Titles in this series:

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1 Teaching Bumba Books Let s Explore Countries Interest Level: Grades PreK 1 Reading Level: Grades K 1 Titles in this series: Let s Explore China Let s Explore Cuba Let s Explore India Let s Explore Japan Let s Explore Mexico Let s Explore Russia Reading Standards Common Core State Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2: With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.5: Identify the front, back cover, and title page of a book. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.6: Name the author and illustrator of a text, and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacvy.RI.1.2: Identify the main topic, and retell key details of a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.3: Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.4: Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.6: Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text. CCSS ELA-Literacy.RI.1.7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.8: Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.9: Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures). are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

2 Let s Explore China Reading Level: Grades K 1 Subject: Social Studies Materials a book for each student a chalkboard or dry-erase board magnetic letters pencils, crayons, or markers paper the main idea and details activity (optional) (p. 4 of this guide) sticky notes (optional) Reading Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2: With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.5: Identify the front, back cover, and title page of a book. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.6: Name the author and illustrator of a text, and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text. Targeted Reading Strategy Identify the main idea, and with support, retell the key details of a text. Before Reading Academic vocabulary: Asia, country, mountains, plains, forests, pandas, bamboo, deserts, dumplings, Great Wall High-frequency words: a, is, it, the, and, in, to, you Build Background Knowledge Hold the book up, ask students if they can point to the front cover, and then have them point to the back cover. Ask the students if they can tell you what the large words on the front cover of the book are. Give time for a response. Read the title to the students. Introduce the book Let s Explore China by showing the students the cover, reading the title, and looking at the picture. Ask students if they know what we call the person who writes the words in a book. Read the name of the author. Explain that every book has an author and that it is very important to know who writes the words. Take a book walk with the students, and point out the table of contents. Explain that this is an important text feature found in nonfiction books. It tells readers where they can find important information about different topics in the book. Have students find the picture glossary and the index with you, and explain that these are also important text features that can be found in nonfiction books. Turn to those pages, and show the students how the table of contents helped you find them. Explain that sometimes there are tricky vocabulary words in books. Turn to page 4, and have students find the word country. Tell the children that a good rule to help them read this word is to remember that when they see the letter c and followed by a, o, or u, it will make the hard sound like in the word cat and when they see the letter c followed by e or i, it will make the soft sound as in the word city. It sounds more like an /s/ than a /c/. Go through the book, and have students put their finger on the academic vocabulary words as you read them. This will help them read them when it is their turn to read. Skill Introduction Tell students they will be determining what the main idea of Let s Explore China is and identifying key details to support the main idea. are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

3 Let s Explore China Explain how to find the main idea with a think-aloud. Think-aloud: The title helps me think about what the book will be mostly about. This book is about exploring China. I know that the word explore means to visit or look around or learn about something, so the book must be about learning about China. The information we learn about China will be the details. Nonfiction books help give us clues about key details by breaking down the book into small parts, or sections. We learned a little about this when we looked at the table of contents. Each part has a heading or title that tells what you will learn about in that part. Can anyone give some examples of what details we may learn about China? During Reading Check for Understanding Guide students as they read by asking them to read and stop on page 12 (you may want to place a sticky note there). Fast finishers can reread until everyone is finished. Students should be reading silently or quietly to themselves so they can read at their own pace. Model how to identify supporting details with a think-aloud. Think-aloud: I see that the heading of this section is called A Visit to China. One supporting detail about this section is on page 8. Read the page with the students out loud. Explain that this page tells about different features of China, which would be important to know if you were to visit. People plan vacations around things they want to see and places they want to go. Have students finish reading the rest of the book. Remind them to use what they already know to help understand what they read. Have students place a sticky note next to any word they cannot read or understand. This can be discussed after the book is read. After Reading Response to Text Ask students if they discovered any new information about China. Let students discuss this with a partner and monitor comprehension based on their answers. Ask them to identify evidence from the text to support their answer. They can do this by locating it in the book and rereading that part or by placing a sticky note there. Think-aloud: Since we have been discussing the main idea and supporting details, I see there are important features in a nonfiction book that help me understand how to find supporting details. For example, the table of contents helps me find supporting details that connect with the main idea of the book. Can anyone tell me another way to find supporting details in a nonfiction book? Accept all reasonable answers. are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

