Build Background

• Discuss what students already know about Albert Einstein. Create a KWL chart on the board and hand out the KWL worksheet. Review or explain that the K stands for knowledge we know, the W stands for questions we want to know, and the L stands for the knowledge we learned. As you discuss Albert Einstein, fill in the first column (K) with information students know about the topic. Have students complete the same section of their KWL chart.
• Ask students what they would like to know about Albert Einstein. Have them fill in the second column (W) of their chart. Write shared questions on the class chart as an example.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Book

• Give students a copy of the book. Guide them to the front and back covers of the book and read the title. Have students 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.)
• 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: Ask and answer questions

• Discuss how having prior knowledge about the topic, and asking and answering questions while reading, can help readers understand and remember the information in a book.
• Direct students to the table of contents. Remind them that the table of contents provides an overview of the information in a book and the way in which it is organized. After previewing the table of contents, use it as a way to model asking questions.
• Think-aloud: I can use the table of contents to think of questions I'd like to have answered about Albert Einstein. For example, Chapter 2 is titled "A Talented, Curious Boy." I know that Einstein grew up to be a very important scientist, but I don't know what his talents were and what he was curious about as a young boy. I'll have to read the book to find out. I'll write that question under W on the KWL chart.
• Have students look at the other chapter titles. Write any questions they have based on the covers and table of contents in the W column of the KWL chart.
• Have students preview the rest of the book, looking at maps, diagrams, photos, and captions. Point out the "Do You Know?" boxes containing more information. Show students the glossary on page 23. Have them add any additional questions they might have about the book to the KWL chart. Write shared questions on the class chart.
• 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: Identify genre - Elements of a biography

• Ask students to explain the difference between a biography and an autobiography (biography: the story of a person's life written by someone else; autobiography: the story of a person's life written by that person). Explain that this book is a biography. A biography includes information about the person's accomplishments, his or her influence on the world, and his or her personality. These details within a biography make history appear more realistic to readers. Write the words accomplishments, influence, and personality in a three-column chart on the board.
• Have students turn to page 6. Read the "Do You Know?" section aloud while students follow along silently. Ask students to identify which element of a biography this information best reflects (personality). Invite students to explain what the information tells about Einstein's personality (he is determined).
• Give students the elements of a biography worksheet. Read the "Do You Know?" section on page 9 aloud while students follow along silently. Invite volunteers to discuss what the section is about (Einstein had several patents for items he invented). Ask students to identify which element of a biography this information best reflects (accomplishments). Write had many patents under accomplishments on the board. Have students record this information on their worksheet.
• Think-aloud: As I read, I can categorize the important information in each section into the categories accomplishments, influence, and personality. By categorizing the information in this way, I know I will understand more about Einstein and the events of his life.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• As students preview the book, ask them to discuss what they see in the photographs. Reinforce vocabulary words they will encounter in the text.
• Model how to apply word-attack strategies. Direct students to page 13. Have them find the bolded word revolution. Model how they can use context clues to figure out the meaning of the unfamiliar word. Explain that the sentences before the unfamiliar word describe Einstein's new ideas and how they were exciting scientists around the world. The sentence containing the unfamiliar word explains that a British newspaper declared a revolution in science. The sentences after tell that Einstein was declared a new celebrity in world history. Tell students that these clues make you think that the word revolution means a significant change of ideas.
• Model how students can use the glossary, or a dictionary, to find a word's meaning. Have a volunteer read the definition for revolution in the glossary to confirm the meaning of the word. Remind students that they should always check whether a word makes sense by rereading it in the sentence. As time allows, repeat the exercise with other words in the text (page 10: molecules; page 12: theory; page 14: criticism).
• Have students preview the rest of the book.
• For additional tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to find answers to their questions about Albert Einstein and his scientific ideas. Remind students to categorize the information by elements of a biography, and use that information to generate new questions.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read to the end of page 7. Remind them to read for information about Albert Einstein and the events of his life that will answer questions on their KWL chart. Encourage students who finish early to go back and reread.
• When they have finished reading, have students discuss the information in each chapter and share what they learned about Einstein's accomplishments, influence, and/or personality. Have students circle any questions on their KWL chart that were answered and add any new questions that were generated.
• Model answering a question on the KWL chart and filling in additional information.
  Think-aloud: I wanted to know what Einstein was curious about as a young boy. I found out that Einstein was both curious about and talented in math and science. His curiosity about how things worked led him to enter college early. I also found out that his strong sense of independence and curious nature made him unpopular with his teachers. I'll write what I learned in the L column of my KWL chart. This information made me want to know whether Einstein had difficulty finding a job. I will write this question in the W column of my KWL chart. Einstein's strong sense of independence and curiosity also reflect his personality. I will write independent and curious under the personality column in the chart on the board.
• Check for understanding: Have students write answers they found while reading in the L column on their KWL chart and additional questions they raised in the W column. Invite them to share the information they learned and the questions they generated as they read the book. Record shared responses on the class KWL chart. Invite students to share information they read that reflected Einstein's accomplishments, influence, and/or personality.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to look for answers to their KWL chart questions. Encourage them to add new questions to their chart and categorize the information they read by elements of a biography.

