Text Type:
Fact / Informational text
Reading Level:
N
Word Count:
723
Pages:
24
Text Summary
Have you ever wondered how puppets are made? Are you interested in learning how to make puppets yourself? Puppets is a book that teaches the reader about the four basic kinds of puppets and how they are operated. The book also contains detailed instructions for making several puppets.
Lesson Objectives
Reading Strategies
Children should use a variety of strategies to determine word meaning and comprehend text. The targeted strategy for this lesson is: Going back and rereading.
Some of the sections in this book may require the reader to go back and reread prior sections to gain a better understanding about what the author is teaching them. By going back and rereading sections of prior sentences, the reader will be able to make connections and visualize what the various puppets can do and what they look like. These strategies will also increase childrenís level of comprehension.
Word and Print Skills
Phonics
Vowel Digraphs vs. Vowel Diphthongs
Before children begin reading, talk to them about words that have two different vowels in them that are next to each other. Explain to them that these vowels are special and are called either vowel digraphs or vowel diphthongs. Explain the difference between the two. Digraphs are vowels that are next to each other but make up only one sound. Diphthongs are vowels that are together and make two sounds. As you and children will notice, there are far more digraphs than diphthongs. Here are some examples from the story.
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As children are reading the book, they should look for words that have two vowels together. If the book is consumable, you can have them underline, circle, or highlight the word. If they are not consumable, you can have them put post-it notes under the words or on the line where the word is found.
Word Work
Punctuation–Commas to List and/or Separate Ideas
Throughout this book, commas are used to list and separate ideas. This is a concept that may be new to children. By showing and discussing how the author used commas to list and separate, you can introduce or reinforce this use of commas to children.
Suffixes
Throughout the book, there are six different suffixes used: -ies, -s, -ed, -ing, -tion, and -ment. Explain that any time they see the letters -ies, -s, -ed, -ing, -tion, or -ment added to a root word, it is called a suffix. Have children look for words in the book ending in a suffix and circle them. Then have them come up with a list of other words that have suffixes on them.
Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as children work to understand the text. The targeted comprehension strategy for this lesson is: Main ideas and details.
The format of this book lends itself to introducing the concept of main ideas and supporting details. As the author discusses the different types of puppets, she explains why each is unique, how they are made, and how they move. It is these details that you want children to recognize as important. If the books are to be consumable, children can underline the main ideas and the supporting details by using colored highlighters or pencils. This will show that they recognize the difference. If the books are not consumable, you can use post-its or have children take notes regarding main ideas and supporting details.
Visual Learning
This book describes how to make puppets. For this reason, it is important that the illustrations give examples of how to go about doing what the words are explaining. Have children look at the illustrations and give you feedback as to whether or not they feel the illustrations show what the author is describing in a way that would enable them to create their own puppets.
Targeted Vocabulary Words
Content Words
The following content words should be reviewed with children prior to having them read independently. This will help children feel prepared and more successful as they are reading. This is a review of how to say the words as well as what they mean. These are only a few words, you may want to review the book and see if there are other words you want to add to this list.
centuries, Pinocchio, region, reflect, materials, qualities, papier-m&Mac226;chÈ, Styrofoam, bouncing, mustache, gestures, dowel, puppeteer, audience, cellophane, inexpensive, tempera, and sequins.
Using the Worksheet
Using a KWL chart for this book would be useful and appropriate. By using a KWL chart, you will be able to see what children Know or think they Know, Want to know, and what they have Learned throughout these lessons. To make a KWL chart, use a large piece of paper or tag board and divide it into three columns. Have the letter K on the top of the first column on the left, W on the top in the middle, and L on the top in the right-hand column. Talk to children about what they Know or think they Know about puppets. Write everything they say in the K column. Accept everything they say and, if they say things that you know are wrong, you can talk to them about why they think what they do and see if any of the other children agree or disagree with the statement. You do not want to say too much during this time. This is a time for children to brainstorm and for you to accept everything they are saying. Always remember that when you fill in the what they Learned column, you will see that children have found out what they thought was correct was not. After you fill in the K section, you can talk to children about any questions they have regarding puppets and write in their questions. Questions can always be added to the W column. This is a good place to look for questions that can be used later for research, etc. After reading the book and learning more, you can begin filling in the L column. As children learn more, they can add what they have Learned to this column. If you fill the L column in too early, you are giving away too much information. This is appropriate to do during the Building Background phase.
Before Reading
Introducing the Book
Before handing out the book, introduce it by showing the front and back covers, the title page, the table of contents, and index. Talk to children about what they may predict about this book.
Ask: What do you see on the covers? What does this tell you about the book’s contents? What do you think the book will be about? There should be a lot of prediction going on at this stage.
Suggestion: You might want to give some examples about where to find specific information using the table of contents or the index. This may be appropriate during the Building Background section. It is possible that children may bring up some things that are discussed in the book. As this happens, you can take the opportunity to look them up in the table of contents or index to show that it is in fact in the book.
Building Background
See Using the Worksheet section above. Have children tell you what they know about puppets. Ask the following questions to find out what prior knowledge they have regarding the subject. Ask: What do you think of when you hear the word puppet? Do you know if there are different types of puppets? If so, what are they? What do you know about making puppets? Can you think of anyone famous who makes puppets? Can you think of any famous puppets? Do you think you could learn to make puppets? Do you know what a person who makes puppets is called? By asking these types of questions, you are getting a better understanding about what children know about puppets. See the suggestion above in the Introducing the Book section for an idea on how to incorporate the use of table of contents and index in this section.