4 Let s Explore China Guide students if they need additional examples or help. Word Work Have students practice high-frequency words from the book (listed above). Using magnetic letters and a whiteboard or other magnetic board, have them say-spell-say each high-frequency word. Students could also write the word in rainbow colors with crayons or markers. Extension Activity Have students complete the main idea and details chart activity (p. 4 of this guide) Critical Thinking with Bumba Books Foster higher-order thinking skills by embedding Bumba Books critical thinking questions into your reading instruction. Use them to spark discussion, and encourage your emergent readers to be actively engaged in informational text! are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

5 Let s Explore China Name: Let's Explore China Activity Use the book Let's Explore China to fill in the chart. Main Idea Detail 1 Detail 2 Detail 3 are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

6 Let s Explore Cuba Reading Level: Grades K 1 Subject: Social Studies Materials a book for each student a chalkboard or dry-erase board magnetic letters pencils, crayons, or markers paper question activity handout (optional) (p. 3 of this guide) sticky notes (optional) Before Reading Reading Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.4: Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. Targeted Reading Strategy Ask and answer questions to clarify the meaning of the text and to learn the meaning of new words and phrases. Academic vocabulary: country, island, manatees, crop, plantains, forests, weather, beaches High-frequency words: an, is, are, has, the, in, go, to, do, be from, how, on, like Build Background Knowledge Show students the front cover of the book and read the title. Ask them what they think the book will be about. Then have them think about why the author might have written this book. Have them think about the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions they may ask as they read. They should be thinking about these six questions while they take a book walk. Review the title page, table of contents, picture glossary, and index. Talk about the information found in each of these locations. During the book walk, introduce new vocabulary and model ways to figure out the words. Remind students that as they read, they need to use the pictures and the context clues to help them figure out tricky and unfamiliar words. The context clues, the words around the unknown word, help us figure out the word we don t know. Sometimes we need to read more than one sentence for clues. With this strategy, model reading a page out loud for the students. This helps students begin to use self-monitoring strategies when they are confused about something instead of continuing to read and lose meaning. Skill Introduction Tell students that as they read, they will be thinking about the six questions and any other important questions they can think of that will help them better understand the book. They can also use the pictures in the book to help them think of questions. Explain to the students that as they read today, their job is to ask and answer questions to clarify the meaning of the text and to solve for unknown words. Think-aloud: As I read, I always ask myself questions to make sure I understand the author s purpose. For example, I have a couple of questions about what I read on pages 4 7. One question that comes to mind is, What does it mean to be an island? Another question I have is, Why are the summers rainy? Can you think of another important question you might need answered from these pages? Remind students to look at the photos and think about what they are trying to tell us. These photographs help connect the words and the meaning from the author. Also, remind students to read the captions for extra information that the author wants readers to know. are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

7 Let s Explore Cuba During Reading Check for Understanding Guide reading by asking students to read through page 12 (you may want to place a sticky note there). Fast finishers can reread until everyone is finished. Students should be reading silently or subvocalizing so they can read at their own pace. Model with questioning strategies to clarify the meaning of the text and to learn the meaning of new words and phrases with a think-aloud. Point out that asking these questions will also help focus attention to unknown or tricky words. Using the photos and asking questions about them may help as well. Have students finish reading the rest of the book. Remind them to continue asking these six questions to clarify the meaning of the text, words, and phrases. After Reading Response to Text After students have finished reading, begin a discussion of the book using questions like these: What else did you learn about Cuba? Did it remind you of where you live? What was the same, and what was different? Think-aloud: As I read informational text, it is important to understand the meaning of the text. When I ask the six questions and other questions about the reading, and answer these questions as I read, the meaning is clearer. I learned a lot about Cuba that I did not know before because I paid attention to the details as I read. I learned that there are different kinds of places to visit. I also learned about the climate and some of the foods Cubans grow and eat. Word Work Have students use lined paper or dry-erase boards to make word ladders with high-frequency words. Students are given one word to start with. Use words from the high-frequency word list given at the beginning of the lesson. Students can play with another student or individually. They must take turns changing one letter of the word to make a new word. They should try to create at least four new words. Example: fun - > sun - > son - > sin - > sit - > hit Extension Activity Have students complete the question activity handout (p. 3 of this guide). Critical Thinking with Bumba Books Foster higher-order thinking skills by embedding Bumba Books critical thinking questions into your reading instruction. Use them to spark discussion, and encourage your emergent readers to be actively engaged in informational text! are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

