Text Type: Fiction/Informational Narrative
Page Count: 24
Word Count: 2,340

Book Summary
Arrows is a story centered on a thirteen-year-old girl who discovers a series of arrows carved into large boulders. With her grandfather's help, she uncovers a hidden cipher. Will they be able to break the code or will the message remain a mystery? Illustrations and a photograph support the text.

Book and lesson also available at Levels R and U.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Summarize

Objectives

• Use the reading strategy of summarizing to understand text
• Understand indirect language by making inferences
• Identify and understand the use of pronouns
• Identify and use synonyms

Materials

• Book -- Arrows (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Thesauruses
• Index cards
• Summarize, pronouns, synonyms worksheets
• Discussion cards

      Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may be demonstrated by projecting the book on interactive whiteboard or completed with paper and pencil if books are reused.)

Vocabulary

• Content words: carbon dating, code, Code Talkers, comprehend, deciphered, decorated, glyph, interpret, Mississippi Choctaw, recounted, translate, veteran

Build Background

• Give students their copy of the book. Explain to students that during World War II, the United States military used Code Talkers. Code Talkers read and wrote messages in a secret code. These messages were necessary to keep certain information and plans secret from enemies. Ask students if they've ever written or read something written in code. Encourage them to share their experiences.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Book

• Guide students to the front and back covers of the book and read the title. Have them discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage them to offer ideas as to what kind of book this is and what it might be about.
• Preview the title page. Talk about the information on the page (title of book, author's name, illustrator's name).
• Ask students to turn to the table of contents. Remind them that the table of contents provides an overview of what the book is about. Ask students what they expect to read about based on what they see in the table of contents. (Accept all answers that students can justify.)

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Summarize

• Explain that one way to understand and remember information in a book is to summarize paragraphs, sections, or chapters mentally or on paper. Explain that a summary is a brief overview of the most important information in the text. The summary usually tells who, what, when, where, and why about a topic.
• Read page 4 aloud to students and model summarizing.
  Think-aloud: To summarize, I need to decide which information is important. Then, in my mind, I organize the information into a few words or sentences. For example, I might summarize the information on page 4 by explaining how Poloma found an arrow carved in a rock while she was playing with her ball.
• Have students continue reading from page 5 until the end of the first chapter on page 8. Discuss the important information needed to summarize the first chapter of the story, focusing on the questions who, what, when, where, and why. Write the summary on the board. Ask volunteers to share information from the chapter that supports the summary generated.
• 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: Make inferences

• Explain that not all the information in a story is directly stated. Sometimes readers must make inferences by using details in the story to understand the indirect language used. Explain that an inference is a conclusion drawn by connecting clues in text to information already known. Making inferences allow readers to understand ideas in text on a deeper level. For example, if a fire truck races by with its lights flashing and sirens blaring, a person might infer that someone is in trouble and needs help. Even though the person may not have seen the individual in need of help, he or she knows that firefighters help people in need.
• Ask students to turn to the table of contents and read the title of Chapter 1, "The First Arrow." Invite them to tell whether or not they think the character will find additional arrows throughout the story. Point out that even though the table of contents doesn't specifically list a chapter entitled "The Second Arrow," readers can infer that other arrows will be found because of the author's choice to use the word first.
• Think-aloud: I know an author does not directly state all the ideas in a story and that I must make inferences to completely understand the story. I know that good readers do this, so I'm going to make inferences in this story as I read.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Write the following code on the board: 9 -- 3, 1, 14 -- 18, 5, 1, 4 -- 9, 14 -- 3, 15, 4, 5. Explain to students that these numbers stand for letters in a word. The words are written in a code. Write the word code on the board. Each word is separated by dashes. Explain to students that they need to decipher the code by translating the numbers into words. Write the word decipher on the board.
• Have students work with a partner to break the code. Encourage students to share the message in code and what the code is (I can read in code.; a = 1, b = 2, c = 3, and so on). Explain that this is similar to what Code Talkers did during World War II.
• Invite students to work with their partner to create a different message using the same code. Encourage them to share their messages with the class to decipher.

