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Teacher’s Guide Grade 1 • Unit 9
3
Week
Benchmark
Literacy
TM
Make Connections/Identify Cause
and Effect
Unit 9/Week 3 at a Glance
Day Mini-Lessons
ONE • Build Background and Introduce the Original Song
• Introduce the Reader’s Theater Script
• Front-Load Vocabulary
• Read Aloud the Script: Model Fluent Reading
Nursery Rhymes and Songs
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Climbs Again
An adaptation of a traditional song
TWO
• Retell the Script: Analyze Story Elements
• Reread the Script
• Build Comprehension: Analyze Characters
by Jeffrey B. Fuerst • illustrated by Daryll Collins
THREE • Introduce Fluency Skills: Expression—Characterization
and Feelings
FOUR • Practice and Self-Assess Fluency Skills:
Expression—Characterization and Feelings
• Apply Fluency Skills to Reader’s Theater
FIVE
• Prepare for and Manage Student Performances:
Audience and Performer Expectations
• Show Time!
• Assess and Reflect
®
B
e n c h m a r k E d u c a t i o n C o m p a n y

Day One
Read-Aloud (10 m i n u t e s)
Nursery Rhymes and Songs
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Climbs Again
An adaptation of a traditional song
Select a favorite fiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library
with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Make Connections.” Use the
sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles provided in the Benchmark
Literacy Overview.
Mini-Lessons (20 m i n u t e s)
Build Background and Introduce the Original Song
by Jeffrey B. Fuerst • illustrated by Daryll Collins
Reader’s Theater Big Book Inside
Front Cover
Lesson Objectives
Students will:
• Review or learn a traditional song.
• Make connections to a song and a
script.
• Identify cause and effect.
• Analyze story elements.
• Analyze character.
• Listen to a fluent reading of the
script.
• Build oral language and vocabulary
through whole-group and partner
discussion.
Related Resources
• Reader’s Theater Whiteboard
CD-ROM
• Sequence of Events Chart (BLM 1)
Ask: Has anyone heard the song “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”? Raise your hand if
you know this song. Allow responses.
Invite individual students who have heard the song to tell you what the song
is about.
Invite volunteers to recite or sing the original song lyrics, if they can.
Read Aloud the Original Song Lyrics: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Display the inside front cover of the big book Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again or
display this page of the interactive e-book using the Whiteboard CD-ROM.
Read aloud the original song, or play the modeled reading using the interactive
e-book.
Invite students to echo-read the song with you one line at a time. Point to each
word as you read it.
Invite students to choral-read or choral-sing the entire song with you for
repeated oral reading practice.
Discuss what happens and why in “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and create a simple
Sequence of Events Chart (BLM 1) to show the events. Use the following
question prompts only as needed:
• What did the itsy bitsy spider do?
• What caused the itsy bitsy spider to get washed out?
• Why did the rain dry up?
• What did the itsy bitsy spider do when the sun came out?
Post the Sequence of Events Chart to use as an anchor chart.
2
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Day One
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider went up the
water spout.
The rain came down. It washed
the spider out of the water spout.
The sun came out. It dried up all
the rain.
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up
the water spout again.
Sample Sequence of Events Chart
Annotations (BLM 1)
Model sentence frames. Support ELLs by modeling how to use the following
sentence frames to discuss the song:
The itsy bitsy spider .
The rain .
The sun .
At the end of the song, .
Introduce the Reader’s Theater Script
Display the big book Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again on an easel, or use the
Whiteboard CD-ROM to display the book on your whiteboard.
Read aloud the title and the author’s and illustrator’s names on the cover.
Invite students to identify and discuss what they see in the cover illustration.
Make Content Comprehensible
for ELLs
Beginning
Display the inside front cover of the big
book. As you introduce the original song,
point to and name the spider and the
water spout. Then sing the song with
students, using hand gestures to show the
spider climbing up the water spout; the
rain coming down; the sun coming out;
and the spider climbing up again.
