Lesson Objectives
Children should use a variety of strategies to determine word meaning and comprehend text. The targeted strategy for this lesson is: Using context clues.

There are several expressions and some vocabulary that will probably be unfamiliar to most children. However, the familiar setting, characters, and plot provide a good opportunity to use context clues to decode meaning.

For comprehension, strategies include: Making connections between what children are reading and what they already know.

Children will readily make the connection between decisions the protagonist makes and the outcomes. They can use what they already know to make judgments and suggest different decisions that lead to different outcomes.

Word and Print Skills
Phonics
silent consonants
kn

Word Work
verbs
homonyms

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as children work to understand the text. The targeted comprehension strategy for this lesson is: Understanding the author's purpose.

Like many fables and folktales, there is a moral to this story and a universal lesson for those making quick and easy choices. Advanced thinkers can be encouraged to draw parallels between the virtues of simple life and enjoyment of nature versus the lure of superficial materialism. Younger readers can readily identify the good and bad aspects of the characters in their roles.

Visual Learning
Fairy, queen, and shepherd are familiar icons to most children. Encourage them to give descriptions of how these three figures might appear prior to reading the book. Compare their ideas to the pictures in the text.

Targeted Vocabulary Words
Content Words
shepherd, fairy, queen, married, quite, content, practical, man, vanished, ashamed

These content words are chosen because they are necessary for understanding the main idea of the story.

Word work words
past tense action verbs
played, watched, stopped, smiled, twisted, dropped, turned, climbed, laughed, looked, bowed, searched

homonyms
fairy, reining, merry, marry, plain, hair, here, need, died, knew, nose

silent kn words
know, knew