Build Background

• Ask students what they know about flying and airplanes. Discuss how the first airplanes may have been different from today’s planes. Ask students if they know the names of any famous aviators.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Book

• Give students a copy of the book and have them preview the front and back covers and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers and offer ideas as to what kind of book this is and what it might be about.

Introduce the Strategy: Connect to prior knowledge

• Model making a connection to prior knowledge.
• Think-aloud: The cover photo and title of the book remind me of a TV show I saw about the early days of aviation. I thought it was a fascinating topic. Because I already know some interesting facts about airplanes and flying, I’m looking forward to learning even more when we read about Bessie Coleman. I can turn to the table of contents to see what kinds of things I might learn about in this book.
• Direct students to the table of contents. Remind them that the table of contents provides an overview of what the book is about. Each chapter title provides an idea of what they will read in the book. After reviewing the table of contents, model using it as a way to make connections to prior knowledge. For example, say: The chapter titled “Barnstormer” makes me think about what I already know about airshows. Ask students if they know anything about pilots or barnstormers performing air shows.
• Together, read through the headings of the other chapters and ask whether they provide students with a better idea of what the book is about.
• Have students preview the rest of the book, looking at photos, captions, and the map. Point out the index and explain its purpose.
• As students read, they should use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted strategy presented in this section. For tips on additional reading strategies, click here.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• As students preview the book, point out any vocabulary you feel may be difficult for them.
• Remind students of the strategies they can use to work out words they don't know. For example, they can use what they know about letter and sound correspondence to figure out the word. They can look for base words, prefixes, and suffixes. They can use the context to work out meanings of unfamiliar words.
• Model how to apply word-attack strategies. Direct students to the first paragraph on page 12. Point to the word solo. Model how to use context clues to figure out the meaning of the unfamiliar word. Explain that the sentences before it tell that the planes Bessie learned in had two open cockpits so that the instructor could help fly the plane. The sentence with the unfamiliar word in it explains that in a few months Bessie was ready to fly solo. The sentences after it tell that she earned her international pilot’s license. Tell students that these clues make you think that the word solo means by oneself. Have students follow along as you reread the sentence on the page to confirm the meaning of the word.
• Remind students that they should check whether words make sense by rereading the sentence. If they are still unsure of the meaning, they can look up the word in the glossary or in a dictionary.
• For additional tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students think about what they know about airplanes and flying as they read the book to identify the important events in the life of Bessie Coleman.

Student Reading

    Guide the reading: Have students read to page 10. Tell them to underline the words and phrases in the book that tell about an important event that occurred in Bessie Coleman's life. If they finish before everyone else, they should go back and reread.

• When they have finished reading, have students summarize what they read in the Introduction. Ask why they think the author presented the events out of order from the rest of the book.
• Have students tell the events they underlined. Write the first event on the board: Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892. Ask individual students to come to the board and write the remaining events they found in the order in which they happened.
• Model making connections to prior knowledge.
• Think-aloud: I understood how Bessie felt when she wanted to go to college so badly but didn’t have the money. I remember when I first started college; I had to find a job to make enough money to pay for classes. Ask students if any of them have ever had to work hard to save enough money to buy something they really wanted. Ask if they were proud of their accomplishment when they reached their goal and whether they think that Bessie was proud of herself.

    Tell students to read the rest of the story, underlining the important events in Bessie's life. Remind them to think about what they already know about planes and pilots as they read.
    Tell students to make a small question mark in their books beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

Reflect on the Reading Strategies

• Ask students what words they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
• Discuss how making connections to information in the text that they know something about keeps them actively involved in the reading process and helps them understand and remember what they have read.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Sequence

• Discussion: Ask students what they think the author's purpose was for writing the book and what they learned about Bessie Coleman that they didn't already know. Ask students what they think the Bessie Coleman Aero Club is like today.
• Introduce and model the skill: Review or explain that many writers present the events in a story in the order in which they happened. Ask students to think of a recent story they've read in which the events were written in order. If necessary, prompt with a familiar story, such as The Three Little Pigs. Tell students that sometimes writers do not present the events in a story in order. It is then up to the reader to look for signal words such as today, then, first, and after, or time references such as dates, to help them put the events in the order in which they occurred.
• Check for understanding: Refer to and review the events list on the board. Have students find and tell signal words and/or dates that they see on the board while you circle them.
• Independent practice: Give students the sequence/time line worksheet. Explain that a time line is a way to show events in the order in which they occurred. Have students use their books and the information on the board to complete the time line on the sequence/time line worksheet. Start them off by talking about what happened in 1892 (Coleman was born). Have students complete the remainder of the worksheet on their own. Discuss students’ answers when they have finished.

    Extend the discussion: Instruct students to use the inside cover of their book to make a sequential list of people who influenced Bessie Coleman.

Grammar and Mechanics: Simple and compound subjects

• Direct students to the first sentence on page 5. Ask them to tell what the sentence is about (Bessie Coleman). Explain that this is called the subject of the sentence. The subject tells who or what the sentence is about. Write the following sentence on the board: Hard wooden benches lined the train. Ask students what they think the subject is (benches). Point out that the subject is a noun. Explain that the words hard and wooden are adjectives that tell what the subject, benches, looked like. The verb lined tells what the benches did.
• Tell students that some sentences have more than one subject. Direct students to the last sentence in the first paragraph of page 11: Robert Abbott and other friends helped her pay for the trip as well. Ask students to tell the subjects of the sentence (Robert Abbott, other friends). Then ask them to tell what the subjects did (helped her pay for the trip). Explain that they can check their answers by using each subject separately in the sentence. Demonstrate by reading the sentence as follows: Robert Abbott helped her pay… and other friends helped her pay… Explain that you know both of these are subjects because they make sense with the verb.
• Check for understanding: Reinforce by directing students to page 18 and asking them to find the sentence that has a compound subject. (She and her mechanic...)
• Independent practice: Give students the subjects worksheet. Discuss students’ answers when they have finished.

Word Work: Irregular content words

• Tell students that many of the words in the book are used to tell about planes and flying. Talk about content words, such as barnstormers and biplanes.
• Check for understanding: Provide opportunities for students to say the new vocabulary words from the book and to make up sentences using the words.
• Independent practice: Give students the vocabulary worksheet. Each worksheet provides an opportunity for students to work with two vocabulary words. Supply multiple copies for students to continue working on more words from the text if they have time.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their books independently or with a partner. Encourage repeated timed readings of a specific section or the entire book (in the case of short books). Additionally, partners can take turns reading parts of the book.

Home Connection

• Give students their books to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.

Writing Connection

• Provide print and Internet resources for students to research other influential African-Americans of the past. Have students choose one person and write a report that includes answers to what, when, where, and why. Encourage them to use sequential order to tell about the person's life. Have students share their reports with the group.

Science Connection

• Have students make paper airplanes of different shapes and sizes. Have them compare construction, weight, the distance each one flies, the person launching each one, and current weather conditions (if outdoors). Chart the results. If possible, invite a pilot to talk with the class about different types of aircraft and about flying in general.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• use the reading strategy of making connections to prior knowledge to understand nonfiction text
• identify and sequence important events in a biography and on a time line
• identify simple and compound subjects
• understand and use content vocabulary in original sentences