Reading Level:
M

Word Count:
686

Pages:
16 

Text Summary
Snubby Nose and Grandpa Grizzly play a trick on the other Hoppers. They give them little umbrellas that are really pens. The Hoppers get wet, and this makes them angry. Grandpa Grizzly buys all the bunnies little silk umbrellas so they don’t get wet.

Lesson Objectives

Reading Strategies
Use context clues and picture clues to work out meanings of words
Sound out unfamiliar words using known sound/symbol correspondences
Look for familiar word chunks within larger words
Reread for sense

Word and Print Skills

Phonics
Recognize that digraph ea can stand for both long and short sounds
Word Work
Contractions

Targeted Vocabulary Words
whistled, disappointed, umbrella-shaped, handle

These are words that students may have difficulty with. You may want to review and discuss these words and have students add them to the classroom word wall or dictionary. 

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as students work to understand the text. The target comprehension strategy for this lesson is: evaluating character actions.

Before Reading

Build Background
Involve students in a discussion about rainy weather to elicit prior knowledge and build background.
Ask: What do you do when it rains? What do you wear when you go out in the rain? What happens sometimes if you get wet in the rain?
If students have read previous stories about the Hoppers, involve them in a discussion about what they remember of the stories and the characters.
Ask: Do you remember the Hoppers story about building an igloo? What do you remember about the Hoppers going outside to fly their kites? Who is Grandpa Grizzly? What can you remember about him? 

Introduce the Book
Show students the cover of the book and read the title. Talk about the cover illustration.
Ask: What is happening in this picture? Can you recognize any of the characters? What do you think this story might be about? 

Book Walk
Show students the first illustration in the book. Ask them what they think is happening. Reinforce the language that students will read in the text.
Ask: What is happening in this picture? Why might the Hoppers be sneezing?
Continue to show students the pictures. Have students make predictions about what is happening in the story. Continue until Snubby Nose goes to Grandpa Grizzly because the other bunnies are angry. Ask students to predict what Grandpa Grizzly might do and how the story might end. 

Reading Strategies
Remind students of what they can do when they come to a difficult word. Model the reading strategies they can use.
Say: When I come to a word I don’t know, there are several things I can do to figure it out. I can think about what word would make sense in the sentence. Sometimes the picture can help me figure out the word. I can sound the word out, using what I know about letter sounds. After I sound it out, I reread the whole sentence to see if the word makes sense.

During Reading

Set the Purpose
Give students their copies of the book. Give them sticky notes and tell them that they should mark any words they have trouble reading. Tell them you want them to read the story to find out how it ends. Have students read the book while you monitor their reading. If it seems a student may be stuck on a word, intervene and model strategies he or she can use to read the word. 

After Reading

Reflect on Reading Strategies
Ask students what strategies they used to read words they didn’t know. Use words that students have highlighted with sticky notes to model how you would figure out the words. 

Reflect on Reading Purpose
Discuss with students what happened at the end of the story.
Ask: Did the story end the way you thought it would? How did you like the ending of the story? 

Developing Comprehension Strategies: evaluating character actions
Model for students how to evaluate character actions.
Model: Characters in a story act just like real people. Sometimes they do good things, and sometimes they act badly. The way the characters act determines what happens in the story. We can look at the way the characters act to decide if they should have done something differently or if they did the right thing. Sometimes we might not all have the same idea about how a character should act, but we can share our ideas, and that helps us learn more about the story.  

Practice: Let’s look at the way the characters acted in this story. What did the three Hoppers say when Snubby Nose gave them the umbrella-shaped pens? Find and read that part of the story aloud. What do you think about what they said to Snubby Nose? How do you feel about the way Snubby Nose and Grandpa Grizzly tricked the three Hoppers? What would you have done? How is the trick they played on the three Hoppers important to the way the story ends? 

Apply: Give out the worksheet and explain what they are to do.
Say: The sentences at the top of the boxes tell the characters' actions. Go back and reread the part in the story where each action takes place. Then write in the first box what you think about how the character acted in this situation. Then explain why you think this in the second box. When you have finished, we will share our ideas. We don’t all have to have the same answers for this activity. 

Building Skills

Phonics: ea digraph
Write the word seal on the board and have students read it with you. Ask students what vowel sound they hear and what letters stand for that vowel sound. Explain that the ea digraph often stands for the long e sound. Write the word great on the board, and have students read it with you. Ask students what vowel sound they hear and what letters make this sound. Explain that sometimes the letters ea can stand for the long a sound. Finally, write the word weather on the board, and have students read it with you. Ask what vowel sound they hear in the first part of the word and what letters make this sound. Explain that sometimes the ea digraph can stand for the short e sound.
Hand out worksheet 2 and instruct students to write the ea digraph words under the correct pronunciation box: seal, great, or weather. Have students decide which sound is most common. 

Word Work: contractions
Write the word don’t on the board. Ask students what two words make up this contraction. Write the words do and not under the word don’t. Discuss how the contraction is formed by dropping the o and adding an apostrophe in its place. Have students find other contractions in the book. Write them on the board and have students tell you the two words that make up each contraction. Words they will find are: isn’t, that’s, doesn’t, it’s, you’d, we’re, wouldn’t, we’ll.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection: new story ending
Have students write a different ending to the story. Brainstorm with them possible ideas for a new ending. Have them list the main events of their ending before they begin writing. 

Listening and Speaking Connection: character role-play
Have different students take on the roles of the characters and role-play the events in the story. Before they begin, write down the main events of the story and ask students to review what happened in each part. Students can ad-lib the dialogue from the story, but they will need to listen to the other characters in order to respond with the appropriate dialogue. 

Reading Independently
Invite students to reread the book independently or with a partner. Students might like to read other books in a series, such as Reading A-Z’s Tommy Tales.

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

Assessment

• Monitor students' reading of the text and note when they seem to be having difficulties. During the Reflect on Reading Strategies segment of the lesson, note the words students had difficulty with and discuss strategies they could use to read the words.
• Monitor students’ responses after reading to determine how well they can evaluate character actions. Note whether they can justify their ideas.
• Observe students’ role-plays to determine whether their characterization is consistent with the character development in the story. Note whether they listen to other students in order to be able to respond appropriately.