Build Background

• Write the word bones on the board. Have pairs of students brainstorm and list words, phrases, and concepts related to the word that come to mind.
• Have the pairs share their lists while you record their thoughts on the board.
• Have students discuss the list on the board, noting words that are familiar/unfamiliar to them, how the words might be categorized, which make them think of questions, etc.

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.
• Have students look at the list on the board and decide which words/phrases might be in the book.
• Have students look at the table of contents and find any words/phrases in the headings that are the same as on their list.

Introduce the Strategy: Make connections to prior knowledge

• Model making a connection with prior knowledge.
• Think-aloud: I know that good readers preview a book before reading to see if they are familiar with the topic. The chapter called “Put Your Back Into It” suggests to me that this chapter will be about the backbone. I know that another name for this is the spine. I also know that the spine is very important and if it is damaged, it affects whether people are able to walk or not. I’m not sure exactly why this is so, but I expect I will find out when I read that section. I will be able to add new information about the spine to what I already know.
• Have students share prior knowledge of any of the topics listed in the table of contents.
• Have students preview the rest of the book, including the title page, photographs and captions, diagram, and boxes titled "Bones Bonus." Point out the glossary and index and have students explain the purpose of each.
• 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 that 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 word parts and thinking about the meaning of sentences.
• Model how to apply word-attack strategies. Have students find the word cranium on page 6. Tell students that in informational books like this one, explanation or definition context clues are often used for unfamiliar words. Have students identify the phrase that defines the word. Point out the comma that precedes it.
• Preview other vocabulary such as appendages (p. 14), dexterous (p. 15), and vertebrates (p. 4) before students begin reading.
• For additional teaching tips on word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students think about what they know about bones and the skeleton as they read the book.

Student Reading

• Guide the Reading: Have students read to the end of page 13. Tell them to underline any important information about the skeleton and bones. Tell them they should go back and reread the pages if they finish before everyone else.
• When they have finished reading, ask students to tell what they underlined. Reinforce unfamiliar vocabulary by using words such as tendons, ligaments, and cartilage in the discussion. Model making connections using prior knowledge.
• Think-aloud: While I'm reading I think to myself, "Do I know anything about this?" If I do, I am able to make a connection that makes what I'm reading easier to understand. For example, I already knew something about how the cranium protects the brain because I have read about the importance of wearing a helmet when cycling. When I read the section on the spinal column, I found that just as the cranium protects the brain, the spinal column protects the spinal cord. I learned new information about the spinal cord and it made sense because I could relate it to what I know about protecting the brain.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to think about what they know about bones and the skeleton as they read, and to relate what they already know to new information.

    Tell the 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 could read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
• Discuss how making connections with things 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: Main idea and details

• Discussion: Have students look at the diagram of the skull on page 7. Tell them to place their hands on each skull bone. Say the names of the bones with students and ask them to repeat. Discuss the maxilla and the mandible. Have students put their index and thumb on either side of their upper lip and try to move their upper jaws. Ask what happens. Have students look at the illustration of the backbone on page 10. Have them feel down their backs. Have them identify one detail about their backbone.
• Introduce and model: Remind students that in many informational books like this one the title gives a clue about the main idea. Ask students what the main topic of the book is (bones). Ask what the book tells them about bones, and help them understand that the main idea is that there are many different bones with different functions within our body. Explain that each chapter in this book contains details about the skeleton and bones. These details support the main idea of the function of different types of bones in our body. Explain that finding the main idea and details and recording them on a graphic organizer is a good way to organize the information they want to remember from a book.
• Turn to page 6 and model finding details. Point out that there is a lot of interesting information on the page but that you are looking only for the most important details, which are that the bones in the head are the skull or the cranium and that the skull protects the brain.
• Check for understanding: Give students the worksheet and have them record the details about the skull that you found on page 6. Then have them look through the rest of the section to find other important details. Have students share their findings and decide how much of the information consists of important details.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the Main Idea/Details worksheet. Discuss their responses.

   Extend the discussion: Instruct students to use the inside front cover of their book to list 2 details about the bones in the ears from the “Bones Bonus” text box on page 8.

Grammar and Mechanics: Identifying compound sentences

• Write the following sentence on the board: Your bones give your body its shape, but they also give you much more. Review or explain that sentences that have similar ideas can often be joined together to form a compound sentence. Tell students that the words and and but are usually used to join them, and that a comma is almost always used with the word but. Point out the word but in the above sentence.
• Explain that each part of a compound sentence has its own subject and verb. Have students find the subject and verb in each part (bones give; they give).
• Check for understanding by having students find a compound sentence in the second paragraph on page 9 (Skeletons also have teeth, but teeth are not bones.). Have them identify each of the sentences joined to form the compound sentence. Ask them to identify the word used to join them (but). Point out that a comma has been used before the word but. Have them find the subject and verb in each sentence part.
• Have students look at the second sentence in the second paragraph on page 10 (Seven vertebrae are found in the neck, and they are called cervical vertebrae). Have them identify each of the sentences joined to form the compound sentence. Ask them to identify the word used to join them (and).
• Independent Practice

    Have students go through pages 10, 18, and 19, underlining the compound sentences. Then have them use the inside back cover of the book to write a compound sentence. Have students exchange with one another and identify each sentence joined to form the compound sentence and the word that joins them.

Word Work: Using words in a sentence

• Tell students that most of the words in the book are used to tell about the skeleton and bones. Provide opportunities for students to talk about difficult words such as bone marrow, swivel, and hinge joints. Have pairs of students practice using the words in sentences as they discuss the skeletal system with one another.
• Give students the vocabulary crossword worksheet to complete.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their books independently or with a partner. 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

• Have students use facts and details from the text to write bone “jingles” that can be shared with another class or read during school announcements. Tell students that in order for the jingle to “sound” right, there should be a repeated rhythm. 

Building bones is easy to do
when you drink your milk and eat good food. 

Walk up the stairs or in the park,
play basketball or swim with the sharks! 

Don’t smoke, don’t drink -- just keep it clean.
Your bones will thank you…know what I mean? 

Science Connection

• Provide print and Internet resources for students to further research how to keep their bones healthy. Have them make "Healthy Bones" posters that suggest ways to keep their bones strong. Display the posters in the classroom, lunchroom, or library.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• tell what they already know about the topic and how this helps them understand new information
• identify important details in each section that support the idea that there are many different kinds of bones in our bodies that have different functions
• accurately identify the 2 parts of compound sentences in the book; identify the conjunctions; and name the subject and the verb of each part
• read for meaning clues and decide on the appropriate content word for a particular sentence.