Build Background

• Write the word virus on the board. Divide students into groups. Have them discuss what the word virus means. Provide the definition of virus (tiny microorganisms that enter the body and cause illness).
• Ask students to share whether they have had the flu. Invite them to briefly share how they felt when they had the flu. Explain that the flu is a type of virus.
• Pass out a piece of green paper to each student in the classroom. Randomly pass a piece of red paper to 1 or 2 students. Ask students to pretend that you have the flu virus. Explain that the piece of paper represents exposure to the flu virus. Point out that even though the body has a system to fight off these viruses, sometimes the virus spreads faster than the body can fight it off. Explain that students with red pieces of paper represent those that come down with flu symptoms. Invite students to share what they know about how viruses are spread (saliva, air, and so on).

Preview the Book

Introduce the Book

• Give students their 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.
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name).

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Connect to prior knowledge

• Explain that good readers use what they already know about a topic to understand and remember new information as they read a nonfiction book.
• Model connecting to prior knowledge using the information on the covers.
  Think-aloud: On the front cover I see a boy with a thermometer in his mouth. I know that when I am sick, my temperature usually goes up. The doctor measures my temperature with a thermometer. The boy must not be feeling well. What other clues in the picture might lead you to believe that the boy is sick? (the blanket wrapped around him, the water bottle on his head)
• Have students preview the covers of the book. Ask them to make connections to prior knowledge and to discuss the photos on the covers. Ask open-ended questions to facilitate the discussion: What are some ways to prevent getting a virus such as the flu? What can you do to feel better if you get the flu? What else do you see and why is it important to a book about the flu?
• 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: Main idea and details

• Read the title of the book to students. Ask them to suggest ideas about what this book might explain about influenza (what it is, how you get it, how you get better once you have it, and so on).
• 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.
• Model using the table of contents to infer the main ideas in the book.
  Think-aloud: When I look at the table of contents, I see that Chapter 2 is called "What Is the Flu?" I know that influenza is the topic of this book. Therefore, one of the main ideas in this book might be what the flu is and how you get it. As I read, I will pause after each chapter to review the details in my mind to infer the main idea. This strategy will help me make sure I understand what I'm reading.
• Have students turn to the table of contents on page 3. Ask them to use the table of contents to infer other main ideas within each chapter. Have them predict details they might expect to find in each chapter.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Divide students into groups. Introduce and explain the content vocabulary worksheet.
• Read the title of the worksheet to students. Review the terms influenza and virus with students. Remind them that influenza is another name for the flu, which is a type of virus.
• Explain that a virus is a type of microbe, or very small living thing. Show students a pinhead. Ask them to predict how many microbes might live on a pinhead. Explain that microbes are so small that over 100,000 of them could live on the head of a pin.
• Explain that the influenza virus infects a specific part of the body. Invite students to predict the part of the body they think this virus infects. Use page 7 of the book to draw a rough sketch of a human respiratory tract on the board. Ask students to identify parts of the body within the respiratory tract (throat, trachea, lungs). Explain that these are all parts of the respiratory tract. Write this phrase on the board. Have students draw and label the respiratory tract on their worksheet.
• Explain that the human body contains many cells. Draw an oval shape on the board to represent a cell. Ask students what might happen when a virus enters a cell (it spreads). Have volunteers come to the board and draw a spreading virus within the cell. (Refer to page 6 of the book.) Have students illustrate a virus invading a cell on their worksheet.
• Ask students to explain how someone rids his or her body of the flu virus (lots of rest, fluids, body fights it off, and so on). Explain that the body has antibodies that fight and destroy viruses. Write antibodies on the board. Have volunteers come to the board to illustrate antibodies attacking the virus in the cell. (Refer to page 11 of the book.) Have students illustrate the action of antibodies on their worksheet.
• Have students write a description on the lines below each drawing on their worksheet. Remind them to use the vocabulary words virus, respiratory tract, and antibodies in their descriptions where applicable.
• For additional tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students think about what they already know about the topic as they read the book to identify main ideas and details about influenza.

During Reading 

Student Reading

    Guide the reading: Have students read to the end of page 8. Remind them to look for important details in the book that provide more information about a chapter's main idea. Have students underline these details in their book. Encourage students who finish before everyone else to go back and reread.

• Model making connections to prior knowledge.
  Think-aloud: When I read about how influenza is spread from one person to another by air, it made me think of all the times I've heard people tell someone to cover their mouth when they sneeze. Being around people who are sneezing and coughing a lot might be one of the reasons why I get sick. How did relating to what you already know help you understand what you read?
• Have students share the important details they have identified in the chapter (the flu is caused by a virus, a virus is a tiny microorganism, viruses live everywhere, viruses invade human cells, and so on). Ask them to identify the main idea based on these details (causes of the flu).

    Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 10. Have them underline important details in the chapter. Ask them to share the main idea of the chapter based on these details. Then have volunteers share the details that support the main idea.

• Introduce and explain the main idea and details worksheet. Have students read the rest of the book, underlining the important details in each chapter. Then have them complete the worksheet for chapters 4 and 5. Remind them to think about what they know about influenza as they read to better understand the text.

    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 the words and figure out their meanings.