Beginning and Intermediate
Have students tell what color the itsy bitsy
spider’s shirt, pants, and sneakers are. Use
the following sentence frame: The itsy bitsy
spider is wearing (a) shirt (pants,
sneakers). Ask: What color is the itsy bitsy
spider’s nose? (pink)
Advanced
Have students describe the characteristics
of real spiders by answering the following
questions:
• How many legs do spiders have?
• What do spiders eat?
• How do they catch the insects they
eat?
Nursery Rhymes and Songs
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Climbs Again
An adaptation of a traditional song
Explain to students that throughout the week they will be reading a new
version of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” as a group.
Say: Let’s talk about some of the other scripts that we have already
performed. How did the author adapt, or change, the characters and events?
Did you like the changes the author made? Why?
Tell students that at the end of the week they will perform this reader’s theater
adaptation.
by Jeffrey B. Fuerst • illustrated by Daryll Collins
Reader’s Theater Big Book
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3 3

Day One
Picture Words
climbed
falling
Activate metacognitive strategies. Use some or all of the following prompts
to help students use strategies to think and make predictions about the script
they will read:
Make connections. Ask: What connections can you already make between
this script and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” song?
2
Sight Words
am at help here
I look the up
Determine text importance. Ask: What clues does the cover illustration give
you that help you predict what will happen in the script?
Make inferences. Ask: Where can you find clues in the script that will help
you figure out what is happening?
Read aloud the title page, including the title, cast of characters, and setting.
Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again, page 2
rain
sun
Invite students to explore the layout, text, and illustrations.
Point out the color coding of the characters’ names and the image icons, and
explain how these help readers know when to read their part.
Discuss the anchor chart of the original and review the concept of an
adaptation. Ask: If you were to write a new version of this song, what parts
would you want to keep? What new things would you add?
Front-Load Vocabulary
Enrichment Words
bitsy
dried
itsy
water
Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again, page 3
3
Turn to the picture, sight, and enrichment words on pages 2–3, or display
these pages using the e-book on the Whiteboard CD-ROM.
Say: We will find many kinds of words in this script. The words you see here
are all in the script. Let’s read these words together before we start reading.
Point to each picture word and read it with students. Then ask students to use
each picture word in a sentence.
Invite volunteers to read any sight words they already know. Invite other
students to repeat each word and suggest a meaningful sentence using
the word.
Point to each enrichment word as you say it. Use the following prompts to
encourage students to incorporate these words into their oral vocabulary:
• What other animals can you name that are itsy bitsy, or tiny?
• What are two ways that clothes can be dried?
• What happens when water freezes?
4
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Day One
Read Aloud the Script: Model Fluent Reading
Have students listen and follow along as you read the whole script aloud to
model fluency and expression. Be sure to make your voice show excitement
for exclamations and fall at the end of statements. (As an alternative, play the
talking e-book on the Whiteboard CD-ROM, and instruct students to listen and
follow along as the text is read and highlighted.)
Connect and transfer. Say: Today we made connections between the song
“The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and the script. Tomorrow, we will use this strategy as
we figure out what happens in the script and why it happens. Remember that
good readers are always using what they know to make new connections and
figure out why things happen.
Small-Group Reading Instruction (60 m i n u t e s)
Based on students’ instructional reading levels and comprehension needs,
select titles that provide opportunities for students to continue to practice
identifying cause and effect (see the list provided on the Small-Group Reading
Instructional Planner), or select titles that enable students to review previously
taught comprehension strategies.
Use the instruction provided in the Teacher’s Guide to introduce the texts.
Individual Student Conferences (10 m i n u t e s)
Confer with individual students on their text selections and application of
strategies. Use the Reading Conference Note-Taking Form to help guide your
conference.
Support Special Needs Learners
Throughout the week, use the following
strategies to help students who have
learning disabilities access the content
and focus on skills and strategies.
Support visual learners and students
with attention issues by projecting the
whiteboard version of the big book.
Have students highlight key words on the
whiteboard as they say them.
Support auditory learners by playing the
e-book readings of the song and script.
During independent workstation time, pair
special needs students with more fluent
readers for partner-reading practice of the
script.
Group students heterogeneously for
small-group reading of the script so that
struggling students benefit from working
with more fluent readers.
Assign multiple students to specific roles so
that they can support one another.
