RAL 220/SPE 214 Fall 2015

Interactive Read-Aloud: A Bad Case of Stripes

Melanie Cella
Jefferson Elementary School
3rd Grade

Part I Background

Common Core State Standards

Speaking & Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.3
Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
Reading: Literature
Key Ideas and Details:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.1
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for
the answers.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute
to the sequence of events

Citation: Shannon, David (1989). A Bad Case of Stripes. New York, NY: The Blue Sky Press.

Summary: Camilla Cream is very concerned about what other people think about her. Instead
of doing the things that she loves, she changes whom she is in order to fit in. After catching a
bad case of stripes, Camilla learns that it is better to be yourself than to change in order to fit
in.

Rationale: I think this book will be a good interactive read aloud text for this third grade class
because I have noticed that a lot of students laugh at each other for being different. On pajama
day, I noticed that students were laughed at for the types of pajamas that they wore. I also
always see students calling other students gross for eating certain things that they may not like
(Elijah was made fun of for liking skim milk, which can be similar to Camilla and the lima beans).
This book teaches students to be themselves and to also be aware of other peoples feelings.
Moreover, my class is learning about character traits and since Camilla changes over the course
of the book, they will be able to describe to me her feelings throughout.
I also think that the students will find this story amusing. The illustrations do a great job of
expanding on the text and I think that the students will really enjoy the humor in the pictures.
Also, the illustrations will help the students in picking character traits.

Management - Behind the scenes decision-making: During the read aloud, I am going to have
students seated on the carpet in their assigned seats. I want the students on the carpet because
this is the area where they are used to being during instruction time and I do not want too
many things to change for them during this read aloud. The assigned seats include students
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(Kabree, Tayron, Ali, and Al-Nasser) who get easily distracted seated in the front closest to me.
The carpet seating arrangement, that Brianna and I helped Mrs. Durling implement, was
created to keep students who are easily distracted away from each other. By having Ali, Kabree,
Al-Nasser, and Tayron close to me, I will be able to redirect their attention without distracting
the whole class. The students sit in rows on the carpet and know where on the rug they should
sit. If Mrs. Durling agrees, I may put stickers and tape on the rug so that students have a
designated area to sit. This would get rid of any fights about being in someones spot. It would
also make if easier to fit every student on the rug. The tape would help in preventing problems
with students laying down and kicking each other.

First transition checkpoint: If I am correct, the students will just be finishing breakfast before I
begin my read aloud. As proved through my observations, this is the most difficult transition of
the day. Some students have not finished their breakfast while other students are roaming
around the classroom. It is always a constant battle to remind students to turn in their
homework, throw out their trash, and sit quietly at their own desks. If the class is too loud, I will
use bell that Mrs. Durling usually uses. This bell almost always quiets them down. From there, I
will say thank you for quieting down so nicely. Before you do anything, please listen to my
instructions. We are going to start our read aloud. When I say, I would like everyone who still
has breakfast on their desk to quietly walk over to the garbage can, throw it away, and go right
back to your desk. Renee, I see that you have garbage on your desk still. Can you please show
the rest of the class how to quietly dispose on your trash and head back to your seat? Great.
Now can anyone who still has trash on their desk please throw out their garbage like Renee just
did and head back to your desks. After all of the garbage is thrown away, I will say great job,
thank you all so much. Now, when I start to sing the carpet transition song, I want you to all
quietly walk over to the rug and sit in your assigned seats. I will then start to sing the carpet
song. If the class is too loud or runs, I will ask them to go back to their seats and we will try
again. Before trying again, I would ask the class what they think went wrong and how we could
do it better. I would then have one student model how to walk to the carpet, we can talk about
how they walked to the carpet, and then I would try to sing the song again.
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Part II Before, During and After Reading

