Directed Reading Thinking Activity

Part 1 and Part 2:

To physically prepare students for reading a book students will be

told to stand and push in their chairs and shake out their
wiggles and by the count of 10 their wiggles should be gone.
Then students will be ready to be called to the carpet. (The
purpose of shaking out the wiggles is so students acknowledge
that wiggling around on the rug during shared reading it not an
acceptable behavior in my classroom.)

To prepare students mentally for reading a book students will be

told to turn their listening ears up. This command will be
followed by hand motions at ear level that mimic turning a knob.
(The purpose of physically turning imaginary knobs by our ears is
so students acknowledge that it is now time to be a listener.)

Depending on the content of the shared reading students may

also be told to put their thinking caps on. This will be followed
by students literally picking up an imaginary cap and placing it
over their head. This will not happen every time I read a story
because I want students to be able to differentiate between
when we are reading a story for learning and when we are
reading a story as a reward or filler. (The purpose of this is so
students know that they will be asked questions throughout the
story.)

A. Activate/Build Prior Knowledge

Has anyone ever been afraid of something that turned out

not to be scary at all? Maybe it was just a shadow on a
wall, or a tree branch scratching at your window, or your
dog snoring! (Students will be given the opportunity to
share experiences with class.)

Offer similar experience of my own so students see that we

can relate to each other.

Okay, lets look at the cover of our book! Who can guess
what our book is about based on what we see on the
cover? (At this point, title of the book will be covered to
ensure students are making prediction based on the
picture only.) (Students will be given the opportunity to
discuss predictions with class)

At this time students will be asked to identify the title,

author, illustrator, and cover page. (Students will answer
by raising hand to volunteer to participate.)

Read first three pages of the book A Fly Went By. After
third page (page 5 technically) ask students to:
- Predict what the first character (the fly) is so afraid
of.
- Think back to earlier predictions based on the title.
Where any of the prediction on point?

B. Preview/Predictions

Students are given the opportunity to tell the story based

on what they see in pictures.

What do you see? What do you think is happening? What

do you think the animals are all afraid of? What is going to
happen next? Can you guess the next animal?

What is each animal running from? What sound do you

think they are making as they run? How are these animals
connection (ANTICIPATED ANSWER: frog, cat, dog = house
pets. Cow, pig, sheep, domesticated farm animals)
(Students are given the opportunity to make animal
sounds)
Fly, Frog, Cat, Dog, Pig, Cow, Fox, Man, Sheep

C. Vocabulary

Introduce and define and Idiom.

Shake in fear
That cat is after me
You are out of your head
I gave a great big yell

D. Purpose Setting Questions:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.2
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures,
and determine their central message, lesson, or moral

What the solution to the animals fear is?

How can the little boy end the animals fears?
What is the moral of this story?
Did anyone make correct predictions?

The book will be read initially by me to the class in whole

group.
Students will then read the book independently continuing
to make inferences, check their predictions, and write
Think Marks

Part 3: Reading

While I am reading: students should be making inferences,

predictions, and rereading (if necessary) to support
comprehension. Parts 1 and 2 worked to activate
background knowledge to give students a base for
comprehension.
Further support comprehension: When students are
reading a story for the first time it is not always easy to
catch every little quirk the book offers. To support
comprehension after the initial read students will be
instructed to read the book a second time using Think
Marks. With their Think Marks students should write down
something that interested them, a prediction they made
the first time they read, a pattern they noticed, maybe
something about the book that did not sit right with them,
or simply something they liked. (Students will be asked to
give at least 2 think marks but can do as many as they
want. Differentiating Instruction.)
While waiting for others to finish: Students will pair with
another student who has also finished reading and will pairshare their think marks.

While I read the book to whole group I will stop to ask

questions and make statements that promote
comprehension. Asking students to refer back to either a
page that has already been read or something discussed
during part 1 or 2. For example I may stop to check who
made correct predictions as well as make further
predictions based on new information we know about the
plot of the book. I will observe which students are
participating to help me informally check for
understanding.
While students are reading independently I will walk
around the room and keep an eye out for students using
different strategies to comprehend. I will also listen in on
students who have finished reading and are pair sharing
their think marks with their partner.

Part 4: Reteaching Skills and Strategies

Grand Conversation- At this time the class will have a grand conversation as
whole group. Students will be able to share their personal responses with the
entire class. I will assist students in shifting focus to making connections
between text and their own lives, the world, and other texts (text to self- text
to world- text to text.)
*This will be a lot like what we did in Part 1 however this time students know
about the book. They can make direct connections to what they read in the
book to what they may have discussed with the class during Part 1.