Fluency Quick-Check
Throughout the week, refer to the Fluency
Rubric provided in the Benchmark
Literacy Ongoing Assessments to help you
informally assess where students are in
their development of key areas of fluency.
Name
Date
Phonics Workshop (20 m i n u t e s)
Use the Day 1 instruction provided in BuildUp Phonics Skill Bag 27.
The key elements of reading fluency—accuracy, speed, pacing, pausing, inflection/intonation,
expression, phrasing, and the integration of these skills—may be assessed any time a student
reads aloud. Discuss the assessment rubric, modeling each description, so students know
what you expect.
Fluency Rubric
Rating Elements of Fluent Reading
Scale
Accuracy
1 Multiple attempts at decoding words are unsuccessful. Word reading accuracy is
inadequate/poor, below 90%.
2 Attempts to self-correct errors are usually unsuccessful. Word reading accuracy is marginal,
between 90–93%.
3 Attempts to self-correct errors are successful. Word reading accuracy is good, between 94–97%.
4 Most words are read correctly on initial attempt. Minimal self-corrections, all successful.
Word reading accuracy is excellent, 98–100%.
Rate: Speed, Pacing, Pausing
1 Reading is slow and laborious.
2 Reading is either moderately slow or inappropriately fast, and pausing is infrequent or ignored.
3 Reading is an unbalanced combination of slow and fast reading containing inconsistent
pausing.
4 Reading is consistently natural, conversational, and appropriately varied (resembling natural
oral language).
Prosody: Inflection/Intonation and Expression
1 Reads in an inexpressive, monotone manner and does not attend to punctuation.
2 Reads with some intonation (pitch/tone/volume/stress) and some attention to punctuation.
Reads in a monotone at times.
3 Reads by adjusting intonation (pitch/tone/volume/stress) inappropriately. Consistently attends
to punctuation.
4 Reads with intonation that reflects feeling, anticipation, tension, character development,
and mood.
Prosody: Phrasing
1 Reads word by word. Does not attend to author’s syntax or sentence structures. Has limited
sense of phrase boundaries.
2 Reads slowly and in a choppy manner, usually in two-word phrases. Some attention is
given to author’s syntax and sentence structures.
3 Reads in phrases of three to four words. Appropriate syntax is used.
4 Reads in longer, more meaningful phrases. Regularly uses phrase boundaries, punctuation,
sentence structure, and author’s syntax to reflect comprehension and fluent reading.
Integration
1 Reading is monotone, laborious, inexpressive, and accuracy rate is poor, below 90%.
2 Reading is unbalanced with inconsistent rate and pacing, some phrasing, inadequate
intonation and expression, marginal accuracy, between 90–93%.
3 Reading is somewhat adjusted with some variation in rate, appropriate prosody, and with
good accuracy, between 94–97%.
4 Reads in an integrated manner with high accuracy, rate, intonation, and expression on a
consistent basis. Fluent reading reflects understanding and interpretation of text.
Fluency Rubric
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3 5

Day Two
Read-Aloud (10 m i n u t e s)
Nursery Rhymes and Songs
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Climbs Again
An adaptation of a traditional song
Select a favorite fiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library
with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Make Connections.” Use the
sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles provided in the Benchmark
Literacy Overview.
Mini-Lessons (20 m i n u t e s)
Retell the Script: Analyze Story Elements
by Jeffrey B. Fuerst • illustrated by Daryll Collins
Reader’s Theater Big Book
Lesson Objectives
Students will:
• Retell story elements.
• Reread to build fluency.
• Analyze characters.
• Build oral language and vocabulary
through whole-group and partner
discussion.
Related Resources
• Reader’s Theater Whiteboard
CD-ROM
• Sequence of Events Chart (BLM 1)
• The Itsy Bitsy Spider (BLM 2)
Say: Yesterday we read Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again. Let’s take a few
minutes to retell what we know about the characters and what they do in this
script. Raise your hand if you would like to share something that happened in
the script, and I will call on you.
Lead a discussion about the story characters and events. Allow students to
recall as much information as they can without prompting. If necessary, use
the following questions to guide students’ retelling:
• What does Itsy do at the beginning of the script?
