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ES Literacy Reading Grade K: Emergent Storybook

Purpose: Why This Unit?

As a kindergarten teacher, you get to ignite and facilitate a lifelong love of reading! This begins with “reading” books, even before many of our scholars can actually read.

When you read the same beloved books over and over again, scholars internalize and hold on to these texts, allowing them to story-tell these books independently. In Unit 1, you read Emergent Storybooks to scholars, familiarizing them with these books and setting them up to “read” them on their own.

Even though scholars may not be able to read the words on the page, they use the pictures, your repeated readings, and their imaginations to fill in the details.

In this unit, your job is to ensure that scholars fall in love with books by reading them frequently with expression, acting out the stories, and saying repeated phrases and dialogue.

If you do your job well, your scholars will genuinely fall in love with books and reading. They will use words and pictures to read and retell books with expression, culminating in a Readers’ Theatre where they act out their favorite books.

The development of this emergent reading and storytelling should be applied at home and at school. Especially in this second unit of the year, it is imperative that ALL your scholars are getting into the routine of reading at home and at school.

Make sure at-home reading is happening, and meet with families who are falling short to recommit them to this team effort. Help families understand what Emergent Storybook reading is and how they can best support their scholars at home. If you cannot succeed in insisting that the work be done at home, then you need to manage up to leadership.

It is your responsibility to ensure that ALL your scholars are reading six days a week at home!

Lessons

Spend two days on each lesson to give scholars practice.

Lesson 1: Great readers read the title and look at the cover of the book before they start reading.

Lesson 2: Great readers use pictures to story-tell books.

Lesson 3: Great readers say three things that are happening in each picture and go back to remind themselves of what just happened.

Lesson 4: Great readers retell a story by thinking about what happened first, next, and then afterward.

Lesson 5: Great readers act out the story as if they are the characters.

Lesson 1

What Does Success Look Like?

Great readers read the title and look at the cover of the book before they start reading.

Success is when scholars pause to read the title and study the cover of their books before they dive into reading.

Lesson 1

Engage — 1 minute

To give your brain an idea of the book you’re about to read, you must always read the title, then study the cover to figure out what your book will probably be about.

Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes

  • Using The Carrot Seed, model reading the title out loud and studying the picture on the cover. Tell your class that judging by the cover, this book will probably be about a little boy who is planting a carrot seed.
  • Put The Three Billy Goats Gruff under the ELMO.
  • Scholars turn and talk about what the title of this book is and what they see on the cover. Scholars tell their partners what they think this book will be about. Listen in to understand how well scholars are able to use the title and cover to predict what this book may be about.
  • Briefly share out two scholar responses.
  • Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes

  • Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 2–3 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 books, or who are demonstrating strong reading habits, such as studying the title and cover.
  • Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 3–5 scholars. Ask each scholar if you can listen to his or her reading. Some scholars may tell you they can’t read yet. If so, just remind the scholars to look at the pictures and tell you the story of what they see. Take notes that you can use to make goals.
  • Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they remember the story from your repeated readings? Are they studying the cover? Do they need to use the pictures to tell the story? 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.
  • In partnerships, scholars share the books they read, first sharing the title and studying the cover.
  • 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 about the book he read, starting by stating the title and thinking aloud while studying the cover.
  • Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.

Lesson 2

What Does Success Look Like?

Great readers use pictures to story-tell books.

Success is when scholars stop to study the pictures on each page to tell what’s happening in the story.

Lesson 2

Engage — 1 minute

Because you may not know each word on the page yet, the pictures help you understand the story by reminding you of what’s happening on each page and how the story goes.

Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes

  • Using Caps for Sale, think aloud as you use the pictures to remember who the characters are and what they are doing. For example, Oh there’s the peddler. He’s walking through town, very straight so as not to upset his caps! He is calling, “Caps for sale! Caps for sale!”
  • Place the next page of Caps for Sale under the ELMO.
  • Scholars silently study the picture, then turn and talk to tell the story of what is taking place on this page to their partners, using the picture to remind themselves of what’s happening if they forget. Listen in to understand how well scholars are using the picture to guide their storytelling.
  • Briefly share out two scholar responses.
  • Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes

  • Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 4–5 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.
  • Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 3–5 scholars. Ask each scholar if you can listen to his or her reading. Some scholars may tell you they can’t read yet. If so, just remind the scholars to look at the pictures and tell you the story of what they see. Take notes that you can use to make goals.
  • Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they remember the story from your repeated readings? Are they studying the cover? Do they need to use the pictures to tell the story? 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 about the books they read, remembering to say the title and study the cover, then study the pictures on each page before telling the story aloud.
  • Listen in to determine if scholars are mastering the lesson objective. Look for a scholar who can model his 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 how she used the pictures to follow the story on each page.
  • Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.

Lesson 3

What Does Success Look Like?

Great readers say three things that are happening in each picture and go back to remind themselves of what just happened.

Success is when scholars retell the story by knowing what happened on each page and going back to remind themselves if they forget.

Lesson 3

Engage — 1 minute

The picture gives so much valuable information to help the reader know what’s happening, and we want to say as much about it as we can. If we can’t remember, or get confused, we just return to the previous page to remind ourselves.

Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes

  • Using The Three Billy Goats Gruff, turn to the page where the largest Billy Goat is throwing the Troll off the bridge. Model first looking at the previous page to remind yourself what’s happening in the story, then naming three things happening across three fingers.
  • Turn to the next page of The Three Billy Goats Gruff and place it under the ELMO.
  • Scholars put up three fingers and silently study the page to think of three things happening, then turn and talk to their partners. Listen in to understand how well scholars are able to identify three things happening, and whether they need to return to the previous page first.
  • Briefly share out two scholar responses.
  • Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes

  • Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 6–7 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 meeting your expectations.
  • Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 3–5 scholars. Ask each scholar if you can listen to his or her reading. Some scholars may tell you they can’t read yet. If so, just remind the scholars to look at the pictures and tell you the story of what they see. Take notes that you can use to make goals.
  • Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they remember the story from your repeated readings? Are they studying the cover? Do they need to use the pictures to tell the story? 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

  • Each scholar shares the book he or she chose to read, telling the story using the pictures and naming at least three things happening on each page.
  • 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 a page of his book, showing how he uses the picture to identify three things happening on the page, returning to the previous page if necessary.
  • Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.

Lesson 4

What Does Success Look Like?

Great readers retell a story by thinking about what happened first, next, and then afterward. Success is when scholars retell stories in order, saying everything that happened in sequence.

Lesson 4

Engage — 1 minute

Retelling is when you summarize a story by telling the important events that happened, in order. We don’t want our listeners to be confused, so we must tell them the flow of the story.

 

Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes

  • Using Corduroy, think aloud about how you want to make sure you remember all the important events in the book and tell them in order. Flip through the book to remind yourself of what happens on each page. Then retell the most important parts by saying “first, ___” and “next, ___” and “then, _______________.”
  • Display a few familiar Emergent Storybooks in front of the classroom, allowing partners to choose which book they would like to retell.
  • Scholars silently choose, then turn and talk about to their partners, retelling by saying, “first, ___” and “next, ___” and “then, ____________.” Listen in to understand how well scholars are able to retell the events of the story in order. Briefly share out two scholar responses.
  • Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.

Independent Reading/Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes

  • Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 8–9 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.
  • Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 3–5 scholars. Ask each scholar if you can listen to his or her reading. Some scholars may tell you they can’t read yet. If so, just remind the scholars to look at the pictures and tell you the story of what they see. Take notes that you can use to make goals.
  • Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they remember the story from your repeated readings? Are they studying the cover? Do they need to use the pictures to tell the story? 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 retell the book they read that day by saying what happened first, next, and then afterward.
  • Listen in to determine if scholars are mastering the lesson objective. Look for a scholar who can model his 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 retell the book she read, saying what happened first, next, and then afterward.
  • Scholars evaluate which great reading tactic the scholar used.

Lesson 5

What Does Success Look Like?

Great readers act out the story as if they are the characters.

Success is when scholars enthusiastically and realistically act out entire stories, integrating all aspects of great storytelling into their portrayals of the characters they’ve been reading about.

Lesson 5

Engage — 1 minute

Readers’ Theatre is where we get to be actors and bring our favorite stories to life—a celebration of all the wonderful books we’ve been reading!

Direct Instruction (Model/Practice) — 5–7 minutes

  • Select your personal favorite Emergent Storybook and act out either a page or an excerpt. Make sure you say the title; use character names; include the setting; use the same words as the author; and make your voice, gestures, and facial expressions just like each character’s.
  • Let partners practice their acting with each other by selecting their own favorite Emergent Storybook. Partners evaluate each other’s acting and give encouragement and feedback in order to make the final performance one to remember!
  • Briefly share out two scholars acting.
  • Set the expectation that scholars have two eyes reading, two hands on the book, and two feet on the floor during Independent Reading.

Independent Reading/ Targeted Teaching Time — 2–10 minutes

  • Scholars must sustain focused reading for a minimum of 10 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 meeting your expectations.
  • Spend 2–3 minutes working individually with 3–5 scholars. Ask each scholar if you can listen to his or her reading. Some scholars may tell you they can’t read yet. If so, just remind the scholars to look at the pictures and tell you the story of what they see. Take notes that you can use to make goals.
  • Listen to scholars read, assessing their struggles and level of understanding. Do they remember the story from your repeated readings? Are they studying the cover? Do they need to use the pictures to tell the story? 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

  • Scholars practice for Readers’ Theatre by acting out one page of their favorite Emergent Storybook.
  • Listen in to determine if scholars are mastering the lesson objective. Look for a scholar who can model her performance during the Whole-Class Share.

Whole-Class Share — 5 minutes

  • Bring scholars together at the rug and reinforce today’s objective.
  • Choose a group of scholars who would like to act out their favorite Emergent Storybook, choosing classmates to be different characters.
  • This is a chance to celebrate all the books you have been reading during this unit. Live it up, make it fun, and congratulate both yourself and your scholars.

Targeted Teaching Week

Use the next 5 days to work with scholars and increase their capacity to read.

The most important thing you can do is give kids independent reading time. The best way to improve reading is by having kids read.

Listen to scholars as they read independently. Talk with scholars one-on-one about their reading and coach them through the key obstacles to being great readers.

Depending on their needs, work with scholars whole group, in small groups, or one-on-one to support them with the:

  • Tactics of Great Readers
  • Unit goals

You Did It!

Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of Unit 2: Emergent Storybook!

As a result of teaching this unit, you, as the teacher, have:

  • Ensured that scholars will fall in love with books by reading to them and with them frequently and with expression.
  • Emphasized key strategies for retelling and recalling details from stories.

Your scholars can:

  • Love and appreciate familiar stories.
  • Understand basic story elements.
  • Use words and pictures to read and retell books with expression.
  • Act out their favorite books.

Celebrate your scholars’ successes by acknowledging what they can now do as readers as a result of their work over the last several weeks. For example, extend Readers’ Theatre by involving all kindergarten classes as an audience, as well as parents. Use fun props such as hollow blocks to make a stage, a microphone for the actors, and a curtain that scholars can prepare behind. Hold multiple performances so each scholar gets a chance to participate.

Reflect on your successes and stretches, as well as those of your scholars. Look at the notes you’ve taken and determine if your goals were successful. Have your scholars grown as readers over the past month?

Parents must be reading to scholars at home, and scholars must be telling stories to their parents. Are 100% of your kids reading 6 days a week at home? Make sure at-home reading is happening, and meet with families who are falling short to recommit them to this team effort. Help them understand what Emergent Storybook reading is and how they can best support their scholars at home.

Are 100% of your kids falling in love with reading? Are they using all the tools at their disposal to figure out the meaning of what they are reading?

Going into the next unit, make specific reading goals for yourself. Set a percentage goal for how many children you will move ahead in the next 15 days. Set a goal for children who are not reading at home. Whom will you get to consistently read at home? Do they understand what they’re reading? What is their struggle? How will you partner with parents to support their growth?

If you are having trouble meeting your goals, do not wait until you have NOT succeeded. Consult your colleagues. Consult your leaders. ASK FOR HELP so you can meet your goals!

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