Management - Setting the stage, gaining attention and reiterating the rules: I will start by
saying thank you so much for walking to the rug like superstar students. We are about to start
our read aloud, but first, can someone remind me what a superstar students does on the
carpet? By starting with this, I will have students remind each other of the classroom rules that
are already in place. I will then ask a student to model what it looks like and what it sounds like
to be a superstar student on the rug. I will also remind the students of the rule that when
everyone is a superstar student on the rug, the class receives two BINGO points. After my
practice read aloud, I learned that the students respond well when you remind them of the
rewards for positive behaviors. After the rule reiteration and the modeling, I will say, those are
all great reminders of how to sit on the rug. Now, I want you to all remember the ways to be
Superstar students while I read to you the story A Bad Case of Striped. During the lesson, I am
expecting that students listen to the story and do not become distracted while I am reading it. I
am also expecting students to actively engage in the lesson. In order to do this, I will remind
students of some of the hand signs that we use when other classmates are speaking. I will say,
During this book, I am going to stop reading and ask you some questions about what you think
is happening in the story. Remember, if you want to answer, we need to raise our hands. Does
anyone remember what we do with our hands if we are thinking? Does anyone remember what
we do with our hands when we are ready to share? Does anyone remember what to do when
we agree with a classmate? For each hand sign, I will have all of the students practice. I am
going to make sure that we practice each hand signal in order to reiterate this rule as much as
possible, since in my practice read aloud I accidently skipped over this section and the class
began to call out. By going over these hand signs, I hope that students will use them during the
lesson. By using hand signals, I want to transform the students into citizens. These hand signs
will let me know who is actively engaged and will also allow the students to share their own
ideas. I will not use a Canterian voice with the class because I do not believe that they will
respond well. I think that they will respond best to being treated as people who share
important ideas and people who can monitor their own behaviors. From further observations
after reading the class on other occasions, I have learned that they respond well to my
emotions. If I tell the class that they are making me very happy and proud, they will continue
their behavior. If I stop reading and tell the class that they are making me sad, they usually
change their behavior.

Before reading questions/statements

Character traits are who a character is on the inside- like their personality! You can
determine character traits through what a person says or does. For example, if someone
likes to sit on the couch all day and never gets up, I might give them a character trait of
lazy.
What would be a character trait of someone who tells a lot of jokes and makes people
laugh? Why do you say that? (funny)
What would be a character trait of some who asks a lot of questions in class, uses a
dictionary to look up new words, and reads a lot of books? Why do you say that?
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(Curious, smart, driven)

If you notice someone sitting at lunch by themselves with their head down, how would
you describe them? Why? (Lonely)
Great answers! Now lets look at the front cover together. It looks like a girl is painted in
rainbow striped. Hm and she has a thermometer in her mouth. From looking at the
cover, who can make a prediction about what has happened to this girl? What makes
you think that?
Awesome! Lets see if you guys will be able to figure out some character traits in the
book I am going to read to you! Now, I am going to read you a story called A Bad Case of
Stripes about a girl named Camilla Cream who gets terribly sick! As we read, I want you
to think about some character traits of Camilla and how her actions tell us things about
her. After reading, we are going to talk about some character traits and if they changed
throughout the book, so try to think about Camillas traits and if they seem to change.
We are also going to talk about two words from this book that I think are really
interesting.

Management: By first describing character traits to the students, I am hoping that they become
interested, especially when talking about different examples, and want to learn more about
them. I think that the examples will make the students think and some may even find these
examples funny. Moreover, by telling the students exactly what we will be doing throughout
the whole lesson, they will know what to expect. This gives them things to look forward to and
it also reminds them that the lesson is not over.

During reading questions/statements

Management - Monitoring student behavior and maintaining student attention during

reading: Before I being to read, I will have already reiterated the rules of listening to peers and
active engagement. At this point, while asking the questions, I will look out for students hand
signals. If I notice that students are not using their hand signals, I will say remember, if you are
thinking, put your fist to your chest and then I will repeat my question. Before each question, I
will also say Before raising your hand, think about the answer to yourself and show me the
hand signal that you are thinking or that you are ready to share. I will give you some time to
think on your own. I will then move on to the answers after I see that most students are ready
to speak. If it has taken more than twenty seconds and most students are not ready to think, I
will go over the question again, have any student who is ready to share talk, and then will ask
students what they think after hearing other answers. When I see certain hand signals I will say
great job, it looks like (insert names) has thought about their answers and are ready to share!
I want to make sure to reinforce the use of hand signals throughout the entire lesson because I
failed to do so in my practice lesson plan, which caused the students to forget to use them. I
will also positively reinforce any student who volunteers their ideas. Even if they are not on the
right track, I want to make sure that they do not become discouraged. If I notice distractions
while reading, I will wait until I get to the end of the page and I will say it makes me upset
when people talk while I talk. I am going to read this page again and I would like to see how
RAL 220/SPE 214 Fall 2015