8 Let s Explore Cuba Name: Let s Explore Cuba Activity Write down some of the questions that helped you understand the meaning of the book. Then answer them on your paper and tell where you found your answer. Did the illustration help you or another text feature help you? Explain. Share these with your peers. What is a question you had about Cuba s weather? What is a question you had about animals in Cuba? What is your answer? What is your answer? Where did you find the answer? Did any text features help you? Where did you find the answer? Did any text features help you? What is a question you had about why people visit Cuba? What is a question you had about the food people eat in Cuba? What is your answer? What is your answer? Where did you find the answer? Did any text features help you? Where did you find the answer? Did any text features help you? are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

9 Let s Explore India Reading Level: Grades K 1 Subject: Social Studies Materials a book for each student pencils, crayons, or markers paper reproducible activity handout (optional) (p. 3 of this guide) sticky notes (optional) Before Reading Build Background Knowledge Preview the book by looking through it with students. Point out and have students take note of the text features. Discuss the Reading Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.3: Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.9: Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures). Targeted Reading Strategy Compare and contrast two pieces of information. Academic vocabulary: country, people, large, huge, mountains, rivers, flow, strong, build, cities, towns, temple, cricket High-frequency words: many, is, in, live, it, with, most, but, of, has, old, far, see purpose of each one with them. Have students discuss how text features can be used to help understand the text. Record answers on chart paper. With the students, read the headings from the table of contents. Model how to use the headings to predict content, and encourage students to try to make their own predictions. During the book walk, introduce new vocabulary and model ways to figure out the words. Remind students that as they read, they need to use the pictures and the context clues to help them figure out tricky and unfamiliar words. The context clues, the words around the unknown word, help us figure out the word we don t know. We need to read before and after it. Sometimes we need to read more than one sentence for clues. Model reading a page out loud using this reading strategy for the students. We also need to ask questions and use prior knowledge to figure out these words. This helps students begin to use self-monitoring strategies when they are confused about something instead of continuing to read and lose meaning. Skill Introduction Show students two different-colored crayons or shoes. Ask students to tell you how the two objects are the same, and record their answers. Then ask them how they are different. Record their answers. Then write on the chart the words Compare and Contrast. Explain that when we show how things are alike, we are comparing them, and when we show how they are different, we are contrasting them. Write the words compare and contrast over the things that are alike and different about the two objects you have previously discussed. Explain that good readers compare and contrast things and ideas as they are reading. These ideas and things can be events, characters, places, or objects. They can be from the same book or from two different books. Tell the students that they are going to be comparing and contrasting what they read about India to the country they live in. Think-aloud: When I compare and contrast things, I think about how things are alike and how they are different. This helps me remember more about what I read. You will have a chance to do this as you read this book about India. I want you to think about how India is alike and how it is different from our country. Keep this in mind as you read this book. Model the skill for the students by reading the first page (page 4). Ask students if they can think of anything about India that is the same as their own country. are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

