Try one of these possible strategies in your instruction. Although we believe nearly any strategy can be tought with just about any book, these are a few highlights. Use them as a springboard for further instruction.
Mean Jean is The Recess Queen, and nobody is allowed to do anything on the playground until she does. She rules the playground until Katie Sue, a new girl, stands up to her and wins her over with kindness.
Read a page aloud without showing the pictures and allow students to visualize what is happening. Ask students to draw what they visualized. Two parts of the story that I would use for this strategy are P. 7 and P. 11. After the students have finished show them the pictures in the book.
Read the story the whole way through without showing students the pictures. Brainstorm describing words for Katie Sue and Mean Jean. Have students draw pictures of Katie Sue and Mean Jean. Show students the pictures from the book.
This text can be used to model the difference between reading a sentence that ends in a period, question mark or exclamation point. Model to students how to use intonation when reading.
Examples:
Several parts of this story are repeated throughout the story.
“Say What?” Mean Jean growled. “Say who?” Mean Jean howled. “Say you! Just who do you think you’re talking to?” Mean Jean always got her way.
Students can work in their fluency as they read and reread these patterns.
Possible words include: thundered, amused, bolted, gaped, stared, sassy, charged.
When reading this story, stop frequently to check for understanding. Ask the following questions: Who did we read about? What did Mean Jean do? Why do you think Mean Jean is acting this way?”
The teaching points for this lesson were written by Leanne Gahan.
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