everyone listens closely. After reading the page again, I will say much better. Thank you so
much for listening, it makes me very happy.

Pg. 2 What do we know about Camilla so far?

Pg. 3 How do you think Dr. Bumble is feeling after examining Camilla? How do you know
this?
Pg. 3 How do you think the students at school will react when they see Camilla?
Knowing Camilla, how will she feel when the other students do this (whatever they
mention)?
Pg. 5 How do you think Camilla is feeling now?
Pg. 5 The book says, Camilla was changing faster than you can change channels on a
TV. What does this mean? How do you know?
Pg. 6 Hm contagious. Thats a funny word. What do you think it means? Why would the
other parents be afraid of this?
Pg. 6 Why wont Camilla ask her father for some lima beans?
Pg. 9 What do you think is happening to Camilla? Why does she keep on changing? Do
you see a pattern in her changes in appearance?
Pg. 10 Knowing Camilla, how do you think she will feel knowing that there are a bunch
of reporters outside of her house?
Pg. 12 The narrator said that Camilla groaned. What do you think that means about how
she is feeling? Can anyone show me what a groan sounds like?
Pg. 12 How do you think Camillas parents feel?
Pg. 13 Hm I wonder what this old woman is going to do. Does anyone have any
predictions on how the story is going to end? Lets find out!
Pg. 14 So Camilla is eating lima beans now! Would she have done this at the beginning
of the story? Why not?

After reading questions/statements

Does Camilla still have the same character traits that she had at the beginning of the
story? What has changed? Why did she change?
At the end of the story, do you think Camilla would eat lima beans at school now? Why
do you think so?
Camillas bad case of stripes changed how she looked depending on what other people
said, similar to how Camilla changed her likes and dislikes depending on what other
people thought of her.
What do you think is the lesson of this story?
So it is important to be yourself and to not care about what other people think, right? It
is also important not to make fun of people for being a little different. As we saw in the
book, people may care more about what you think of them than they show.
Can anyone tell me how we can make sure that all of our friends in class are able to be
themselves? Can someone share with me a time that they filled someones bucket?
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You were great listeners for todays read aloud. Thank you so much for your attention.
Now were going to talk about two of the words that were in the story.

Management- Transition checkpoint within the lesson: Thank you guys so much for those
answers! I could tell you were all really listening and thinking about the story. As I mentioned
earlier, we are now going to talk about two words from the book that I thought were really
interesting. Remember, I want everyone to remain a superstar student during this next
vocabulary discussion. That means, use our hand signals, raise your hand to speak, and respect
everyones answers. Depending on how the lesson is going at this point, I may have students
model again how to be a superstar students.

Part III Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

Now, we are going to talk about those two words that I mentioned earlier: fret and
extraordinary! These are two great descriptive words that the author used.

Fret
Explain
In the story, Camilla was fretting going to the first day of school. That means that she was very
nervous and worried. Can you say the word fret with me?
If you fret doing something that means that you are worried about having to do it. You may not
want to do something that you fret.
Lets say the word that means being worried or nervous to do something.

Discuss and Summarize

Lets think of some examples of when we might use the word fret. I will name some things and
if they are examples of something that you would fret, say the word fret. If they are not
examples of something you would fret, do not say anything!
Having to take a long test - fret
Going to the doctors for a shot - fret
Going to your favorite water park no response
Can anyone give me an example of something that they fret?
Great! So, what is the word that means worried and nervous?

