Lesson Plans | Indian Reading Series

Lesson Plans - Far Out: Riding and Roping

Far Out, A Rodeo Horse

Level 1, Book 9, Readability Level - Pre K

Author/Illustrator: Henry Real Bird

Story Summary: This Crow story is about a rodeo horse named, Far Out. It describes Far Out's daily life in the rodeo and introduces the reader to his animal and human friends: Brahma bulls, steers, bronco riders, and the rodeo clown.

Grades Level: K-1

Estimated Instructional Time: (3) 30 minute lessons

Materials/Resources Needed: Chart paper, Far Out Chart Map, Children's books on the rodeo, Student journals Pencils, markers, crayons, Word family handout, Tag board

Overview of the Lesson: Students explore rodeo events and dramatize these events in sequence. Activities also are geared to increase phonemic awareness through onset and rime and syllable blending.

Student Objectives:

Students will activate prior knowledge through participation in a mapping activity with the word Rodeo as the focus.
Students will practice echo reading to develop fluency.
Students will dramatize the story in correct sequence.
Students will demonstrate awareness of onset and rime by using vocabulary to create word family books (Far, tail, buck, fight, gate, sticks, clown)
Students will demonstrate awareness of syllables by counting/clapping/marching to the number of syllables in the story vocabulary (Far, bucking, sometimes, together, saddle, tickles, finally, flying, happy, corral)

Teacher Background:

http://www.stevespix.com/NJRA/ "The Northwest Junior Rodeo Association (NJRA) is an organization dedicated to the sport of junior rodeo, youth and families, and just plain good-old All-American fun through the spirit of friendly competition. The NJRA is based in the Puget
http://www.reachkids.com/AboutUs/default.html Describes the Pee Wee stampede program for children 3-6. Site includes a photo gallery.
*http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ Site includes many activities to assist students to develop phonemic awareness.
Yopp, H.K., & Yopp, R.H. (2000). Supporting phonemic awareness development in the classroom. The Reading Teacher, 54 (2), 130-143.
http://www.reading.org/downloads/publications/journals/RT-54-2-Yopp.pdf

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 #1

Vocabulary: rodeo, horse, Far Out, mane, tail, bucking, cowboy, friends, bulls, mean, fight, clown, calves, steers, sometimes, cries, together, gate, halter, saddle, sticks, spurs, tickles, finally, flying, happy, corral, and talk.

On a large piece of chart paper draw a picture of Far Out in the middle of the paper. Inside the horse drawing write the word Rodeo.
Have students spent a minute quietly thinking about what they know about rodeos. Suggest they come up with some words for you to write on the chart that relate to Rodeo.
Using popcorn style response, each student shares a Rodeo word that is recorded on the chart. Children can pass if they cannot think of one.
Explain to students that they will be reading about a rodeo horse called, Far Out and they will be looking to see which ideas on the chart are found in the story.
Have a chart with the important vocabulary on display while the story is read.
Read Far Out, A Rodeo Horse aloud to students, periodically examining illustrations, asking for connections, and predictions

Session #2

Have students echo read Far Out, Rodeo Horse with you.
Work with students to create a dramatization of the story with students taking turns as different characters. What would you say/do 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, and did not like, what they learned, and some questions they want to explore next time.

Session #3

Explain to students that they are going to create word family books that they can use as a reference when they want to know how to say or spell a word. They will create new words by changing the beginning consonant sound of words in the story to form new words.
Have a chart with seven columns with a vocabulary word at the top of each column (far, tail, buck, fight, gate, sticks, clown). Also provide a handout for students so they can write the new words for future reference.
Draw students' attention to the word far and have them pronounce the word with you. Then ask students if they know another word that sounds like far---that rhymes with far. If students do not, then provide a clue, such as, I would really like to eat a candy _ _ _ or I like to ride in my Mom's new _ _ _.
Continue until students have created a list for each word. If students come up with non-words, have them use the word in a sentence to see if the word makes sense or ask questions---Can we eat a sar? Can we ride in a sar? Can we make a sar?
Have students copy the words on their handout. Have them put the story title on the page. Then let students make a front and back cover for the Word Families Book using tag board. Hole punch and hold pages together with ribbon or cord.

Possible words: Far---bar, car, jar, mar, par, tar; Tail---ail, bail, fail, hail, jail, mail, nail, pail, sail, wail; Buck---duck, luck, muck, puck, suck, tuck, truck; Fight---fright, light, might, right, sight, tight; Gate---ate, date, fate, hate, Kate, late, mate, rate; Sticks---kicks, licks, nicks, picks, ticks, wicks; Clown---down, frown, gown, town.

Session #4

Vocabulary for sound blending: rodeo, bucking, cowboy, sometimes, together, halter, saddle, tickles, finally, flying, happy, corral, mommy, morning, mighty.

Using a horse puppet who "speaks in syllables" (can be a picture of Far Out stapled to a tongue depressor type stick), have the puppet say the word ro/de/o syllable by syllable and students say the word when they have figured it out.
Continue with all the vocabulary words of more than one syllable.

Extensions:

Read Armadillo Rodeo Rodeo Clown: Laughs and Danger in the Ring (Risky Business), White Dynamite & Curly Kidd or another book on the resource list to students.
Use vocabulary in the text to extend the word family book and sound blending activities.

Student Assessment/Reflection: dramatization, journal response, word family books, observation during group activities

Suggested Teacher Resources Books for Students

Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett (2004)
Rodeo Time (MathStart 3) by Stuart Murphy and David Wenzel (2006)
Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin' Cowboy by Andrea Pinkney and Brian Pinkney (1999)
Ollie Jolly, Rodeo Clown by Jo Harper, Illustrated by Amy Meissner (2002)
Rodeo Day by Jonelle Toriseeva, Robert Casilla, Illustrator (1994)
Rodeo Animals (Animals With Jobs) by Judith Janda Presnall (2003)
Rodeo Clown: Laughs and Danger in the Ring (Risky Business) by Keith Elliot and Bill Moyer , photographer
Sparky and Eddie Wild, Wild Rodeo by Tony Johnston and Susannah Ryan, Illustrator (1998)
Little Rodeo Ronnie: The Little Cowboy's Eight Second Ride by R. D. Sloan and Robin L. Schwarz (2005)
Children of Native America Today by Yvonne Dennis and Arlene Hirschfelder (2003)
Cowboy Up! By Larry Brimner and Susan Miller, Illustratot (1999)
White Dynamite & Curly Kidd by Bill Martin, John Archambault, and Ted Rand (Illustrator) (1989)

Indian Reading Series

Back: Indian Reading Series Home

Let us know what you think

To view the Portable Document Format files (PDFs) on this site, download a free Acrobat Reader from Adobe http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html