Text Type: Nonfiction/Informational
Page Count: 20
Word Count: 771

Book Summary
Summer Olympics Events is an informational book that describes some of the sports in which athletes compete during the Summer Olympic Games. Readers will learn about different types of water sports, gymnastics, and track and field events. Photographs help students make text-to-picture connections.

Book and lesson also available at Levels H and K.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Connect to prior knowledge

Objectives

• Use the reading strategy of connecting to prior knowledge to understand new information in a nonfiction text
• Classify information
• Recognize plural nouns formed by adding -s and -es
• Understand and identify number words

Materials

• Book -- Summer Olympics Events (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Dictionaries
• Classification, plural nouns, number words worksheets
• Discussion cards

      Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may be demonstrated by projecting the book on interactive whiteboard or completed with paper and pencil if books are reused.)

Vocabulary

• Content words: balance, compete, dashes, divers, gymnast, individual, leap, marathon, Olympics, pentathlon, points, races, rings, stroke

Build Background

• Ask students if they have ever competed in a contest of any sort. Explain that competitions usually involve sports, music, art, or other special areas of talent.
• Involve students in a discussion of sports they have played or seen on TV. Create a chart on the board with the sports that students suggest. Ask for a show of hands of those who have participated in each one listed. Make tally marks under each heading and show students how to count the totals. Determine the most popular sport.
• Refer to the sports listed on the chart and ask students why they think so many different sports exist. Ask if they have ever heard of the Olympics or seen them on TV. Ask students to tell about sports that are played during the Olympic Games. Circle any that are the same as those they suggested for the chart.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Book

• Give students their copy of the book. Guide them to the front and back covers and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage them to offer ideas as to what type of book it is (genre, text type, fiction or nonfiction, and so on) and what it might be about.
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name).
• Preview the table of contents on page 3. Remind students that the table of contents provides an overview of what the book is about. Ask students what they expect to read about in the book based on what they see in the table of contents. (Accept any answers students can justify.)

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Connect to prior knowledge

• Explain to students that good readers make connections between what they already know and new information they read. Remind them that they are more likely to understand what they are reading if they already know something about the topic. Tell students that as they read, they should think about their experience with the topic to make connections to the new information in the book.
• Model how to connect to prior knowledge.
  Think-aloud: When I look at the titles of each section in the table of contents, I try to think about what I know about these sports. In the section titled "Water Sports." I think that might be about swimming, and I LOVE to swim! I'll have to read the book to find out what kind of swimming is done in the Olympic Games. (Tailor comments to personal situation.)
• Show students the title page, glossary, and index. Explain the purpose of an index. For example, say: If I want to find out about the balance beam, I can look in the index to see on which page it is discussed. When I turn to this page, I see that I can read about the balance beam.
• Show students the charts on pages 4 and 19. Help them pronounce the names of the cities on the chart on page 4 and the sports listed in the chart on page 19.
• As students read, encourage them to use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted strategy presented in this section. For tips on additional reading strategies, click here.

