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will explain to students that good readers should also think about how the story relates to other stories they have read, in order to understand the story better. I will review with students that drawing conclusions about a text means we are thinking about what we already know and combining it with what is in the text. In this case, we are thinking about what we already know about other books. I will give an example of two books previously read in class. I will model making connections between the two texts in order to understand the stories better. For example, "When we read Lilly’s Big Day (from the Character unit), I remembered from reading Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse (also from the Character unit) that although Lilly really loves her teacher Mr. Slinger, sometimes she gets angry at him when he doesn’t let her do what she wants. Remembering this about Lilly helped me understand her behavior in the story better."

Ask: How did I use one book to better understand another book? Students should respond that you thought about how a character acted in one book and used that information to better understand how the character acted in another book.

will do a picture-walk through Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber. We will think about how it feels to be made fun of and remember that Ira is afraid that Reggie will laugh at his teddy bear. We will identify other books in which characters are made fun of or are afraid of being teased. For example, "This makes me think of the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. Chrysanthemum was teased about her name and it made her sad. She didn’t like her name when people made fun of it. Ira was sad because he was afraid that Reggie would laugh at his teddy bear. People don’t like to be teased. I know from two stories now that it makes people sad to be teased."

will listen as I read Ira Says Goodbye by Bernard Waber. You will answer the question: “What did you learn about Reggie and Ira in the book Ira Sleeps Over that helped you understand the book Ira Says Goodbye better?” (Student Independent Practice provided below in Teacher and Student Materials.)