of the pictures (pages 5, 7, 8, 13, and 14) and ask children to interpret the feeling and mood of the characters. Start with the picture on page 5. Ask: What does the picture tell you about the mood? What do you think the people are thinking/feeling?
Ask the children to look carefully at the details of the picture, including body position, relative positions of members in the group, finger pointing, snickering behind the hand, hands crossed, hands on hips, expression on face, and looking down. Prompt children to supply as many of the details as they can derive on their own. Ask: What are the boys in the picture (page 8) doing with their hands? What do you notice about where Jessica is standing? (page7) What do the expressions on the faces suggest? (pages 13 and 14)
After questioning and reviewing the picture, choose several children to reenact the picture, using the body language that they have identified. (You may model the picture on page 6 first as an example.) The actors do not need to talk. The power of visual images will convey meaning.
Allow several different children to reenact the role of Jessica and reverse the gender roles in the pictures.
After the reenactments, ask questions to elicit what it felt like to be in the position of the characters.
Ask children in the audience to comment on how they interpreted the scene. Ask: If someone is laughing and pointing, how does that make you feel? If you have to stand outside of a circle of people, or apart from the group, how does that make you feel? Ask children to suggest solutions to these scenarios. Ask: What can we do if one of our friends and classmates is not being included? Ask: If we are tempted to laugh or point at people what should we do?
Ending with the picture on page 16 provides an upbeat finish. Modify the scene by suggesting that Jessica can stand on a small step surrounded by happy, cheering faces. Let children cheer out loud during this reenactment and give several children the opportunity to feel what it is like to be the center of attention.
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