Materials

Paper

Construction Paper

Markers or Crayons

Copy of book: Can I Have a Pet by Gwendolyn Hooks

Guided Lesson

1. Read the book to the class or small group.
2. Guide the students in a discussion of the important elements in the book:  character, setting, plot, resolution, and author’s purpose.  Although, they most likely will be PreK or non readers, students can still discuss story elements…depending on the word choice of the teacher.
3. Pose the question:  Have you ever wanted a pet?  Did you ask your parents? What did they say?  Did you ever get your pet?
4. Reread the story to the class, but this time as you read, have the students draw pictures on their construction paper of the different pets the little girl wants.
5. Once finished, ask the students to share one of their drawings.  They should tell what the animal is, why they think the little girl wanted the animal, and why it would not be a good idea to have that animal as a pet.

Assessment

Rubric:

Did the student show a drawing of a least one of the animals discussed in the story?

Did the student explain the reason for their drawing?

Materials

Paper

Construction Paper

Markers or Crayons

Counters – 5 per student

Copy of book: Can I Have a Pet by Gwendolyn Hooks

Guided Lesson

1.  Read the book to the class or small group.
2. Guide the students in a discussion of the important elements in the book:  character, setting, plot, resolution, and author’s purpose.  Although, they most likely will be PreK or non readers, students can still discuss story elements…depending on the word choice of the teacher.
3. Pose the question:  have you ever gone to a concession stand or bought ice cream from the ice cream truck?  How did you know what you could buy?
4. Using the counters, assist students in determining the different combinations of things they can buy.
5. Display the following scenario on the board or projection device: 

Jenny wants to buy something from the snack store at the zoo.  She has 5 cents, but there are so many choices.  How many different groups of things can she buy with her 5 cents?

Assessment

Rubric:

Did the student get to 5¢ without going over?

Are the different combinations neatly grouped?

Other assessing questions as discovered through student observation.

Materials

Copy of book: Can I Have a Pet by Gwendolyn Hooks

Guided Lesson

1. Read the book to the class or small group.
2. Guide the students in a discussion of the important elements in the book:  character, setting, plot, resolution, and author’s purpose.  Although, they most likely will be PreK or non readers, students can still discuss story elements…depending on the word choice of the teacher.
3.  Reread the story to the class, but this time as you read, choose two students to repeat the text and “act out” the scenario. 
4. Once finished with the book, ask the students to read long with you as you reread the story.

Assessment

Rubric:

Did the student connect the text with the action?

Did the student repeat the text accurately?

Materials

Pencils

Paper

Construction Paper

Ruler

Markers or Crayons

Copy of book: Mystery of the Missing Dog by Gwendolyn Hooks

Guided Lesson

1. Read the book to the class or small group.
2. Guide the students in a discussion of the important elements in the book:  character, setting, plot, resolution, and author’s purpose. 
3. Pose the question:  Have you ever lost anything you cared about?  How did you find it?  Where did you look? 
4. Reread the story to the class, but this time as you read, make a list of all the places Jet looks for his dog.
5. Once finished, use the list to recreate a floor plan of Jet’s house.  Label each place Jet looked with a description and the numerical order.
6. Compare the floor plans with other students and look for similarities and differences amongst the designs.  Pose the question:  why are some floor plans different from others?

Assessment

Rubric:

Did the student label the sections of the house accurately?

Are the sections labeled in numerical order?

Are the floor plans neat and organized?

Were the descriptions written accurately?

Materials

Pencils

Paper

grocery story circulars, catalogs, publications with prices, etc

Copy of book: The Mystery of the Missing Dog by Gwendolyn Hooks

Guided Lesson

1.  Read the book to the class.
2. Guide the students in a discussion of the important elements in the book:  character, setting, plot, resolution, and author’s purpose. 
3. Display the following scenario on the board or projection device: 

Alex finally found his dog, Jet!  Alex and his dad decided to take Jet to the vet just to make sure everything was okay.  The veterinarian bill came to $33.00!  Alex’s dad told him he could get some supplies from the pet store, but the total cost, including the veterinarian bill cannot be more the $60!  What a dilemma!!  Help Alex make a shopping list…be sure that it doesn’t go over $60.  You don’t want to run out of money! 