Extraordinary
Explain
In the story, Dr. Bumble told Camilla that her stripes were extraordinary and that he has
never seen anything like them! This means that Camillas stripes were very unusual and
amazing.
Can you say the word extraordinary?
When something is extraordinary, it means that it is amazing, incredible, and probably not
something that you see very often. Camillas stripes were extraordinary because Dr. Bumble
had never seen anything like them before.
Lets say the word that means very unusual and amazing.
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Discuss and Summarize

Lets think about things that may be extraordinary. If I say something that is extraordinary, say
the word extraordinary. If I say something that is not extraordinary, do not say anything at all.
A dog talking to its owner - extraordinary
A blizzard in New Jersey during the month of July - extraordinary
A fish living in the ocean - No response.
Meeting someone who speaks ten different languages - Extraordinary.

If a girl does ten cartwheels and juggles and sings all at the same time during the school talent
show, what might you say about her talent act?
You could says, Her act during the talent show was extraordinary.
So, remind me again, what is the word that means very unusual and remarkable? Extraordinary

Develop
Whats the Word
Im going to say a sentence that has a word missing. Either the word fret or extraordinary
willfit in each sentence.
I always ______ going on airplanes because I am afraid of heights.
Would that be fret or extraordinary? Why do you think that?

The harvest parade was ________; I loved all of the creative costumes! I have never see
anything like it!
Would that be extraordinary or fret? Why?

Situations and Examples

If you are worried about something, you are fretting it. How might a person fretting a
spelling quiz feel? Can you explain?

If something is unusual, amazing or very different, it is extraordinary. How might someone

feel who sees something that is extraordinary? Can you explain?

Great job! The words fret and extraordinary are words that you might come across while you
are reading. Now, you will know what they mean and even be able to use them in your own
writing.

Management - Final transition checkpoint to the next lesson or activity: After the lesson has
concluded, I will say thank you so much for being so respectful while I was reading. Give
yourself a pat on the back; you all did such a good job analyzing the story. I especially liked how
(and here is where I would say anything I noticed. i.e. a lot of student participation, creative
answers, good listening skills etc.) I will then say before I conclude my lesson, I want to see if
anyone can remind me how to nicely get in line for special. I will then call on a student, ask
them to explain, and finally model how to get in line. Great job, Kabree, what did you notice
RAL 220/SPE 214 Fall 2015

about how (insert students name who modeled behavior) got in line? after his answer, I will
allow him to get in line. Now, when I start to sing the line up song, I want everyone to walk in
line as slowly and quietly as your two classmates did. I will then start the line up song. If I
notice any disruptive behavior, I will bring the class back to the rug and ask them what they
think went wrong and how they could improve. After they are nicely lined up, I will again thank
them for being superstar students and lead them to gym class.
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Part IV - Reflection

