Build Background

• Have students share what they know about Thanksgiving and what happens on that day. Discuss what the weather is like in November. Point out that in some places, there can be a lot of snow at this time. Discuss some problems people might have in a big snowstorm.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Strategy: Make, revise, confirm predictions

• Show students the book and have them look at the front and back cover illustrations and read the title. Ask students what they think the book is about.
• If students have read other Hoppers stories, have them make connections to these stories and tell you what they know about the characters.
• Write the vocabulary words from the index cards (see Materials) on the board. Have students read the words, and help them identify words they don’t know. Then have students work in twos or threes to arrange the cards to tell what they think might happen in the story.
• Give students their copies of the book. Have them preview the pictures to see whether they think their story predictions are correct or not. Discuss any new predictions they might have.
• Think aloud: When I look at a new book, I look at the cover information first and ask myself what kind of book I think this will be. Is it a story or a fact book? If I recognize the characters, I think what might happen to them based on what I already know about them. Then I preview the pictures to help me either revise my first predictions or make new ones. As I read, I continue to revise or confirm my predictions as I go. This helps me be an active reader, and I enjoy the story more and understand it better.
• Students should use a variety of strategies in addition to the targeted strategy. For an overview of reading strategies, click here.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Review how to use word-attack strategies. Point out the word downstairs on page 4. Ask students how they might figure out this word if they don’t know it. Point out that it is a compound word, and that students could find the two smaller words that make up the compound word. They could use the smaller words as clues to the meaning of the larger word.
• Read the sentence and ask students whether the word downstairs makes sense.
• For additional teaching tips on word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to see if their predictions about the story are correct. Remind them to revise or confirm their predictions as they go.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Ask students to read to the end of page 4. Discuss their earlier ideas for how the letter fit into the story and ask whether their predictions were correct or not.
• Ask students to read to end of the story. Remind them to use the structure of words and the context to read unfamiliar words. They should revise their story predictions as they go.
• As students read, monitor their reading and intervene to help students work out words that they are having difficulty with.

    Tell students to make a small question mark in their books beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

Reflect on Reading Strategies

• Ask students what strategies they used to work out unfamiliar words. Have them tell you any places in the text that they marked with a question mark, and suggest strategies they could use to work out the words.
• Ask students whether their predictions about the story were correct. Ask how making predictions helped them read the story.

Comprehension: Identify cause-and-effect relationships

• Introduce and model: Introduce the skill of identifying cause-and-effect relationships by referring to a real-life experience. For example: I see that someone has slipped, and I notice a banana peel lying on the sidewalk. I can guess that the banana peel caused the person to slip. We can find cause-and-effect relationships in our reading as well. We think about what happened, and then we ask ourselves, "What made this happen?"
• Check for understanding: Reread the first paragraph with students. Then ask them what caused the Hoppers to run to the window (the falling snow). Have students point out other cause-and-effect relationships they found in the story. Prompt them by asking questions: Why did the Hoppers need to bundle up? What made the Hoppers decide to take their sled to school?
• Independent practice: Hand out the Cause-and-Effect worksheet. Have students write in as many cause-and-effect relationships as they can find. Have them share their completed worksheets.
• Extend the discussion:

    Instruct students to use the last page of their book to write how they celebrate Thanksgiving.

Phonics: Read and spell closed syllable patterns

• Write the word Hopper on the board and have students read it and clap the syllables.
• Show students how to divide the word into syllables between the two consonants. Point out that the two parts contain three letters, each being a vowel between two consonants. Explain that a vowel between consonants is called a closed syllable, and the vowel in a closed syllable often stands for the short vowel sound. This is true of the first syllable in the word Hopper. Point out that the second syllable ends with the letter r. Remind them that the letter r affects the vowel sound so that it is neither short nor long.
• Tell students that knowing how to divide words into syllables can help them read long words. When they divide the words, they can look at each syllable as if it were a short, simple word.
• Repeat with the word blizzard, showing students how to divide the word between the double consonants, and then sounding out each closed syllable.
• Have students practice dividing words into syllables using the Closed Syllables worksheet.

Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage: Identify adverbs with -ly

• Have students read the last sentence on page 9. Ask them which word tells how the Hoppers walked through the snowstorm.
• When students have identified bravely, write it on the board and circle the -ly. Explain that the base word is brave, which is a describing word, or adjective. When we add -ly to the word, we create an adverb that modifies the verb. This means it provides information on how, where, or when the action is being completed.
• Have students reread the first paragraph on page 12 to find another example of an adverb with –ly (suddenly). Ask them what word this adverb modifies (heard).
• Give students the Adverbs worksheet and have them create adverbs and use them in sentences.

Vocabulary: Identify compound words

• Remind students that compound words are made by joining two or more smaller words. Have students look for two compound words on page 3. When they find the words downstairs and outside, write them on the board.
• Ask a volunteer to come up and circle the two smaller words in each word.
• Explain that knowing the meanings of the two smaller words can help them understand the compound word. Discuss the meanings of the two smaller words in each of the examples (and provide them if necessary).
• Have pairs of students search the text for all the compound words they can find that include the word snow (snowstorm, snowballs, snowdrift, snowflakes, snowplow).
• Challenge students to find any other compound words in the book (halfway, Thanksgiving, overnight, bedrooms).
• Give students the Compound Words worksheet and have them find examples of compound words.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their books independently or with a partner. Partners can take turns reading in the book.

Home Connection

• Give students their books to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.

Writing

• Have students write an imaginary letter from one of the Hoppers to a friend, telling about the trip to Grandpa Grizzly’s and the Thanksgiving dinner.
• Review with students the format of a friendly letter, and create an outline on the board for students to use as a model.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• identify cause-and-effect relationships in the text.
• identify and read closed syllables.
• identify adverbs with -ly and use them correctly in sentences.
• identify compound words.