Reading Level:
T

Word Count:
2,084

Pages:
26 

Text Summary
A magician tricks Aladdin, the son of a poor tailor, into getting a magic lamp from a hidden cavern. Aladdin is able to use the magic lamp to get treasures for his family and marry the Sultan’s daughter, Princess Buddir. But the magician wants his lamp back, and Aladdin must outwit him again. 

Lesson Objectives

Reading Strategies
Students should use a variety of strategies to determine word meaning and comprehend text. The target strategy for this lesson is: rereading to check for sense. 

Word and Print Skills

Phonics
Soft g sound
Word Work
Suffixes
Grammar
Conjunctions 

Targeted Vocabulary Words
exhaustion, magician, immediately, labor, incense, murmured, mysterious, passageway, demanded, protested, accidentally, genie, enormous, terrified, satisfying, Sultan, bathhouse, cavern, grumbled, distinguishable, splendid, magnificent, procession, sumptuous, summoned, vanished,

These are difficult words that students will encounter in the text. You may want to review and discuss the words and have students add them to the classroom word wall or dictionary. 

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as students work to understand the text. The target comprehension strategy for this lesson is: drawing conclusions. 

Before Reading

Introduce the Book
Show students the cover of the book and have them read the title and look at the cover illustration to make initial predictions about the story.
Ask: What do you see on the cover? What do you think this story is about? Have you heard this story before? Do you think this version might be different from one you know? What makes you think that? 

Build Background
You will want to ask questions to elicit prior knowledge and build background about the story of Aladdin.
Ask: Have you ever heard stories about Aladdin? What happens in the stories you know? Where do the stories take place? What are some of the characters he encounters?
Write the list of suggested events and characters on a chart or on the board. 

Book Walk
Give students their copies of the book and go through as much of the book as you feel is necessary. Point out things you feel will challenge students as they read. Look at the pictures with students and discuss what they see. You may want to write down some of the words they suggest. This step helps reduce the anxiety that some students feel when they are faced with a book that has unfamiliar text. 

Reading Strategies
Remind students to use any or all of the following strategies to help them in their reading:

• Ask the questions: Does it make sense? Does it sound right? Does it look right?
• Connect the text with what they already know
• Reread any sentence or page that was difficult, to make sure they understand the text
• Sound out the word by breaking it into chunks and applying what they know about letters and sounds

Tell students that when they finish reading, you will talk about the strategies they used. 

During Reading

Student Reading
Have students read the book independently to find out whether their predictions about the story are correct. You may suggest they read through the book once and then read it again, stopping to list confirmations or revisions of the predictions on their charts. If the book will be used as a consumable, you may ask students to mark or highlight words they have trouble with or places where they get confused. They may also mark or highlight important words or information in another color. 

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
Discuss the reading strategies students used, emphasizing rereading for sense.
Ask: Were there some words you had trouble reading? What strategies did you use? Did you reread to see if the text made sense? Can you show me a part where you went back and reread? How did this help you understand the story? 

Discuss the purpose of reading and refer to the notes you made on the board during the Build Background section of the lesson.
Ask: Did any of the events we wrote on the board happen in the story? How close was your prediction about what would happen? Did the story end the way you thought it would? How did your prior knowledge of Aladdin help you predict what was going to happen in the story? 

Model for students how to draw conclusions. Then guide them to draw conclusions about the text.
Say: If someone comes into the room wearing a wet raincoat, I can draw the conclusion that it is raining outside. There may be other reasons why the raincoat is wet. Perhaps the person walked through a sprinkler. But the logical conclusion is that it is raining. In the same way, you can draw conclusions about what you read. Based on what you know about the plot and what the characters do, you can draw conclusions about them.
Ask: What conclusions can we draw about the kind of person Aladdin was, based on what you read in the book? What was the problem that Aladdin had to solve in the story? What conclusion can you draw about him based on how he solved his problem? How did Aladdin change in the story? Could this story really happen? Why? What made this story a fantasy? What conclusions can you draw about fantasy stories in general, based on what you learned from this story? 

Discuss other aspects of the story if time allows. Suggested questions are:

• Was this a good story? Why or why not?
• What was your favorite part? Why?
• Who was you favorite character? Why?
• What are some differences between this book and a version of Aladdin you are more familiar with?
• What are some important words the author uses to create mood, tension, or suspense?

Building Skills

Phonics
Soft g as in magic
Write the words gem, germ, general, magic, and margin on the board. Have students read the words with you and ask what sound they hear in all of them (/j/). Ask what they notice about the spelling of these words. (They are all spelled with a g for the /j/ sound.) Write the words goat, gas, glove, grape, magnify, long, rug, and guest on the board, and read the words. Ask students if they can see a pattern for when the g is pronounced soft, or /j/, and when it is pronounced hard, or /g/ (hard g when it is followed by a, o, u and most consonants, and soft g when it is followed by e, i, or y). Students can search for more soft g words in the text and in other sources. Words can be added to individual or class word wall, charts, dictionaries, or lists. 

Word Work
Suffixes
Say: Suffixes are added to the end of words to change or modify the meaning. Two common suffixes are -ful, and -ness. The suffix -ful means full of, and -ness means a state of being. Let’s look for words with these suffixes in the text (wonderful, thankful, darkness, beautiful, colorful, frightful, careful, and happiness). Discuss the root words and how the meaning changes when the suffix is added. 

Grammar
Conjunctions
Say: Conjunctions are words that link or relate two parts of a sentence. In the sentence, “His father tried to teach him the trade, but the boy was so lazy, he refused to do any work.” The word but links “the boy was lazy” to “His father tried to teach him the trade.” Can you think of other words that link parts of a sentence? (and, but, for, or, so, yet) Help students look through the text to find examples of conjunctions.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Aladdin had a great adventure. Have students write a new adventure for Aladdin and Princess Buddir. Students can make an outline listing the setting, characters, and main events in the plot of their new adventure. 

Social Studies Connection
Read additional stories from or about the Middle East, including 1,001 Arabian Nights, The Epic of Gilgamesh, or others. 

Reading Independently
Invite students to reread the book independently or with a partner. Have students share their own stories from the Writing Connection with each other.

Home Connection
Invite students to take the book home to read with their families. Have them share their Writing Connection stories with a family member. 

Assessment

• Monitor students’ responses during discussion to determine how well they can draw conclusions based on the information in the book. Review their completed worksheet 1 to see how well they justify conclusions with reference to the text.
• Observe students as they read to see whether they reread to make sense. You may want to intervene if you notice a student having difficulty, and encourage him or her to reread the whole sentence or section to see if that helps work out the word.
• Assess the completed worksheet 2 to determine whether they understand how to add suffixes to root words.