Unit Plan – Language Arts Reading: Grade 3
Myranda Ekkel #001175502
Timeframe: September-Mid October 2018
Unit Name: Building A Reading Life (Lucy Calkins)
Summary & Rationale of Unit:
The first reading unit with Lucy Calkin’s material will be introduced within the first
week of school. It will be essential to determine what reading level the students are
at so a Fountis and Pinnell testing period will take place early on in the year. Students
will be building a reading life and to start off the year, students will be “shopping”
for new books and ones that are appropriate to their reading level. Students will have
their own book boxes within the classroom to store the books that they will be
reading. The goal for this unit is to instill strong reading habits within the students. In
doing so, it is important that students are familiar with their reading level and what it
appropriate for them. Within the classroom library, the books are separated into
three categories. The books that are in the green boxes are for readers that are
below reading level, yellow is at reading level, and red is above reading level. Two
students are significantly lower in their reading level and a few will be at a higher
level. In this case, the lower readers will be directed towards the green boxes of
books and the ones above will be directed towards the red. It is essential that
students are encouraged to challenge themselves and strive to read more challenging
books as well as a variety of genres as the year progresses.
Student’s opinions will be incorporated in the reading life of the classroom. Giving
them the opportunity to share how they like to read and what they like to read will
help instill a sense of involvement and community. Asking students about their
favorite books, genres, authors, etc. will also give students the chance to feel excited
and share with their peers about the material they are reading. As the teacher, I will
also be sharing with students books I like to read or a book I am currently reading at
the time to also show excitement in my own reading life. Recommending books that I
like appropriate to the age group would also give students a chance to experience
new genres or books. About every couple of weeks or once a month I will also have a
selection of my own personal books appropriate to the differing reading levels within
the classroom for students to look at or read during class time.
Engaging cognitive awareness and comprehension is crucial within the reading life of
the classroom. In achieving this, students will be keeping a reading log as a tool to
help make them better readers. Reading comprehension is an important habit to
instill so that students can retell the text that they are reading and think about how
the different parts of the story fit together and contribute to one another.

As part of this unit, the skill of envisioning, inferring, and predicting will be modeled
and practiced as a class, in groups, and individually. Students will become more
specific and text based with these skills based on what has happened in the stories
and how they think they will go. Students will not just be predicting what is likely to
happen, but how some of these things might happen, acknowledging and making note
of the small details that carry significant meanings and contribute to the bigger
themes of the book. As these skills are being practiced individually, students will be
working on their ability to retell the story. In addition to giving a summary, students
will be sharing major themes, characters (major and minor), and other important
aspects.

In the final part of this unit, students will come to learn that reading can be
challenging and they will need to respond in a manner that require resilience and
fortitude. Students will learn that they cannot skip over the hard parts in a book or
mumble an unknown word. Reading takes time and effort and there is no worry or
hurry when it comes to learning unknown words. Students will participate in self-
assessments in regards to their reading habits. This is a formative assessment that will
allow the teacher along with students know the extent to which they finish books or
try to overcome their struggles. Students will always be reminded of the strategies
that we will discuss at the beginning of the year to help them when they are
struggling while reading. Different clues that students will be taught to notice are:
 The gist of the sentence or paragraph
 Synonyms
 Antonyms
 Explanations
 Dialogue
These closer analysis of the story will support flexibility and their knowledge of
words. They will begin to recognize how authors can use words in a playful way or
how a group of words relate to the incident occurring within the book. This last
section also encourages students to ask questions while reading such as “why did the
author include that?” Students will consistently be given the opportunity to discuss
their reading with partners, groups, and within the class as a whole. This gives them
 an opportunity to retell and recall the story, as well as bounce ideas off of their
peers. Throughout the unit, students will be constantly reviewing and talking about
the novel we are reading and sharing their own personal reading journey and how it is
going. They will be practicing the skills and strategies that we discuss at the
beginning and keeping track of and reflecting on their reading in a reading log along
with other activities throughout. This unit focusses heavily on students building a
reading life both within the classroom and outside. Discovering student’ reading level
and challenging them to try higher levels is a main goal. Reiterating strategies is also
important to help students become independent and work through their reading
struggles on their own. These strategies will be discussed and written down as a class
and easily accessible.

