Text Type: Nonfiction/Informational
Page Count: 24
Word Count: 1,490

Book Summary
In 1940, four teenage boys stumbled upon an important discovery in Lascaux, France. Exploring in the woods, they discovered a large hole in the ground and excitedly dug to investigate. They continued to explore the cave, using lanterns to go even deeper, until they discovered a dark, cavernous room. The walls were covered with paintings of animals--found later to be created by Stone Age people who lived 17,000 years earlier. Archaeologists began to raise many questions, some of which are still unanswered. Photographs, a map, and illustrations support the text.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Visualize

Objectives

• Use the reading strategy of visualizing to understand text
• Analyze problem and solution
• Identify and use commas after introductory words
• Understand the use of conjunctions in the text

Materials

• Book -- What the Boys Found (copy for each student)
• World map
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Visualize, problem and solution, commas, conjunctions 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: accustomed, analyzed, bas-relief, befuddled, cavernous, discovery, exploration, masterpieces, methods, mysterious, mystical, passage, radiocarbon, scaffold, treasures

Build Background

• Show students a world map and ask a volunteer to locate France. Ask if other volunteers can find the cities of Lascaux and Montignac. Have students compare these locations to where they live.
• Provide books in which photographs of bas-relief artwork are highlighted. Allow students time to explore and learn about the pictures. Discuss this technique of creating sculpture, in which the design is raised slightly from the surface but is still attached to the surface.  

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 and what it might be about.
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title, 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: Visualize

• Explain to students that good readers often visualize, or create pictures in their mind, while reading. Visualizing is based on the words used in the text and what a person already knows about a topic.
• Read pages 4 and 5 aloud to students. Model how to visualize.
  Think-aloud: Whenever I read a book, I always pause after a few pages to create a picture in my mind of the information I've read. This helps me organize the important information and understand the ideas in the book. For example, on pages 4 and 5, the author describes how four boys stumbled upon a mysterious hole in the ground. I pictured Marcel, his three friends, and a dog peering down into the blackness of the gaping entrance. I also pictured the creation of the hole, happening years before--a bright bolt of lightning striking a tall, green pine tree. I envisioned the huge tree toppling heavily to the ground, its roots becoming exposed to create the hole. It must have been exciting for Marcel and his friends to uncover something like this, deep in the woods.
• Reread pages 4 and 5 aloud to students, asking them to use the words in the story to visualize. Introduce and explain the visualize worksheet. Have students draw on the worksheet what they visualized from the text on pages 4 and 5. Invite students to share their drawings.
• 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: Problem and solution

