Book Summary
Lighter than Air is a fascinating history of floating aircraft. Topics range from the discovery of Montgolfier Gas to the flight of the Goodyear Blimp. Both the photographs and the details in the text are of high interest to children. Many teaching opportunities are provided throughout the book. 

Lesson Objectives

Reading Strategies
Children should use a variety of strategies to decode words and bring meaning to print. The targeted strategy for this lesson is: Using context clues

This book has some vocabulary that may be unfamiliar to readers. They can use the reading strategy of going back and rereading to help them decipher the text. 

Comprehension
Children can make connections between what they are reading and what they already know to increase their comprehension of this story.

Word and Print Skills

Phonics
Spelling of homophones

Word Work

Word structure
Suffixes

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 images and captions

Have children describe what the images are about on pages 6, 10, 14, and 20. 

Targeted Vocabulary Words

Content Words
Passed, their, its, very
Explain to children that these words have homophones. Passed, there, it's, and very are all homophones of these words. Point out that it is easy to get mixed up when writing, and that everyone needs to pay attention to the way things are spelled so the reader does not get confused.