Students will be given the opportunity to read silently every day and their progress
will be kept track using their reading logs. Also, students will be taken to the school
library once a week for the opportunity to sign out books to take home or read in the
classroom.

A personal reading challenge will also be held within the classroom for the duration of
the 4 months I am there. Students will have a list of different books, genres, lengths,
etc. to read and check off a list. While completing the various genres of books,
students will have a reflection coinciding with the books. Once they complete a book
of the list, students must have either the teacher or parents initial their paper. For
all of those who have completed the list by December, some form of reward will be in
place.

While also hitting the various outcomes, a general theme of introduction where
students get to know each other along with myself, and build a community within the
classroom will be carried out, as it is fitting in the first month of the new school year
Objectives:
1. Students will share their reading progress with others
Objectives & Outcomes: 2. Students will create and manage their own personal reading logs
3. Students will create reading goals
4. Students will participate in a variety of activities that gauge their
understanding of building a reading life
5. Students will be constantly reviewing their reading progress
6. Students will read individually and collectively
 7. Students will participate in higher level thinking
8. Students will learn to make predictions and hypothesize
9. Students will work with and appreciate others

General Outcomes:
General Outcome 1: explore thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences
1.1 Discover and explore
1.2 Clarify and extend

General Outcome 2: comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, print
and other media texts
2.1 Use strategies and cues
2.2 Respond to texts
2.3 Understand forms, elements and techniques
2.4 Create original text

General Outcome 3: manage ideas and information

3.1 Plan and focus
3.2 Select and process
3.3 Organize, record and evaluate
3.4 Share and review

General Outcome 4: enhance and clarity and artistry of communication

4.1. Enhance and improve
4.2 Attend to conventions
4.3 Present and share

General Outcome 5: respect, support and collaborate with others

5.1 Respect others and strengthen community
5.2 Work within a group

Materials:  Lucy Calkin’s Building a Reading Life book

 Reading logs
 Pencils and crayons
 Chromebooks
  Smartboard and whiteboard
 Dictionaries
 Thesaurus’
 Post-Its
 Book boxes
 Picture books
 Poster paper
 Discussion cubes
Resources: 1. Lucy Calkins’ Building a Reading Life
2. Scholastic Literacy Place Reading Guide
3. Epic! Books
4. Storyline online screen actors guild
5. Chromebooks
6. Pinterest
Instructional Approaches  Modeling (demonstrating behavior, exemplar work, etc.)
 Group work
 Individual work
 Whole class teaching—student involvement and opinions
 Using student ideas and opinions as examples
 Read-alouds, independent reading
 Audiobooks
 Student sharing with groups and the whole class
 One on one with other students (students teach each other)
 One on one with the teacher conferences
 Technology incorporation
 Movement within the classroom (working around the classroom for a change)
 Brain breaks
 Reading logs—variety and not the same one each time
Major Activities:  Movie Poster: after reading the “Stone Fox” chapter book, students will be
given the opportunity to create a movie poster. They will design a poster and
include specific information such as:
 A clear title and the author’s name
 A graphic design that reflects the book, major characters, and themes
 A summary of the plot (no spoilers!)
  A review of the book (their personal opinions)—these will be displayed
on the bulletin board in the classroom
 Associations: in a station form, there will be evocative words posted on walls
and students will have to go around each station to write associated words;
afterwards, students can pick 2 words from stations and create a story to
share with the class
 Chain story: begin with a typical starter (for example, once upon a time), and
go around the class for students to add onto the story; allow students to
“pass” if they cannot think of anything to add
 Express Your View: I will present the class with a topic that carries up to 4
sides/opinions; I will label the corner of the room of the various sides and ask
students to walk to the sides they believe in based on the current book(s) we
are reading. Groups will discuss their opinions and then each corner will share
and if possible, defend their view; continue with different topics
 Alternative endings: during read-alouds, I will stop reading a story to not
reveal the ending; students will create/predict his/her own ending and share
with partners/the class; the rest of the class can also ask questions or add-on
to the ending of their peers’
 Open-Mind Portraits: with one of the books read aloud, students will embody
the role of the main character and draw a portrait of a character and explain
why, in their own reasoning, the character carried out one of or the main
action in the story; differently, students will pick 1 event/action from the
story and explain how he/she would have approached it differently; share with
class afterwards
 Digging up Dictionaries: students will choose words found in the books we
have read/are reading in class and their own personal books; students will
locate the word(s) in a kid-friendly dictionary, or use kids-only Google if
laptops are available, draw a picture, write the definition, and share in
partners/groups the information they gathered (#1-#5)
 Post-It review/sharing: students will be given post-it notes and will be asked
to write down something they remember from the chapter book we are
reading. They will post their notes on the board and we will review them as a
class to refresh our minds of what is happening. This can be altered and
students can write down the current the book they are reading and post it on
the board. This type of activity can be used in a variety of ways throughout
this unit.
  Comic strip: during the reading of the Stone Fox students will be given the
chance to create a comic strip based on what has happened and what they
think will happen next
 Concept mapping: as a form of review, the class as a whole can create a
concept map based on what has happened and will also help organize the
ideas
 Interviews: assuming the roles of characters within the book, students will
hold interviews with one another and ask questions specific to their characters
and their actions within the book. They will come up with their own interview
questions
 Character webs: based on the main characters of the story, students will
create characters webs highlighting their physical traits, emotions, motives,
etc.
 Discussion cube: students will be put in groups and each group will be given a
discussion cube. Each person will role the cube and answer the question that
they role and discuss within their groups. This will be tailored towards to novel
we are reading as a class