RAL 220
How would you describe your volume, expression and pacing as you read aloud?
I tried to read loudly and with expression during my read aloud. Students did not ask
me to speak up and they did not ask for me to reread any pages. Also, I tired to give
each character their voice. For example, when reading the dialogue of Camillas parents,
I tried to express their concern in my voice. When reading Camillas dialogue, I tried to
sound defeated and embarrassed. When I was reading Dr. Bumbles part, I read off the
list of symptoms very quickly to show that he was both confused and concerned. After
reading this part, many students laughed showing me that I was properly expressing the
characters emotions.
I tried to pace the lesson as best I could; however, I think that the lesson went a little
too slowly. I made sure to give each student enough time to think before allowing
someone to answer a question. I think that this went well because it allowed me to see
which students were engaged. It also allowed me to encourage students to think about
all of the questions instead of sitting and allowing other students to answer all of the
questions. Although this took time, I would not change it because it kept the students
engaged and thinking. I would, however, make sure to ask fewer questions. I wanted to
make sure that the students had a firm grasp on the book. When I noticed that they did,
I should have asked less questions. For example, Sonjay told the class the pattern by
which Camilla was changing. After this response and after seeing that the class
understood this, I should have stopped asking questions pertaining to Camillas stripes.
What evidence do you have that your questions/statements were successful in
facilitating the childrens comprehension of the story?
I was very excited that I saw almost all of the students fully engaged throughout the
entire lesson. I knew that my questions and statements were successful through the
hand signals that I repeatedly taught and reminded the students to use. I made sure
that every student showed me a thinking hand signal throughout the lesson. I also made
sure to call on different students throughout the lesson. By calling on different students,
I was able to see that they all comprehended the story. For example, Sonjay wanted to
speak after every question, but since I knew that she understood, I made sure to give
other students a chance to answer. When I noticed that students seemed puzzled, I
rephrased and repeated my question, and called on students who may not have spoken
yet. I was happily surprised that even these students had comments relating to the
story. For example, I was a little nervous that Ali did not comprehend the story because
he was not giving me many hand signals. I then rephrased the question, looked at him,
and he volunteered his own thoughts. I did not want to call out a student who was not
volunteering information, so I tried to push him without saying anything or
embarrassing him.
Did you make any changes in your questions/statements as you were reading the story
and why? In hindsight, would you make adjustments to your planned
questions/statements now?
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As I was reading the story, I added more questions about how they thought that
each character felt. I also added questions about how they would feel if they were in the
characters shoes. While reading, Kabree told me that Camilla would not be
embarrassed if other people saw her with stripes. This let me know that the class did
not fully understand Camillas character traits. I then went back into the book and
reread a section that gave evidence that Camilla cared about what other people thought
of her. After rereading this part, I had Kabree think about if he cared what other people
thought, if he was different from Camilla, and how she may act differently if he were in
her shoes because he has different character traits.
I am glad that I added more questions as I read; however, this took up a lot of
time. Looking back, I may get rid of some of the vocabulary questions that I asked the
students throughout the book. I would still go over any unusual words; however, I
would not spend so much time on every single possible vocabulary word in the book.
This would have allowed the lesson to go at a faster pace while still emphasizing the
main points that I wanted to get across.
Do you feel your explicit vocabulary instruction was effective? Why or why not?
I think that my explicit vocabulary instruction was very effective. After going over
each word, I made sure to teach the students the behaviors that I expected from them in
each of the activities. Although it was not originally planned in my lesson, I decided to have
the students share their answers as a class when I counted to three. By teaching them this
behavior, they became engaged and interested in the vocabulary words. Al-Nasser, a
student who usually does not participate, joined in on our vocabulary activity, which was
very exciting for me.
Moreover, the class did well developing and getting a deeper understanding of the
vocabulary words. By the end of the lesson, I heard examples of the things that they fret in
their own lives. Also, while getting in line very nicely, Kevin said that their line was
extraordinary since they are usually very loud in line.
Overall, what do you feel went very well and why, and what do you feel was the biggest
literacy challenge that went unaddressed?
I think that, overall, my lesson went well. All of the students were actively engaged
and it seemed as though they learned a lot from the lesson. After, I heard some of the
students using the vocabulary words on their own, which was very exciting for me. I also
think that teaching them about character traits went well. For example, Renee gave
character traits of Camillas parents before I even had the chance to ask what they thought
about them. Also, the students were able to back up their answers with examples from the
text. When I asked students about the word groan, Shaianne said Camilla must be annoyed
and embarrassed and went on to explain that she knew that because she groaned.
I think that the biggest literacy challenge was being able to address everything that I
wanted to address, including character traits, vocabulary, and the lesson of being yourself.
Although they all connected, I found it difficult to emphasize each one. If I were to do this
lesson again, I would only focus on the explicit vocabulary instruction after the lesson and
briefly go over any other words during the read aloud. Moreover, I would try to gauge
where the class was in terms of comprehension and adjust my questions accordingly. For
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example, if I noticed that they all really understood the lesson, I might ask fewer questions
about that and spend more time on the actions and emotions of the characters.