10 Let s Explore India During Reading Check for Understanding Guide reading by asking students to read through page 13 (you may want to place a sticky note there). Fast finishers can reread until everyone is finished. Students should be reading silently or subvocalizing so they can read at their own pace. Model targeted skill: compare and contrast two pieces of information. Think-aloud: I have been thinking about how India is alike and how it is different from some of the other countries we have been studying. For this example, I am going to be comparing and contrasting India to Cuba. I know that on page 7 of this book, I read a lot of important information about India. I read that India has mountains. This is different from Cuba. Cuba has hills, not mountains, but I did read that India has plains, and I know that Cuba has plains too, so that is something that is alike. I also read that India has rivers, and I know that Cuba has rivers as well. Page 7 gave me a lot of information that I have compared and contrasted to Cuba as I was reading, which helped me remember information about both countries. Have students finish reading the rest of the book. Remind them to keep placing sticky notes on pages when they find similarities and differences. After Reading Response to Text After all students have finished reading, begin a discussion about the book using questions like the following: What did you learn about India that you did not know? Did you learn any new words while you were reading? What were some of the ways you found that India and our country are alike and different? Let students discuss orally and give examples of what they learned. Monitor their comprehension based on their answers. Ask them to identify evidence from the text to support their answers. Using the Venn diagram activity handout, model how to use a Venn diagram to fill in some of the examples that you have discussed, and then give students time to add more information to the Venn diagram. Word Work Create a chart with two columns. Label the first column Begins with st, and label the second column Ends with st. Have students volunteer to share words beginning with the /st/ sound into the first column and words ending with this sound into the second column. Extension Activity Print the following questions on cards, or display questions on the board or on chart paper. Have students work in groups to discuss them. They may record their answers, and they must use evidence from the book. Have each group share its answers with the class to monitor comprehension and increase language and cognitive skills. Think about the animals you learned about that lived in India. Would any of these animals make good pets? Why or why not? How are the elephant, crocodile, and tiger alike? How are they different? Which animal would you consider more dangerous: the elephant, crocodile, or tiger? Why do you think that? Critical Thinking with Bumba Books Foster higher-order thinking skills by embedding Bumba Books critical thinking questions into your reading instruction. Use them to spark discussion, and encourage your emergent readers to be actively engaged in informational text! are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

11 Let s Explore India Name: Let s Explore India Activity Have students write the names of the two countries being compared above the two circles. Then have them write details that tell how the countries are alike in the middle part of the circles where the two overlap and write how they are different in the outer parts of the circles. Try to write at least four facts for each part. Use the book to help you. Country 1 Country 2 Alike are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

12 Let s Explore Japan Reading Level: Grades K 1 Subject: Social Studies Materials a book for each student a chalkboard or dry-erase board magnetic letters pencils, crayons, or markers paper summarizing activity reproducible (optional) (p. 3 of this guide) sticky notes (optional) Before Reading Build Background Knowledge Have students draw a picture of the area they live in. Is it mountainous? Is it near oceans or lakes? Is it near a city or farmland? Think about what types of animals this country has and why people come to visit the area. Have students share and compare their drawings with their neighbor. Pass out books, and guide children to Reading Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.2: Identify the main topic, and retell key details of a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.4: Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.6: Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas. Targeted Reading Strategy Summarize information to understand text. Academic vocabulary: country, Asia, islands, mountains, sea, waters, around, flowers, trees, huge, biggest, million, cities, world, climb, electronics, visit, Japanese, sushi High-frequency words: up, of, is, the, most, live, and, all, have, has, there, from, for, they, eat, are, like the front and back covers. Read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage students to discuss the information on the title page. Preview the table of contents. Remind students that the table of contents gives an overview of what is to come in the book. Ask the students if they can tell you what they think they will learn based on the table of contents. During the book walk, introduce new vocabulary and model ways to figure out the words. Remind students that as they read, they need to use the pictures and the context clues to help them figure out tricky and unfamiliar words. The context clues, the words around the unknown word, help us figure out the word we don t know. We need to read before and after it. Sometimes we need to read more than one sentence for clues. Model reading a page out loud using this reading strategy for the students. We also need to ask questions and use prior knowledge to figure out these words. This helps students begin to use self-monitoring strategies when they are confused about something instead of continuing to read and lose meaning. Skill Introduction Explain to students that as they read, they should stop every once in a while to summarize or review what they have read. This means they should be thinking of the most important details of what they have read up to that point. Explain to them that summaries include the main idea of the book and the most important key ideas or details. Point out that summaries do not include all the details from the book. Explain to the students that it is their job to think about what is the most important information in the book and only include that in their summary. Have students turn to page 4 in their books and follow along as you read aloud pages 4 7. Then model how to summarize the information. are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

