Pages:
24

Text Summary
Sammy Stuffit is about a little boy who likes to collect and save lots of stuff. By the time he is an adult, he has collected so much stuff that he has to find places to store it all. Sammy finally realizes that all his stuff does not really make him happy, so he decides to give it all away. Readers will enjoy the illustrations, which humorously show just how much stuff Sammy has collected over the years.

Lesson Objectives
Reading Strategies
Children should use a variety of strategies to decode words and bring meaning to print. The targeted strategy for this lesson is: Making connections and drawing conclusions.

Word and Print Skills
Phonics
Short u phonogram: -uff

Word Work
Grammar
The use of a word as both a noun and a verb

Synonyms
The topic of synonyms will be addressed in the Word Work section to come in this lesson plan.

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: Using Think Alouds to help understand the concept of problem/solution.

Visual Learning
Children will develop a better understanding of the relationship between picture details and text in order to help them solve difficult words or passages.

Targeted Vocabulary Words
Content Words
Stuff, Sammy, collecting, stashing, stuffed, happy, selfish

Before Reading

Introducing the Book
Direct children’s attention to the cover of the book. Read the title and the names of the author and illustrator. Ask children to look at the illustrations and think about what kind of information the illustration gives to them. Ask volunteers to tell what they think the story might be about. Turn to the title page. Remind children that the cover and title page contain the same information, with one exception: the illustration is different. Explain that the title page gives a clue about the setting of the story.

Building Background
Begin a discussion with children about the kinds of things they collect or just have in great numbers. Ask: Do you collect certain items, like trading cards, stamps, or dolls? How many do you have? Where do you store them? How do you feel about having so many of one thing (in your collection)? Do your things make you feel good (because you have so many), do you just like collecting as a hobby, or does it make any difference at all? Direct them to think about what they would do if they became bored with their collections or if their collections grew so large that they could not find space to store them. Ask: What would you do? Brainstorm the possibilities—for example, give some things to children who do not have as much, sell them, trade them, give them to a relative, etc. Ask children if they have ever experienced such a problem. If so, ask them to share what they did to solve the problem.

Write an open-ended sentence like, "If I could not store all my things, I would.…" Ask children to think about what they would do, and record their answers on the chalkboard or chart paper under the question.

Book Walk
Briefly walk children through the story, pointing out the section headings, the illustrations, and any difficult vocabulary they may encounter.

During Reading

Student Reading
Give each child a book and allow them to read at their own pace. When they come to difficult words, have them ask themselves questions to monitor their understanding—for example, "Does this passage make sense?" "Are there words that confuse me, words I don’t know?" To help children make predictions, encourage them to use Think Alouds as they read.

As children read, monitor their reading and provide prompts as necessary.

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
Discuss any reading strategies children used to help them solve difficult words or passages. Encourage children to share any reading strategies they use to help them read unknown words or find meaning in the text.

To help children learn how Think Alouds can help them to remember details in the story, model the strategy. For example:
Page 4: "I wonder if Sammy had favorite things he liked to collect? Maybe not, because there are so many different things on his floor and in his bookcases."
Page 9: "Why would Sammy collect so many televisions, radios, stereos, and
bicycles? His house looks like a store! I think he has a problem."
Page 23: "Maybe Sammy should give away all his stuff to make people happy—then he would be even
happier. That would be the solution to all his stuff!"

Use Activity Sheet 1/Comprehension with the entire class (draw the diagram on an overhead transparency or on the chalkboard or chart paper). Review the concept of problem/solution. Explain that a problem is something that is difficult to deal with or hard to understand and must be worked out or solved, like having too much stuff. A solution is an act or a process of solving a problem, like giving stuff away.

Discuss the problems in the story and fill out the diagram as you work with the class. Ask children if they felt the solution in the story was the best solution. Would they have created a different solution? If so, what would it have been?

Visual Learning
Encourage children to notice details in the illustrations for clues about the text—for example, on page 22, ask: What is the artist illustrating—do you think it’s a big city? How can you tell? What makes the illustration different from the one on page 23?

Building Skills

Phonics
Short u phonogram (or rime)
Explain to children that a phonogram is a letter (or series of letters) that stands for a sound, syllable, or series of sounds without reference to meaning. For example, the phonogram (or rime) -uff contains three letters and stands for the short u sound and the f. It can be found in words like stuff, puff, scuff, etc. Phonograms are often referred to as word families, for example: The words face, space, and replace belong to the same word family because they all contain the ending -ace. The ending -ace is a phonogram (or rime). Help children to brainstorm a list of phonograms or rimes for the short u phonogram and write them on the chalkboard or chart paper. Next try a different short u phonogram, such as -un or -ug. When children feel confident with the information, introduce the short u -ough (rough, tough, slough) phonogram. Continue with other phonograms, such as the short i or short o.

Help children to understand that words contain recognizable chunks. Recognizing these word parts or patterns as they read is an important step in developing reading fluency.

Word Work
Grammar