4. Either by cutting out and gluing or writing the information, place the items “bought” on a sheet of construction paper for others to view. 

Assessment

Rubric:

Did the student get close to $60 without going over?

Did the students “purchase” necessary items for caring for a pet?

Are the different combinations neatly grouped?

Other assessing questions as discovered through student observation.

Materials

Pencils

Paper

Construction Paper (small squares – 13 per student)

Sentence Strip

Glue Stick

Markers or Crayons

Copy of book: Mystery of the Missing Dog by Gwendolyn Hooks

Guided Lesson

1. Read the book to the class or small group.
2. Guide the students in a discussion of the important elements in the book:  character, setting, plot, resolution, and author’s purpose. 
3. Reread the story to the class, but this time as you read, before you turn the page, have students write on a construction paper square a summary of the two pages.
4. Using the glue stick, attach the square to the sentence strip.  Note:  the strips should be placed with the sentence strip hanging vertically, hence “vertical story.”
5. Once finished, use the sentence strip to summarize the story. 

Assessment

Rubric:

Did the student summarize the story accurately?

Are the squares placed on the sentence strip in chronological order?

Other assessing questions as discovered through student observation.

Materials

Pencil

Notebook / Composition Paper

Copy of book: Nice Wheels by Gwendolyn Hooks

Guided Lesson

1. Read the book to the class or small group.
2. Guide the students in a discussion of the important elements in the book:  character, setting, plot, resolution, and author’s purpose
3. Pose the question:  Have you ever felt different from everyone else?  Have you ever felt different around those who are different from you?  How does it make you feel when people treat you differently?
4. Reread the story to the class, but this time as you read, stop and ask students how they would feel at this point in the story.
5. Once finished, ask the students to share one of their experiences with a partner or small group. Once everyone has had an opportunity to share something, ask students to begin a “kwik write” about a time they were treated differently or treated someone else differently. 

Note:  A “kwik write” is a short (20 minutes or so) narrative piece.  Its purpose is to get students’ thoughts flowing and to begin generating story elements.  Once a kwik write has been written, it can be pulled apart and constructed into a full composition.

Assessment

Rubric:

Did the student write about a personal experience?

Did the student explain why this event affected them?

Did the student write thoroughly enough to create a composition from the” kwik write?”

Materials

Pencil

Graph Paper

Markers or Crayons

Chart Paper

Copy of book: Nice Wheels by Gwendolyn Hooks

Guided Lesson

1.  Read the book to the class or small group.
2. Guide the students in a discussion of the important elements in the book:  character, setting, plot, resolution, and author’s purpose
3. Pose the question:  Do you know what a survey is?  How are they used?  How are they created? 
4. Explain to students that throughout the book, the students mention lots of things they enjoy doing.  Ask:  What are some things you enjoy doing?

Note:  This lesson is in three parts:

1. creating the survey
2. conducting the survey
3. organizing the information gathered in a graph

Part 1:  On a sheet of paper, students need to choose 4-5 activities for their survey participants to choose from.  The survey should have a place to record the collected data (tallies, checkmarks, etc.)

Part 2:  Students will conduct their survey amongst their classmates.

Part 3:  Students will create a bar graph showing the results from the survey.  Graphs should include titles, values, labels, etc.

Assessment

Rubric:

Did the student create a survey form?

Did the student conduct a survey?

Did the student create a bar graph that accurately displayed their survey data?

Materials

Pencil

Construction Paper

Markers or Crayons

Copy of book: Nice Wheels by Gwendolyn Hooks

Guided Lesson

1.  Read the book to the class or small group.
2. Guide the students in a discussion of the important elements in the book:  character, setting, plot, resolution, and author’s purpose. 
3. Pose the question:  Have you ever felt different from everyone else?  Have you ever felt different around those who are different from you?  How does it make you feel when people treat you differently?
4. Reread the story to the class, but this time as you read, stop and ask students how they would feel at this point in the story.
5. Once the story has been read, ask students to create a picture book of a similar situation from their life.  The picture book should not contain words, but should express the feelings and experiences of the student. 
6. Once students have had a chance to tell their story through pictures, display their books and encourage other students to determine what the experience is that’s depicted.

Assessment

Rubric:

Did the student draw about a personal experience?

Were other students able to determine the experience?