13 Let s Explore Japan Think-aloud: As I read this book, I will stop several times to check that I am understanding what I am learning about Japan. For example, after reading pages 4 7, I know that Japan is in Asia and it has four main islands and most people live close to the sea. As I read, I will add other important details to this summary. Remind students that as they read, they should stop at every couple of pages and think about what they have read. They may want to jot down key points on a sticky note or in their notebooks. Remind them that they should only include the most important details and not everything they have read. During Reading Check for Understanding Have students read through page 12 (you may want to place a sticky note there). Fast finishers can reread until everyone is finished, students should be reading silently or subvocalizing so they can read at their own pace. Model targeted skill with a think-aloud. Think-aloud: After reading up to page 12 in the book, I can summarize all the information by adding to my original summary. I learned new information about Japan, including that Japan is home to many animals. Cherry trees grow all over Japan, and Tokyo is the largest city in the country. These facts are the most important that are on the pages that I just read. Remind students to continue to think about reviewing what they read as they finish reading the book so they can add to their summary. After Reading Response to Text Have students work with a partner to complete the summarizing activity reproducible (p. 4 of this guide). After both students have orally summarized the book, have one student write a summary on the reproducible. However, both students are helpers in this process even though one is the recorder. Invite various pairs of students to share their summaries with the rest of the class. Ask students how summarizing helped them to understand and remember information in the book. Word Work Have the students say the word Japan out loud. Emphasize the second /a/ in the word, and explain to students that the sound is short. It sounds like the /a/ in apple and pack. Explain that vowels make more than one sound and when we read tricky and unfamiliar words, we need to try more than one vowel sound to see which one makes sense and sounds right in the word and sentence. Tell the students that today they are going to use magnetic letters to make short /a/ words. They will need to make the word after hearing it read to them, say the word, and then write the word on a piece of paper. Here are some short /a/ words to use in this activity: pan, pat, an, tan, fan, fat, cat, rat, ran, nan, ban, bat, sat, mat, man, can, hat. Have students choose three of the short /a/ words they just built and use them in sentences. Extension Activity Japan has four main islands. Have students research each of the four islands. When they have finished researching, they should write a short report about what makes one of the islands special. Critical Thinking with Bumba Books Foster higher-order thinking skills by embedding Bumba Books critical thinking questions into your reading instruction. Use them to spark discussion, and encourage your emergent readers to be actively engaged in informational text! are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

14 Let s Explore Japan Name: Let s Explore Japan Activity Write down your summary from working with your partner about what you learned from reading the book Let s Explore Japan. Be sure you only include the most important details from each of the stopping points we talked about. Summary of pages 4 7: Summary of pages 8 12: Summary of pages 13 21: Whole book summary: are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

15 Let s Explore Mexico Reading Level: Grades K 1 Subject: Social Studies Materials a book for each student a chalkboard or dry-erase board magnetic letters pencils, crayons, or markers paper author s purpose activity reproducible (optional) (p. 4 of this guide) sticky notes (optional) Reading Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.4: Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.6: Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.8: Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text. Targeted Reading Strategy Determine the author s purpose. Academic vocabulary: country, south, deserts, volcanoes, oceans, cactuses, villages, history, tacos High-frequency words: it, is, of, the, in, has, big, two, they, have, most, live, long, for, once, were, years, some, eat, be Before Reading Build Background Knowledge Show students a map of North America and point to Mexico. Ask students if they know what country it is. Explain that North America is a continent and that the United States of America is in North America. Explain that Canada is also another country in North America. Show the students where these countries are, and then ask them if they know what the other country is called. Wait for answers, and then explain it is the country of Mexico. Ask if anyone has been to Mexico or if anyone s family is from Mexico. Have the students think about whether or not they think the weather would be cold or hot and why. Pass out books, guide children to the front and back covers, and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage students to discuss the information on the title page. Preview the table of contents. Remind them that the table of contents gives an overview of what is to come in the book. Ask the students if they can tell you what they think they will learn based on the table of contents. During the book walk, introduce new vocabulary and model ways to figure out the words. Remind students that as they read, they need to use the pictures and the context clues to help them figure out tricky and unfamiliar words. The context clues, the words around the unknown word, help us figure out the word we don t know. We need to read before and after it. Sometimes we need to read more than one sentence for clues. Model reading a page out loud using this reading strategy for the students. We also need to ask questions and use prior knowledge to figure out these words. This helps students begin to use self-monitoring strategies when they are confused about something instead of continuing to read and lose meaning. are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