SPE 214
To what extent were you successful in keeping students actively engaged in the read
aloud? What actions on your part (planning, preparation, implementation, problem
solving) contributed to this success? Provide specific examples to support your answer.
I think that I was very successful in keeping the students actively engaged in the
read aloud. I was able to see their engagement with their hand signals. I always made
sure to wait to see the thinking hand signal turn into a I have a thought hand signal
from a majority of my students before I asked one student for a response. After every
question, I always saw almost the entire class thinking. Most of the students then
showed that they had thoughts. I also noticed that the students agreed with different
responses by their hand signals. When students predictions came true, I noticed their
excited reactions. For example, Trinity predicted that Camillas stripes may have been
contagious. When I read the word contagious on the next page, Trinity raised her hand
and used the agree hand signal. I made sure to praise Trinity so that she felt confident
and so she would continue to stay engaged.
Before starting the story, I asked the class what being a superstar student looked
like and sounded like on the rug. After Elijah modeled, I noticed that the other students
corrected their own behaviors. I think that this helped my lesson get off to a successful
start. While reading the story, I made it a point to not only reiterate the rules of using
hand signals throughout the lesson, but I also made sure to teach them the proper times
to use them. If I thought that the class was forgetting about the hand signals, I modeled
them myself. I also tried my best to praise the students who continuously used them.
Before beginning my vocabulary instruction, I made sure to explain the activity
and I also taught the students ways to respond. Instead of just telling them to shout out
their answers on the count of three, I had them practice a few times. If I noticed that
some students still did not display the desired behavior, we practiced again. Also, during
the actual examples, some students answered the question incorrectly. We then went
over the correct answer and I had the students practice the behavior again. By teaching
them the behavior, it helped the students become engaged in the vocabulary
instruction. This explicit instruction on the counting to three behavior was not
explicitly planned in my read aloud lesson plan like the other behaviors that I taught
were. Instead, I thought of this right before I explained the activity. I suddenly thought
that they might not engage in the activity correctly if they just shouted out the answer,
so I decided that I needed to add some more structure. From this, I learned that a lot of
teaching happens on the spot. Although I did plan a lot, while I was in the situation, I
was better able to make sure that the students were engaged. Even though it was not
planned, I was not afraid to implement a new strategy. Structure is key in making sure
that students exhibit desired behaviors.
What strategies do you think were particularly effective in addressing and/or preventing
minor disruptions to the lesson and why?
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I think that having the students practice the desired behaviors was very effective
in addressing minor disturbances. By practicing the hand signals, the students did not
call out as often as I usually observe. When I observed anyone talking out of turn, I
made sure to either model the hand signal again or to compliment a student that was
using the hand signal and sitting quietly. At one point I told the students that I could
only listen to students who use their hand signals. This small reminder was very
effective in addressing the minor disruptions in my class. The hand signals were a great
tool in both addressing and preventing disruptive behaviors.
Having certain students sit close to me was also very helpful in addressing minor
disturbances. When I noticed Kabree lying down, I only gave him a slight poke on his leg
to remind him of his behavior and I continued to read. Since he was strategically placed
close to me, I did not have to stop teaching in order to address this. Also, it may have
stopped a fight with the student behind him who usually complains that Kabree takes up
too much room.
What did not go so well in the lesson? What could you do in the future to prevent this
from happening or to further strengthen your lesson?
During the lesson, I think that the students became restless. It was a long lesson
for a read aloud and I should have paced myself better. I got very caught up in the
questions during the story that I made the lesson longer than it needed to be. Next
time, I will make sure to watch the clock and only stop after pages where I think there
are questions that are necessary to ask. Since the students seemed to have a firm grasp
on the story, I could have gone a little faster. In future lessons, I can get a sense of the
students comprehension and from there, determine my pacing. If I need to skip some
vocabulary in order to allow the students to fully understand the content of the story, I
will do that.
To strengthen my lesson, I would ask the students to look around and think
about where they are on the carpet. I noticed that some students began to get restless
and by the end of the lesson, had moved around and were beginning to crowd each
other. By having these breaks where students could evaluate their own movement
behaviors, they would be able to move back and correct themselves.
On a similar note, I would make sure to have some movement in my next lesson.
Since the lesson was so long, I noticed students begin to rustle around at the end. For
my vocabulary lesson, I may have a similar activity, but instead of shouting out the
answer as a class, everyone could stand up and reach for the ceiling. By getting the
students moving without them really realizing it, they may have been even more
engaged and less restless.