Text Type:
Fiction / Narrative
Reading Level:
S
Word Count:
2,907
Pages:
30
Text Summary
Hannah's grandpa has lived with her and her mother since Hannah was two years old. One day while she is at school, Grandpa has a stroke. Hannah is able to visit him in the hospital and talks to him even though he is in a coma. With her mother's help, Hannah learns how to cope with her feelings while her grandfather is sick and when he eventually dies.
Suggested Lesson Focus
Comprehension/Literary Element Strategies
Relate personal experiences and emotions to text.
Word Skills
Identify and discuss words and phrases that portray a characterís emotions.
Grammar Skills
Punctuate text using commas correctly.
Phonics Skills
Identify and list words with vowel diphthongs.
Targeted Vocabulary Words
zany, ghoulish, traumatic
Before Reading
Introducing the Book
Hand out the books and have children read the title.
Ask and say: What does the title suggest to you? Share with the group some possible story lines that would fit that title.
Invite children to view the illustrations to see if they suggest a story line that is similar to what happens in this book.
Build Background
Talk with children about dealing with sickness or death in a family. Ask any child, who feels that they would like to, to share an experience that they may have had. You may want to begin a discussion such as this with a personal recount of your own. Issues that you should raise through your own recount are:
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To initiate class discussion, ask: Have you ever lost someone close to you? How did you feel when it first happened? How did you express your feelings? Do you feel the same way now? Do you think your feelings have healed over time?
Discuss with children how feelings of pain and loss can lessen over time. Explain that feelings are a part of being human, and that each person can choose healthy ways to deal with and to feel their emotions.
Book Walk
Ask children to turn to pages 3–4.
Say: Sometimes authors use particular words and phrases for a particular purpose. This author uses words and phrases to help emphasize how the main character Hannah is feeling.
Read the paragraph "What happened? Is he real sick? Is he going to stay at the hospital?" The questions tumbled out of Hannah’s mouth.
Ask: Why do you think the author wrote, The questions tumbled out of Hannah’s mouth? What feeling was she trying to get across? How would this sentence have been different if the author had just said, asked Hannah, instead of, questions tumbled out of her mouth?
Have children turn to page 10. Ask them what they understand by zany, ghoulish pranks. Have children provide synonyms for zany and ghoulish to show that they know the meaning of the words. Ask children to read the last two words on page 10.
Say and ask: These two words describe how Hannah and her grandpa sometimes acted during playful times. What do they mean to you?
Have children turn to page 13 and read the second paragraph.
Say: Let’s talk about the words, she blurted out between her sobs. What does this tell you about how Hannah is feeling? How is it better than saying, she cried?
Invite children to read the rest of the chapter heads and add to their predictions about the story line. Have children return to page 3.
During Reading
Say: Read Chapter 1. As you read this book, I want you to be thinking about how you would feel and what you would do if you were Hannah.
Ask children to read page 11. Then have them discuss the relationship between Hannah and her mother.
Ask: What on this page gives you an idea about how Hannah and her mother get along. Do they have a good or a bad relationship? How do you know?
Ask children to read to the end of page 14 and then discuss the sentence, Hannah hung up the phone and flopped in the chair.
Ask: What does this sentence tell you about how Hannah is feeling? What word could the author have used instead of flopped that would have conveyed the same feeling?
Have children read to the end of page 16.
Ask: What does the author mean by the sentence, Hannah decided to put away the thought? What does that tell you about the way Hannah is feeling? Do you think it is okay to put off thinking about something that you don’t want to deal with? Share why or why not.
Have children read the rest of the book independently. Have them mark with a sticky note any word or phrase they did not understand or could not pronounce. You can clarify these later. During this time, you may choose to work with another group. Alternatively, you may wish to work individually with some children to monitor their oral reading and comprehension of parts of the text.
Say: I want you to finish reading the book at your own pace. As you read, continue to think how Hannah is feeling and how you would feel if you were Hannah. We are going to discuss this when you have finished reading.
Using the Worksheet
Introduce and explain the Worksheet. Have children start work on the Worksheet as they finish reading the text.
After Reading
Comprehending the Text
Draw the group together again and ask children to discuss the plot.
Say: Share the story line with the person next to you.
Question children about certain parts of the text to ensure understanding.
Ask: When did Grandpa first come to live with Hannah and her mother? How did Hannah learn about death? What did Hannah do after her mother telephoned her from the hospital? What is snuggle time? What does traumatic mean? What happened when Hannah and her mother got to the hospital? What sort of picture did you see in your mind when you read, her tears were a huge river roaring through her heart? Why do you think that Hannah spent a lot of time in her room after her grandpa died?
Discuss the concept of talking to people who are unconscious.
Say: Let’s talk about the part of the story where Hannah talked to her grandpa even though he was in a coma and couldn’t respond. Why did she do this? Do you think that her grandpa could hear? Do any of you have any personal knowledge of something like this happening?
Building Skills
Phonological Awareness
Word Skills
Revisit the word skills that were part of the main lesson. Ask children to find the following phrases in the text:
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Phonics
Write the following words on the board: hound, house, sound, shouted. Ask children what spelling/phonics pattern is common to all these words (ou). Ask children to read the words aloud listening for the pronunciation. Ask children to work with a partner to list other words that have the same vowel diphthong.
Grammar
Discuss the use of commas with children.
Ask: Who can share with the group what a comma is? When you are writing, when do you use a comma? Let’s list the occasions when you should use commas.
List on the board when it is appropriate to use commas. Invite children to revisit the text to find examples of when you use a comma. Have children insert the commas in the sentences on the Losing Grandpa Worksheet. When the students have completed the Worksheet, they should check with the text to see how well they did.
Expand the Reading
Writing Connection
Writing in a different genre.
Say: I want you to think about how you could rewrite this story as if it were a series of entries in Hannah’s journal. Share with the group how you would start.
You may need to do a think aloud at this time if children are not used to this type of writing.
Say: If I were going to plan this piece of writing, I would start with thinking how many entries I would need to make. First I would count the days that the story covered. I would note this down. I could use the names of any of the days of the week because the text doesn’t name the days. What I do know is that I need to choose a school day, because Hannah comes home from school at the beginning of the story. I also know that it can’t be Friday because her mother suggested she have a day off school to visit Grandpa. I will then think about what happened on each day and how much of it I want to record. I think I would probably just record a couple of facts and my feelings. I will also make my writing style quite chatty, because it is just me talking to my journal. I won’t need to be too concerned about my spelling and punctuation because this is private reading for me alone unless I choose to share it. I might start like this:
Tuesday
When I got home from school today Laura was there, not Mom and Grandpa. I knew straight away something was wrong. I was right. Grandpa was in hospital. I felt so bad because he was sick.
Have children work independently or with a partner to write Hannah’s journal.
Science Connection
Have children use the library and the Internet to further research strokes. Have them find out more about strokes. Encourage children to write or e-mail the local hospital for information. Encourage them also to contact stroke support groups to find out about the rehabilitation of stroke victims.
Reading Independently
Invite children to reread the book, Losing Grandpa, independently or with a partner. They could then look for and read other books about children who have strong relationships with someone who becomes really ill and/or dies. Children should also read each other’s journal entries.
Go to "Losing Grandpa" main page
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