by Gaylia Taylor, illustrated by Alexandra Artigas
Guided Reading: A
DRA: 1
Intervention: 1
Genre: Realistic Fiction
12 Pages
18 Words
 Download this guide in PDF
Overview: From saying goodbye to Mom to finding a new friend, a young Latino boy experiences a range of emotions on his very first day of school.
Focus: Concepts of Print and Reading Strategies:
- one-to-one matching
- using the picture clues
- reading a patterned sentence
Supportive Text Features
- familiar words and concept
- patterned sentence
- strong picture-text match
Essential Components of Reading Instruction
Phonemic Awareness: word sense
Phonics: initial /f/, /sh/; long /e/ vowel sound spelled "ee"
Vocabulary: feel, sad, shy, happy
Fluency: reread the story independently or with a partner
Comprehension: determine what is important, make connections, ask questions
High-frequency Words: it, is, my, day, very
ELL/ESL: El primer día de la escuela
Getting Ready to Read
- Introduce the concept and vocabulary through by asking open-ended questions:
- Tell me how children might feel on the first day of school.
- Tell me some things children might do on the first day of school.
- What would make you happy on the first day of school?
- Connect children’s past experiences with the story and vocabulary:
- Hold the book, calling children’s attention to the title. Read: "First Day of School"
- Ask them to predict what they would expect to see the boy doing in school.
- Show the back cover and read the copy. Ask children how the boy might feel on his first day of school.
- Have children predict some words they might read in the story.
- Give children the book and have them look at the illustrations.
- Ask them what they see boy doing in school.
- Remind children of the strategies they know and can use with unfamiliar words:
- Ask them, "What will you do if you come to a word you don’t know?"
- Encourage children to look at the pictures and the beginning sound of the word.
- Be aware of the following text features:
- The book contains familiar words: first, sad, happy.
- The text is on the page facing the picture
- There is a patterned sentence: "I feel ___"
- Only one word changes on each page.
- The first sentence is different: "It is my first day of school."
- There is no sentence on the last page, but the picture tells the story’s end.
Reading the Book
- Set a purpose by telling children to read the book and find out what happens to the boy on the first day of school. Be sure they "read" the last page, which has only an illustration.
- Have children read quietly, but out loud. Each child should be reading at his or her own pace. Children should not read in chorus. Listen to children as they read by leaning close or bending down beside each child.
- Look for these reading behaviors during the first reading:
- Do the words the children say match the printed words in the book? (voice to print match)
- Do they look at the pictures before they read the text or after they read?
- What do they do if they encounter an unfamiliar word? (appeal to you, try a strategy)
- Do their eyes go up to the picture before reading the new word in the pattern?
- Are they saying the initial sounds of words before saying the whole word?
- Are they saying the individual letter sounds (/s/ - /a/ - /d/) or blending the sounds?
- Do they reread if they come to an unfamiliar or unknown word?
- Have they self-corrected any mistakes?
- Is there any inflection or speech-like sound to their reading?
- Have they responded with a laugh or other sound as they read the text?
- Do they make comments as they read?
- As children read, suggest a reading strategy if they are struggling: "Try looking at the
picture to make sense of the print." Encourage children to take a guess or use the beginning
letter sound.
- Possible teaching points to address based on your observations:
- Review using the picture to help with each new word.
- Review using the beginning sound.
- Model how to reread the sentence if it doesn't sound right or make sense
- Call attention to all the high-frequency words children have learned and used.
- Call attention to the exclamation point on the last page.
After the First Reading
- Have children confirm their predictions about the boy's first day of school.
- Ask children to explain why the boy had different feelings during his first day.
- Discuss how the boy gets over feeling sad and shy.
- Talk about the picture on last page. What are the children doing? How does the boy feel?
- Model how the last sentence should be read differently because of the exclamation point.
- Have children suggest what a child might do to help his or her friends feel happy on the first day of school.
- Discuss other activities teachers and children might take part in on the first day of school.
Second Reading
- Have children reread the book in a whisper voice or to a partner.
- This is a time for assessment. While they are reading, watch what children do and what they use from the teaching time. Alternatively, you might take a running record on one child as an assessment of the child’s reading behavior.
Cross-Curricular Activities
Language
Read aloud the story Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, about a young girl’s first day of kindergarten. Ask children to make connections between this story and First Day of School. Also encourage them to connect their own school experiences to those of children in the books.
Art
Have each child make a "Welcome to Our Class" drawing or poster which would invite everyone to have a good time. Ask children to dictate captions for their drawings to an adult who will record their words. Share children’s work and talk about how teachers and friends help us feel happy at school.
Science
Show children pictures of a dog, cat, bird, and monkey. Tell children although these animals can’t talk, they do show us when they are happy. Have children talk about how the animals do this. Discuss the similarities and differences between each animal’s way of showing happiness.
Math
Generate a list of school activities children enjoy. Use the list to create a graph that shows which activities children enjoy the most. Draw some conclusions based on the finished graph.
Writing
Have children write stories about something in school that made them feel happy.
Guided Reading: A
DRA: 1
Intervention: 1
The Spanish edition also uses a patterned sentence and familiar words: hoy, es, mi, día, triste, contento, muy. The patterned sentence uses the reflexive "me siento" construction. This may not match the oral language used by children. Because many children speak dialects or may mix Spanish and English, it will be important to address the names for the clothing during the introduction. Help children understand that “book language” does not always match the words we use every day.
The book introduction and guided reading lesson follow the outline for the English edition. Children need exactly the same support and strategy instruction as their English-speaking classmates.
If children have difficulty with concepts or words in the story, see the article "Guided Reading with Emergent Readers" for suggestions.
Download this guide in PDF
Learn more about First Day of School and El primer día de escuela
Lesson Plans
|
Become a Fan 
— 
Follow Us 
