Build Background

• Provide opportunities for students to explore the Internet. Cut out and post page 21: Explore More. Read steps 1 through 4 aloud and give students time to experiment. Brainstorm with students to create a list of possible appropriate subjects to search on www.google.com.
• Ask students to discuss what they already know about the Internet, and ask them to describe how they think it works.

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).

Introduce the Comprehension Skill: Main idea and details

• Write the following list of words on the board: rowboat, tugboat, steamboat, sailboat. Ask students to describe what these words refer to (different types of boats). Point out that the description of these words help to identify the main idea. (There are different types of boats.) The words rowboat, tugboat, steamboat, and sailboat are the details that support this main idea.
• Explain that sometimes the amount of information about a topic is so large that it is grouped into chapters, and each chapter has its own main idea.
• Read pages 4 and 5 aloud to students. Model identifying the main idea and details from page 5.
  Think-aloud: As I read the second chapter, most of the sentences mention something about information and how it is exchanged. I think this chapter is about the exchange of information. I will underline this information. The sentences also mention how the Internet is a worldwide network, and information is exchanged through the Internet to any computer connected to it. Based on what I've read, I think the main idea of the chapter is: The Internet is a worldwide computer network used to exchange information.
• Write the main idea on the board. Ask students to identify the details from the book that support this main idea (it connects millions of computers around the world, any computer connected to the Internet can exchange packets of information, and so on). Write these details on the board.

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Summarize

• Explain that one way to understand and remember information in a book is to write a summary, or a brief overview of the most important information in the text. Point out that a summary includes the main idea and one or two supporting details. It often answers the questions who, when, where, what, and why.
• Model summarizing the main idea and details from page 5 on the board.
  Think-aloud: To summarize, I decide which information is most important to the meaning of the chapter that would be important to remember. To do this, I can identify the main idea and important details, and then organize that information into a few sentences. When I look at the main idea and details on the board, a summary of this chapter might be: The Internet is a worldwide network used to exchange information. This network connects millions of computers. Computers that are connected to the Internet can exchange information with each other around the world.
• Write the summary on the board. Have students identify the main idea and details within the summary. Discuss how you used your own words to create the summary.
• 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 Vocabulary

• Write the following URL on the board: www.readinga-z.com. Ask students to explain what they know about the process to access this website.
• Introduce the following words from the content vocabulary, and write them on the board: Internet, modem, ISP, browser, and URL.
• Read each word aloud with students. Invite them to share what they already know about each word.
• Explain that the Internet is a network of connected computers used to exchange information. Ask six volunteers to stand in two lines, and place yourself in the middle of the two lines. Give each student two index cards. Ask them the following questions: What is the name of your school? In which town/city is the school located? Have students write each answer on an index card. Instruct them to pass their cards to other students, eventually passing them to you. Once you have received all the cards, organize the information and read the answers to the two questions. Explain that the activity demonstrates information sent over a network and organized at the end.
• Introduce and explain the vocabulary worksheet. Explain that a series of steps occur in order to retrieve information from the Internet.
• Use the pictures on the worksheet to explain the steps to access the Reading A-Z website. [Explain that first a modem (key) in or near a computer is used to connect a computer to an Internet Service Provider, or ISP. The ISP (door) provides access, or opens the door, to the network of computers on the Internet. Next, individuals start their web browser (hands) and tell the browser to connect to Reading A-Z by typing in the URL or web address: www.readinga-z.com. Then, the browser asks the ISP and other computers on the Internet for directions on how to get to this website (map). Once the browser knows the direction, it connects to the web server with the information requested (Reading A-Z logo).]
• Repeat the explanation, having students connect to the Reading A-Z website. After a connection has been established, have students use the picture clues on their vocabulary worksheet to write a description of each step in the process. Review their explanations and allow them to make corrections as necessary.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to find out more about the Internet. Encourage them to underline or record on a separate piece of paper the important details in each chapter.

During Reading 

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read from page 6 to the end of page 9. Encourage those who finish before others to reread the text. When students are ready, discuss the important information they identified.
• Model identifying the main idea and details.
  Think-aloud: As I read the chapter titled "How Is Information Sent?," most of the sentences mentioned something about the types of cables or radio waves used to send information over the Internet. However, I also read a lot about how the bandwidth of the cables determines the speed and amount of information moving over the Internet at any given time. I will underline this information. Based on what I've read, I think the main idea of the chapter is: The speed at which an amount of information is sent through cables or radio waves over the Internet depends on bandwidth.
• Write the main idea on the board. Ask students to identify details that support this main idea (information flows through wire or fiber-optic cable, information can also be sent wirelessly on radio waves, greater bandwidth means that more information can travel through a cable, fiber-optic cable has a greater bandwidth and can carry more information, and so on). Write these details on the board.
• Review how to create a summary from the main idea and details. Refer back to the summary created during the Introduce to the Reading strategy section. Discuss and create the summary as a class and write it on the board. (The speed at which an amount of information is sent through cables or radio waves over the Internet depends on bandwidth. Information can flow through wire or fiber-optic cable, or sent wirelessly on radio waves. Fiber-optic cable has a greater bandwidth than wire cable. This means that it can carry much more information. The greater the bandwidth of the cable, the greater the speed and amount of information flowing through it.)