• Who watches Itsy go up the water spout?
• What happens after it begins to rain?
• How do Itsy’s friends feel?
• What happens when the sun comes out?
Support ELLs in retelling information by providing the following sentence
frames to help them produce academic language:
Itsy goes .
Itsy falls down because .
The hot sun .
Shared Writing. Record students’ retelling on the Sequence of Events Chart
(BLM 1) that you started on Day 1.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider went up the water
spout.
Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again
Itsy went up the water spout. His friends
watched him.
The rain came down. It washed the
spider out of the water spout.
The sun came out. It dried up all the rain.
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the
water spout again.
The rain washed Itsy out. Itsy’s friends
felt bad.
The sun came out. It dried up all the rain.
Itsy climbed up the water spout again.
His friends cheered.
Sample Sequence of Events Chart Annotations (BLM 1)
6
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Day Two
Reread the Script
Conduct a shared reading of the entire book, inviting students to chime in
when they know the words. You might want to assign specific students to help
you read certain parts of the script. For example, some students could read the
parts of Spider 1 and Spider 2. Others could read the part of the Water Spout.
Next, choral-read the script as a group. Encourage students to read with as
much expression as they can.
Build Comprehension: Analyze Characters
Turn to the cast of characters on the title page.
Say: When you perform a reader’s theater script, you need to understand
your character. Then you will be able to play that character in a convincing
way. For example, you might ask yourself, “How would a brave character look
and act? How would a caring character act?”
Think/Pair/Share. Ask pairs of students to discuss one character from the
script (Itsy Spider, Spider 1, or Spider 2) and to write one or two sentences
that describe the character. Have pairs share their descriptive sentences with
the class as you record them on a two-column chart about the characters.
Have volunteers read aloud the sentences in each column. Discuss how each
character might speak and act based on students’ descriptions.
Connect and transfer. Say: Tomorrow during small-group reading, each of
you will be assigned a role in this script. We will practice reading the script.
At the end of the week, you will get to perform the script. Remember to use
all the strategies we’ve practiced to help you understand your part. You can
make connections to figure out why the characters act the way they do.
Make Content Comprehensible
for ELLs
Beginning
Invite ELLs and other students to role-play
their characters’ personalities. Point out
that Itsy kept trying to climb the water
spout and his friends cheered him on.
Beginning and Intermediate
Reread the picture, sight, and enrichment
words on pages 2–3 of the big book.
Provide opportunities for ELLs to use the
words in oral sentences. For example, say:
Itsy climbed a water spout. What things
have you climbed? Do you like rain?
Advanced
Have students role-play other challenging
things Itsy might do in the future. Have them
also role-play what his friends would say.
Comprehension Quick-Check
Note students who have difficulty
analyzing the story characters. Support
them with the following explicit instruction.
Create sentence frames for each character
for students to complete, such as:
Itsy is a spider.
Spider 1 and Spider 2 are .
Point to specific illustrations and text in
the big book to support students’ sentence
frames.
Reinforce the fact that good readers pay
careful attention to characters’ actions,
words, feelings, and expressions.
Say: Remember, in order to read with the
correct expression you need to understand
your character.
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3 7

Day Two
Home/School Connection
Have students take home The Itsy Bitsy
Spider (BLM 2) and read it with a family
member. Have students draw a picture to
illustrate the song.
BLM 2
Name
Date
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Parent Instructions: Read the song to your child. Point to each
word as you read. Then read the words together. Finally, invite your
child to draw a picture about the song.
Small-Group Reading Instruction (60 m i n u t e s)
Based on students’ instructional reading levels and comprehension needs,
select titles that provide opportunities for students to continue to practice
identifying cause and effect (see the list provided on the Small-Group Reading
Instructional Planner), or select titles that enable students to review previously
taught comprehension strategies.
Use the instruction provided in the Teacher’s Guide to introduce the texts.
The itsy bitsy spider
went up the water spout.
Down came the rain,
and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun,
and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider
climbed up the spout again.