Introduce the Comprehension Skill: Classify information

• Tell students that authors often arrange information in nonfiction books in groups, or categories. Each category is usually discussed in a chapter of its own. Explain that placing things in a group, or category, is called classifying.
• Explain to students that when reading a book that discusses different information related to a main idea, it is helpful to think about each category of information and to keep track of the different classifications as they read.
• Introduce and model the skill: Provide a simple model of classifying information. Draw a sample three-column chart on the board. Write the following labels above each column: breakfast, lunch, dinner.
• Think-aloud: The groups I will use to classify a list of information are the headings on the chart. I am going to classify types of food and write them under the label that tells when each food is usually eaten. I will write cereal in the breakfast column, sandwich in the lunch column, and steak in the dinner column.
• Have students offer names of foods they enjoy eating. As a group, add the items under the heading when they are typically eaten. You may also lead students to see that some items can be classified in more than one category.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• As you preview the book with students, use the vocabulary they will encounter in your discussion of the photographs. Ask students to talk about what they see in the photographs. For example, on page 6, point out the photograph of the Olympic flame. Ask: What do you notice in the photograph? Have you ever seen something like this before? Write torch on the board. Say: Let's look at the letters to sound it out. Look at the photograph again. Can you figure out what the word means?
• Continue previewing the pictures and asking the students to use what they know about different types of sports and the Olympics to talk about what they see. As you preview the book, continue to reinforce how using what they already know about sports will help them understand the book.
• Reinforce new vocabulary by incorporating it into the discussion of the photographs.
• Model strategies students can use to work out words they don't know. Have students find the word Games on page 7. Ask students how they could read this word if they don't know it. Suggest that they look at how it starts and read /g/. They might recognize the pattern of vowel, consonant and final e and try the long vowel sound and blend that with the /m/ sound. Read the sentence to them and ask if the word Games makes sense in the sentence.
• Point out the glossary at the back of the book. Review or explain that a glossary and a dictionary contain lists of words and their definitions.
• Model how students can use the dictionary to find a word's meaning. Have them locate the word gymnast(s) in the dictionary. Invite a volunteer to read the definition for gymnast. Have students compare the dictionary definition with the glossary definition. Have them compare these with their prior knowledge of the word.
• Have students follow along on page 15 as you read the sentence in which the word gymnasts is found to confirm the meaning of the word. Repeat the exercise with the remaining vocabulary words, using a dictionary.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have the students use what they know about sports and the Olympics as they read the book. Remind them to classify the events as they read to help them better understand and keep track of the information.  

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Give students their book and have them put a sticky note on page 10. Have them read to the end of this page. Have students reread the pages if they finish before everyone else.
• When they have finished reading, ask students what words challenged them. Then ask students what things they already knew about the Olympics and what new things they learned.
• Model using prior knowledge to make a connection.
  Think-aloud: When I look at the photo of the diver on page 10, I remembered the first time I jumped off a diving board. I felt as if I was SO far up in the air. I was really scared, but my mom was waiting for me, so I just held my breath and jumped. It was fun! And I wasn't scared anymore! My experience with the diving board helps me understand a little bit how Olympic divers might feel just before diving. (Tailor comments to fit personal situation.)
• As students read, have them think about any experience they have with the subject. Remind them also to think about the ways the events might be classified or grouped. For instance, point out that some events take place in water, and others take place on land. Some involve running, and others involve throwing things.
• Check for understanding: Have students share some of the things they thought about as they read the information on the pages so far. Select volunteers to share connections they made from prior knowledge to the text. Ask other students to explain the way they categorized or classified the information they read.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Encourage them to connect new information to their prior knowledge as they read. Remind them to also think of the different categories of events mentioned. Explain that noting the way in which the information is classified will help them to remember and better understand what they read.

      Have students make a question mark in their book beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. Encourage them to use the strategies they have learned to read each word and figure out its meaning.

• Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their book. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Ask students to share any examples of how connecting with their prior knowledge helped them. Reinforce how thinking about what they already know about the topic of the book helps them understand and remember what they read, and keeps them actively engaged in the text.
• Think-aloud: When I came to page 9 and saw the picture of the different swimming strokes, it reminded me of when I used to spend summers with my cousins. One of our favorite things to do was to go to the community swimming pool and race. I found that my fastest stroke was the backstroke. Thinking about this while I read made that section quite easy for me. I could concentrate on reading about things I did not know about the Olympics.
• Check student understanding by inviting them to share connections they made with the section on swimming or any other section of the book.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Ask students to recall the different sports in which Olympic athletes compete. Direct their attention to page 8. Write Water Sports on the board. Ask students to name the events in the book that are considered water sports. Ask if they can think of any other sport--Olympic or otherwise--that is done in water (sailing, canoeing, skiing, surfing). Explain to students that all of these sports belong to the group Water Sports.
• Check for understanding: Direct students to page 13. Ask them to tell the names of the sports. Ask them to tell where these sports take place (on a track and on a field). Write Track and Field Sports on the board. Ask students if they can think of any other sport--Olympic or otherwise -- that takes place on the track or field (racewalk, hurdles).
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain and have students complete the classification worksheet. Have them share their responses when they have finished.
• Enduring understanding: In this book, you read about some of the different events that take place at the Olympics. You learned that the top athletes from around the world meet to compete to see who is fastest, most precise, and the best at their sport. The chance to compete at the Olympics is a great honor. Is there something that you are especially good at doing? Is it an activity in which you compete against someone else or is it something you do only for your own enjoyment? Do you think competing or not competing changes people's motivation in an activity they love?

