Text Type: Fiction/Fantasy
Page Count: 24
Word Count: 2,190 

Book Summary
Miguel in the Secret Garden tells the story of a young boy, Miguel, and his desire to experience adventure in another one of The Great Gallardo's books. Bored and frustrated by the work expected of him in his family's garden, he escapes to the attic, where he magically becomes a character in the book The Secret Garden. Illustrations support the text.

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
• Sequence events
• Recognize and use adverbs
• Identify and create compound words

Materials

• Book -- Miguel in the Secret Garden (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Dictionaries
• Prediction, sequence events, adverbs, compound words worksheets

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

Vocabulary

• Content words: celebratory, desperate, indecipherable, instinct, insulated, mahogany, muster, spewed, swivel, three-dimensional, updraft

Build Background:

• Ask students to think of ways they have used their imagination to create an adventure. Invite them to share the details of their adventures.
• Ask students whether they have read any of Miguel's other adventures in his great grandfather's old books: The Great Gallardo's Books, Level U; In Huck's Shoes, Level Y; Sister Sleuth and the Silver Blaze, Level V; or Yellow Brick Roadies, Level U. Discuss what they remember from the stories and why they think people enjoy reading serial stories.
• Write the title The Secret Garden on the board. Ask students whether they have read the book or seen the movie and, if so, to share what they remember about it.
• Ask students whether they have ever had a secret place that they liked to go. Discuss what they would do if they found a secret garden.

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 of book, 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 that students can justify.)

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

• Explain to students that good readers often make predictions, or guesses, about what will happen in a book based on the series of events and what the characters say, do, and think in the story. As they read the story, readers make, revise, or confirm 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 illustrations to make a prediction. Have students turn to page 3.
  Think-aloud: When I look at the illustration on page 3, I see a man and two children. It looks as though they are working in a garden. When people work in a garden, they are often growing food or flowers for their home. The people in the illustration appear to be a father and his two children--perhaps they are growing things for their family home. In the title, I see the words Secret Garden. I wonder whether their garden is secret. Maybe they are making the garden as a surprise for someone. I'll have to read the book to find out what happens.
• Introduce and explain the prediction worksheet. Create a similar chart on the board. Model writing a prediction in the Make column, such as: The children and their father are making a garden as a surprise for someone. Invite students to make a prediction based on the table of contents, cover illustrations, and title. Have them write their prediction on their worksheet in the Make column. Share and discuss the predictions as a group.
• 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: Sequence events