16 Let s Explore Mexico Skill Introduction Explain to students that authors have a purpose, or reason, for what they write. On chart paper or the whiteboard, create three columns and label them Inform, Entertain, and Persuade. Read each of these words to the students, and then explain that to inform means to provide information about a topic, to entertain means to amuse and tell a story about something, and to persuade means to try to convince someone to act or feel a certain way about something. Explain to the students that authors can write for more than one purpose. For example, an article about eating vegetables may not only tell the health benefits but may also try to convince people not to eat meat anymore. Think-aloud: As I read this book, I am going to think about what the author is trying to tell me. I am going to ask questions in my head to help me make a good decision about the author s purpose. I can ask questions about whether or not I am learning new information or if I am laughing a lot or if I am being convinced about something. These kinds of questions will help determine what the author s purpose is. I can write down some of my questions on my sticky notes if I want as I am reading, and as I figure out some answers or figure out the author s purpose, I can jot it down as well. Remind students that as they read to stop at every couple of pages and to think about what they have read. They may want to jot down questions and answers on a sticky note or in their notebook to help determine the author s purpose. During Reading Check for Understanding Have students read through page 12 (you may want to place a sticky note there). Fast finishers can reread until everyone is finished. Students should be reading silently or subvocalizing so they can read at their own pace. Model targeted skill with a think-aloud. Think-aloud: So far, I have read a lot of interesting information about the country of Mexico. It appears that the author is describing the country to us and providing us with a lot of really important information about Mexico. Would you all agree that the author s purpose for this book is to provide information? Then explain to the students that for the remainder of the book, you want them to take this one step further and look a little more closely at the words the author uses to tell about Mexico. Have students finish the book. After Reading Response to Text Have students work in small groups to discuss the author s purpose. Have them discuss the following questions: What does the author want me to remember about Mexico? How do the words and photographs make me feel about Mexico? Do you think the author had more than one purpose for writing this book? Why or why not? are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

17 Let s Explore Mexico Think-aloud: I noticed that the author talked about the animals, different places, foods, and things to do in Mexico. He made me feel as if I were there. I thought about his words, and I noticed the photographs as well. I think he wanted readers to visit Mexico and to also love the country and its beauty. I feel he had more than one reason for writing this book. Word Work Write these words on the board, and read them out loud with the students: Mexico, big, in, it, is, live, villages. Ask students what common vowel sound all the words have. Tell them that they all have the short/i/ sound. Have the students think of other short /i/ words. Write the words on the board, and have students create the words with magnetic letters as they say them with you. Then have students look in their books to see if they can find any more short /i/ words. Students should write down the words they find on a piece of paper until the class is ready to share. Extension Activity Have students complete the author s purpose activity reproducible (p. 4 of this guide). Critical Thinking with Bumba Books Foster higher-order thinking skills by embedding Bumba Books critical thinking questions into your reading instruction. Use them to spark discussion, and encourage your emergent readers to be actively engaged in informational text! are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

18 Let s Explore Mexico Name: Let s Explore Mexico Activity Write the author s purpose on the line to complete the sentence. Then choose three examples from the book that prove this was the author s purpose. The author s purpose for writing this book is to the reader. Reason #1: Reason #2: Reason #3: are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