Formative:
 While listening to students read, I will be paying attention to their tendencies
Assessment/Evaluation: towards unfamiliar words or phrases, punctuation cues, etc. Providing
feedback for improvement
 Reading logs will be collected once a week and given a complete or
incomplete mark. Feedback will be provided based on the information
provided and goals or ideas for improvement will be given to help students for
future logs
 Checklists and participation in book sharing and reading
 Observation of student behavior, participation in activities, ability to complete
assigned tasks, working with other students
 Mini assignments will be collected and reviewed for feedback
Summative:
 Throughout the unit, I will be reading with students individually to access
where they are at. I will be keeping running records for each individual.
Students will read a page or two of a leveled book and I will keep track of the
amount of words they get right or wrong. I will also ask a few comprehension
 questions to access the extent to which they are understanding the material
they are reading. These reading sessions will use books set at students’
reading level or suspected reading capabilities. If they score high, a more
challenging book will be used and if they score low, an easier book will be
used
 The reading checklists can be found within Scholastic’s Literacy Place Reading
Guide and will be attached/referenced within lesson plans
Differentiation: 2 students that are below in their reading and writing levels
At the beginning of the units, students are creating reading and writing goals. Where
others may have several, these two students will be encouraged to focus on a select
few to build their foundation and eventually work their way up to another reading
and writing level. Within the classroom library, there will be leveled reading boxes.
Notes:
The two students who are lower in their reading level will begin at the lowest color
and once tested by either myself or the teacher using Fountas and Pinnell testing, we
will be able to determine their exact reading level and find specific books to match
their needs. At the beginning of the school year, students will be “shopping” for new
books for their book boxes and this is the perfect opportunity to find books that
relate to their level. While independently reading, students will be required to have
reading logs. The reading logs will not always be the same. I will be creating some
variety in the ways in which reading logs will be achieved so that students do not get
bored or tired of having to continuously write and look for the same things in their
books. Each week students will be focusing on something different for their logs. I will
have specific reading logs to support their reading and writing level and specific
things that I will want these two students to be aware of and look for within their
books. I will also allow students frequent opportunity to share their personal reading
choices with the class or with friends to give them a chance to share what they like in
their book and generate some discussion around it.

While working on writing activities within class, students will be required to slowly
increase the amount of writing that they are doing. At this point in time, these two
students will have different goals to be met. For example, where the whole class
might be required to write 8 sentences about a certain topic, these two students will
have a smaller goal such as 5 sentences and will slowly work their way up. The first
unit in writing focusses on narrative writing which allows students to write about
themselves which I think will help these two students work on their writing if they are
able to write about things that interest them and involve them personally. To help
their writing capabilities, I will also at times have students accompany their writing
with a picture to help tell the story of their writing. I will also ensure that these two
students focus on specific aspects within their reading and writing. For example,
when reading a certain book to me, I will have them focus on their fluency or on their
vocabulary.

During independent reading time, I will confer with students and have them read to
me and discuss the book that they are reading. This will give me an opportunity to
access their reading level and how much they are comprehending as well as give
students the chance to practice retelling the story and verbalizing their thoughts.
There will be a focus to each conference and we will also be discussing their future
reading goals. Having them repeat and write down their goals will help them
comprehend and keep track of what they are supposed to be working on. Within
writing periods, student-teacher conferences will continuously take place to check in
with the writing and the goals that have been established. I will provide feedback and
assist in ways to improve and enhance writing.

Creating numerous opportunities for students to work together and “teach” each
other what they know will also enhance the knowledge and abilities of students. It
gives those that are below in their reading and writing levels a chance to understand
the material from a classmate and associate what they are saying to what is currently
being taught. It also gives students the opportunity to practice and gauge their verbal
skills as well we recalling information.

A mini lesson will be held at the beginning of the year to show students the process of
picking books or “shopping” for books that are right for them. Within the Scholastic
Literacy Place Reading Guide, there is a lesson that will be used. I will model the
process to students and asking myself and the students questions such as: by looking
at book covers, what am I interested in? What topics do I know a lot about? What
topics do I want to learn about? Next, flip through the book. Is the size of the font
what I am used to? Are there too many words on the page? Not enough words? Do I
know a lot of the words on some of the pages? Next, try reading a page. Can I
successfully read the page? Did I read this page way to fast? Do I know some of the
words? None? All? Put up one finger for every word that I have trouble reading or do
not understand. If I have more than 3 fingers up, then I need to find a different book.
 Also, an independent reading challenge will be conducted throughout the time that I
am there. Students will receive a list of books/genres to read and will be required to
log their progress. If they complete the challenge by the end of December, a
party/prize will take place. This gives students the opportunity to experience
different genres and reading material that they may not be used to or have
experienced before.

Further differentiation and explanations will be available through lesson plans.

Day Outcomes Activities Assessment/Evaluation

1 1, 2, 5  Introduction to grade 3 reading Formative:
 Book boxes: how they work  Participation
 Expectations  Observation: listening, following
 Reading logs instructions
 Shopping for books  Treatment towards others
 Read aloud  Check for understanding—do students
 Discussion understand how to shop for a book that is
 Reflection right for them?
2 1-3, 5 Building a Powerful Reading Life (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Reading spots  Are students listening?
 Silent read  Are students respecting their fellow
 Reading log: main idea of story classmates during sharing time?
 Sharing findings  Are students participating?
 Reading goals  Reading logs
 Talk about reading experiences Summative:
 Independent reading challenge introduction  Accessing the point where students are at in
their reading as the year begins. This will
*Begin a pre-reading assessment during silent reading and allow me to see where they started and how
other free time far they have come at the next assessment
3 1-3, 5 Reading As If Books Are Gold (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
  Reading log—discussion cube activity  Observation: listening and following
 Each Kindness, by Jacqueline Woodson audiobook directions
 Reflection  Checking for understanding
 “To Make Reading the Best It Can Be, I Will…” chart  Attitude during reading
as a whole class  Reading logs
 Attitudes towards reading—reading like curmudgeons
or read books as if they are gold—demonstrate
4 1-3, 5 Finding Within-Reach Books, and Reading Tons of Them Formative:
(Lucy Calkins)  Participation
 Silent read  Observation: listening and following
 Reading log: digging up dictionaries—adding words directions
from their books into their personal dictionaries  Checking for understanding
 Sharing  Reading logs
 Review “To Make Reading the Best It Can Be, I
Will…” chart as a whole class
 Signs to watch for when choosing the “right” book
 Helping readers warm up to reading
 Strategies for fluency—practicing
5 1-3, 5 Setting Goals and Tracking Progress (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 Discussing reading goals and keeping track of them directions
 Reading fast, strong, and long—bookmarks  Checking for understanding/comprehension
 Read aloud  Reading logs
 Reflection
 Discussion

6 1-5 Setting Up Systems to Find and Share Books (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 Sharing a favorite passage—reflection directions
 Sharing my favorite passage from a book  Reading logs
 Recommending books: 5-star rating  Check for understanding/comprehension
system/explanation (bulletin board)
 Chain story activity
7 1-5 Reading in the Company of Partners (Lucy Calkins)  Participation
 Silent read  Observation: listening and following
 Reading logs directions
 Reading partners—questions to ask—partner up and  Reading logs
discuss reading: interview activity  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Tips for interviewing a reader  Interview questions collected
 Treatment towards fellow classmates
*Checking in on reading with students during silent reading
Summative:
 Testing student’s reading abilities and
comprehension
8 1-5 Reading Aloud Favorite Parts with Fluency and Expression Formative:
(Lucy Calkins)  Participation
 Silent read  Observation: listening and following
 Reading log directions
 Reading with expression: gestures, expression, tone  Reading logs
of voice  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Picture book reading to demonstrate  Interview questions collected
 Reflect  Treatment towards fellow classmates
 Practice with partner  Practicing fluency and expression in reading
9 1-3, 5 Readers Check for Comprehension (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 Reading=making meaning directions
 Introduction to Stone Fox  Reading logs
 Read Stone Fox chapter 1  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Book comprehension check: what happened? Who is  Comprehension check with Stone Fox
in this part?
 Character web activity
10 1-3, 5 Follow Textual Cues as You Read (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 Sticky note review of Stone Fox directions
 Chapter 2  Reading logs
 Check for understanding/comprehension
  Envisioning  Treatment towards fellow classmates
 How do readers understand a story?—discussion
11 1-3, 5 Prediction (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log—discussion cube activity  Observation: listening and following
 Digging up dictionaries: adding the words prediction, directions
envisioning, comprehension, etc.  Reading logs
 Chapter 3&4  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Sticky note predictions—using detail  Treatment towards fellow classmates
12 1-3, 5 Making Higher Level Predictions (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading logs  Observation: listening and following
 Open-mind portrait activity directions
 Question period based on book—higher level  Reading logs
predictions  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Empathizing with characters  Treatment towards fellow classmates
 Add the word empathy to personal dictionary  Collect dictionaries to see student progress
 Collect open-mind portraits
13 1-3, 5 Retelling Stories Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 Stone Fox chapter 5 directions
 Retelling/Summary/Synthesis  Reading logs
 Thought prompts for retelling  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Treatment towards fellow classmates
*Reading check-in during silent reading
14 1-5 Readers Decide How to Life the Level of Their Reading Formative:
and Recruit Partners to Support Them (Lucy Calkins)  Participation
 Silent read  Observation: listening and following
 Reading log directions
 Sharing reading progress with partners  Reading logs
 Concept mapping activity  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Stone Fox chapter 6  Treatment towards fellow classmates
 Concept map handed in
15 1-3, 5 Tackling Complex Texts Takes Grit (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 Model being a reader that lacks grit directions
 Students act as “researchers” to study why I lack grit  Reading logs
 Reading Grit Test  Check for understanding/comprehension
 How to tackle complex texts  Treatment towards fellow classmates
 Review of reading goals  Reading Grit tests collected
 Comic Strip activity  Review of reading goals
16 1-3, 5 Figuring Out Hard Words (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 Digging up Dictionaries activity directions
 Select passages from Stone Fox with difficult words  Reading logs
 Word-solving strategies—anchor chart  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Sticky note activity—students write one of the  Treatment towards fellow classmates
new/tricky words they learned and post it on the  Collect dictionaries
board. Students must pick one and use it in a small
story/paragraph
 Donovan’s Word Jar picture book—flag tricky words
17 1-3, 5 Using Textual Clues to Figure Out the Meaning of Formative:
Unfamiliar Words (Lucy Calkins)  Participation
 Silent read  Observation: listening and following
 Reading log directions
 Clues authors leave to solve tricky words: synonyms,  Reading logs
antonyms, explanations  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Demonstrate how to read the textual clues  Treatment towards fellow classmates
 Exemplars from Stone Fox for students to practice
 Readers Climb the Hurdle of Hard Words bookmark
 Stone Fox chapter 7
18 1-3, 5 Making Sense of Figurative Language (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 What is figurative language? directions
 Reading logs
  Exemplars  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Figurative language worksheet  Treatment towards fellow classmates
 Figurative language movement activity  Collection of figurative language worksheets
 Stone Fox chapter 8
Summative:
*Reading check-in during silent reading  Testing student’s reading and
comprehension abilities
19 1-3, 5 Talking Back to the Text (Lucy Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 Character’s and their actions directions
 Ask and answer questions when reading  Reading logs
 Revisiting earlier parts of stories—Stone Fox  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Hypothesizing  Treatment towards fellow classmates
 Express your view activity based on Stone Fox
20 1-5 Raising the Level of Questions to Unearth Deeper Meaning Formative:
(Lucy Calkins)  Participation
 Silent read  Observation: listening and following
 Reading log directions
 Author’s purpose  Reading logs
 Picture book reading: discussing author’s purpose  Check for understanding/comprehension
 Author’s purpose in Stone Fox  Treatment towards fellow classmates
 Alternative ending activity
 Stone Fox chapter 9
21 1-3, 5 Celebration (Calkins) Formative:
 Silent read  Participation
 Reading log  Observation: listening and following
 Stone Fox chapter 10 directions
 Reflect on Stone Fox and review  Reading logs
 Check for understanding/comprehension
 Treatment towards fellow classmates
22 1-5  Silent read Formative:
 Reading log  Participation
 Movie poster for Stone Fox
  Work period  Observation: listening and following
directions
 Reading logs
 Check for understanding/comprehension
 Treatment towards fellow classmates

Summative:
 Testing student’s reading and
*Reading check-in comprehension abilities
Student/Teacher Conference: Possible Discussion Questions When Discussing Students’ Personal Reading
Conference Focus:
Text Choices (reading a wide range of fiction
and non-fiction; reading various forms such as
poems, magazines, chapter books, websites;
choosing appropriate books from levelled tubs,
themed tubs, and unlevelled collections; making
future selections)
Understanding the text (synthesizing important
ideas or details about a character or setting;
comparing information, poems, or stories;
interring ideas from the text; combining visual
and print information to explain or make a
point; sequencing events or steps clearly;
predicting appropriately beyond textual
information; evaluating a persuasive argument
Monitoring and assisting with reading
strategies (hearing a student read a short
portion of a text and checking on word
recognition strategies; using prompts to focus on
comprehension, coaching to assist students with
word recognition, vocabulary, and
comprehension needs)
Forming opinions about the text (expressing
opinions about the content and the author’s
craft, commenting on personal involvement with
the text, predicting future book selections based
on current opinions)
Some prompts:
 You’ve read a lot of fiction and non-fiction books. What about trying
a magazine or National Geographic website for kids?
 Let’s flip through this chapter book. How is it different from the
books you have been reading?
 How do you make a choice about getting a book from the school
library? Can you show me one that you chose this week?
 Discuss reading log—what they wrote and why they wrote it
 Tell me about the main character/plot/ending/information about…
 You’ve read two books in this series. How are they the
same/different? Which one was best? Why?
 So how did the website’s video and article help you learn more
about…?
 What steps did he use when he built that model? Was this order
important? Why?
 Why do you think that will happen next?
 How did you use the table of contents/index/diagrams/charts to
learn more?
 What made you go back to fix that word?
 Think of a word that has the same pattern in the middle. Would that
make sense?
 You look puzzled. Did that part make sense to you?
 The author didn’t tell us…but what do you think (infer)?
 Are there any clues about the meaning of that word? Try reading the
next sentence
 You’ve chosen a magazine to read. Let’s look it over. Tell me which
part of the magazine you’ll read first?
 What did you think of the magazine? Would you read another? Why or
why not?
 Did the author do a good job in telling that story? How did the
illustrator help?
 Is there a book that made you think, “This is so good. I can’t stop
reading until it is finished”?
  You didn’t like this one particular book. Tell me why.

Independent Reading Challenge:

1. Read 5 informational books
2. Read 2 poetry
3.
First Day:
 Talk about the summer—fun activities students did
 Brown bag autobiography—pendants (who am I) hanging on the bulletin board
 Bio glyph
 Read-aloud—talk about the book

Second Day:
 What should reading independently look like? Head down in the book—following along with your eyes
 Review of grammar: intro writing activity to access where they are at
 Write a paragraph about a fun activity you did over the summer (camping, holidays, swimming, sports and other
activities)
 Talk about capitalization—what should be capitalized in a sentence?
 Punctuation: periods, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, apostrophes—where and how do these work?
 Paragraphing
 Sentence spacing
 Handing in the writing activity