Reading Activity

Objective:

After reading Lunch about a very hungry mouse who eats an array of colorful foods, the students will recall and draw illustrations of the different food items the mouse ate. After reviewing the written words for each item, the student will match their drawings with each corresponding word. The students’ comprehension will be evaluated by their ability to successfully match items in the story with their own drawings of items they recollect from the story. The students will develop greater comprehension of meaningful words in a predictable book using semantic clues and illustrations. The students will develop greater confidence in reading as they are able to recognize common food objects.

1) Predictable books offer immediate success and enjoyment for beginning readers.

Materials:

• Book: Lunch
• Crayons
• Pencil
• Piece of paper for each student

Warm-up Activity:

Introduction: (3 min.) Ask students, ‘Who likes to eat?’ Explain that this story is about a mouse who loves to eat so much that he eats every food in sight. Ask students what kinds of food they like to eat. Ask what kind of things they think a mouse might eat.

2) By discussing the theme of the book, eating and food, a universal theme is established, and the students’ minds are being prepared to concentrate on the food items they will be required to remember later on in the activity. This kind of open discussion allows for comprehensible input. Also, the students are required only to respond in one-word answers to adjust to their LEP level.

Teaching/Learning Activities:

Presentation: (7 min.) Read book aloud, stopping to discuss colors, food items, and asking them to predict what kind of food the mouse will eat next.

The illustrations will give clues. Then confirm each prediction as the story continues.

3) Reading the story aloud provides a model reading for the beginning-level students. In addition, stopping to ask the students to predict the food eaten next presents a Directed Listening-Thinking Approach (DL-TA). The students are required to draw upon schemata and visual clues given in the illustrations to base their predictions. This bottom-up approach enhances reading because they are connecting visual clues and schemata with words.

Activity: (20 min.) Review by asking the students to name different food items the mouse ate. As each item is recalled, refer to the specific page in the book where that specific item is mentioned and write the word of each item on the board. Have them draw these items using their crayons on their paper.

4) The review of each food item is a scaffolding technique as the teacher is facilitating reading comprehension. Asking the students to recall specific items from the book allows the teacher to assess comprehension.

5) Writing the words on the board as each item is recalled allows the students to learn object/word recognition. Their drawings also serve as a scaffolding device as they learn picture and word relationships.

Follow-up Activity: (10 min.) Have the students match each word on the board with their corresponding picture. Have the students write corresponding words under their drawing. If time allows, have the students draw a picture of their favorite food on a separate piece of paper. Go around the room to each student and write the name of the student’s favorite food on their paper. Give students the opportunity to share their drawings by having each show and tell the name of their favorite food.

6) Having the students match the written words with their drawings utilizes bottom-up skills, allowing for an assessment of reading comprehension. The students learn word/object recognition in the process. In addition, writing the name of their favorite food teaches word/object recognition in a way that allows the students to share something they thought of themselves.

Evaluation and Assessment:

Students will be evaluated on their level of reading comprehension as a class when asked to recollect food items from the story. They will be assessed individually as they write the words under their corresponding pictures.

Resources:

Fleming, Denise, Lunch, (1992). Henry Holt & Co., Inc.