Before Reading

Lesson Plans for A LATE NIGHT CHAT WITH A PARAKEET level P

Before Reading

Introducing the Book
Introduce the book by showing the front and back covers and title page to children. Ask questions to get children interested into predicting what the story may be about. Take any and all predictions. There should be a lot at this stage.
Ask: What do you see on the covers? What do you think the book will be about and why?

Building Background
To help elicit prior knowledge and build background, ask questions to help children get in the right frame of mind for this story.
Ask: Can birds talk? Do any of you have a bird that you can have a real conversation with? Do you feel that it is possible for a person to have a "late night chat with a parakeet?"
Most likely the answers will be no. Try to find out what the reasons are for them to think it isn’t possible. Any child who say yes will most likely be kidding around or have a great imagination. Though birds don’t talk, they are able to mimic and, for this reason, it may be difficult for children to grasp this concept. You may also want to talk a bit about what happens when a person doesn’t believe something another person says.
Ask: What would you call a person who doesn’t tell the truth? How would you feel if someone called you that? How do you know when a person isn’t telling the truth? Is there any way to prove that a person is telling the truth or not? Have you ever thought someone was not telling the truth and it turned out they were? Has anyone ever thought you were lying about something when you weren’t?

Book Walk
After introducing the book and building some background, you may want to briefly go through the book pointing out some of the words you reviewed with the children earlier. This is not absolutely necessary. If you think that by going through a few of the pages you will help children feel more comfortable with the text, then you should.

Reading Strategies
Discuss any reading strategies children can use to help them read. Review any previous strategies that have been introduced to them in the past. Ask the following questions to help them remember strategies that will guide them as they are reading independently.

How will the pictures help you understand the text?
How does what you read connect to what you already know?
What can you do when you come to a word you do not understand?
What can you do if you don’t understand a part you have just read?

If you feel it’s necessary, you can act as a role model to show how you might deal with a section or word that you get stuck on while reading. You can ask yourself questions aloud and show children how the strategies discussed will help them as they are reading.

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