Introduce the Book
Show students the book and have them read the title and look at the cover photographs to make initial predictions about the book.
Ask: What do you see on the cover? What do you think we might find out about inside this book? Based on what you know so far, do you think this book is fiction or nonfiction? What makes you think that? 

Make a KWL (What You Know; What You Want to Know; What You Learned) chart on the board. Ask students what they know, or think they know, about coral reefs, and record their responses in the K column. Ask students to suggest questions they have about coral reefs. Write these in the W column.
Say: When we read a book, sometimes it helps to think about what we already know about the topic. When we think about questions to look for in the text, we provide a purpose for reading. We read to find the answers to our questions. 

Book Walk
Give students their copies of the book and go through as much of it as you feel is necessary. Point out things you feel will challenge students when they read. Look at the pictures with students and discuss what they see. You may want to write down some of the words they suggest. 

As you look through the text, point out text features such as headings, bold type, pronunciations, maps, charts, and the glossary. Tell students how to use these features to assist their reading. 

Reading Strategies
Remind students to use any or all of the following strategies to help them in their reading:

• Ask the questions: Does it make sense? Does it sound right? Does it look right?
• Connect the text with what they already know
• Summarize after reading a section to ensure they understand what they read
• Reread any difficult sentence or page to make sure they understand the text
• Use what they know about letters and sounds to read new words
• Look for parts of words they know, such as root words, prefixes, and suffixes

Ask students about the strategies they think they will use if they get to a difficult word. You may want to model a strategy you think will help students gain meaning. Model the target strategy, which is to connect the facts in the text with what students already know.