Grammar and Mechanics: Plural Nouns

• Show students one item such as a book. Ask them to tell how many items there are and to name it (book). Show students two books. Ask them to tell what you are holding (books). Write the words book and books on the board. Explain that naming words can tell the name of one thing (circle the word book) or the name of more than one thing (circle the word books). Ask students to tell how the words are different (an -s has been added to show more than one).
• Direct students to the front cover of the book. Point to the word Games and ask them to say the word. Write the word Games on the board and explain that the word begins with a capital letter because it is referring to a certain group of Games. Ask students to tell what to do to make the word show only one game. Write the word game on the board and circle it. Ask students to tell the person sitting next to them how they know the circled word means one game.
• Show students your watch (if you are wearing one). Ask them to tell how many and what it is that you are wearing (watch). Show students two watches (a picture or a student's watch will suffice). Ask students to name the two objects (watches). Write the words watch and watches on the board. Underline the ch in the word watch. Explain that when a word ends in s, ss, sh, ch, x, or z the letters es are added to show more than one.
• Write the following words on the board:
  mess         goat         dish         box        whiz         race        patch
  Ask students what to add to each word to make it show more than one. Make the changes on the board.

      Check for understanding: Have students go through the book, underlining the nouns that would be made plural by adding -s (words include: athletes, races, sports, games, swimmers, strokes, lengths, events, divers, gymnasts, rings, circles) and circling the nouns made plural by adding -es (dashes).

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the plural nouns worksheet.

Word Work: Number words

• Review or explain that there are different classifications, or categories of words. Some words, such as nouns, name a person, place, or thing. Some words convey an action. Some words refer to a concept or idea, such as a number.
• Provide an example by writing the word three and then the number 3 on the board. Run your finger under the word and explain that the word three refers to a quantity, or a certain number of something. Say: You may have three pieces of gum to share with friends. The word three represents how many things you have.
• Write the word third on the board. Run your finger under the word and explain that the word third refers to the concept of position or place. Say: You may line up and be third in line. You may run a race and finish in third place. You may be in third grade. The word third tells the place order.
• Have students turn to page 4. Ask them to find examples of number words on the page (four, hundreds). Discuss how each word is used and its meaning.
• Check for understanding: Have students turn to page 5. Have them search the page for a number word (one). Select a volunteer to say the word and to explain how it is used.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the number words worksheet.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently. Additionally, allow partners to take turns reading parts of the book to each other.

Home Connection

• Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. Have students practice classifying information as they read.

Informational Writing Connection
Have students research a sport form the Summer Olympics and write a paper detailing the history of the sports in relation to the Olympic Games. Their paper should include two main ideas, each with at least one supporting detail.

Visit Writing A–Z for a lesson and leveled materials on expository writing.

Social Studies/Math Connection
Have students use the sport they chose for the writing project and create a graph that displays the countries that participate in the sport in the Olympic Games. Have students decide what other information to present on the graph. Examples may include: winning countries by year, age of competitors, gender, and so on.

Skill Review
Discussion cards covering comprehension skills and strategies not explicitly taught with the book are provided as an extension activity. The following is a list of some ways these cards can be used with students:

• Use as discussion starters for literature circles.
• Have students choose one or more cards and write a response, either as an essay or a journal entry.
• Distribute before reading the book and have students use one of the questions as a purpose for reading.
• Cut apart and use the cards as game cards with a board game.
• Conduct a class discussion as a review before the book quiz.