Individual Student Conferences (10 m i n u t e s)
Confer with individual students on their text selections and application of
strategies. Use the Reading Conference Note-Taking Form to help guide your
conference.
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Phonics Workshop (20 m i n u t e s)
The Itsy Bitsy Spider (BLM 2)
Use the Day 2 instruction provided in BuildUp Phonics Skill Bag 27.
Oral Language Extension
Display the big book during independent
workstation time. Have pairs of students
retell and make connections to the script
using the prompts and pictures on the
inside back cover. Students should be
prepared to discuss their ideas as well as
their favorite character during independent
conferencing time.
8
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Day Three
Read-Aloud (10 m i n u t e s)
Select a favorite nonfiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library
with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Make Connections.” Use the
sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles provided in the Benchmark
Literacy Overview.
Mini-Lessons (20 m i n u t e s)
Introduce Fluency Skills: Expression—Characterization
and Feelings
Explain: We have learned that we use expression when we read. We use
clues—such as the title, pictures, bold print, or punctuation—to figure out the
mood of a passage. Some passages have quotation marks. When we see
quotation marks, we need to think about what that story character is saying.
The words, along with how the character acts, give us clues about what the
character is like and how he or she feels. We then try to make our voices
sound the way that character might talk.
Display the fluency poster “Little Chick” and read aloud the title. (Note: The
poster is also available as BLM 3.)
Say: This is a story about a missing chick. The hen is very worried, so I will
use a worried voice to read her parts. The farm animals try to help, so I will
use a helpful voice for their parts. Little Chick is very surprised that everyone
is looking for her, so I will use a surprised voice for her part. Reading the
characters’ words in these different ways will help the story sound right and
make sense.
Fluency Poster
Lesson Objectives
Students will:
• Practice reading a story with
effective expression.
• Compose a class Fluency anchor
chart.
• Build oral language and vocabulary
through whole-group and partner
discussion.
Related Resources
• Little Chick (BLM 3)
Ask students to listen and follow along as you read the story aloud
as described.
Say: Now I will read the characters’ parts showing different feelings. I will
pretend that everyone is angry.
Read the first three paragraphs in an angry manner. Then repeat using other
feelings, such as pride, delight, or confusion.
Ask: Which way sounds the best? Why?
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3 9

Day Three
Make Content Comprehensible
for ELLs
Beginning and Intermediate
Orally demonstrate how to read in a happy
tone, a worried tone, and a surprised tone.
Invite students to echo-read in the various
tones.
Invite ELLs to talk about animals that live
on a farm, using this sentence frame:
A lives on a farm. Write students’
sentences on chart paper and read them
aloud together.
All Levels
Before reading the poster to model
fluency, reinforce the identity of each
animal character by showing pictures of
a chick, a hen, a horse, a rabbit, a frog, and
a pig.
Comprehension Quick-Check
The goal of fluency practice is to
increase comprehension. Use the
following questions to check students’
comprehension of the story:
• Why was Hen worried?
• Where do you think this story takes
place?
• Why do you think Little Chick was so
surprised?
Home/School Connection
Invite students to take home Little Chick
(BLM 3) and choral-read it with a family
member to build fluency.
Shared Writing. Invite students to help you create a class anchor chart to
remind them how good readers read with expression, or reread the anchor
chart from Unit 8. (See the example below.) When you are finished, ask
students to echo-read the entire chart. Then post the chart in the classroom for
future reference.
Connect and transfer. Say: Today during small-group reading, pay attention
to the tone of your voice as you read. Make sure your tone of voice matches
the way the character feels.
Expression
• We do not use the same tone of voice
for everything we read.
• Our tone of voice should match the
mood of the passage.
• We can figure out, or anticipate, the
mood from the title and other clues.
• We can use the author’s or characters’
words to confirm their feelings.
• Reading with expression helps the
passage sound right and make sense.
• We use pacing, pausing, inflection/
intonation, and phrasing to read with
expression.
Sample Anchor Chart
Small-Group Reading Instruction (60 m i n u t e s)
Use the small-group reading time to read Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again.
Use the Day 3 instruction provided in the Nursery Rhymes and Songs
Teacher’s Guide to assign roles and guide students’ reading of the script.
