Purposes for Reading, Vocabulary, Word Skills

Students will be able to clarify word meaning using a variety of resources including context clues, dictionaries, and etc.  (1.A.2a)

Students will establish purposes for reading by asking questions and making predictions.  (1.B.2a)

Students will create their own journal recording their findings about Benjamin Franklin.

Students will create their own dictionary.

Text set of Ben and Me by Robert Lawson

Plain white paper

Cluster worksheet

Mouse shaped journal cover

Journal sheets

My Private Dictionary

Anticipatory Set:

	“Who do you think is this Ben person that the book is about?”  Take answers.  Someone ill recognize the picture and identify the person as Benjamin Franklin.
	“O.K. so who do you think is the me in this book?”  Scaffold students into identifying the me in the book as being a mouse.
	Ask the students if they know the name of the mouse in the story.
	Once the mouse’s name is identified pass out the mouse shaped journals and ask the students to name their mouse that is the cover of their journals.

Development:

	Begin searching for what they know about Benjamin Franklin by asking such question as: “Who is Benjamin Franklin?” “What do you think he is famous for? “Where was he born?” “What did he do for a living?”
	If they can’t answer some of these questions, do not answer them for them.  The students will find out the answers later.
	Have students read the inside cover of their book.  Ask what they think the story is about and to write their answers in their journal.
	Acknowledge that the book is about Benjamin Franklin’s life from the perspective of Amos, the mouse.
	Read the first chapter aloud to them so that they get a feel for how the story is written and level of vocabulary.
	Ask the students to write down facts they learned from the first chapter in their journal.
	Ask students to write any new vocabulary word that they did not know from the first chapter in their Private Dictionary.
	Hand out the cluster sheet.  Read the directions aloud as the students follow along.
	Five students time to begin the cluster sheet and inform them that they will have time later to finish if necessary.

Closure:

	Discuss with the students what they have learned so far about Benjamin Franklin.
	Ask if some of the students will share with the class their journal entries.
	Ask if some of the students will share with the class their Private Dictionary entries.

Use the guided reading approach instead of teacher reading aloud to students.

Have students draw an illustration of what the characters did in the first chapter.

Have students make sentences using the word entries in their dictionary.

Have students research Benjamin Franklin on the internet.

Use a book on cassette for the students to follow along to while reading.

The teacher will observe the students as they work in their small group and assess their contribution to the task.

The teacher will observe how students work independently and in groups to complete their tasks.

The teacher will be able to evaluate the student’s journals, dictionaries, and cluster sheets.