      On the inside front cover of their book, have students write definitions for the words decipher and code in their own words.

• Have students locate the glossary at the back of the book. Encourage them to compare their definitions of the two words to the definitions in the glossary. Allow time for them to change or add to their definitions, if necessary.
• Have students preview the rest of the book.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to find out about the arrows and how the characters decipher the code. Remind them to stop after each chapter to summarize the information in the story in their mind and use this information to make inferences about events in the story.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Introduce and explain the summarize worksheet. Have students read from page 8 to the end of the chapter on page 11. Instruct them to use their worksheet to record the important details as they read Chapter 2 and then summarize the important information once they've finished reading. Encourage students who finish early to go back and reread.
• Model summarizing.
  Think-aloud: I made sure to stop at the end of the chapter to summarize what I'd read so far. First, I decided what information was important to answer the questions who, what, when, where and why. Then, I organized the important information into one sentence: Poloma and her grandfather used their knowledge of codes to follow the arrow across the stream.
• Encourage volunteers to read their summary from their worksheet and allow time for students to revise their summary if necessary.
• Have students turn to page 11 and reread the page. Ask them to think about the important information they summarized from this chapter to explain the inference that can be made about why Poloma and her grandfather decided to cross the stream (they must have believed that something was on the other side). Have students share the story clues and prior knowledge they used to make that inference (they had a knowledge of codes, they followed the arrow's direction up to this point, the arrows always pointed to another clue).
• Check for understanding: Have students turn to page 12 and read the next chapter, "Answers." Ask volunteers to tell the important information they identified that answered the questions who, what, when, where, and why. Write on the board the information they give. On a separate sheet of paper, have students write a summary for Chapter 3 using the important information from the board. Check individual summaries for understanding.
• Have students read the remainder of the story. Remind them to think about the details of the story 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.

• 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.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Ask students to explain how the strategy of summarizing helped them understand the story.
  Think-aloud: I know that summarizing keeps me actively involved in what I'm reading and helps me understand and remember what I've read. I know that I will remember more about Code Talkers and deciphering codes because I summarized as I read the book.

      Independent practice: Write the words who, what, when, where, and why on the board. Have students answer these questions on the inside front cover of their book to organize the important information from one of the chapters that was not discussed aloud. Have them use this information to write a summary on a separate sheet of paper or on another copy of the summarize worksheet. Invite students to read their summaries aloud when finished.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Tell students that illustrations sometimes help readers to make inferences about a story. Ask them to look at the illustration on page 5. Ask them why Poloma looked so eager (because she was excited to tell her grandfather about the arrow). Ask students to contrast that with a description of her grandfather (he looked very calm). Point out that the author does not say everything directly in the text, but that the illustrator helps the readers infer more about the story.
• Independent practice: Ask students to return to page 13 and review the final three paragraphs on the page. Instruct them to identify a sentence that describes an instance in which Poloma made an inference. Ask a volunteer to read the sentence that tells the reader that an inference was made ("Maybe they're a code. Do you think they could be a code, Papa?") Have students use a separate piece of paper to explain how the letters on the boulder helped Poloma make this inference (they were spaced together as if in a phrase. the letters didn't make sense as they were, the message was hidden on the bottom of the boulder, and so on). Encourage students to share their answers.
• Enduring understanding: In this book, you learned about making inferences based on what an author and illustrator depict. Now that you know this information, how do you feel about making inferences about how others think and feel based on their words, facial expressions, and body language? Is talking always necessary for someone to infer a person's mood? How will you use this information in your daily life?

Grammar and Mechanics: Pronouns

• Explain or review that a pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. Write examples of pronouns on the board: I, she, he, it, her, they, and we. Write the following sentence on the board: The ball landed next to a huge boulder. Model how to replace the words the ball with a pronoun. (It landed next to a huge boulder.)
• Have students turn to page 8. Write the following sentence on the board: As they made their way toward the boulder, Papa recounted the story about the Code Talkers and how they had sent messages that no one else could interpret. Underline the word Papa. Invite a volunteer to reread the sentence, replacing the underlined word with the appropriate pronoun (He). Repeat this activity, as time allows, replacing pronouns with appropriate proper nouns within the sentence (As Poloma and her grandfather made their way toward the boulder, and so on).
• Discuss the reasons authors use pronouns in place of nouns (to make the writing flow better, to avoid repeating the same words, and so on).