• Review or explain that stories are generally told in order from beginning to end.
• Model sequencing the main events of the story Jack and the Beanstalk. Write key words about each event in order on the board as you describe them to students.
  Think-aloud: If I want someone to be able to tell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, certain events need to be included to tell the story correctly. In this story, the first event that happens is that Jack goes to town to sell his cow. Next, a man gives him magic beans for his cow. Then, the beans grow into a beanstalk that extends into the sky. After that, Jack climbs up the beanstalk and finds a giant's castle. Next, Jack takes some gold coins and climbs down the beanstalk. Then, Jack climbs back up the beanstalk to steal a hen that lays golden eggs and returns home. After that, Jack climbs up the beanstalk and takes a singing harp. The harp wakes up the giant, who follows Jack down the beanstalk. Last, Jack cuts down the beanstalk before the giant reaches the bottom.
• Explain to students that certain words are often used to explain a sequence of events. Read them the list of events on the board in order, using words such as first, next, then, and last. Ask students to identify these types of sequencing words from the example.
• Have a volunteer use the key words on the board to sequence the events of the story out of order. Ask students to explain why the order of the steps is important (the sequence does not make sense out of order).
• Point out to students that the sequence of events listed on the board shows only the events that were most important for someone to understand the story. It does not include all the details of a retelling of the story.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Write the following words from the content vocabulary on the board: desperate, insulated, and instinct.
• Give groups of students a large piece of blank paper. Have them divide the paper into three parts. For each word, have them write or draw what they know about the word. Have groups discuss and create a definition for each word using their prior knowledge.
• Discuss the definitions and create a class definition for each word. Write each class definition on the board.
• Explain to students that sometimes they will not find any context clues that define an unfamiliar word. Review with students how to locate a word and its definition in the dictionary.
• Have a volunteer read the definition for each word. Compare students' definitions with the dictionary definition. Use the comparison to modify the definition for each word on the board. Have volunteers use the words in oral sentences.
• Have students turn to the glossary at the back of the book and read the definitions for the three words. Discuss the similarities and differences between the glossary definitions and the dictionary definitions. Locate the sentences in the text that include the vocabulary words.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to find out more about the secret garden. Remind them to make, revise, and confirm predictions as they read. Have them think about the events of the story that happened first, next, and so on.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read to the end of page 7 and then stop to think about the events that have happened so far in the story. Encourage students who finish before others to reread the first chapter.
• Model making a prediction.
  Think-aloud: I predicted that the children and their father are making a garden as a surprise for someone. So far, I've learned that the boy's name is Miguel and that he was magically transformed into a character in the book The Secret Garden. I will write this information in the Actual column on the chart on the board. Based on what I've read, the boy was looking for a place to go to get away from his father. Miguel magically becomes characters in the books that he finds in an old chest. He opened to a page in one of the books that described a robin flying overhead. Maybe the robin takes Miguel to a secret garden. I will write my prediction in the Make column on the chart on the board.
• Have students review the prediction they made before reading. Have them write a new or revised prediction on their worksheet in the Make column. Ask students to place a check mark in the prediction box if that prediction was confirmed.
• Write the following events on the board: Miguel and his father were working in the family garden; Miguel didn't like working in the garden; Miguel's mother and sister were baking bread; Miguel sneaked into the loft to look for one of The Great Gallardo's books; Miguel was disappointed when he found a copy of The Secret Garden; Miguel was magically transported into The Secret Garden.
• Discuss and circle the events that are the most important to correctly tell the story. (Miguel and his father were working in the family garden; Miguel sneaked into the loft to look for one of The Great Gallardo's books; Miguel was magically transported into The Secret Garden.)
• Ask students to tell what the story is mostly about so far (a boy tired of working in the garden who wants to find adventure). Review the circled events on the board. Point out that the other (noncircled) pieces of information provide details that make the story interesting but are not important events that tell about Miguel's adventure.
• Introduce and explain the sequence events worksheet. Have students write the circled events in order on their worksheet. Discuss the correct order and allow students time to make corrections on their worksheet as necessary.
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 11. 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.
• Ask students to write additional important story events in order on their sequence events worksheet. Discuss the important events as a class and write them on the board in order. (Miguel becomes the robin in The Secret Garden; Miguel tries to talk to Mary, but she can't understand him; Mary tells him that she's trying to find a lost garden.) Allow students to make corrections to their worksheet.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Encourage them to continue to make, 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 the robin would lead Miguel to the secret garden. It turns out that Miguel actually becomes the robin in The Secret Garden. As the robin, he finds where the secret garden is hidden. However, he is not able to communicate its location to Mary. She only thinks Miguel is strange because she cannot understand the meaning of his bird chirps or his urgent hopping. I will write this information in the Actual column on my prediction 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: Review with students the sequence of events on their worksheet using sequencing words (first, next, then, after that, and so on). Point out how they used their own words to write each event.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the sequence events worksheet by identifying the remaining important events of the story. If time allows, discuss their answers.
• Enduring understanding: In this story, Miguel gained a new appreciation for his family's garden after learning of the beauty of gardens while on his adventure. Now that you know this information, why is it important to not judge something you know little about?

Grammar and Mechanics: Adverbs

• Review or explain that adverbs are words that describe or modify verbs or adjectives. Adverbs express the time, manner, or degree to which a verb occurs. They usually tell how something happens. They may also tell how often, how many, or how much.
• Remind students that adverbs never describe nouns. Ask them which words describe nouns (adjectives).
• Have students turn to page 14 and read the sentence aloud: Miguel tried to speak clearly, but he knew that each word was merely bird chatter. Ask them how Miguel tried to speak (clearly). Explain that clearly is an adverb that describes the verb speak. Ask students what the root or base word of clearly is (clear). Explain that many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the end of an adjective.
• Check for understanding: Write the words slow and sudden on the board. Have volunteers come to the board and add -ly to the words (slowly, suddenly). Then have students use each adverb in a sentence on a separate piece of paper.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the adverbs worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Word Work: Compound words

• Write the word grandfather on the board. Ask students which two words were joined together in the word grandfather (grand and father). Explain that this word is called a compound word. A compound word contains two words that together create one word meaning.
• Write the following sentence on the board: That has to be Ben, one of the groundskeepers! Have students read the sentence and identify the compound word (groundskeepers). Ask them which two words are joined together in the word groundskeepers (grounds and keepers). Explain to students that the definitions of the two separate words can help them figure out the meaning of the bigger word (someone who keeps the grounds nice).

    Check for understanding: Have students read page 20 in their book. Have them identify and circle the compound words on the page (wheelchair, pathway, and doorknob). Ask students to circle the two words contained in each compound word. Have them use these words to discuss with a partner the meaning of each larger word. Then discuss the meaning of each word with students as a group.

• 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 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 sequence the events of the story with someone at home.

Narrative Writing Connection
Discuss with students the characteristics that make Miguel in the Secret Garden a fantasy (it includes events that could not actually happen in real life). Have students write a story about a character who goes on an adventure. Have them include elements of fantasy in their story.

Science Connection
Discuss with students the healing powers of plants. Ask students to work with a partner to identify plants that are used in common medicines and ointments. Discuss their findings as a group. Point out that people who make medicines from these plants are specially trained.