TEACHER'S GUIDE FOR:

Confetti Eggs

By Dani Sneed, Josie Fonseca
Illustrations by Mary Cappellini

Focus:

• reading and following directions
• using picture (photo) clues
• sequencing actions
• recognizing action words (verbs)

Supportive Text Features:

familiar words and concepts
strong photo-text match

High-frequency Words: the, out, then, your, up, it, on, of, a, in

Getting Ready to Read

1. Introduce the concept and vocabulary by asking open-ended questions:
   • Tell me what you think you might be able to make out of an empty eggshell.
   • For art projects, what kinds of special directions do I (the art teacher) give you?
   • What are some action words (verbs) that describe what you do when working on art projects?
2. Connect children’s past experiences with the book vocabulary:
   • Call children’s attention to the title. Read: “Confetti Eggs.”
   • Tell children that the book is a set of directions for an art project.
   • Show the back cover and read the copy. Ask children what they think the surprise inside the eggs might be.
   • Have children suggest some words they might read in the story.
   • Give children the book and have them look at the photographs.
   • Ask them to tell what the children in the book are doing.
3. 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 say the beginning sound of an unknown word and read on, returning to the word after completing the sentence.
4. Be aware of the following book and text features:
   • The book contains many high-frequency and familiar words.
   • Each sentence begins with a verb: Tap, Take, Empty, Plop, Wash, Rinse, Dry, and so on.
   • There are two compound words: eggshell and paintbrush
   • The two sentences on each page go together; the second sentence further explains the direction in the first sentence.
   • The last page contains a single word, an exclamation.

Reading the Book

1. Set a purpose by telling children to find out how to make confetti eggs.

2. 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.

3. Look for these reading behaviors during children’s first reading:
   • Have they begun to cross-check, using a variety of strategies, and self correct?
   • Do they rely less on pictures and more on print when reading?
   • Do they have a growing sight vocabulary?
   • Are they monitoring meaning and rereading when they lose meaning?
   • Do they use beginning, middle, and ending sounds to read unknown words?
   • Have they started to use punctuation to gain meaning?
   • Do they make more accurate predictions?
   • Can they connect the text to past experiences?

4. As children read, suggest reading strategies if they are struggling: “Try saying the beginning of the word. Try looking at the picture for help.” Encourage children to take a guess or read past the unknown word.

5. Possible teaching points to address based on your observations:
   • Review how to find a known part in an unknown word.
   • Show children how to use analogies to move from the known to the unknown when encountering new words.
   • Work with suffixes and prefixes.
   • Point out the compound words and explore how they are formed from two shorter words.
   • Review using grammar (syntax) to unlock words by considering the sentence structure or parts of speech in the sentence.
   • Explore the story grammar—characters, setting, problem, and so on.
   • Review how to determine what is important in a picture or sentence.
   • Model asking questions or making “I wonder . . .” statements to extend comprehension.
   • Review using punctuation marks to guide the meaning-making process. Call attention to the exclamation point on the last page.
   • Model how to revisit the text to find specific examples or ideas in the story.

After the First Reading

1. Have children explain how the boy and girl made the confetti eggs.

2. Make a list of the directions for making confetti eggs and discuss why each step is important.

3. Talk about the sequence of steps and why the sequence is this way.

4. Compare how making confetti eggs is similar to and different from dying eggs.

5. Brainstorm other things that could be made from empty eggshells.

Second Reading

1. Have children reread the book silently or to a partner.

2. 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

Art: Make confetti eggs, following the directions in the book.

Science: Have children use a hand lens or magnifying glass to observe the inside and outside of an uncooked eggshell. Have children describe the similarities and differences. Then have them examine the inside and outside of the shell from a hard boiled egg, and describe the similarities and differences found there. Make a chart comparing the outsides and insides of the two eggshells.

Math: Have children explore empty egg cartons and discuss the concept of a dozen and how many items make up a dozen. Put a dried bean, button, or other small object into each section of the egg carton. Count how many are in each row (6). Show children how the sections are set up in pairs and how they can count by twos up to 12.

Social Studies: Explore how confetti eggs (cascarones) are used during festivals. Find out why and how this tradition developed and how it is practiced in Mexico, Texas, and other areas of the United States today.

Writing: Use some or all the verbs in the story to write directions for another art project.

CASCARONES

Guided Reading™: F        DRA: 10        Reading Recovery®: 9
12 pages, 77 words

The directions given for the introduction, first reading, and second reading of the English edition can be used with the Spanish edition of the book. To read the book successfully, children need the same kinds of support as their English-speaking classmates. Second language learners often benefit from acting out new words, seeing pictures, and talking about them using concrete examples.

The Spanish edition has many familiar words. The directions are written as commands, as in the English edition. Many of the verbs should be familiar to children. Exclamation points are used on page 12 at both the beginning and end of the sentence. The marks appear upside down at the beginning of the sentence and right side up at the end.

The book language used may differ from children’s oral language. Comparing any differences will help children read and understand the story. Also help children understand that we often speak differently than we write, and that both ways of using language  are important.

Phonics Supplement