Text Type: Fiction/Fantasy
Page Count: 20
Word Count: 1,655

Book Summary
What torture! Morty has to miss his best friend's skating party to attend his Aunt Maggie's wedding. He's also a bit annoyed that his sisters are getting all the attention because they're in the wedding. Once again, Morty's mischievious nature gets him into trouble--and this time into the wedding, too!

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Make, revise, and confirm predictions

Objectives

• Use the reading strategy of making, revising, and confirming predictions to understand text
• Make inferences
• Identify and understand the use of possessive nouns
• Locate and understand the meaning of compound words

Materials

• Book -- Morty and the Fancy-Pants Wedding (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Prediction, make inferences, possessive nouns, compound words worksheets
• Discussion cards

      Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may be completed with paper and pencil if books are reused.)

Vocabulary

• Content words: aisle, balance, ceremony, chamois, disappointed, methodically, mock, shenanigans

Build Background

• Ask students whether they have ever attended a wedding and/or participated in one. Invite them to share their experiences. Facilitate a discussion with the following questions: What kind of work goes into preparing for a wedding? What goes on at a wedding? What do people who are in the wedding do?

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, illustrator's name).

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Make, revise, and confirm predictions

• Explain to students that good readers often make predictions about what might happen in a book based on what they already know, the series of events in the story, and what the characters say, do, and think. As they read the story, readers revise or confirm their predictions based on what they learn from reading. Before reading a book, readers can use the title and illustrations as the basis for making predictions.
• Model using the title and cover illustrations to make a prediction as you preview the book.
  Think-aloud: Looking at the front cover, I see three mice in fancy clothes. The girl mice are each holding a bouquet of flowers. I see the word Wedding in the title of the story. Maybe the mice are all in a wedding party. Maybe the boy mouse is getting ready to walk the two girl mice down the aisle. They might be flower girls and a ring bearer. The boy mouse does not look very happy about this task. I think he is shy and doesn't like being up in front of a lot of people. I will have to read the story to find out whether my predictions are confirmed.
• Create a chart on the board similar to the prediction worksheet. Write your predictions in the chart on the board.
• Introduce and explain the prediction worksheet to students. Invite them to make predictions based on the title and cover illustrations. Have students write their predictions on the worksheet.
• 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: Make inferences

• Write the following information on the board: Story Clues + What I Know = Inference. Explain that authors do not always tell all the information needed to understand everything in a story. Sometimes readers need to use their prior knowledge and experiences, as well as the details in the story, to make sense of ideas or events in the book. This is called making an inference. Explain that an inference is a conclusion drawn by connecting clues in text to information a person already knows. Making inferences allows readers to understand the text on a deeper level.
• Create a three-column chart on the board with the headings Story Clues, What I Know, and Inference. Read the following scenario to students: I like to go to the movies with my friend Allison. We both love funny movies. I like popcorn, and she likes candy. She always shares her candy with me, but whenever I offer my popcorn, she makes a face and says, "No, thank you."
• Model making an inference.
  Think-aloud: I know that authors do not always directly state all the ideas in a story and that I must make inferences to understand many stories completely. In the story about Allison, I know that she likes candy. Whenever I offer her popcorn, Allison says no. She also makes a face at the offer of popcorn. I know that when I make a face at something, it is generally because I do not like it. If I do not like something, I would not accept it if it were offered to me. Based on these clues from the story and what I know, I infer that Allison does not want popcorn for a snack at the movies because she doesn't like it.
• Ask students to identify information from the scenario that supports the inference. Write this information under the heading Story Clues on the chart. Ask students to identify information from experiences or prior knowledge shared during the discussion that supports the inference. Write this information under the heading What I Know on the chart. Then write the following sentence under the Inference column: Allison does not like popcorn.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Write the words from the glossary in a list on the chalkboard. Point to each word, read it aloud, and ask students to give the thumbs-up signal if they know the word or have heard it before. Circle any words with which most students are unfamiliar.
• Explain to students that good readers can use context clues to help figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word in the text. However, sometimes they will not find enough context clues to clearly define the unfamiliar word. Model how students can use the glossary or a dictionary to locate a word's meaning.
• Ask students to take turns reading the glossary words and their definitions. After each definition has been read, have them turn to the page and find the sentence containing the word. Read the sentence aloud to confirm the definition.
• For additional tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book, making predictions about what will happen in the story based on the events and what the characters say, do, and think. Remind them to revise or confirm their predictions as they learn more about the events of the story.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read to the end of page 6. Encourage those who finish early to go back and reread.
• Use the prediction chart on the board to model making predictions.
  Think-aloud: Before reading, I predicted that the mice on the cover were all in a wedding party. I thought that the boy mouse was getting ready to walk the two girl mice down the aisle. I also predicted that the boy mouse was shy and didn't like being up in front of a lot of people. So far, I know that Morty's family is getting ready for Aunt Maggie's wedding. His sisters are in the wedding. This part of my prediction was correct. However, I found out that Morty, the mouse on the cover, is mad because he will miss his best friend's party. Therefore, the expression on his face is most likely because he is angry and not because he is shy or nervous. I also read that Morty was not part of the wedding party, though the picture on the cover leads me to believe that he somehow becomes part of it. I think that because he is so disappointed about missing his friend's party, his aunt makes him a part of the wedding party at the last moment. I'll revise this prediction on the chart and keep reading to see what happens.
• Encourage students to use the information they've read and discussed to orally make, revise, and/or confirm a prediction.
• Ask students to use their prior knowledge and the information they've read so far to infer how Morty is feeling. (He is disappointed and angry that he has to miss his friend's party.) Have students share information from the text that supports their inferences. (Morty flung his tail aside and plopped down in the chair; he kept thinking about all the fun his friends would have at the party; his sisters were driving him crazy; he had to wear an old suit when everyone else got new clothes.) Have students share information from their prior knowledge that supports their inference. (Kids often don't like formal events because the events are often long and they need to wear formal clothes; it's very disappointing to miss a close friend's party.)
• Introduce and explain the make inferences worksheet. Have students write the information from the discussion on their worksheet.
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 10. Remind them to use the illustrations, sentences, and what they already know to make predictions as they read. When they have finished reading, have them make, revise, and/or confirm a prediction on their worksheet. When students have finished, discuss whether their prediction turned out to be true or whether they needed to revise it. Reassure students by explaining that predicting correctly is not the purpose of this reading strategy.
• Based on the information in the book and their prior knowledge, ask students what they can infer about why Morty volunteered to put his sisters' shoes in the car. (He doesn't want anyone to find out about his prank.) Ask them to identify clues from the text and prior experience that support the inference. Have students write the information on their make inferences worksheet. When they have finished, discuss their responses.
• Invite students to read the remainder of the book. Encourage them to continue to revise and confirm their predictions as they read the rest of the story.