      Check for understanding: Have students turn to page 16. Read the following sentence aloud: He paced for a very long time, and then he halted beside his granddaughter and cleared his throat. Have students identify both times the word he was used and to underline them. Instruct them to write the word the pronoun stands for above the word he (Papa). Have students underline the words his granddaughter. Have them replace these words with a name. When students have finished writing, encourage them to read their new sentence aloud. (Papa paced for a very long time, and then Papa halted beside Poloma and cleared his throat.)

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the pronouns worksheet. When they have finished, review their answers aloud.  

Word Work: Synonyms

• Write the word discovered on the board. Have students locate and read the word in the second paragraph on page 5. Ask students to suggest other words that mean almost the same thing (found, located, uncovered). Review or explain that a word that means the same or almost the same thing as another word is called a synonym. One reason writers replace words with synonyms is to make a piece of writing more interesting.
• Have students read the second paragraph on page 5. Ask them to identify a synonym for discovered (found). Explain that writers may also use synonyms to explain new vocabulary in text. Have students read the first paragraph on page 6. Point to the word hieroglyphic. Ask students to use context clues within the page to help them think of a word or words that means nearly the same thing as hieroglyphic (tiny pictures, symbols).
• Show students a thesaurus. Explain that a thesaurus is a book that contains synonyms of words. Look up ally and model how to use a thesaurus. Point out that allies is not listed as an entry word because dictionaries and thesauruses typically list root words. Review that the y in ally has been changed to i and the suffix -es has been added to make the plural form of the word.
• Give students a thesaurus. Ask them to find the word ally and confirm the synonyms suggested.
• Check for understanding: Have students turn to page 17 and read the second paragraph on the page. Point out the word recall. Ask students to locate a word in or around the sentence that means almost the same thing as recall (remember). Have them use the thesaurus to confirm their synonym for the word.

      Have students read the third paragraph on page 9. Ask them to circle the words   old and hard. Have students use the thesaurus to replace these words with synonyms to make the sentence more interesting. Remind them to choose words that do not change the meaning of the sentence. Have them write the sentence using the new words at the bottom of the page. Encourage students to share their sentences.

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the synonyms worksheet. When they have finished, review their answers aloud.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently. Additionally, partners can take turns reading parts of the book to each other.

Home Connection

• Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. Have them discuss with someone at home examples of inferences that they made while reading.

Informational Narrative Writing and Art Connection
Provide students with Internet and print resources on cryptography, the study of code writing methods, and Native American Code Talkers. Remind them that Poloma's grandfather was a veteran who worked with cryptography during World War II. Have them write a story about Papa and other Native American Code Talkers helping the United States win the war by sending secret messages to their allies. Require that their stories include a problem and a solution, be least three paragraphs in length, and include at least one illustration. Remind students that their primary goal is to inform readers with factual information about Code Talkers. Encourage them to read their finished work aloud to the class in a writer's story celebration.

Social Studies Connection
Have students use the library to research one of the historical points mentioned in the book: Julius Caesar's invention of the cipher, the Underground Railroad and the Drinking Gourd, or Native American Code Talkers. Provide index cards on which students can record their notes as they research. Have them identify such information as when the event took place, who was involved, why the event was important to history, and so on.

Facilitate a round-table discussion in which students share and further discuss their findings. Encourage them to share their opinions as well.

Skill Review
Discussion cards covering comprehension skills and strategies not explicitly taught with the book are provided as an extension activity. The following is a list of some ways these cards can be used with students:

• Use as discussion starters for literature circles.
• Have students choose one or more cards and write a response, either as an essay or a journal entry.
• Distribute before reading the book and have students use one of the questions as a purpose for reading.
• Cut apart and use the cards as game cards with a board game.
• Conduct a class discussion as a review before the book quiz.