Spend two days on each lesson to give scholars practice.
Lesson 1: Great readers pay attention to the things that characters say, do, and think.
Lesson 2: Great readers pay attention to the main character’s relationships with other characters.
Lesson 3: Great readers pay attention to what characters say, do, and think over time to develop ideas about characters.
Lesson 4: Great readers distinguish between character traits and character feelings.
Lesson 5: Great readers pay attention to the problem and solution, or outcome, to figure out the lesson the main character (or reader) learns.
Lesson 1
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers pay attention to the things that characters say, do, and think. Success is when scholars have mastered identifying the characteristics of the main character.
Lesson 1
Engage — 1 minute
Understanding the main character is key to understanding the story.
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5–7 minutes
- Using Teammates, read aloud the page on which Pee Wee refuses to sign the petition, and think aloud about what his actions show— that he is brave.
- Use a bubble map graphic organizer to take notes about the character. Scholars will do the same as they read today.
- Read aloud the last page of Teammates.
- Scholars turn and talk about what Pee Wee has learned, judging from the things he has said. Listen in to understand how well scholars notice a character’s actions and motivation.
- Briefly share out two scholar responses and add these to the graphic organizer.
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 15–20 minutes
- Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 15 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and having the luxury of reading time!
- Whether you are flying solo or teaching as part of a duo, start by making sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music, but the volume should be low.
- Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations, such as staying focused on their book, or who are demonstrating strong reading habits, such as always making a mind movie.
- Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 3–5 scholars. Ask each scholar about his reading level goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they need to envision more? Do they need to stop after each paragraph and think about what the big idea is? Do they need to work on their fluency? Do they stop to figure out the meaning of unknown vocabulary words? Is their oral language development lagging?
- Model for scholars and give them strategies to tackle their goals.
- Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
Partner Share — 3–5 minutes
- When the timer is up, reset expectations for partner talk.
- Scholars share a key moment in the text when the character said, did, or thought something that helped them get to know the character.
- Listen in to determine if scholars are mastering the lesson objective. Look for a scholar who can model her thinking during the Whole-Class Share.
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- Bring scholars together at the rug and reinforce today’s objective.
- Choose a scholar to share something that the character said, did, or thought, and what this helped her understand about the character.
●Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
Lesson 2
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers pay attention to the main character’s relationships with other characters.
Success is scholars explaining how the main character’s actions make other characters feel, think, or act.
Lesson 2
Engage — 1 minute
Paying attention to the character’s actions also means paying attention to how he or she interacts with other characters. This helps us get to know the main character like a friend!
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5–7 minutes
- Read a few pages from Richard Wright and the Library Card in which Richard interacts with his mother, and talk about what these interactions help us understand about Richard.
- Use a bubble map graphic organizer to take quick notes about the character. Scholars will do the same as they read today.
- Read a few pages in which Richard interacts with Jim Falk.
- Scholars turn and talk, explaining what they notice about Mr. Falk’s and Richard’s relationship, and what this helps them understand about Richard. Listen in to understand how well scholars are able to notice and discuss interactions between the main character and other characters and what this makes them think about the main character.
- Briefly share out two scholar responses and add these to the graphic organizer.
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 15–20 minutes
- Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 15 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and having the luxury of reading time!
- Make sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music at a low volume.
- Narrate scholars who are meeting your expectations.
- Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 3–5 scholars. Ask each scholar about her reading level goal and what’s holding her back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read and assess their struggles and level of understanding.
- Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
Partner Share — 3–5 minutes
- When the timer is up, reset expectations for partner talk.
- Scholars describe the main character’s relationship with another character and how this helps them understand the main character better.
- Listen in to determine how well scholars can describe the main character’s relationship with another character, and what they have learned about the character as a result of these
interactions. Look for a scholar who can model her thinking during the Whole-Class Share.
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- Bring scholars together at the rug and reinforce today’s objective.
- Choose a scholar to share an interaction between the main character and another character and describe what this helped him understand about the main character.
- Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
Lesson 3
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers pay attention to what characters say, do, and think over time to develop ideas about characters.
Success is scholars keeping track of a character’s actions and developing ideas about the type of character he or she may be.
Lesson 3
Engage — 1 minute
By paying close attention to our characters across the whole story, we come to know them so well that we begin to anticipate what they might do next.
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5–7 minutes
- Read aloud Teammates, starting from when Pee Wee Reese is first introduced until the end of the book. Keep track of Reese’s actions to demonstrate that he is unbiased and cares more about his teammates than about what others think.
- Go back to the graphic organizer from Lesson 1 and use the notes there to “connect the dots” and develop ideas based on the details. Think aloud about what your notes make you think about the character. Scholars will do the same as they read today.
- Read the last page of Teammates and have scholars turn and tell their reading partners about Reese’s actions and what this makes them think about Reese.
- Listen in to understand how well scholars are able to explain what the character said, did, or thought, and what this made them think about the character as a result.
- Briefly share out two scholar responses.
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 15–20 minutes
- Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 15 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and having the luxury of reading time!
- Make sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music at a low volume.
- Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations.
- Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 3-5 scholars. Ask each scholar about his reading level goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding.
- Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
- When the timer is up, reset expectations for partner talk.
- Scholars describe the character’s actions and what this makes them think.
- Listen in to partnerships to determine how well scholars can articulate what the character said, did, or thought, and what this made them think about the character as a result. Look for a scholar who can model her thinking during the Whole-Class Share.
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- Bring scholars together at the rug and reinforce today’s objective.
- A scholar describes the character’s actions and what this made her think about the character as a result.
- Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
Lesson 4
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers distinguish between character traits and character feelings.
Success is scholars understanding that a character’s feelings can change. However, character traits are part of a character’s personality and show what the character is like.
Lesson 4
Engage — 1 minute
By thinking about the character throughout the story, we can notice what the character tends to do, so we can identify his or her traits.
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 5-7 minutes
- Explain to scholars that characters have feelings and traits. Both are revealed in what characters do, say, and think. However, character traits are often revealed through behaviors that characters repeat again and again.
- Read aloud pages 4-5 of The King’s Equal, starting with “The prince was angry.” Model for scholars how you can tell that Raphael’s words and actions reveal what kind of person he is.
- Read pages 19-21 of The King’s Equal and have scholars turn and tell their partners the character traits that show what type of person Rosamund is.
- Listen in to understand how well scholars are able to distinguish between a character’s traits, or what he or she is like, and the character’s feelings.
- Briefly share out two scholar responses.
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 15-20 minutes
- Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 20 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and having the luxury of reading time!
- Make sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music at a low volume.
- Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations.
- Spend 2-3 minutes working individually with 3-5 scholars. Ask each scholar about his reading level goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding.
- Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
Partner Share — 3-5 minutes
- When the timer is up, reset expectations for partner talk.
- Scholars describe character feelings or traits based on what the character said, did, and thought throughout the text.
- Listen in to partnerships to determine how well scholars can use a character’s actions to name his or her traits. Look for a scholar who can model her thinking during the Whole Class Share.
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- Bring scholars together at the rug and reinforce today’s objective.
- Choose a scholar to describe the character’s actions and what they revealed about the character’s feelings or traits. Highlight how the scholar connected the events in the story to make a logical inference.
- Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
Lesson 5
What Does Success Look Like?
Great readers pay attention to the problem and solution, or outcome, to figure out the lesson the main character (or reader) learns.
Success is scholars describing what the character, or scholar, learned from the character’s problem and resolution.
Lesson 5
Engage — 1 minute
A character’s good and bad moments show or tell the reader something important, like how to be a better person. When we think about the character and how her problem was resolved, we can figure out the lesson.
Direct Instruction (Model/ Practice) — 3-5 minutes
- Using The King’s Equal, think aloud about the lesson that Raphael learns in chapters 5-6.
- Model figuring out the lesson, or big idea, by thinking about the character’s problem and how it was resolved.
Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 15–20 minutes
- Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 20 minutes. Get them excited about getting lost in their books and having the luxury of reading time!
- Make sure all kids are focused and the room has a hushed tone. Play classical or instrumental jazz music at a low volume.
- Narrate scholars who are following through on your expectations.
- Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 3–5 scholars. Ask each scholar about his reading level goal and what’s holding him back. Kids should know and articulate their goals!
- Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding.
- Model and give scholars strategies to tackle their goals. Listen to scholars as they read and hold them accountable for applying the strategies.
Partner Share — 7–10 minutes
- When the timer is up, reset expectations for partner talk.
- Scholars have extra time today to describe the character’s problem and outcome, and the lesson they took away from the character’s experience.
- Listen in to partnerships to determine how well scholars can explain the lesson they learned through the character’s problem and the resolution. Look for a scholar who can model her thinking during the Whole-Class Share.
Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes
- Bring scholars together at the rug and reinforce today’s objective.
- Choose a scholar to explain the lesson she learned through the character’s problem and solution, or outcome. Highlight how the scholar connected the events in the story to make a logical inference.
- Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.
