Build Background

• Write the names Dorothy, scarecrow, tin woodsman, and lion on the board. Have students discuss what they know about these four characters. If necessary, explain that these are characters in a book called The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum.
• Ask students if they have read the book or seen the movie for this story. Provide background about the characters. (Dorothy was a young woman trying to find her way back home. The scarecrow, the tin man, and the lion are the friends she meets who help her get to Oz so that she can go home.) Point out that the book and movie versions of the story are different from each other.

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, illustrator'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 page 4, the author uses words such as thud and crash to describe how Dorian smashed onto the asphalt while wearing inline skates. I pictured the boy awkwardly losing his balance as he skated, tumbling onto the road with force. I pictured the scattered papers blowing across the ground in different directions. On page 5, the author describes Dorian in pain with bloody knees. I pictured Dorian slowly getting up from the ground, limping as he tried to gather the papers he dropped. I pictured tears in the corners of his eyes as a result of both the fall and the laughter he heard from Trevon and Leo.
• Reread pages 4 and 5 to students, asking them to use the words in the story to visualize. Have them share what they visualized.
• 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: Analyze characters

• Explain that there are many ways to learn about a character in a story. One way is to look at a character's words or thoughts. Another way is to examine the actions of the character. Explain to students that an author uses a character's words, thought, and actions to give the reader insight into a character's personality, relationships, and motivations, as well as the conflicts he or she may face. Point out that facial expressions and body language in the illustrations may also give clues to a character's traits.
• Ask students to turn to page 5. Reread this page of the story aloud while they follow along silently.
• Model how to analyze a character based on his or her actions.
  Think-aloud: As I read page 5, I found out that Miguel seems concerned about Dorian. He rushes out to help him and even tells his friends that he thinks Dorian needs help. The picture on page 4 shows three boys in the background. The two boys who are laughing are most likely Trevon and Leo. The facial expressions and body language of the third boy, Miguel, indicate concern. These actions tell me that Miguel appears to be a helpful, caring person.
• Introduce and explain the analyze characters worksheet. On the board, create a two-column chart with the heading Miguel. Label the first column Traits and the second column Clues. Write helpful and caring under the Traits heading, and rushed to help, looks concerned, and tells friends to help under the Clues heading. Have students record the information from the discussion on their worksheet.
• Have students explain how Miguel's reaction to Dorian's fall changed by the end of the page (he is influenced by his friends and does not help Dorian).

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Pass out large pieces of paper to students. Working in small groups, have students fold their paper into three equal-sized sections and write the headings Word, Meaning, and Example. Create a three-column chart on the board with the headings Word, Meaning, and Example.
• Write the following content vocabulary words on the board: courage, cruelty, guilt, ranting, and snicker. Have students write each word on their chart under the heading, Word. Have them work in groups to discuss what they know about these words and write a definition for each word on their chart under the heading, Meaning.
• Have students locate the words and their definitions in the dictionary. Compare students' definition of each word to the dictionary definition. Have them make corrections to the definitions on their chart.
• Have students work in their group to provide an example of someone displaying the meaning of each word. Have them write the example of each word on their chart under the heading, Example. Invite groups to share their examples for each word.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read to find out more about Miguel and the Yellow Brick Roadies. Remind them to stop after every few pages to visualize what they read about and record what they visualized on their visualize worksheet.

During Reading 

Student Reading

    Guide the reading: Review the events so far in the story. Have students read to the end of page 7. Encourage those who finish early to go back and reread. Have students write what they visualized during one or more events of the story on the inside front cover of their book.

• Model visualizing.
  Think-aloud: On page 7, Leo and Trevon continue to joke about Dorian's accident the previous day. The author describes Miguel's reaction to their snickering by using the words stomach turned and tried not to think about what had happened. Since it doesn't make sense for a stomach to actually turn in someone's body, this probably means that Miguel is feeling guilty about listening to his friends instead of helping Dorian. I pictured Miguel's head lowering and a sad expression on his face. Then I pictured the expression on his face changing from guilt to happiness when he comes up with the idea of taking his friends on a Great Gallardo adventure.
• Invite students to share with the rest of the class what they visualized while reading.
• Review the discussion before reading about how Miguel's reaction to Dorian's fall changed from concerned and helpful to being influenced by his friends. Ask students to explain whether this behavior of Miguel's continued. (Yes, the text indicates that he feels upset about what happened. However, he doesn't say anything to Trevon and Leo about the accident and defends their character in front of his sister.) Have students record the information from the discussion on their analyze characters worksheet.

    Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 12. Have them visualize the information in the text as they read. Ask students to write what they visualized on the inside back cover of their book. Invite students to share what they visualized as they read.