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.
• Discuss how making connections between information read and information that is known about the topic keeps readers actively involved and helps them remember what they have read.
• Think-aloud: When I read page 13, I thought about how antibodies attack germs in the body. It reminds me of a goalie in soccer that is trying to prevent the ball from going into the goal. Connecting with this metaphor, or a situation that is similar, kept me actively involved in the reading. This helped me to understand and remember the new information. I know that I will remember more about influenza because I used this strategy while I read.
• Discuss each chapter with students, one at a time. Have students share examples of how they connected to prior knowledge to understand the information in the book.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Discuss how stopping to review the important details while reading helped students identify the main idea and better understand the information in each chapter.
• Have students identify the main idea of chapter 4 based on the important details they underlined (how the body fights the flu). Have volunteers share the details that support this main idea (the body has an immune system, the immune system produces antibodies that attack a virus, and so on).
• Write the main idea and details on the board. Repeat the process to identify the main idea and details for chapter 5.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the main idea and details worksheet for chapters 6 and 7. When everyone has finished working independently, review answers aloud.
• Enduring Understanding: Viruses are everywhere and can spread quickly. Your body has ways to fight microbes, including antibodies that recognize familiar viruses. Now that you know this information, what habits would help your body fight off these invaders and help you stay healthy? Why might it be important to be exposed to some viruses? (So the body can produce antibodies to attack viruses in the future.)

Build Skills 

Grammar and Mechanics: Adverbs with suffix -ly

• Write the following sentence from the text on the board: Antibodies swiftly attack viruses in the body. Review or explain that an adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Tell students that writers use adverbs to give readers more information about how, when, and where something happens.
• Create a three-column chart on the board with the heading How, When, and Where. Ask students to identify what the adverb swiftly is describing (the verb attack). Have them explain how the adverb describes the verb (it explains how something happened). Write the word swiftly under the heading How on the board.
• Ask a volunteer to underline the base word swift. Ask students to tell the part of speech for the word swift (adjective). Have them use the word swift in a sentence. (For example, I took a swift walk this morning.)
• Circle the -ly ending in the adverb swiftly. Explain that many adjectives are changed to adverbs by adding the suffix ­-ly. Have students provide other examples of base words in which the -ly ending is added to create a word that tells how an action is performed. Ask them to explain how the adverb describes the verb (how, when, or where something happens).

    Check for understanding: Have students identify the adverbs in the book. Have them circle each adverb and underline the verb it describes. Then have students identify how the adverb describes the verb by writing how, when, or where next to each adverb in the book. When students have finished, discuss their answers.

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the adverbs worksheet.

Word Work: Similes and metaphors

• Write the following sentence on the board: The traffic moved like snails. Ask students to identify the two objects that are compared in the sentence (traffic and snails).
• Ask students to visualize in their mind traffic moving like snails. Ask whether the sentence means that the vehicles on the road started to move exactly the way a snail moves on the ground. Have students explain what they think the sentence really means and why (the traffic was moving slowly; snails move slowly).
• Explain that this sentence is a figure of speech called a simile. A simile is a comparison that often uses the word like or as in the sentence. Ask students to explain why authors might use similes in their writing (to help readers visualize the events of the story, to make descriptions more vivid).
• Have students reread page 22 in their book. Ask them to identify the similes on the page (as much water as a camel; sleep like a bear).
• Write the following sentence on the board: The car is a dinosaur. Ask students to identify the two objects that are compared in this sentence (car and dinosaur). Ask students to visualize in their mind the meaning of the sentence. Ask whether the sentence means that the car is an actual dinosaur. Have students explain what they think the sentence really means and why (the car is very old; dinosaurs lived a very long time ago).
• Explain that this sentence is a different figure of speech called a metaphor. Ask students to use the two sentences on the board to explain the similarities and differences between a simile and a metaphor (both compare objects, similes often use the words like and as, metaphors often state that something is another thing).
• Have students reread page 5 in their book. Ask them to identify the metaphor used in text (a virus spreads faster than water rushing out of a hose).
• Check for understanding: Have students write a simile and a metaphor on a separate piece of paper. Invite them to share their sentences with the class.

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 prior knowledge about the flu with someone at home as they read the book.

Extend the Reading 

Writing Connection
Discuss behaviors that promote good health and help to prevent illness (rest, good food, brushing teeth, wash hands, and so on). Divide students into small groups. Have them illustrate and write five to seven healthy habits on 9 X 13 pieces of paper. Have each group combine their pages into a book. Then have them read their book to a pre-K, kindergarten, or first-grade classroom to teach those students about the importance of healthy habits.

Health Connection
Explain that one of the most important things people can do to prevent illness is to wash their hands. However, the frequency of and way in which hands are washed is also important. Have students use Internet resources to research and compare information on hand washing.

Assessment 

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• use the reading strategy of making connections to prior knowledge
• identify the main idea and supporting details to better understand the text during discussion and on a worksheet
• identify and create plural nouns with the -ly ending during discussion and on a worksheet; understand that adverbs describe verbs to make writing more vivid
• understand the difference between similes and metaphors during discussion; write a simile and a metaphor to demonstrate understanding

Comprehension Checks

• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric

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