New Leveled Books for Young Readers - Townsend Press

Teacher’s Guide to
We want you to feel confident using The King School Series from the very beginning. That’s why we offer a comprehensive Teacher’s
Guide that includes everything you need to help your students really connect with the stories in the Series.
In addition to a general discussion of ways to use The King School Series in the classroom, the Teacher’s Guide offers detailed lesson
plans for each book in the Series. Every lesson plan includes the following:
Word count: 64
Some repeated high-frequency words: are, at, do, go, look, not, said, the, to, too, we, your
Some key challenging words: alone, buddies, elephants, lions, monkeys, zoo
Summary/Main Characters: Mrs. Hall’s class takes a trip to the zoo. There, the King
School Kids buddy up with partners and notice that a lot of animals are buddied up, too.
Before Students Read Aloud
Create interest in the book
Say: I know that all of you enjoy reading about animals. (Hold up several of the students’ favorite books
about animals.) What are some animals you really enjoy reading about? The children in the book
we’re going to read today also like animals. Soon we’ll find out if they like the same animals you
do.
Say: I’m going to read the first two words (At the) in the book’s title. Let’s figure out the third word in
the title. Please look at the cover illustration and make the sound of the first letter in the third word.
Now . . . what do you think the third word is in the title? Right. It’s zoo.
Say: Have any of you ever been to the zoo? Let’s talk a bit about what you saw and did there.
Prepare students to read the book
Say: In the book, there are two other important words that may be a bit harder to figure out. In these
cases, the illustrations don’t help you figure out the words.
I’ve written these words—alone and buddies—on the board. (Or hold up cards with a different word
printed on each card.) Make sure students know the meaning of both words.
In a minute, we’ll look for alone and buddies in the book.
When Students Finish Reading Aloud
Deepen students’ connection to the book
Lesson Plan
At the zoo
Level 3
In “When Students Read Aloud” section:
• Techniques for checking comprehension and
keeping students engaged as they read
• Prompts for students to draw inferences and
make predictions about the story
• Techniques for helping students recognize key words
Say: Of all the animals pictured in the story, which is your favorite? Why?
Check students’ comprehension
Say: Where did Mrs. Hall and the students go on their school trip?
What instructions did Mrs. Hall give her students when they got to the zoo?
What animals held up their hands as though they were buddies?
Introduce new knowledge and/or vocabulary related to the book
Say: Now let’s turn back to pages 11 and 13.
On both pages, we see baby animals with their parents—the adults who take care of them. The
mother is a female, and the father is a male. In many cases, the male is bigger than the female
(like the elephants). But sometimes the adult male and female look different. On page 13, the
father lion has a mane; the mother doesn’t.
Consider writing the words adults, female, male, and mane on vocabulary cards.
Have students do a brief book-related writing/art activity
Say: When Mrs. Hall’s class goes to the zoo, the children see elephants, lions, monkeys, and giraffes.
Let’s brainstorm other animals they could also see at the zoo. Good. Now let me read all your
ideas. From this list, choose one animal you’d like to see if you went to the zoo. Draw a picture
of yourself at the zoo, looking at this animal.
I’ll help each of you write, underneath your drawing, a sentence about what you drew. (The
sentence might be “I would like to see a ____________ at the zoo.”)
16
In preview box:
• Lists of the book’s word count, high-frequency,
and challenging words
• A summary of the book
In “Before Students Read Aloud” section:
• Suggestions for relating the book to students’
experiences
• Techniques for modeling use of decoding and
contextual skills to figure out an unfamiliar word
• Techniques for introducing key words not cued by
illustration
When Students Read Aloud
Make comments and ask questions to keep students engaged and check their understanding
Pages 2–3:
Say: The illustration shows that it’s a warm, beautiful day. What a perfect day for a school trip. Let’s read
the words on page 2.
How do the students in Mrs. Hall’s class feel about going on a trip to the zoo? How do you know they
feel this way?
How is the class going to get from the school to the zoo? What does the sign on the bus say?
Pages 4–5:
Say: Where on page 4 is the word alone? Where is the word buddies?
In “When Students Finish Reading
Aloud” section:
• Suggestions for helping students relate the
book to their own lives
• Hints for using the book to expand students’
knowledge and vocabulary
• Suggestions for doing an interesting bookrelated
writing/art activity