• Section Heads
  
• Personal connection to topic
  
• Good picture support
  

Reader Challenges

• Less picture support
  
• Longer stretches of text
  
• More difficult vocabulary
  
• Text size is smaller and word spacing is narrower
  

Lesson Objectives
Reading Strategies
Children should use a variety of strategies to determine word meaning and comprehend text. The targeted strategy for this lesson isAs children work to understand the text, you will use a number of reading strategies. The targeted reading strategy in Max is: Helping children makeMaking connections through questioning.

Word and Print Skills

Phonics
Consonant Blends
st-, sn-, sl-

Word Work
High -utility words,
contractions Contractions

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as children work to understand the text. The targeted comprehension strategy in Max for this lesson is: Using Think Alouds.

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

Targeted Vocabulary Words
High- utility Words
he, him, she, you, his

Content Words
angry, mean, boss, bully, sheepishly

Before Reading

Introducing the Book
Direct children’s attention to the cover, the title page, and to the section headings. Explain how the section headings separate important parts of the story and how all the information in each section relates to the heading or title. Encourage children to notice how the illustrations connect to the text. Pose questions to children that will help to set a purpose for reading. Ask: Do the illustrations give you clues about what is going to happen in the story, or what the story is about? Do the section headings help you to frame your thinking? Model Think Alouds as a strategy children can use to help them remember details in the story. For example, on page 5 children could think aloud, "I would not want to be around someone who was angry all the time. I wonder if Max is lonely as well as angry."

Building Background
Explain that you are going to discuss different kinds of emotions that people experience, such as anger or happiness. Ask children to think of other emotions that everyone feels from time to time (joy, fear, hate, sadness, love). Record their responses on chart paper or the chalkboard. Ask children to describe each emotion—for example, what caused the emotion, how did it feel, and how did they or people they know handle the emotion? Ask volunteers to give an example of an emotion they felt, what caused it, and how they dealt with it. Was their solution—how they dealt with the emotion—effective? Would they now handle it differently? If so, how and why? Ask: When you had a difficult time dealing with a particular emotion, was there someone who was able to help you? How did that person help? Talk about the importance of expressing emotions and not holding them inside or "toughing it out."

Reading Strategies
Invite children to work in small groups or as partners. Have them pose and discuss questions after reading one or two story chapters. Questions raised while reading Max will stimulate predictions and deepen children’s commitment to the story. Children’s questions and discussion will reveal that they can use what they know about Max to predict what will happen next. Questions and discussion will also allow children to demonstrate that they understand the story.

During Reading

Student Reading
When you complete the introduction of Max, give each child a book. Allow children to read at their own pace. When they come to difficult words or difficult passages, have them ask themselves questions to monitor their understanding—for example, "Does this passage make sense? Are there words that confuse me? Can I pronounce all the words?"

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
Connecting with the lives and experiences of fictional characters powerfully bonds readers and books. Have pairs or small groups of children discuss questions that will foster personal connections. Put each question on an index card to form a card deck of questions. Have children select a card to discuss or make several decks and give one to each group.

Model Think Alouds as a strategy for comprehension. For example:
Page 16: Max’s parents look like they are having an argument. I’m not sure if Max can help them solve their problem. I wonder what is wrong?

• Is there a passage in the story you found meaningful? Read it and explain why.
  
• Have you had any experiences that are similar to those of Max?
  
• How did the story make you feel? Can you explain what about the story aroused those feelings?
  
• Do you relate to Max? What do you have in common?
  
• Did this story affect you in any way?
  

First use the Comprehension Activity Sheet 1 as a whole-group activity to help children understand how to work with a Story Map. Ask children to help you fill in the boxes in the Story Map, discussing each box as you go. Next, ask them to do the activity independently, using their words or illustrations to fill in each box of the Story Map. When they have completed the activity, ask them to read their story to a partner using the information from their map.

Visual Learning
Select pages from the story to help children see how details in pictures can help them to better understand the story content. For example:
Page 6: How can you tell that Max’s parents are trying to help him?
Page 10: What is Max doing?

Building Skills

Phonics
Consonant Blends
st-, sn-, sl-
Write the words stomped, sneaking, slammed on the chalkboard or chart paper. Underline the letters st, sn, and sl in each word. Explain to children that these letters stand for the /st/, /sn/, and /sl/ sounds, respectively. Point out that often when s and another consonant appear together in a word, the sounds that both letters stand for are blended together. Blend each sound aloud as you run your finger under each letter. Have a volunteer underline the letters st, sn, and sl. Point to each of these clusters. Ask children to state the sounds that the letters stand for. Continue by having children generate a list of words containing these sounds. List these words on the chalkboard or chart paper.

Write the following words and sentences on the chalkboard. The sentences contain some high utility words from the story. Ask volunteers to point to the st, sn, or sl cluster, say the sounds that the letters stand for, and then read the word.

stand station storm
snack snake sneeze
slid slept slot
He said, "the storm is coming."
She was afraid of the snake.
I slid down the hill and she laughed.

Word Work
Contractions
Write the words you’re, didn’t, don’t, we’re, I’m, they’d, wasn’t, what’s, and we’ll on the chalkboard or chart paper. Explain that these words are called contractions. Contractions are two words combined with an apostrophe. They shorten two words into one; for example, I’m is a contraction of I am. Ask children if they know what words the other contractions stand for (that are written on the chalkboard). As they answer, write the two words next to the contraction.