Book Walk
The book walk for this book is simply a way to help children become familiar with the format of an informational book that is broken into sections. This may be a new concept for children. Go through and show children how each new section begins with the subject of the upcoming topic. It is centered at the top of the page and is in a larger type size and a different type face. If you are going to be reading the book in sections, this will be an important thing to show children. Also, look at some of the pictures. This will help them become familiar with the topics they are about to learn. This will also show them that you recognize the importance of the photos in this book. Point out some of the content words that were discussed earlier so that children will have an idea where they are and won’t be worrying about finding them. This is just a way to help children feel more comfortable with the text they are about to read.
Reading Strategies
Discuss any reading strategies children can use to help them read. Discuss the strategies that have been used during their prior reading experiences. Remind them that they should be listening to themselves as they read to make sure that things make sense. Talk to them about going back and rereading to make sure they are identifying what the main ideas and supporting details are.
Ask:
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It may be appropriate for you to role-play reading the book yourself and coming to a word you do not know. Show children that this is normal and how to overcome this problem without losing your place or becoming overwhelmed. Remind children to reread a section and/or page if they had more than one trouble area while reading it the first time. This will help to ensure their level of understanding.
During Reading
Student Reading
Because this book is divided into many sections and has a lot of information, it is suggested that you have children read only one or two sections at a time rather than completing the reading in one session. You may have them read each section twice to help ensure comprehension of the text. Using the questions in the After Reading section will help show what children have learned in each section. Hand out the books and instruct children what section to read quietly, aloud, or silently at their own pace.
During the second reading of each section, children should be looking for and highlighting, underlining, circling, boxing in, or writing on post-it notes, the main ideas and supporting details, and the different vowel digraphs and diphthongs they find. If this is done in different colors, it will be easier to use for discussion and assessment later.
Prior to beginning reading, remind children what the purpose is of reading this book. While reading, children should be able to identify main ideas and supporting details. They can once again underline or highlighting the appropriate areas, box them in, use post-it notes, or take notes on a separate piece of paper. (Taking notes will be more time consuming and may take away from some of the comprehension. The other strategies would be much more effective, if possible.) Children can use highlighters or colored pencils to mark main ideas in one color and details in another. You can then use what children highlight to assess their ability to identify things such as main ideas and supporting details.
Using the Worksheet
After reading the first section, you can talk to the children about what they Learned and add that to the KWL chart. This may be new information or you may be correcting something from the K section of the chart. If you have answered any of the questions in the W section, you can check them off as well.
After Reading
Comprehending the Text
Discuss with children what they learned in each section of the book. This will help you to see the level of understanding they have. Ask for summaries as well as predictions regarding what they may learn in the upcoming sections.
Ask: (These questions can be split up or asked after each section, where appropriate.)
What was the section you just read about? Did you learn anything in this section that you didn’t know before? What did you think was the most interesting part of this section? Do you have any questions after reading this section that you didn’t have before? (Add to W section of KWL chart.) Was there any part of the text or reading that was particularly difficult for you? What was the author trying to teach us? Is there anything you would like to know more about that the author didn’t discuss? (Add to W section of KWL chart.)
Visual Learning
Much can be gained from photos in nonfiction books. This book describes how to make puppets. For this reason, it is important that the illustrations give examples of how to go about doing what the words are explaining. Have children look at the illustrations and give you feedback as to whether or not they feel the illustrations show what the author is describing in a way that would enable them to create their own puppets. By asking questions, you will be able to see what children learn from the visuals in the book. Ask: How does the author’s description of a puppet match the illustrator’s depiction? How would you have drawn the puppet?
Building Skills
Phonics
Vowel Digraphs vs. Vowel Diphthongs
After discussing the differences and similarities of vowel digraphs and vowel diphthongs, have children use letters of the alphabet on index cards or something similar to create words that have vowel digraphs or diphthongs in them. They can make a list and play with a partner or group. After a certain amount of time together taking turns, they can count up how many they have and compare with another pair or group. You can also make this like a form of "Scattegories" and have all the groups compare words and check off the words that each group has in common. Children can look for words that were not found by others and are considered "unique," "uncommon," or "rare."
Word Work
See the Lesson Objectives—Word Work section above.
Expand the Reading
Writing Connection
This is a great book with which to introduce the idea of research papers. You can work as a group to create a group research paper or have each child create his or her own research paper. The research paper should be three paragraphs: an introduction to the topic, a main idea paragraph regarding what the book was about, and the third paragraph will be a summary and what they personally learned. Each paragraph should have three sentences that include proper punctuation and capitalization.
OR
Have children write a summary of key points on what they learned from the book. This summary should include four things they learned: two of them to describe the process one must go through to create two different types of puppets or one type of puppet, and/or puppet stages or famous puppets.
Art Connection
Provide some or all of the materials listed in the book and have children create one of the puppets from the book.
Reading Independently
Have children read the book independently or with a partner. You can also encourage them to read other books of their choice at the appropriate level.
Home Connection
Send the book home to be read to or with parents and siblings. Have them look around their house and see if they have the materials to make any of the four puppets discussed in the book. If they don’t have the materials, ask them to see if they can use their imagination, as the book states, to create a different puppet. They should also write a brief description of the steps they took to create their puppet.
Assessment
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