Lessons & Units :: Main Idea Kindergarten Unit

Lesson 1: What the Book is Mainly About

Lesson Plan

Amazing Tigers!

Amazing Tigers!
Learning Goal
Identify and describe what a book is mainly about using the title, text, and pictures.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: Example Chart for Guided Practice, Independent Practice Worksheet
Not Provided: Amazing Tigers! by Sarah L. Thomson, Ladybugs by Monica Hughes, chart paper, markers

  • Teacher Modeling

    will read the title of Amazing Tigers! by Sarah L. Thomson and explain that a title can help you identify what a book is mainly about. I will model predicting what the book is about by saying: The title is Amazing Tigers and there is a picture of a tiger on the front page. Maybe this book will be only about tigers. Let’s find out. I will take a picture walk through the book and discuss how every picture is of tigers. I will model thinking aloud by saying: “I think this book is mainly about tigers, since the title is Amazing Tigers! and most of the pictures are of tigers.” I will explain to students that if the title is about tigers and the pictures are of tigers, then the text will probably also be about tigers. I will read the first few pages and model thinking aloud about what the text is about.

  • Think Check

    Ask: "How did I decide that the book is most likely going to be about Tigers?" Students should respond that you read the title and looked at the pictures, thinking about how they describe or show what the book will be about. Then you read the text to be sure that the book was about tigers.

  • Guided Practice

    will read the book, Amazing Tigers! and discuss whether the text is also mainly about tigers. We will chart (example provided) the information we learn from the book and discuss how the sentences are all about tigers. We will discuss how the title helped us know in advance what the book would mainly be about.

  • Independent Practice

    will listen as I read Ladybugs by Monica Hughes aloud and use the title of the book, pictures, and text to help you identify what the book is mainly about. You will illustrate and write (Independent Practice Worksheet is provided) what the book is mainly about.

Build Student Vocabulary human

Tier 2 Word: human
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story Human babies weigh about eight pounds when they are born.
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) Humans are people. A person is a human being.
Students repeat the word Say the word human with me: human.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts Everyone in this classroom is a human. Everyone in this school is a human. People that lived a long time ago were humans.
Students provide examples How many humans are in this class? Tell me about it by saying, “There are __________humans in this class.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? human
Additional Vocabulary Words territory, dart

Build Student Background Knowledge

Pause at page 21 of Amazing Tigers. Explain to students that tigers are an "endangered species." That means that they are in danger of disappearing from Earth. Tigers are the fastest disappearing type of animal in the world.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

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