Part 5: Cross Curriculum Activities

Guided Reading Book: A Fly Went By by Mike McClintock

Grade Level: Second Grade
Theme: Animals
Math Standard: 2.OA.3- Determine whether a group of objects (under 20) has
an odd or even number of members by pairing objects or counting them by
twos: write an equation to express an even number as a sum of two equal
addends.
*The lesson plans are based on how I plan to run a classroom based on my
current knowledge and experiences. Peer feedback based on classmates
experienced is very welcomed and appreciated!*
Objective: Students will be able to identify the number of characters in the
book A Fly Went By. Students will be able to count the characters by 2s first
by using a number grid, and then on their own with 85% accuracy.
Lesson1:
Materials:

Number Grid (magnetic and sticks to side of students desk for easy
access)
Book A Fly Went By by Mike McClintock
Hand out for visual aide
Pencil and counter chips

Sequence of Events:

Hook: Call students to the carpet as if it is reading time. Reread pages

61 and 62 to the students. Reread once out loud. (Teacher will have
prepared cartoon cut outs of the characters from the book to display
on the board every time a character is read- visual aide.) Next, have a
volunteer come to the board to write a tally mark every time the class
says an animal. Second time rereading should sound like this:
Teacher: The
Class: FLY!
*Student helper makes a tally
(I)*
Teacher: ran away in fear of
the
Class: FROG!
*Student helper makes a tally
(II)*Teacher: Who ran from
the
Class: CAT!
*Student helper makes a tally
(III)*

Teacher: Who ran from the

Class: DOG!
*Students helper makes a
tally (IIII)*
Teacher: The dog ran away
in fear of the
Class: PIG!
*Student helper makes a tally
(IIIII)*
This will continue on until all
animals have been
mentioned and tallied

Before returning to their seats: Students will count the tally marks out
loud as a group. (visual, auditory)

Students will be directed to return to their seats and given the first
handout- this handout is a photo copy of page 62 and 63 of the book A
Fly Went By. On this handout students will write a number next to
every single character they see on their paper that is also displayed on
the board. (Accommodation: Students who may have vision
impairments can stay on the carpet for this activity to see the board
better.)

I will ask the class to give a thumbs up if the number of characters

circles on their paper matches the number of characters on the board,
or a thumbs down if it does not. Review of character cut outs on board
and characters on hand-out will take place so class is all on same page.

BRAIN BREAK: Students will be asked to stand and given a 5 second

opportunity to make the sound of their favorite character from the
book. (I will count down out loud and with my hand 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)

Students are asked to take out their number grid and asked to make a
prediction of how we are going to use the characters from A Fly Went
By and our number grid together. Pair Share with their neighbor after 2
minutes and volunteer to share out loud after pair share is over. While
students pair share, teacher will reorganize the characters on the
board in to two rows and 8 columns with one character left over all
alone.

Have students take out 9 counter chips (kinesthetic.) Introduce

vocabulary word *Equal Groups* to students and give volunteers
opportunity to share with class what their understanding of the term is.
Give true meaning (have the same number of objects.) Use character
cut outs on board to model this. Board should look like this : Model
skip count method

Explain that each character represents a number (Fly =1, Cow=2,

Frog=3, Fox=4 etc.)

Circle characters by columns to model skip count method. Fly&cow=2,

Frog&fox=4 etc)

Explain that is how you count by 2s. Practice counting by 2s with

number grid- Model with large size number grid on board. Have
students watch once, count along second time, follow along with their
own board and count with you third time.

Ask for volunteers to pick items in the classroom they can count by 2s.
(Anticipated answers: books, desks, chairs, back packs.)

Activity: Students work with pair and share partner to practice skip
count method with items in the room. (Trying to get the kids up and
moving around to promote excitement about learning.)

Closure: Explain to the students that when counting by 2s, they are
dealing with only even numbers! Refer back to the board with
characters from A Fly Went By. Review how all the animals that
represent and even number have a partner. For example, pig is all
alone therefore we know the number of animals discussed in the book
is an odd number.

Skip-Count Activity
Name______________________________
Number __________
Directions: Pick 5 items from the list below and use the skip
count method to tell how many are in the classroom amount in
the classroom. Use your counters!
*I will verbally explain and model how to use their counters for this
activity!)

Items
Student
Desks

Chairs

Posters

Dry Erase
markers

Number

Draw

Lunch Cards

Things that
are blue

Back Packs

Lunch Boxes

Lights

Book Shelves