    Check for understanding: Have students read from page 10 to the end of page 14. Invite them to share the important details they underlined in the chapter. Write these details on the board. Have students work with a partner to identify the main idea from these details. (Retrieving information over the Internet involves a series of steps.) Discuss their responses as a class and write a main idea on the board.

• Ask students use the main idea and details of the chapter to write a brief summary of the chapter on a separate piece of paper. Have them share what they wrote.
• Ask students to read the remainder of the book. Remind them to think about the important details in the book so they can summarize the information 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.

After Reading 

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their book. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding skills and context clues.
• Discussion: Discuss how stopping to review the important details helped students remember the facts and better understand the information.
• Invite students to share the important details they underlined on pages 15 and 16. Write these details on the board. Divide students into small groups. Have each group work together to identify the main idea from the details and write this information on a separate piece of paper. (The Internet has grown from a small to a large network of computers.) Discuss their responses as a class.
• Independent practice: Introduce and explain the main idea and details/ summary worksheet. Have them write a main idea and supporting details for the chapter titled "How Is the Internet Used?" If time allows, discuss their responses.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Review with students how you combined the main idea and details from the chapter "How Is Information Sent?" to develop a summary for that chapter.
• Independent practice: Have students write a summary for the chapter titled "How is the Internet Used?," using the information on their main idea and details/summary worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.
• Enduring understanding: In this book, you learned about the history of the Internet and how it is used to send and receive information around the world. Now that you know this information, how has the Internet affected your life and how do you think it will continue to affect people's lives in the future?

Build Skills 

Grammar and Mechanics: Complex sentences

• Write the following sentence on the board: You are free to surf the Internet ______ you have access.
• Have students read the sentence and suggest words that belong in the blank to complete the sentence (if, once, when).
• Review or explain that a conjunction is a word that joins together two parts of a sentence. Point to the examples students suggested to complete the sentence on the board. Explain that these conjunctions join parts of sentences together to form a complex sentence.
• List the following examples of conjunctions on the board (after, although, as, because, before, if, once, since, so that, than, though, unless, until, when, while).
• Reread the sentence on the board, including a conjunction in the sentence. (You are free to surf the Internet once you have access.) Underline You are free to surf the Internet. Explain that this part of the sentence is called the independent clause because it is a complete thought. Circle once you have access. Explain that the part of the sentence that includes and follows the conjunction is called the dependent clause. Point out that even though both sentence parts contain a subject and verb, the dependent clause does not express a complete thought and is not a sentence that can stand alone.
• Have students read the sentence with the dependent clause at the beginning (Once you have access, you are free to surf the Internet.). Point out that either sentence is correct. However when the dependent clause is at the beginning of the sentence, a comma often separates the clauses.
• Write the following sentence on the board: Although client computers send and receive information, they don't provide a service.
• Have students identify the conjunction (although), the dependent clause (although client computers send and receive information), and the independent clause (They don't provide a service). Point out that in this example, the dependent clause is at the beginning of the sentence.

    Check for understanding: Have students highlight the following sentence from page 5 in their book: Since these connections allow travel at the speed of light, the information that passes from computer to computer moves at blinding speed. Have students underline the dependent clause (Since these connections allow travel at the speed of light) and circle the independent clause (the information that passes from computer to computer moves at blinding speed). Ask students to identify the conjunction (since).

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

Word Work: Abbreviations

• Have students turn to page 10. Ask them to find the abbreviation ISP. Ask a volunteer to tell what the three letters stand for (Internet Service Provider). Review or explain that an abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, such as Mr. for Mister. Ask why the author uses the abbreviation for ISP (easier to read, easier to remember).
• Have students turn to page 11 and find another abbreviation (URL). Challenge them to find out what URL is short for. (In the glossary, URL is identified as Uniform Resource Locator.) Ask students why the author might have used the abbreviation for this term (easier to remember).
• Check for understanding: Ask students to identify other abbreviations from the text (IP, ARPAnet, NSFnet). List them on the board. Have students use the text to identify the words or phrases they are short for (Internet Protocol, Advanced Research Project Agency network, National Science Foundation network).

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 discuss with someone at home how to summarize a chapter using the main idea and details of the chapter.

Extend the Reading 

Writing and Art Connection
Have students use the Internet to further research Tim Berners-Lee. Have them locate such information as: where he is from, his education, how he wrote the common network language, how he was recognized for his work, and so on. Have students use the information to write a brief biographical report.

Math Connection
Have students reread page 9, including the Math Minute box. Explain and discuss the concept of bytes, kilobytes, and megabytes. Have students solve the Math Minute question on a separate piece of paper. Discuss their answers. Then have them create their own Math Minute question about bytes, kilobytes, and/or megabytes. Circulate each question so that every student has an opportunity to solve it before answers are shared.

Assessment 

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• identify the main idea and supporting details to better understand the text through discussion and on a worksheet
• accurately use main idea statements and supporting details to write a summary in their own words
• correctly identify the parts of complex sentences; write complex sentences during discussion and on a worksheet
• identify abbreviations in the text and explain what they stand for during discussion

Comprehension Checks

• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric

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