LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Is this the right book for me? Strategies for beginning readers

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=916

A lesson plan for Grades 1–2 English Language Arts

Provider: IRA/NCTE

About this resource

Appropriate grades
1–2
Subjects
English language arts (reading, self-selected reading)
Provider
IRA/NCTE

Legal

Creative Commons License

This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.

Using Jan Brett's version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, teachers emphasize the concept of “too big,” “too little,” and “just right” in order to show students how to evaluate the reading level of a book. After students choose books from the classroom library, they read independently for 5–10 minutes and then answer questions to determine if the book was the appropriate level. Then the teacher leads students in a discussion about their experience with the book and questions students about their purpose for reading. The goal of this lesson is for students to be able to determine the purpose for reading and choose the correct book based on their ability level. Before beginning this lesson, teachers must have a knowledge of students' general reading ability level.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 1

  • Goal 1: The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.
    • Objective 1.05: Increase vocabulary, concepts, and reading stamina by reading self-selected texts independently for 15 minutes daily. Self-selected texts should be consistent with the student's independent reading level.
  • Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
    • Objective 2.02: Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of texts (storybooks, short chapter books, newspapers, telephone books, and everyday print such as signs and labels, poems, word plays using alliteration and rhyme, skits and short plays).

Grade 2

  • Goal 1: The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.
    • Objective 1.05: Use a variety of strategies and skills to read self-selected texts independently for 20 minutes daily. Self-selected texts should be consistent with the student's independent reading level.
  • Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
    • Objective 2.01: Read and comprehend both narrative and expository text appropriate for grade two by:
      • determining purpose (reader's and author's).
      • making predictions.
      • asking questions.
      • locating information for specific reasons/purposes.
      • recognizing and applying text structure.
      • comprehending and evaluating author's decisions and word choice.
      • determining fact and opinion.
      • recognizing and comprehending figurative language.
      • making inferences and drawing conclusions.
    • Objective 2.05: Self-monitor own difficulties in comprehending independently using several strategies.