Planning for an Interactive Read Aloud

Planning for an Interactive Read Aloud Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores Grade Level: Second

Genre: Fantasy Comprehension Skill: Author’s Purpose Comprehension Strategy: Ask Questions

Opening Conversation/ Creating Meaningful Learning (Creates the opportunity for all children to make a meaningful connection to the central idea/theme/topic of the text by accessing ‘what they know’. We’ve all had a time….. Think about …. Provide scaffolds for differentiation. Maybe it was… Maybe it was….)

Think about a time a really good friend of yours wanted to be with someone other than you or to do something different than what the two of you always do. Maybe one day your friend decided to play with someone other than you. Maybe it was a time your good friend decide to play something different than the two of you always play. Make a picture of that time and tell yourself how you felt. Turn and share your story and how you felt with the person next to you.

Connecting/Bridging Conversation (Guides the reader in using what he/she already knows/feel to better understand the characters(s)/story. Remembering how you felt about ____will help you better….)

Remembering how you felt when your friend seemed to be interested in being with someone other than you or in doing something different than what the two of you always do will help you understand how Dolores feels in today’s story.

Genre Set-Up (Prepares learners with a ‘mind-set’ for the type of book in the genre set-up. “Today’s book is a ______. When we read this type of book we need to get our brains ready to (state the features)…”

Today’s story is a special type of fiction called an animal fantasy. Like all fiction stories, fantasy stories have characters, take place somewhere, the setting, and have a sequence of events. However, fantasy stories have something in them that are make-believe/could not really happen. In today’s story, the characters are animals that act just like people- they talk, wear clothing and do people things. When we read fantasies we need to be careful not to get distracted by things that couldn’t really happen.

Vocabulary Set-Up (Provides deliberate pre-teaching of two-three ‘tier 2 words’ (Beck, McKeown, Kucan) important to the meaning of the text by defining the word in a contextual way that allows learners to understand their meaning and then reconnecting the new word to the text being read.)

There are two words I want to talk to you about before I begin reading today’s story. The first is ‘friendship’. A friendship is the relationship you and a friend have because of the large amount of time you and your friend spend together as well as the warm/caring feelings you have for each other. Think about someone you have a friendship with. Today’s story is about Horace’s, Morris’ and Dolores’ friendship. The second word is ‘exploring’. Exploring means to check out, investigate, find out about something or someplace new. Think about a time you went exploring. Maybe it was a park. Maybe it was a store. Maybe it was a new school. Horace, Morris and Dolores love to go exploring together.

Asking Questions About the Title and Cover Illustrations (Engages the reader in asking thoughtful wonderings about the text as they think about the title of the book and its cover. As I think about the title and illustrations, I find that I am wondering…. These wondering make me want to read on…)

Before I begin reading a book, I always read and think about the title and the cover illustrations and I find that I begin to wonder about the story. As I read and think about the title Horace and Morris but mostly Dolores and the illustrations, I find I am wondering if this is Morris and this is Horace. I am also wondering how long have they been friends. What are you wondering? Our questions and wonderings get us really excited to read the story.

Explicit and Deliberate Instructional Stops (Engages the reader in active ‘meaning making’ during the reading of the text as the teacher models/ describes/‘thinks aloud’ the metacognitive behaviors of visualizing, making inferences, stopping and restating, asking questions and/or making predictions he/she is using to process and make meaning of the text.) p. ______Stopping and Retelling It’s important for us, as careful readers, to not just turn to the next page unless we are sure we know who the story is about, the characters, and what’s happening. When I’m not sure, I go back and reread the text more carefully. (Go back and reread.) Turn to the person next to you and talk about what has happened in the story so far. p. ______Asking Questions I bet, like me, you are wondering what they are going to do next. Smart readers always wonder about what is going to happen next. It makes them want to continue reading. Let’s keep reading to see what happens. p. _____ Prior Knowledge/Making Connections Thinking about how you felt when a friend chose to be with someone other than you or chose to do something different than the two of you usually do will help you understand how Dolores is feeling. Readers use their prior experiences to help them understand the feelings and behaviors of characters in books they read. p. ______Stopping and Retelling and Asking Questions Let’s do what really smart readers do and remind ourselves of each event that has happened so far. Let’s go back and use the illustrations to help us remember everything that has happened. Now turn to the person next to you and summarize the story to this point.

I bet, like me, you are now wondering what they are going to do next. Smart readers always wonder about what is going to happen next. It makes them want to continue reading. Let’s keep reading to see what happens. p. ______Asking Questions I’m wondering whose voice is coming from the back of the room. Smart readers always wonder about what is going to happen next. It makes them want to continue reading. Let’s keep reading to see what happens. p. ______Asking Questions I bet, like me, you are now wondering where they are going to go to have some real fun. Smart readers keep asking questions as they are reading. Let’s read on to see what happens.

Closing Conversations It’s important when we finish a story, to remind ourselves of everything that happened/the events and the order in which they occurred. We call the events of the story the plot of the story. To do this, close your eyes and make a picture of the first event. Now, tell yourself what is happening. Now, let your movie in your mind go to the next event. Tell yourself what is happening in this event. Now, let your movie go to the next event, the middle of the story. Again, tell yourself what is happening. (Continue providing structure and support through the last event of the story.) Now that you’ve reminder yourself of the plot/what happens in the story, I want you think about the theme of the story/the big idea/the author’s message. Use the events of the story, the plot, and tell yourself what the theme of Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores – what the author’s words through the story are trying to teach us.

Additional Instructional Scaffolds ELLS Preview the text with the ELLS learners focusing on key content vocabulary. (sewers, dared, decision, clubhouse, announced, booed, introduced, real fun, ) Use props and/or photos if available. Use picture story cards to retell the plot/event sequence. Pair ELLS students with Advanced or Fluent English speakers for turn and talks.

Universal Preview the text with the struggling learners focusing on key content vocabulary Design (sewers, dared, decision, clubhouse, announced, booed, introduced, real fun, ) Learning Use props and/or photos if available. Use picture story cards to retell the plot/event sequence. Meeting the Discuss the feelings of Dolores when Horace and Morris choose to join the all needs of all boys club. Place struggling students near teacher for access to the pictures. students Extensions Extend vocabulary using above level words. Discuss the story’s theme of friendship through the events/plot of the story.