• Explain that writers have reasons for writing what they write. Write the following words on the board: problem and solution. Review or explain that a problem is something that is difficult to deal with or hard to understand and must be worked out or solved (such as finding out what mysteries were beneath a hole in the ground). A solution is an act or a process of solving the problem (such as Marcel and his friends exploring to find answers to their questions).
• Tell students that in fictional writing, an author usually poses a problem to one or more characters and that the rest of the story evolves around solving the problem. Explain that sometimes in nonfiction writing, problems will be disclosed and that a resolution is typically explained before the end of the book. Ask students to identify this book as a fiction or nonfiction book (nonfiction) and ask them to explain how they know.
• Write the headings Problem, Possible Solutions, and Consequences on the board. Review Marcel's problem with students (he didn't know what was down the hole). Write this on the board under the heading Problem. Ask students whether they have ever experienced a problem like this--not understanding something they discovered. Discuss the possible solutions Marcel and his friends might have for their problem and list them on the board under Possible Solutions. Have students also consider a positive and a negative consequence for each of their solutions, and write these on the board under the heading Consequences. Circle the possible solution that the class thinks is best. Have students look for the solution Marcel eventually chooses as they read.
• Explain to students that good readers look for problems and solutions as they read to help them understand and remember the text.
• Model looking for problems and solutions.
  Think-aloud: I know that I will learn about more problems that Marcel might face as I continue to read the book. I know that it is important to continue reading to find out about the solutions as well. I learned that good readers do this, so I'm going to look for problems and solutions in this book as I read.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Cut out the illustrations on pages 5 and 7. Write the words cavernous, exploration, and treasures on the board. Explain that thinking ahead about these vocabulary words will help students understand the problems Marcel faces in the story.
• Show students the illustration from page 7. Have students describe what they see in the illustration. Point to the boys peeking into the dark hole. Invite students to describe facial and body clues in the illustration; explain that these might help them guess how the boys might feel about this mystery. Ask students whether they know a word that describes a large, empty space in the ground that is dark, deep, and hollow (cavernous).
• Have students turn to page 9. Read the sentence containing the vocabulary word: After a while he lowered the rope and dropped down a shaft into a cavernous room below. Have students turn to the glossary, and ask a volunteer to read the definition for cavernous. Ask students how facing a cavernous space might be a problem for Marcel.
• Ask students to identify the word on the board that describes a journey through unfamiliar territory to learn more about it (exploration). Have students turn to page 6. Read the sentence containing the vocabulary word: They felt they had to follow their instincts and continue their exploration. Have students turn to the glossary and ask a volunteer to read the definition for exploration.
• Show students the illustration from page 5. Have them describe what they see in the illustration. Point to the detail on the inside of the cave. Invite students to describe clues in the illustration that might help readers guess what Marcel and his friends might have discovered. Ask students whether they know a word that describes things that are valuable such as money or jewels (treasures).
• Have students turn to page 5. Read the sentence containing the vocabulary word: Several years before, a large pine tree had been struck by lightning and tumbled over, exposing a gaping entrance to what turned out to be one of history's most interesting treasures. Have students turn to the glossary, and ask a volunteer to read the definition for treasures. Ask students what items might be considered historical treasures.
• Ask students to think about how each of these vocabulary words may represent a problem or solution for Marcel and his friends.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read to find out more about Marcel's exploration of the mysterious hole. Remind them to stop after every few pages to visualize the most important information and draw on their worksheet how they visualized it.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read from page 6 to the end of page 13. Encourage those who finish before others to reread the text. When students are ready, discuss the important information they identified.
• Model visualizing.
  Think-aloud: On page 10, I read about Marcel discovering the bas-relief paintings. I pictured a boy peering into the darkness and discovering these immense paintings. I envisioned the animals carved out of the surface of the cave with a technique that made the images appear raised from the surface. I pictured the painted images of horses, cows, stags, and bison sprawled across the walls of the cave.
• Invite students to share their drawings of what they visualized while reading. Have them explain their drawings aloud.
• Invite students to share problems and solutions they have identified so far (page 6: Marcel and his friends discovered a mysterious hole, but didn't know what lay beneath; page 8: the boys saw another entrance in the shadowy space beyond; page 9: they encountered a narrow passage too small for all of them to fit through; page 13: archaeologists had many questions about the origin of the paintings).
• Introduce and explain the problem and solution worksheet. Point out that the first problem was worked out aloud and written on the board. Ask students to write the new problems on their worksheet. Evaluate possible solutions aloud, discussing a positive and negative consequence of each possible solution, and recording all of their ideas on the board under the columns for Problem, Possible Solutions, and Consequences. Point out that although some of the solutions have already been disclosed in the book, it is possible to consider and analyze the other options people had before they made their choice of action. Have students record the information on their worksheet. Have them specifically consider one of the archaeologists' questions from page 13. Ask them to record it on their worksheet and then circle the possible solution they think would make the most sense.
• Talk about Marcel's chosen solution for making his way through the small passage (he took a lantern and dug his way through the small space). Have students cite examples from the text to support their thoughts (...they decided that Marcel should go forward alone; Marcel squeezed through the space, digging as he went; and so on.) Point out the last column on the worksheet, Evaluation. Explain the process of evaluation (to think carefully about the options and decide whether the one chosen was best). Encourage students to fill in the final column, writing their opinions about whether they think it was a good decision for Marcel to make, and why or why not.
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 15. Have them visualize the information in the text as they read. Ask students to draw what they visualized on their visualize worksheet. Invite them to share what they visualized.
• Ask students what new problem the archaeologists faced (page 14: they didn't know how old the paintings were; they could not date the pictures using the radiocarbon method; page 15: they had to find out more about the flint and bone fragments used to carve the pictures). Have students fill out the first three columns of their worksheet, Problem, Possible Solutions, and Consequences for this problem. As they read, remind them to look for the solutions the archaeologists found and to stop and fill in the Evaluation column.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Encourage them to continue to visualize as they read the rest of the story. Remind them to continue thinking about the important problems and solutions in the story as 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