Individual Student Conferences (10 m i n u t e s)
Confer with individual students to discuss their script roles and how they plan
to read their parts. Use the Reading Conference Note-Taking Form to help
guide your conference.
Phonics Workshop (20 m i n u t e s)
Use the Day 3 instruction provided in BuildUp Phonics Skill Bag 27.
10
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Day Four
Read-Aloud (10 m i n u t e s)
Select a favorite nonfiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library
with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Make Connections.” Use the
sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles provided in the Benchmark
Literacy Overview.
Mini-Lessons (20 m i n u t e s)
Practice and Self-Assess Fluency Skills:
Expression—Characterization and Feelings
Distribute copies of Little Chick (BLM 3).
Ask students to echo-read each sentence, and then have them choral-read the
story with you.
Next, allow the group to choral-read the story without your assistance.
Distribute the Fluency Self-Assessment Master Checklist (BLM 4) and review
the assessment criteria for expression and integration (see the checklist on
page 12). Ask students to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on each question
based on the group’s choral-reading. Discuss their responses.
Partner reading. Pair students, and ask them to read “Little Chick” together
one or more times.
Monitor students’ partner-reading practice and provide responsive feedback
using the appropriate prompts from the list on page 12.
Fluency Poster
Lesson Objectives
Students will:
• Use the characters’ words and
actions to determine what they are
like and how they feel.
• Demonstrate understanding of the
text through purposeful expression.
• Use effective expression to make
their reading sound like talking.
Related Resources
• Little Chick (BLM 3)
• Fluency Self-Assessment Master
Checklist (BLM 4)
Ask students to rate themselves on specific fluency skills covered in this lesson
using their Fluency Self-Assessment Master Checklist (BLM 4).
Connect and transfer. Ask students to reflect on their fluency practice, using
the following prompts:
• Why is it important to match your tone of voice to the way the
character feels and acts?
• How can punctuation help you read with expression?
• How will you use what you have learned as you practice reading
Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again?
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3 11

Day Four
Make Content Comprehensible
for ELLs
Beginning
Allow ELLs to participate through active
listening while other students demonstrate
effective expression. Invite them to indicate
when students sound as if they are talking
the same way the characters would.
Intermediate and Advanced
Allow ELLs to read parts of the script
chorally with you or other students as they
demonstrate effective expression.
Responsive Prompts for Expression
Goal Oriented
• Let’s read the title and look at the pictures. That will help us anticipate the
mood of the passage.
• I see quotation marks, so the character is talking. I need to make my voice
sound like the character’s voice.
• I’ll pretend to be that character. Listen to how I make my reading sound
like he or she might talk.
• I need to make my voice, face, and body match what the character is
saying when I read.
• Listen to me read this. Can you hear how worried (helpful, surprised,
excited, frightened, sad) my voice sounds?
BLM 4
Name
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
Date
Fluency Self-Assessment Master Checklist
Speed/Pacing
Did my speed and pacing match the kind of text I was reading?
Did my speed and pacing match what the character was saying?
Did I read with a natural talking voice?
Did I slow my reading down when appropriate?
Did I pay attention to punctuation?
Pausing
Did I pause to keep from running all my words together?
Did I pause in the correct locations?
Did I pause for the appropriate length of time?
Did I pause to help my reading make sense?
Did I use punctuation to help me figure out when to pause?
Inflection/Intonation
Did I make my voice rise at a question mark?
Did I make my voice fall at a period?
Did I think about what the author was saying so I would know when
to read louder or softer?
Did I think about what the author was saying so I would know when
to stress or emphasize words?
Phrasing
Did I notice the phrases?
Did I read all the words in each phrase together?
Did I think about what the words in the phrase mean when they are
together?
Expression
Did I look for clues so I could anticipate the mood of the passage?
Did I use my tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language to
express what the author or characters were thinking or feeling?
Did I change my reading when something new was about to happen?
Integration
Did I read the words right? (accuracy)
Did I read the words at the right speed? (rate)
Did I read with expression? (prosody)
Did my reading sound like talking?
Did I understand what I read?
