Focus Question: How do authors give us information in informational books?
Ask, “What kinds of things do you like to learn about?” (Examples: animals, planets, toys) “Have you ever read a book that you learned something from? What was the book about? What kinds of things did you learn from the book?” Encourage students to share their responses.
Say, “Today we are going to talk about how a book helps us learn new things.” Hold up the book I Love Trucks and Cars and Planes and Things That Go for students to see. Say, “This is the book we are going to use today to find out how books can help us learn new things. It is called I Love Trucks and Cars and Planes and Things That Go.” The model lesson is based on this book, but similar dialogue can be used with a different informational book.
Part 1
Show students the front cover of the book I Love Trucks and Cars and Planes and Things That Go. Say, “Make a prediction of what this book is about. Turn to a partner and share your prediction.” Have several students share their answers with the class. (Examples: trucks, airplanes, fire engines) Ask, “What makes you think that?” (the title and pictures on the cover)
Say, “Let’s turn to the next page of the book. This page is called the title page. It tells the title of the book again. It also tells the author’s name.” Read aloud the title and the name of the author.
Say, “Now let’s turn to the next page. Look at the two big blue words at the top of the page. These words say ‘Tough Trucks.’ ‘Tough Trucks’ is the heading. It tells that all the trucks on these two pages are tough trucks. What do you think that means? Turn to a partner and discuss your answer.” Have several students share their responses with the group. (Example: The trucks can do heavy work.)
Say, “There are pictures of six trucks on these pages. In the box with each truck is a word that tells the name of the truck. It labels the picture of the truck. There is also a sentence that tells something about the truck. It gives information or facts about the truck. Look at the first picture of the white truck.”
Point to the words pickup truck. Say, “The white words under the truck say ‘pickup truck.’ This tells me that the white truck is a pickup truck. The sentence that tells about the truck says, ‘It’s strong enough for any job, however tough.’” Ask, “What fact does this sentence give us?” Have students discuss their answer with a partner and then share with the group. (Example: It tells that a pickup truck is strong enough to do any job.) Say, “Yes. That is a fact about this truck. A fact tells something that is true.”
Continue in the same way for the other tough trucks.
Say, “Now let’s turn the page to see another kind of truck that this book will tell us about.”
Point to the word construction. Say, “Look at the word in big yellow letters at the top of the page. This word is ‘construction.’ What do we call this word?” (heading) Say, “Yes, this is the heading for these pages. This heading tells about all the trucks on these pages. These are trucks used in construction. That means they are used by people who build things. Look at the first truck.”
Point to the word bulldozer. Say, “This word is ‘bulldozer.’ This truck is called a bulldozer. The word ‘bulldozer’ labels the kind of truck it is. The sentence next to the bulldozer says, ‘Before the road can be made it pushes and levels with its blade.’” Ask, “What kind of information does this sentence give us?” (It tells a fact about what a bulldozer does.) Continue in the same way for the other construction trucks.
Continue throughout the book, each time pointing to a feature and having students identify it. Allow students to discuss with a partner the kinds of information they can learn from each feature. By listening to students’ answers, you can determine students’ level of understanding and reteach concepts if necessary.
Part 2
Say, “Now we are going to make our own informational book about vehicles. A vehicle is something used to take people places. What are some types of vehicles we just read about?” Record answers and simple hand-drawn pictures on the interactive whiteboard or on chart paper.
Say, “The first thing we are going to do is make the cover of our book. What do you think would be a good title for our book?” (Examples: “Things That Go,” “Things with Wheels,” “Big Vehicles”) Decide on a title and write it on a sheet of drawing paper.
Say, “Because you are going to be the authors of the book, I will write ‘by the kindergarten children in Room ___’ on the cover of our book.”
Say, “Now, we are going to make the pages for our book. Think of a vehicle you would like to draw.” Reread the list of vehicles on the board and ask students for other suggestions. Say, “You will draw your vehicle on the sheet of paper I give you. Then you will label your vehicle and write a fact about it.”
Model the tasks for students: Say, “My book page is going to be about a helicopter. First, I’m going to draw a helicopter.” Model the task by using simple shapes to draw a helicopter. Say, “Now I’m going to label my picture so everyone knows what type of vehicle it is.” Model how to segment the word and identify sounds in the word as you label the picture. Say, “Now I’m going to think of a fact I know about helicopters. I know helicopters can fly in any direction. Under my picture and label, I will write this sentence: ‘A helicopter can fly in any direction.’”
Distribute a sheet of drawing paper to each student. Say, “As you are drawing your vehicle, think about a fact about that vehicle. Remember that a fact is something that is true. Make sure it is something about the way the vehicle looks or what the vehicle does, not what you think about the vehicle. Try to write a sentence telling a fact about the vehicle. We want our book to be informational, so we must be sure to use facts.”
As each student completes his/her drawing, have the student show it to you. Ask the student to name the vehicle. If students are able to label their own vehicles, allow them to do so. Provide support as needed for labeling and writing the sentence. If students give an opinion about the vehicle, such as “I like fire trucks,” guide them to give a fact about the fire truck, such as “Fire trucks carry firefighters to fires.” You may need to underwrite the student’s writing so parents can read the sentences when the book is taken home.
Students who finish early may add details to their drawing or cut out and glue pictures of vehicles to the front and back cover of the book (L-K-3-1_Vehicle Pictures.doc).
Have students share their book page with a partner. Collect the pages, but do not bind them at this time. Keep the pages for use in lessons 2 and 3.
Extension:
- Students who require additional instruction or practice might browse through various informational texts set aside at the reading center. If they have difficulty understanding what they can learn from text features, have them discuss with a partner what was learned from the pictures or drawings in a book and then report their findings to you. If they have difficulty verbalizing their answers, provide accommodations such as asking specific questions about a picture.
- Students who are ready to move beyond the standard may categorize pictures of vehicles. Have them use copies of the vehicle pictures (L-K-3-1_Vehicle Pictures.doc) or students’ drawings. Say, “Let’s look at some of the pictures of vehicles. Suppose I wanted to put the pictures of vehicles into groups that have two wheels, three wheels, or four wheels. Which pictures would be part of the group I named ‘Vehicles that have two wheels’?” (motorcycle, bicycle) “Which pictures would be part of the group I named ‘Vehicles that have three wheels’?” (three-wheeled motorcycle, tricycle) “Which pictures would be part of the group I named ‘Vehicles that have four wheels’?” (truck, tractor, police car)
- Students may do the same type of activity by grouping the vehicles by color or any other category they can identify in the pictures.