19 Let s Explore Russia Reading Level: Grades K 1 Subject: Social Studies Materials a book for each student a chalkboard or dry-erase board pencils, crayons, or markers paper visualization activity reproducible (optional) (p. 3 of this guide) sticky notes (optional) Before Reading Build Background Knowledge Have students close their eyes and make a mental picture in their mind of something Reading Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.6: Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas. Targeted Reading Strategy Visualize information to understand the text. Academic vocabulary: Europe, Asia, biggest, country, millions, areas, tundra, large, forests, largest, travel, museums, famous High-frequency words: there, of, think, few, why, fly, many, them, most, big, make, from, also, they, are, this familiar to them. It can be their bedroom, their classroom, their house, their pet, their mom or dad, their teacher, or anything they want. Explain to the students that you want them to really visualize every little thing about this person, object, or place. Then have them open their eyes and describe what they pictured to a buddy. Encourage them to tell each detail, be descriptive, and allow their buddy to make a guess about what they were describing. Allow the student who visualized to give extra descriptive clues if necessary to help their friend guess the place, person, or object. Have each person get a turn to be the visualizer and guesser. Pass out books, guide children to the front and back covers, and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage students to discuss the information on the title page. Preview the table of contents. Remind them that the table of contents gives an overview of what is to come in the book. Ask the students if they can tell you what they think they will learn based on the table of contents. During the book walk, introduce new vocabulary and model ways to figure out the words. Remind students that as they read, they need to use the pictures and the context clues to help them figure out tricky and unfamiliar words. The context clues, the words around the unknown word, help us figure out the word we don t know. We need to read before and after it. Sometimes we need to read more than one sentence for clues. Model reading a page out loud using this reading strategy for the students. We also need to ask questions and use prior knowledge to figure out these words. This helps students begin to use self-monitoring strategies when they are confused about something instead of continuing to read and lose meaning. Skill Introduction Explain to students that when readers are actively reading, they make pictures in their minds. This is called visualizing. Discuss that the pictures in a book can also provide important information to add to the visualizations that the reader makes. Then explain to the class how visualizing helps readers better understand the author s points because it allows us to get inside their heads and make connections with the text. Read pages 4 7 aloud to the class. While reading, have the students close their eyes and ask them to visualize as you read aloud. After reading this section, give them time to share and discuss what they pictured in their minds. are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

20 Let s Explore Russia Think-aloud: I just read some information about Russia to you. We all know that the continents of Europe and Asia are different from North America, where we live. Did you picture that in your mind when I read that Russia is partly in both of these continents? Were you amazed that it is the biggest country? That was a good clue for me, and it helped me make a great mental picture. Another word that really helped me was on page 7, and that word was tundra. The tundra is in the Artic, and it is very cold all the time there. I pictured snow and wind and cold temperatures. Did anyone else think about those things? Did you see how making visualizations help to better understand the meaning of the text? Tell students that as they read, their job is to stop after each page and close their eyes to visualize what the author has just explained. During Reading Check for Understanding Have students read through page 12 (you may want to place a sticky note there). Fast finishers can reread until everyone is finished. Students should be reading silently or subvocalizing so they can read at their own pace. Remind them to stop at several points during reading to visualize as they read. Have students finish reading the rest of the book. Remind them to continue visualizing to better understand the text. After Reading Response to Text Have students share some of the visualizations they came up with as they finish the book. Have them work in small groups and tell one another how visualizing helped them better understand the text. Think-aloud: As I read, I use the text and illustrations to create mental pictures. This is a key tool to help me understand what I am reading and become a better reader. For example, on page 15 of the book, when the author talked about people traveling to Russia and visiting museums and churches, I was able to connect my prior knowledge about these places and use that to make mental pictures in my mind. Although the museums and churches may look a little different in Russia than in America, I could still visualize these buildings. This helped me better understand the text. Word Work Have students use lined paper or dry-erase boards to put the high-frequency words, the academic vocabulary words, or both from this book into alphabetical order. Explain to students that if more than one word begins with the same letter, they will need to look at the second letter. The letter that is closest to the beginning of the alphabet is the letter that will go next in alphabetical order. Extension Activity Have students complete the visualization activity reproducible (p. 3 of this guide). Critical Thinking with Bumba Books Foster higher-order thinking skills by embedding Bumba Books critical thinking questions into your reading instruction. Use them to spark discussion, and encourage your emergent readers to be actively engaged in informational text! are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN

21 Let s Explore Russia Name: Let s Explore Russia Activity Draw a picture to show a part in the book where you stopped to visualize to help you understand what you just read. Next, write at least three complete sentences to explain your drawing and the scene it represents from the story. are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. ISBN