Fluency Self-Assessment Master
Checklist (BLM 4)
s
S
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Directive and Corrective Feedback
• What kind of passage do you think this will be? How should you read it?
• Make your voice sound worried (helpful, surprised, excited, frightened,
sad).
• Make your tone of voice match the character’s words.
• Make the character’s voice match his or her actions and feelings.
• Read it like the author would say it.
• Repeat after me and read with expression.
• Use the punctuation to help you put expression in your voice when you read.
Self-Monitoring and Reflection
• How did you know what tone of voice to use?
• Did you read with expression?
• Where did you read with good expression?
• What part do you need to read again with more expression?
• Did you have any trouble reading with expression?
• Did you use pacing (pausing, inflection/intonation, phrasing) to help you
read with expression?
Validating and Confirming
• You noticed the funny pictures, so you used a happy tone of voice. Good
thinking.
• You sounded worried (helpful, surprised, excited, frightened, sad) when
you read that.
• I like the way you read it like the character was talking.
• I like the way you read with expression.
• I noticed that you read it just like talking.
• You paid careful attention to pacing (pausing, inflection/intonation,
phrasing) to help you read with expression. Good work!
12
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

6
8
7
9
Day Four
Apply Fluency Skills to Reader’s Theater
Display the Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again big book and turn to page 6.
Say: Let’s take what we have learned about expression and use it as we
reread a few pages of the script. Listen as I read. After I finish, I want you to
tell me whether I sounded as if I were talking just like the character would.
Narrator: Then . . . boom!
A thundercloud burst open.
Down came a heavy
rainstorm.
Spider 1: Look.
Spider 2: Look at the rain.
Spout: Oh no!
Itsy: Help!
Read pages 6–9. Vary your tone and read with expression. Follow the
suggestions below or interpret the text in your own way:
• Itsy: speaks with a frightened voice on pages 7 and 9
• Spider 1 and Spider 2: speak with worried voices on page 6 and sad
voices on page 8
• Narrator: speaks in an excited voice on page 6 and a sad voice on
page 8
• Spout: speaks in an excited voice on page 7 and a sad voice on page 9
Ask students to comment on your reading and how it affected them as
listeners. Then invite volunteers to read aloud with expression so that they
sound just like the characters would.
Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again, pages 6–7
Itsy: Help! I am falling.
Spout: Bye, Itsy.
Narrator: The rain washed
the spider out.
Spider 1: Look.
Spider 2: Look at Itsy.
Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again, pages 8–9
Small-Group Reading Instruction (60 m i n u t e s)
Practice reading Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again. Use the Day 4 instruction
provided in the Nursery Rhymes and Songs Teacher’s Guide to help students
rehearse for their performance.
Individual Student Conferences (10 m i n u t e s)
Confer with individual students on their fluency development. Use the Reading
Conference Note-Taking Form to help guide your conference.
Phonics Workshop (20 m i n u t e s)
Use the Day 4 instruction provided in BuildUp Phonics Skill Bag 27.
Oral Language Extension
Have pairs of students practice fluency
during independent workstation time by
reading “Little Chick” in the following ways:
• choral-read the story together
• partner-read, having one student read
the part of Hen and the other student
read the parts of the other animals
• partner-read again, this time switching
roles
Remind students to support each other’s
fluency development by providing support
as needed and by giving positive feedback.
Home/School Connection
Have students take home Little Chick
(BLM 3) and read it with a family member
to practice fluent reading. Tell students to
have their family member sign their paper.
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3 13

Day Five
Read-Aloud (10 m i n u t e s)
Nursery Rhymes and Songs
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Climbs Again
An adaptation of a traditional song
Revisit the week’s read-alouds to make text-to-text connections and provide
opportunities for reader response. Use the suggested activities in the
Benchmark Literacy Overview, or implement ideas of your own.
Mini-Lessons (20 m i n u t e s)
Prepare for and Manage Student Performances:
Audience and Performer Expectations
by Jeffrey B. Fuerst • illustrated by Daryll Collins
Reader’s Theater Big Book
Lesson Objectives
Students will:
• Demonstrate their level of fluency
development through an oral
reading interpretation of the script.
