Word count:
593 

Text Summary
In this sixth installment in the Hoppers series, the rabbits are ready to spend their vacation money. After a brief setback when Snubby Nose loses his money, the Hoppers hop aboard a train for a ride. But when the train goes through a tunnel, scaring all four little Hoppers, Grandpa Grizzly must come to the rescue with head-lamps and chocolate treats. 

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Make, revise, and confirm predictions.
• Use the consonant digraph ng.
• Use -er and -est comparatives. 

Vocabulary
vacation, frowning, countryside, head-lamps, glittering 

Materials

• Book - Vacation Time! (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard, dry erase board, or chart paper
• Worksheets 1 and 2 

Before Reading

Build Background

• Ask students about vacations they may have taken. Talk about what they did, and focus special attention on the mode of transportation they used. How did students feel about riding a long distance in a car, airplane, bus, or train?
• Ask students if they have ever been on a train. What was it like? What did they see from the train? What kinds of cabins or cars were there?
• Ask if students have read other Hoppers stories. Discuss the characters and their actions. Who has had troubles in previous books? Who has gotten the Hoppers out of trouble in other books? What trouble do students predict might be in this book? What kind of trouble might the Hoppers get into on vacation? 

Preview the Book

• Show students the cover and read the title. Point out the words "A Hoppers Story" at the top of the page. Also point out the illustrator's name. Discuss the illustration and ask students what they think will happen in the book.
• Open the book to the title and copyright pages. Ask students about the information they find there. Have them make more predictions from the title page illustration. Point out the author information on the copyright page. Ask students if they know what an adaptation is. Tell them that sometimes, books have old-fashioned language in them that sounds funny today. The Hoppers books came from stories written almost one hundred years ago. Ask students to identify the original author. Explain that while the idea and the story came from the author, the language has been made more modern by the person who adapted the book.
• Hand out worksheet 1 and have students predict what might happen when the Hoppers go on vacation. Have them draw a picture or write a brief sentence.
• Show students the illustrations on pages 4 through 8. Then stop and have students revise or confirm their predictions based on the illustrations. Tell students that they will draw what actually happened after they finish reading. 

Word Attack Strategies
Remind students to use any or all of the following strategies if they come to an unfamiliar word:

• Reread the sentence.
• Use what you know about the Hoppers characters to figure out what might be going on.
• Sound out the word using known sound/symbol relationships.
• Look at the illustrations for clues.
• Look for known prefixes, suffixes, and root words.
• Keep reading and think about what might make sense. 

During Reading 

Set the Purpose
Tell students that they are to read in order to find out if their predictions about the events on the train are correct. They will fill in the actual events on their worksheets when they finish. 

Student Reading
Give each student a copy of the book. Instruct students to read silently at their own pace. Monitor student reading and assist students who appear to be having difficulties. If a student seems stuck on a word, you may wish to model one of the above reading strategies for her or him. 

After Reading 

Reflect on Reading Strategies
Discuss the strategies students used.

• How did using prior knowledge help them understand the book? Have students explain how previous knowledge of the Hoppers characters helped them read. Ask if Snubby Nose and Grandpa Grizzly acted the way that students predicted or expected.
• Have students explain any word attack strategies they used to decode difficult words. 

Comprehension
Make, Revise, and Confirm Predictions
Have student complete the worksheet by filling in what happened in the story. Then, discuss their predictions. Ask:

• Where did the train go? Where did you think the train would go?
• What were some of the things that happened on the train?
• Did you predict any of these things?
• Did Snubby Nose act the way you thought he would? Did Grandpa Grizzly act the way you thought he would? Explain.

Building Skills 

Consonant Digraph ng

• Have students turn to page 6. Point out the words camping and fishing and write them on the board.
• Review the ng digraph. Explain that the /ng/ sound has no single letter in the alphabet to represent it. In English, the sound is represented by the letters n and g. In the ng digraph, you don't say the /n/ or /g/ sounds.
• Have students look through the book for other ng digraph words. Write them on the board when students find them. Make sure they can locate words such as things that contain the digraph in the medial position. 

-er and -est Comparatives

• Write the word faster on the board and point out the -er ending. Explain that when we compare things to one another, we use the -er ending to mean "more" and the -est ending to mean "most."
• Explain that sometimes, the spelling of a word changes when we add a new ending. Provide the examples of pretty, sad, and easy. Explain that when words end in y, one must change the y to an i before adding an ending. In words ending with a single consonant, one must double the consonant before adding an ending. Write the words prettier, saddest, and easier on the board.
• Have student practice making up oral sentences using adjectives you provide and adding either the -er or -est ending. Use words such as big, fast, slow, green, happy, and tall.
• Hand out worksheet 2. Explain that they will add the -er and -est endings to each of the words in the appropriate column. Then in the sentences below, they should choose the correct form of the word to make sense in the sentence. 

Fluency

• Allow students to reread the book independently or with a partner. Partners can take turns reading from the book.
• Have students take copies of the book home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.
• Create an informal reader's theater production. Assign each character to a student. Assign the narration to one or two narrators. Have students read the book aloud, each character or narrator reading his or her parts. 

Expand the Reading 

Group Writing

• Have students write a new Hoppers story in which the Hoppers go on another kind of trip. They can go on a plane trip, boat ride, bus ride, car trip, a ride on a Ferris wheel, or even a trip on a rocket ship.
• Have students follow the model of Vacation Time! Have students brainstorm something that might happen while the Hoppers are on their trip. The boat might go through a storm, or the car might go over a high bridge. Ask students how the characters will react to the problem.
• Have students brainstorm how Grandpa Grizzly could help the Hoppers solve their problem. How could Grandpa Grizzly make them feel better?
• Have the students compose the story as a group. Each student can then provide an illustration for the story. 

Geography Connection: Land Forms

• Find a topographical map. It can be of your local area or of an area that might be of interest to students.
• Show students how the lines on the map represent the height of the land. Mountains have lots of lines going up to their peaks. Flat areas have widely spaced lines. Water is usually blue.
• Have students plot a train route over the land forms. Have them identify when the train will pass over mountains, along flat plains, over plateaus, and across bodies of water. 

Assessment 

• Monitor student discussion before, during, and after reading to see if students can make logical predictions based on the illustrations and preliminary information. Review worksheet 1 to examine student predictions.
• Monitor discussion to see if students can pronounce and identify the ng digraph.
• Review completed worksheet 2 to assess how well students can form comparatives and how well they can use those comparatives in sentences.