• Point out and reread the following sentence from page 12: "Stay on the yellow brick road!" Miguel shouted, wondering what he had done by bringing them here. Ask students to explain how this statement reflects a change in Miguel's reactions to Trevon and Leo (he is questioning his choice and possibly the character traits of his two friends). Have students record the information from the discussion on their analyze characters worksheet.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Ask them to continue to visualize and think about the traits of the characters 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.

After Reading 

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: On page 18, I read about the hundreds of flying monkeys hovering like helicopters above the boys. In my mind, I pictured the blue sky becoming dark overhead as hundreds of brown creatures gathered above Miguel and his friends. I pictured a frightened expression on the Leo's face, his arms covering his head as he hid behind the tree.
• Ask students to explain how the strategy of visualizing helped them understand and enjoy the story.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the visualize worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Review the characteristics of Miguel that students identified from the first chapter of the story (helpful and caring, influenced by friends, seeks approval, and so on).
• Briefly review the events from chapters three through five. Ask students to identify additional changes in Miguel's character (he's being assertive, standing up for what is right). Ask students to identify the clues from the story that support these traits. Have students record the information from the discussion on their analyze characters worksheet.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the analyze characters worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.
• Enduring understanding: In this story, Miguel allows his friends to influence his choices, which causes him to feel guilty and creates problems in Oz. Now that you know this information, why is it important to stand up for what you know is right?

Build Skills 

Grammar and Mechanics: Compound sentences

• Write the following sentence on the board: Miguel wanted to be friends with Leo and Trevon, but he didn't like the choices they were making. Ask students to identify two separate sentences within this longer sentence. (Miguel wanted to be friends with Leo and Trevon. He didn't like the choices they were making.) Write these on the board.
• Point out that the original sentence is an example of a compound sentence. Review or explain that a compound sentence is a sentence consisting of two or more simple sentences separated by a comma and a conjunction. A simple sentence contains its own subject and verb.
• Review with students examples of conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet). Write these examples on the board. Ask students to identify the conjunction that joined the two parts of the original sentence (but).
• Discuss why the author chose to join two sentences of similar content together (compound sentences with conjunctions help writers make their writing more fluent).
• Write the following sentence on the board: The boy's name was Dorian, and he was in Miguel's class. Ask a volunteer to come to the board to identify and circle the conjunction (and).
• Have students identify the two sentences the conjunction connects (The boy's name was Dorian. He was in Miguel's class.). Discuss how the conjunction and comma connect the two sentences together, taking the place of the period and capital letter H in the second sentence.

    Check for understanding: Have students locate compound sentences in the book. Ask them to underline these sentences in their book and circle each conjunction and comma. When students have finished, discuss their answers.

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

Word Work: Idioms

• Explain that an idiom is a phrase or expression with a meaning different from the literal meaning of its words.
• Have students turn to page 5 and read the following sentence aloud: Miguel had been a friend to Trevon and Leo since first grade, but this year, they were really getting under his skin. Ask students if Trevon and Leo were literally getting under Miguel's skin. Point out that this is an example of an idiom. Ask students what the author really meant by the phrase getting under his skin (bothering him, annoying him, and so on).
• Have students turn to page 7 and read the following sentence aloud: They were mad at Dorian for ratting us out in P.E. the other day. Ask students to identify the idiom (ratting us out). Have a volunteer explain why the literal definition doesn't make sense. Have students describe what the author meant by the phrase ratting us out (telling on them).
• Discuss how understanding the meaning of idioms is often dependent on the language patterns of specific regions of people. Discuss how the understanding and use of idioms in language might be difficult for someone who doesn't speak the language or share the language patterns of the area.

    Check for understanding: Have students locate and underline the other idiom on page 7 (Miguel's stomach turned). Have them write what really happened to Miguel in the left-hand column of the page. (Miguel's stomach did not literally turn; his stomach felt sick because he was thinking about what happened with Dorian yesterday, and it made him feel ashamed).

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

Build Fluency 

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently or with a partner. Encourage repeated timed readings of a specific section of the book.

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 compare the pictures they created in their mind.

Extend the Reading 

Writing and Art Connection
Have students watch the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939). Have them compare and contrast story events from the movie with the events of Yellow Brick Roadies, which is more closely related to the original version of the story by Frank Baum. Have students recount the similarities and differences in a written report.

Social Studies Connection
Provide a safe environment for a class discussion about peer pressure. Ask students to think about a time when they were in a situation like Miguel's, where people around them weren't making good choices. Discuss with students the difficulty they might have standing up to people and saying what they think is right, especially when those people are their friends. Provide students with scenarios they might face and invite them to offer suggestions and ideas about how to best handle each situation.

Assessment 

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• consistently use the strategy of visualizing to comprehend the text during discussion and on a worksheet
• analyze the words and actions of the book's main characters; identify changes in a character's feelings during discussion and on a worksheet
• recognize and understand compound sentences during discussion and on a worksheet
• understand and apply the use of idioms during discussion and on a worksheet

Comprehension Checks

• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric

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