Students need to learn to stop periodically while reading to make sure what they are reading makes sense. After reading a few pages, stop and briefly summarize what was just read. After doing this a few times, have students summarize for the class. Examples:

P. 3 “I just read that Lilly loves school- the pointy pencils, squeaky chalk, her own desk, the fish sticks at lunch, and especially her teacher, Mr. Slinger.”

P. 5 “I just read about Mr. Slinger- he wore artistic shirts, glasses on a chain around his neck, and he gave the class snacks that were curly, crunchy, and cheesy.”

There are a few places in this story where students can practice predicting what will happen next. Stop at these key places in the story and have students think about what will happen. After reading on, look back to see if the predictions were correct. Places to stop and predict:

P. 10 Lilly cannot wait to show the class her new things at sharing time. (Do not show picture on p. 11.)

P. 15 Lilly leaves the mean note for Mr. Slinger in his bag.

P. 21 Lilly gives Mr. Slinger her new story, a note from her mother, and snacks from her father.

When you come to a tricky word, don’t guess! Instead, listen carefully to the sounds in the word to help you figure it out.

Here’s how:

1. Look at the first letter and say its sound.
2. Look at the last letter and say its sound.
3. Listen to the middle sounds and try blending them together.
4. Check if the word makes sense in the sentence.

For example:

• Chalk — Start with /ch/, then /a/, then /lk/ = chalk
• Purse — Say /p/, then /ur/, then /s/ = purse
• Disturb — Start with /d/, then /i-s-t/, then /urb/ = disturb

This is a wonderful text to model reading expressively. Read aloud the following sentences from the book. Have students note how your voice changes depending on the punctuation.

P. 5 “Howdy!”

P. 5 “Do you think you rodents can handle a semicircle?”

P. 10 “Lilly really, really wanted to show everyone.”

P. 11 “Look everyone. Look what I’ve got!”

P. 24 “What should we do with this?”

Possibilities for words include: privacy, artistic, glittery, aunty, considerate, unique