• Demonstrate active listening skills.
• Reflect on and assess their own
fluency development.
Related Resources
• Reader’s Theater Whiteboard
CD-ROM
• Reader’s Theater Self-Assessment
(BLM 5)
Prepare students for their reader’s theater performances by sharing your
expectations of audience members and performers.
Audience expectations. Say: While you are listening to the other groups
perform, I expect you to do the following:
• Give your classmates your full attention.
• Do not speak to your neighbors or make any noise.
• Enjoy their performance and show your appreciation by clapping when
they are finished.
• Be prepared to give your feedback on the script, and always remember
to make your feedback constructive, or helpful.
Performer expectations. Say: While you and your group are performing the
script, remember to do these things:
• Read in a loud, clear voice and act out your role.
• Use expression and fluency to help everyone listening to understand
your character.
• Remember to vary your voice and expression to match how the
character feels and acts.
• When it is not your turn to read, follow along in the script so you know
when to come in.
• If one of your group members gets lost or forgets to come in, prompt
him or her quietly.
• Accept both suggestions and praise from your audience.
Show Time!
Invite students to perform the script for an audience, such as members of the
class, students from other classes, school staff members, or parents.
Continue your performances during small-group reading time, giving each
group the opportunity to perform.
14
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Day Five
Assess and Reflect
After all groups have completed their performance, use the following selfassessment
activity (also available in the Nursery Rhymes and Songs Teacher’s
Guide) to help students reflect on their performance, identify how they have
improved as readers and performers, and determine what they will focus on
as they participate in future reader’s theater experiences throughout the year.
Draw a three-column reflection chart on chart paper. Include a column for
Reflection Questions and columns to answer Yes or No in response. Use the
following questions to guide the group’s assessment of their performance, or
use the Reader’s Theater Self-Assessment (BLM 5). Place a check mark in the
appropriate column, noting their responses.
• Did we make our reading sound smooth like talking?
• Did we make our characters sound and feel like real people
(or animals/objects) with feelings?
• Did we act out our parts with our voices and body language?
• Were our parts at “just right” reading levels?
• Did we practice our reading many times before performing?
• Did we use expression to make our reading sound like talking?
Connect and transfer. Discuss ways to improve future performances based
on the self-assessment and reflections.
BLM 5
Name
Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3
Reader’s Theater Self-Assessment (BLM 5)
Home/School Connection
You may wish to print copies of the
script from the Whiteboard CD-ROM and
encourage students to perform the script
at home with family members.
Date
Reader’s Theater Self-Assessment
Directions: Answer each question by coloring the face that best
shows how you feel about your reading.
1. Did my reading sound like talking?
s S ß
2. Did I use my voice to show the character’s feelings?
s S ß
3. Did I say the lines like the character would say them?
s S ß
4. Did I use the punctuation marks to help me know how to say
the words?
s S ß
5. Did I read with a good speed?
s S ß
6. Did I fix my mistakes when I read?
s S ß
7. Did I act like the character?
s S ß
8. Did I listen carefully to the other readers?
s S ß
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Support Participation of ELLs
Small-Group Reading Instruction (60 m i n u t e s)
Use the small-group reading time to continue students’ performances of
Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbs Again.
After all groups have performed, use the Assess and Reflect activity above.
Individual Student Conferences (10 m i n u t e s)
Have students use their self-reflection to show how they would read differently
next time. Discuss how students plan to apply what they learned to future
performances and independent reading.
Phonics Workshop (20 m i n u t e s)
Use the Day 5 instruction provided in BuildUp Phonics Skill Bag 27.
Beginning
Allow beginning ELLs to participate
as active listeners. Do not overwhelm
students with the entire script. Instead,
make sure they know when to contribute
to parts that you specify, for example,
Spider 1 and Spider 2 or Spout. You may
wish to post their lines on a language chart.
Intermediate and Advanced
Pair ELLs with more fluent readers to
chorally read their parts in the script.
Assessment Tip
During student performances, record
anecdotal notes that focus on how
students are developing fluency skills and
how they are meeting performer and
audience member expectations.
©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 1 • Unit 9/Week 3 15