    Have students make a question mark in their books beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. Encourage them to use the strategies they have learned to read the word and figure out what it means.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
• Reinforce that asking questions before and during reading, and looking for the answers while reading, keeps readers interested in the topic. It also encourages them to keep reading to find answers to their questions and helps them understand and remember what they have read.

    Have students circle the questions on their KWL chart that were answered by reading the book and underline the information in the book that answers those questions. Then have them write answers they found while reading on their KWL chart.

• Think-aloud: I wanted to know whether Einstein had difficulty finding a job. I found out that his curious and independent personality led him to have some difficulty finding a job. However, I learned that Einstein displayed perseverance in his pursuit to study science and eventually got a job in a patent office. This job allowed him the opportunity to work on his ideas.
• Invite students to share the information they learned and the additional questions they generated as they read the book.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Have students turn to page 17 and reread the chapter, "Coming to America." Ask which element of a biography this information best reflects (personality). Invite students to explain what the information tells about Einstein's personality (he was tireless, self-confident, thoughtful, and so on). Have students share information they read that reflected Einstein's accomplishments, influence, and/or personality.
• Independent practice: Have students read the quote on page 22. Ask them to review the information they have recorded on their worksheet to think about how these words reflect Einstein's personality, accomplishments, and influence. (Einstein was curious throughout his life. His curiosity led him to develop many ideas about how things work. These accomplishments had a great influence on how people think about matter and energy, and led to the creation of many useful products we use today.) Have students record their answers in the space provided on their elements of a biography worksheet. When students are done, discuss their responses aloud.

    Extend the discussion: Discuss the different personality traits that Einstein possessed. Talk about his motivation for success and the changes he underwent throughout his life. Ask students how his experiences shaped him as a person and which personality traits served him well in his life.

Grammar and Mechanics: Compound adjectives

• Review or explain that adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns. An adjective tells which one, how many, or what kind.
• Write the following sentence on the board: Einstein's scientific ideas continue to influence new theories. Have individual students come to the board and circle the adjectives in the sentence (scientific, new). Then have them underline the noun that each adjective describes (ideas, theories).
• Tell students that some adjectives are hyphenated and that they are called compound adjectives. Write the following sentence on the board: The ideas came from a curious twenty-six-year-old patent clerk. Have a volunteer come to the board and underline the compound adjective (twenty-six-year-old). Have another volunteer underline the noun that the adjective describes (clerk).
• Write the following sentence on the board: When he was only seventeen years old, he was accepted into college. Point out that the phrase seventeen years old is not hyphenated. Discuss the differences between the uses of the two phrases. (Twenty-six-year-old is used as an adjective phrase describing clerk.) Ask a volunteer to give an example of when the phrase seventeen years old would be hyphenated. (He was a seventeen-year-old boy.)

    Check for understanding: Have students work in pairs to underline all of the compound adjectives. Discuss their findings as a group (page 11: twenty-six-year-old, well-known; page 12: full-time; page 18: close-knit).

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the compound adjectives worksheet. Discuss their answers as a group when everyone has finished.

Word Work: Primary sources

• Review or explain that to quote someone means to repeat someone's exact words. A quote can be taken from something that was said aloud or written, and is usually written with quotation marks. Point out that the quotes of Albert Einstein's are set apart from the rest of the text in boxes. Quotes are one type of primary source because it is a first hand source.
• Have students turn to page 4. Ask them to identify the quote on the page. (Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.) Ask students what insight into Einstein's beliefs this quote provides (it gives readers insight into the opinions of Einstein, reflects Einstein's point of view).
• Ask volunteers to explain what Einstein meant by what he stated. Write these statements on the board.
• Explain that primary sources such as quotes are often used to support the information an author presents in text. Have students identify the information from the text that supports their interpretation.
• Direct students to the other quotes throughout the book. Discuss what each quote means and how the quote supports what the author wrote about Einstein.

    Check for understanding: Have students turn to page 15 and reread the quote. Ask them to think about what the quote means and write their interpretation at the bottom of the page. Then have students underline information in the text that is supported by the quote.

Independent Reading

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

Home Connection

• Give students their books to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. Have students interview someone at home about his or her place of birth, interests, family, and so on.

Writing and Art Connection
Have students write an autobiography about their life. Discuss the differences between writing in the third person, as in the book, and writing in the first person, as they will do for their autobiography. Have students write about their place of birth, interests, goals, and so on. Invite students to share their story when finished.

Science Connection
Provide print and Internet resources for students to research more about Einstein's theories and scientific breakthroughs. Ask them to find out more about the opinions of other scientists of his time and to compared them to Einstein's.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• consistently ask relevant questions about the topic prior to and during reading; locate answers to their questions in text
• identify elements of a biography and categorize information by an element during reading on a worksheet
• recognize compound adjectives used in the text and on a worksheet
• identify quotes as primary sources and how they support the information the author writes during discussion 

Comprehension Checks

• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric