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Lesson Plans - Reading Dimensions through Chipmunk Tales

Chipmunk Meets Old Witch (At-At.A'Tia')

Level 1, Book 12, Readability Level - 6.0 (may be inflated due to number of multi-syllable words)

Author: Members of the Warm Spring Reservation Committee and Verbena Greene

Illustrator: Carol Allison

Story Summary: This is the story about a chipmunk who doesn't mind Grandmother Squirrel, and the outcome result in the black strips seen on the backs of chipmunks today.

Grades Level: Elementary grades

Estimated Instructional Time: (2) 60 minute reading periods

Materials/Resources Needed: Copies of the story, chart with vocabulary terms, audiotapes, phonic charts, handout/chart on think aloud strategy, question generation chart, retelling chart

Overview of the Lesson: Students will be engaged in learning activities related to the Chipmunk story that provide opportunities for students to practice the identified dimensions of reading: vocabulary, fluency, decoding, and comprehension.

Student Objectives:

Students will use story vocabulary in a variety of activities so that they can recognize and understand the terms in other stories and be able to use the vocabulary in daily speech and writing
Students will practice echo reading to develop fluency
Students will identify and use affixes to understand word meaning and structure
Students will learn and use the think aloud strategy to monitor their understanding of the text
Students will foster understanding of the text through question generation
Students will demonstrate comprehension by writing a summary of the story
Students will show comprehension by retelling the story

Teacher Background: Tribal Information: For more information about the three groups that form the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, please visit http://www.warmsprings.com/Warmsprings/Tribal_Community/History__Culture/

Level I Teacher's Manual identifies a number of different activities that can be used before, during and after reading the story. Pages 47-61 in the Teachers' Manual describes several warm up or pre-reading activities that can lead students to engage in the reading lesson.

Instructional Plan - Learning Activities

Session #1A

Teacher Read Aloud and Student Dramatization

Have a chart with the important vocabulary on display while the story is read
Read the Chipmunk Story aloud to students periodically examining illustrations, asking for connections, and predictions
Discuss with students the qualities that the characters possess and where they see those qualities in their homes and friends
Work with students to create a dramatization of the story with students taking turns as different characters. You might ask, "Should we include Beaver as a character even though he is only mentioned in the story? What would you say if you played one of these characters in a play?"
On a chart, list some ideas that students generate in the discussion so that when they do the dramatization there are cues available if the students need them
Have student groups take turns acting out the story
Have students write in their journals what they liked, did not like, what they learned, some questions they want to discuss next time

Session #1B

Word Study - Option 1 - Vocabulary

Preview the story for important, useful, or words you think the students will find interesting. Vocabulary should be unknown to students but critical to the understanding of the story. List the vocabulary on a chart in order of importance. (Examples: flowed, venison, pemmican, frightened, gathering, prepare).

Engage students in activities that will lead to a thorough understanding of the terms in the story Suggestions on pp.105-108 Level I Teacher's Manual). Example: have students choose one of the vocabulary terms that is interesting to them and create a word card.

Word Cards:

On an index card (4X6 or 5X7) students write the vocabulary term in the center
In the upper left corner, they can write a synonym/antonym/part of speech, etc
In the top right corner a definition in their own words
In the bottom right corner, a sentence that conveys the meaning
In the bottom left corner, a picture depicting the word meaning
Post the word cards on a word wall or place in a word box

Word Study - Option 2 - Phonics

(Activities may be used at any point in the lesson depending upon student need.) Select activities to reinforce systematic instruction students have received in specific phonic skills using a comprehensive reading program. The following suggestions are provided as possible examples that could be used to provide additional practice for students.

Sight and High Frequency Word Review: Read the story and select words students will use in the story. Organize practice activities which will maximize students' opportunities to practice the words.

R Controlled Vowels: or, ar, er (e.g. for, far, gather)

Compound Words: (e.g. grandmother, grandson, something, someone, sometimes, themselves, hazelnuts )

Suffixes: s, ed( /t/, /d/, /ed/), er, ing

Suffix - Meaning

s - more than once (e.g. days,)
ed - past-tense words (e.g. wandered)
ing- verb form/present participle (e.g. gaining, gathering)
ful - full of (playful)

Syllable Types: Review the six syllable types (open, closed, vowel-consonant -e, vowel-r, vowel pair, and final stable syllable. There are several words in the story which will provide practice for the first five syllable types

Open: (e.g. go,)
Closed: (e.g. can, trap,)
Vowel Consonant e: (e.g. time,)
Vowel-r (e.g. short, turn,)
Vowel Pair: (e.g. near, tree,)

Session #2 A

Comprehension: (Activities may be used at any point in the lesson depending upon student need.)

Select activities which provide both explicit and indirect comprehension strategies instruction which support student's ability to use a multiple strategies when they are reading.

Think aloud strategy: (Teach students to think out loud when they are having trouble understanding what they are reading) Example questions

Does this make Sense?
Is this a narrative or expository text?
This isn't making sense. What can I do to fix it?
Do I know what all the words mean?
Can I picture in my mind what is happening?

Think and connect what I read to what I already know?

Identify and discuss the story structure:
Understanding story structure helps the reader ask and answer appropriate questions

Narrative Text: Tell Stories

Stories follow a familiar story structure: setting, character, problem, plot resolution.

Expository Text: Explain facts; provide information that helps with content comprehension

Questioning Strategies: Answering and generating questions strengthens comprehension

Level I Questions: Ask the reader to remember a specific item of text. e.g. What kind of food did others give bring to Old Grandmother Squirrel and Chipmunk?

Level II Questions: Ask the reader to find more complex information that is located in several places in the text. e.g. What kinds of food did Old Grandmother Squirrel and Chipmunk prepare for the Winter?

Level III Questions: Ask the reader to answer a question by thinking about what they have read and provide an answer based on their own experiences and/or opinion. e.g. Why do you think Old Grandmother Squirrel and Chipmunk lived by themselves?

Summarizing: Provides opportunities for the reader to tell or write about the main or most important ideas of the story

Story Retelling: Refer to Pages 49 - 60, 75 in the Teacher's Manual for teaching suggestions

Session #2 B

Fluency: (Activities may be used at any point in the lesson depending upon student need.)

Select a variety of strategies to provide students with several opportunities to build and strengthen their reading fluency

Teacher reads the story as students follow along. Teacher calls attention to dialogue and changes in her prosody
Teacher and students read the story together
Teacher tapes the story. Student follows along with the story as they listen to the story
Teacher reads a phrase or sentence in the story as students follow along. Students echo the teacher's reading
Students read orally with a partner, taking turns reading phrases, sentences, paragraphs, etc. Refer to page 104 in the Teacher's Manual for teaching suggestions.

Extensions:

Dramatization - Pantomime - Refer to Page 60 in the Teacher's Manual
Writing Down - New Roles and Story Endings - Refer to Page 89 in the Teacher's Manual
Writing Down - Add On- Refer to Page 87 in the Teacher's Manual
In Other Words (Making Books) - Refer to Page 97 in the Teacher's Manual
1. Have students think of other animals that have distinctive markings and generate some stories about how these came to be
2. Have students read some of the Just So stories and assist them to make the connections with Chipmunk and Witch

Student Assessment/Reflection: Retelling, word cards, journal entry, summary, follow up stories.

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