      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.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• 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.
• Think-aloud: I predicted that because Morty is so disappointed about missing his friend's party, his aunt makes him a part of the wedding party at the last moment. This prediction was not correct. When Morty's father discovered what Morty had done to his sisters' shoes, he made Morty walk them down the aisle. I will write this information on the chart.
• Independent practice: Have students complete their prediction worksheet. Ask them to explain other predictions they made while reading. Invite students to discuss whether their prediction turned out to be true or whether it needed to be revised. If time allows, ask students to explain how making, revising, and confirming predictions helped them to understand and enjoy the events of the story.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Ask students what they can infer about Morty's relationship with his family. (Even though he pulls pranks on them, he loves and cares for them.) Have students identify information from the text that supports their inference. (He always tells the truth; he knew he had hurt his sisters' feelings; he apologized to his Aunt Maggie and his sisters.) Ask students to identify information from their prior knowledge that supports their inference. (Everyone makes poor choices at times, especially when we're mad or jealous; kids often fight with their siblings, but that doesn't mean they don't love them.) Have them write the information from the discussion on their worksheet.
• Independent practice: Have students complete their make inferences worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.
• Enduring understanding: In this story, Morty makes a poor decision that could have hurt family members, both physically and emotionally. Now that you know this information, why is it important to think about the consequences of an action before doing it?

Grammar and Mechanics: Possessive nouns

• Write the following sentence on the board: He would be missing his best friend's party. Read the sentence aloud, pointing to the word party. Ask a volunteer to explain to whose party the sentence is referring (friend's). Explain that the word friend's shows that the party belongs to the friend.
• Review or explain that words like friend's are called possessive nouns. A possessive noun is formed by adding an ' or an 's to the end of a word to show ownership, or possession.
• Direct students to page 4. Have them find two possessive words in the first sentence (Morty's and everyone's). Ask a volunteer to read aloud the sentence and identify the possessive nouns. Ask another volunteer to explain what belongs to Morty (job) and everyone (shoes).
• Explain that there are exceptions to the rule of adding 's to a noun when creating a possessive noun. Write the following sentence on the board: Morty spread the petroleum gel on his sisters' shoes.
• Circle the possessive noun (sisters'). Explain that the word is not pronounced "sisterses," so only an apostrophe was added to create the possessive noun. Point out to students that this is a general rule that applies to possessive nouns, and that exceptions to this rule exist.
• Ask students to identify what the sisters have ownership of in the sentence on the board (their shoes).
• Remind students that a contraction using 's is not the same as a possessive. For example, it's is a contraction for it is and does not show ownership.

      Check for understanding: Have students circle the possessive nouns on page 5 and underline the object of each possessive noun.

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the possessive nouns worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Word Work: Compound words

• Write the word birthday on the board. Ask students which two words they see in birthday (birth and day). Explain that this word is called a compound word. A compound word contains two words that make up one word meaning.
• Write the following sentence on the board: The bright sunlight was shining in Morty's room. Have students read the sentence and identify the compound word in the sentence (sunlight). Ask them which two words are joined together in the word sunlight (sun and light). Explain that the definitions of the two separate words can help students figure out the meaning of the bigger word (light from the sun).

      Check for understanding: Have students read page 4 in their book. Have them identify and circle the compound words in the second paragraph (shoeshine, baseball). Ask students to circle the two words contained in each compound word.

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the compound words worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers. 

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently. Additionally, partners can 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 stop periodically and ask the listener to make a prediction about what might happen next in the story.

Fantasy Writing and Art Connection
Review or explain to students that what makes this story a fantasy is the
personification--it has animals behaving, speaking, and dressing like humans. Have students write a story about an animal with human qualities. Invite students to share their stories when finished.

Science Connection
Ask pairs of students to use print and Internet resources to research mice. Ask them to identify information such as size, description, habitat, and diet. Encourage them to present their information in a multimedia format.

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 card 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.