• Think-aloud: On page 19, I read about the Stone Age artists creating their paintings. I pictured the ceiling in the Painted Gallery, up very, very high--impossible to reach--but covered with glorious paintings. I pictured a large wooden scaffold suspended from holes in the walls of the cave, and I envisioned the artists standing on these platforms, paintbrushes in hand.
• Ask students to explain how the strategy of visualizing helped them understand and enjoy the story. Lead a discussion about how many interesting sights Marcel experienced when he went into the cavern. Have students study the photographs on pages 11, 14, 16, and 22. Ask them what they think it would have been like to be a Stone Age artist, painting by the light of a lantern fueled by animal fat. Ask them to think about the method used by these early artists to create paint--with red and black pigments made from minerals and metals found in the earth.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the visualize worksheet. If time allows, have them share their drawings.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Talk about the other problems that were encountered as the story continued. Invite students to identify and discuss them (page 16: scientists wondered who the artists were; page 17: scientists wondered whether the art was created by a Shaman or by hunters; they wondered whether children helped the artists; page 18: scientists wondered how the artists were able to see; page 19: scientists wondered how artists could create the pictures at the top of the Painted Gallery; scientists wondered why there were tiny holes in the wall, halfway up to the high ceiling; page 20: scientists wondered what tools the Stone Age artists used, and how they created color; page 22: people still wonder what else the caves can tell us; people wonder what the carvings and paintings mean).
• Talk about the problem that the Stone Age artists encountered when they wanted to paint on the ceiling (the ceiling was very high). Ask students to write it on their worksheet. Evaluate their possible solutions together, discussing a positive and negative consequence of each possible solution and writing all of their ideas on the board under the columns for Problem, Possible Solutions, and Consequences. Have students write the information on their worksheet. Ask them to circle the possible solution they think would be best. Have students identify which solution scientists think the artists used (making holes in the walls to support scaffolding).
• Check for understanding: Talk about the question that really puzzled the scientists: How were the artists able to see? Have students record the Stone Age artists' problem on their worksheet (the cave was too dark to paint in). Have them cite examples from the text to support the solution to the artists' problem (page 19: Stone Age artists lit their workspace by burning lamps filled with animal fat.) Have students to fill in the final column, Evaluation, writing their feelings about whether they think it was a good decision for the artists to make, and why or why not.
• Independent practice: Have students complete their problem and solution worksheet. If necessary, reduce the number of problems and solutions students record and evaluate. Discuss their responses aloud once students have finished.
• Enduring understanding: In this book, you read about Stone Age artists creating paintings in an immense cavern. Now that you know this information, how does it make you feel about how art can touch people thousands of years later? What do you think about the music, paintings, and dance performances of our time? Do you think people will respect and admire them thousands of years from now?

Grammar and Mechanics: Commas after introductory words

• Write the following sentence on the board: Well, that's just what happened to four teenage boys in France. Ask a volunteer to come to the board and circle the comma. Explain that the word well is an introductory word leading into the sentence and that the comma separates it from the rest of the thought.
• Have students turn to page 12. Ask them to find the following sentence: Clearly, these works of art were very, very old, and before long archaeologists came to the cave to study them. Ask a volunteer to identify the introductory word (Clearly). Discuss the location of the comma. Read the sentence aloud, emphasizing how the comma sets off the leading thought.

      Check for understanding: Write the following sentence on the board: Still like other caves in the area, the Lascaux cave held many more secrets. Have students rewrite the sentence on a separate piece of paper, adding the comma to separate the introductory word from the rest of the sentence. Check individual answers for understanding.

      Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the commas worksheet. Discuss answers aloud after students finish.

Word Work: Conjunctions

• Explain or review that a conjunction is a word that links and relates two parts of a sentence together. Examples of conjunctions are: and, but, because, when, for, or, so, and yet.
• Ask students to turn to page 17. Write the following sentence from the book on the board: In other nearby caves, scientists found small and large footprints. Explain that the conjunction and connects the two descriptive words of the sentence, small and large. On the board under the example, write the following: In other nearby caves, scientists found small footprints. In other nearby caves, scientists found large footprints. Discuss how the author chose to link these two descriptive phrases instead of writing two repetitive sentences, one after another. Explain that this is an example of how conjunctions help writers make their writing more fluent, or smoothly flowing.
• Check for understanding: Ask students to return to page 17. Write the following sentence from the book on the board: Did this mean the children helped the artists or came to visit the Shaman with their parents? Explain that the conjunction or connects the first action phrase (helped the artists) with the next (came to visit). Discuss how the conjunction brings together the two parts of the sentence. Have volunteers come to the board to write the two repetitive sentences that would exist without the conjunction. (Did this mean the children helped the artists? Did this mean the children came to visit the Shaman with their parents?)
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the conjunctions worksheet. Review student answers aloud. 

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 practice visualizing the story with someone at home and then comparing the pictures they created in their mind.

Informational Writing and Art Connection
Provide print and Internet sources for students to learn more about the discovery of King Tut's tomb, focusing on the ancient hieroglyphic writings that were found inside. Point out that hieroglyphics inside the deserted tomb have many similarities to the bas-relief images found in the Lascaux cave. Have students use the same voice that the author did in this book, posing questions to readers and using conversation-style writing. Instruct them to report on how, when, and where the ancient writings were originally found, in addition to telling who originally discovered them and in what condition they were found. Have students include pictures or drawings of hieroglyphic messages in their own report.

Visit Writing A-Z or a lesson and leveled materials on informational report writing.

Science Connection
Provide print and Internet sources for students to learn more about the practice of making paint. Have them work together in small groups to find out how methods have changed over the years, comparing today's paint to the paint made from minerals and metals in the Stone Age. Encourage them to read to find out how different colors are made, why some processes are limited in the amount of colors that are possible, and why some methods are no longer used today. Have each group write the information they found on a poster to share orally with the class.

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.

Comprehension Checks

• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric