Characteristics of the Text Genre Biography Text Structure

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1 LESSON 18 TEACHER S GUIDE The Life of Jack Prelutsky by Lisa Benjamin Fountas-Pinnell Level M Biography Selection Summary This book tells the life story of the contemporary American poet Jack Prelutsky. The engaging narrative gives young readers an appreciation of Prelutsky s work, while appealing to their own creativity. Number of Words: 632 Characteristics of the Text Genre Biography Text Structure Content Themes and Ideas Language and Literary Features Sentence Complexity Vocabulary Words Illustrations Book and Print Features Third person factual narrative Major events presented in chronological order Milestones in Prelutsky s career including his decision to become a poet Themes and subjects in Prelutsky s poems Love of writing and the writer s relationship with readers Poetic inspiration and the importance of creativity Conversational language Use of descriptive language ( sail through the sky on fl uttering wings.) Some longer, complex sentences with introductory clauses (When Jack grew up, he had many jobs.) Commas in series (big, grand ideas) Names of Prelutsky s books and poems Place names (Seattle, Washington) and name of school (School of Music and Art) Some challenging words (boring, exactly, dragons, honored) Possessive form of nouns (Jack s, children s) Hyphenated words (taco-fl avored) Humorous illustrations from Prelutsky s books extend content. Reproduction of Prelutsky s hand-written poem extends content. Names of books in italics; names of poems in quotation marks Excerpt from poem in italics Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. Copyright by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Permission is hereby granted to individual teachers using the corresponding (discipline) Leveled Readers to photocopy student worksheets from this publication in classroom quantities for instructional use and not for resale. Requests for information on other matters regarding duplication of this work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Attn: Contracts, Copyrights, and Licensing, 9400 SouthPark Center Loop, Orlando, Florida Printed in the U.S.A If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format.

2 The Life of Jack Prelutsky by Lisa Benjamin Build Background Help children use their knowledge of poetry to understand this biography. Build interest by asking questions such as the following: What kinds of poems do you like to read? Why do you enjoy them? Read the title and author and talk about the cover picture. Tell children that this book is a biography. It tells about the life of a real person. Introduce the Text Guide children through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so that they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions: Pages 2-3: Explain that this book tells about the life of a famous American poet, Jack Prelutsky. Suggested language: On page 2 you can see a photograph of Jack Prelutsky today. He has written more than 40 books of poetry. On page 3 you can see what he looked like when he was your age. Page 6: Draw attention to the illustration. As a young adult, Jack started to write poetry. He liked that, in a poem, he could pretend that trees can sing. Why can a writer create imaginary things in a poem? Page 7: Draw attention to the hand-written poem. This photo shows a poem in the poet s handwriting. Let s point to the title, the poem, and Prelutsky s name. Page 10: Some of Prelutsky s poems are about big, grand ideas. What is an example of a grand idea? But Prelutsky also writes about things in everyday life, too. The photo shows the subject of one of his poems. What do you think the poem is about? Now turn back to the beginning of the book and read to fi nd out how Jack Prelutsky became an award-winning poet. Target Vocabulary accepted agreed to something, p. 8 express v. show what you are feeling or thinking, p. 6 fluttering moves with small, quick movements, p. 9 grand large, special, or important, p. 10 pretend to imagine, or makebelieve, that something is real, p. 6 prize an award for winning a contest or doing something well, p. 13 taught told or showed what to do, p. 4 wonder v. try to understand more about something, p. 7 2 Lesson 18: The Life of Jack Prelutsky

3 Read Have children read The Life of Jack Prelutsky silently while you listen to individual children read. Support their problem solving and fluency as needed. Remind children to use the Analyze/Evaluate Strategy they feel about the book as they read and why. and to tell how Discuss and Revisit the Text Personal Response Invite children to share their personal responses to the book. Suggested language: After reading this book, would you like to write your own poetry? Why or why not? Ways of Thinking As you discuss the text, help children understand these points: Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text Jack Prelutsky has written many books of poems. Jack Prelutsky has won many awards for his poetry. Jack Prelutsky writes about simple and grand ideas. Ideas for poems are all around us. Finding something you love to do is important Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. The author s attitude towards her subject is that readers will enjoy learning about this creative man and his poetry. A mix of photographs and humorous illustrations make the text more fun to read. Choices for Further Support Fluency Invite children to choose a passage from the text to read aloud to the class. Encourage them to use rising and falling tones in a way that refl ects the text meaning and end mark punctuation, including questions marks and exclamation points. Comprehension Based on your observations of the children s reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind children to go back to the text to support their ideas. Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples from the text. Help children identify the base words and endings in the following: writes (p.2); drawing (p. 3); jobs (p. 5); exactly (p. 5); accepted (p. 8); children s (p. 13). Work with children to use three of the base words in original sentences. 3 Lesson 18: The Life of Jack Prelutsky

4 Writing about Reading Critical Thinking Have children complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM Responding Have children complete the activities at the back of the book. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill. Target Comprehension on Skill Understanding Characters Remind children that they can use details to help them understand a person described in a book. Model the skill, using a Think Aloud like the one below: Think Aloud What can I learn about Jack Prelutsky from reading this book? On page 14, I read that he hopes children will always enjoy his poems. He hopes that they will want to become poets one day, too. These details help me understand something about him. He cares about his young readers and their lives. It s clear that he wants children to be happy and creative. Practice the Skill Have children find another detail in the book that tells them something important about Jack Prelutsky. Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text Have children write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use what they know and their own experience to think about what happens in the book. Assessment Prompts Which words on page 5 helps readers understand the meaning of the word illustrator? What are three words that describe Jack Prelutsky s poetry? 4 Lesson 18: The Life of Jack Prelutsky

5 Read directions to children. English Language Development Reading Support Work with children in pairs to help them echo-read the poem on page 7 of the book. Remind them to pay attention to the commas and other punctuation marks at the end of each line of the poem. Then discuss the meaning of the poem and the imagery of the wolf in a laundromat. Cultural Support Explain to children that nightmares (p. 11) are very bad dreams. Oral Language Development Check children s comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches their English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the child. Beginning/Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced Speaker 1: Who is this book about? Speaker 2: Jack Prelutsky Speaker 1: Why does Jack Prelutsky do? Speaker 2: writes poems Speaker 1: What kind of job did Jack Prelutsky want to find? Speaker 2: The right job for him. Speaker 1: What are two things Jack Prelutsky wrote about in his poems? Speaker 2: talking animals; singing trees; wishes; dreams Speaker 1: How would you describe Jack Prelutsky s poems? Speaker 2: Some are silly; some are scary; some are about big ideas; some are about everyday things. Name Read and answer the questions. Date Lesson 18 BLACKLINE MASTER 18.8 The Life of Jack Prelutsky 1. Why do you think people like Jack Prelutsky s poetry? 2. Why do you think some people like scary poems? 3. Why is The Life of Jack Prelutsky called a biography? Making Connections Think about something you might find outside your school, such as a tree or a rock. Write a short poem about it. Make your poem funny. Write your answer in your Reader s Notebook., Unit 4: Heroes and Helpers 5 Lesson 18: The Life of Jack Prelutsky

6 Name Date The Life of Jack Prelutsky Thinking Beyond the Text Read the paragraph below. Then write your questions and answers on the lines. Write three questions you would like to ask Jack Prelutsky about his poetry. Then write the answers you think Jack Prelutsky would give, based on details in the book. 6 Lesson 18: The Life of Jack Prelutsky

7 Name Read and answer the questions. Date Lesson 18 BLACKLINE MASTER 18.8 The Life of Jack Prelutsky 1. Why do you think people like Jack Prelutsky s poetry? 2. Why do you think some people like scary poems? 3. Why is The Life of Jack Prelutsky called a biography? Making Connections Think about something you might find outside your school, such as a tree or a rock. Write a short poem about it. Make your poem funny. Write your answer in your Reader s Notebook. 7 Lesson 18: The Life of Jack Prelutsky

8 Student Date The Life of Jack Prelutsky LEVEL M Lesson 18 BLACKLINE MASTER The Life of Jack Prelutsky Running Record Form page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections 2 Do you like poems? Do you like to laugh? Jack Prelutsky is a poet. He writes poems that make people laugh. He writes about tacoflavored ice cream. He writes about having your nose between your toes or in your hair. He has written more than 40 books of poetry. One book is called It s Raining Pigs & Noodles. Another is called Something Big Has Been Here. 3 This book is about Jack Prelutsky s life. This kind of book is called a biography. Jack was born in He lived in New York City. Jack liked a lot of things when he was growing up. Comments: Accuracy Rate (# words read correctly/ ) % Total Self- Corrections Behavior Code Error Read word correctly cat 0 Repeated word, sentence, or phrase Omission cat 0 cat 1 Behavior Code Error Substitution cut cat 1 Self-corrects cut sc cat Insertion the ˆcat 1 Word told T 1 cat Lesson 18: The Life of Jack Prelutsky