TEACHER'S GUIDE FOR:

Eggs, Eggs, Eggs

By Aamir Bermiss
Illustrations by

Guided Reading with EGGS, EGGS, EGGS 

 written by Aamir Lee Bermiss

Nonfiction Guided Reading: A DRA: 1 Intervention: 1 

12 pages, 40 words + chart

Focus: Concepts of Print 

•  one-to-one matching 
• using the picture clues 
• reading a patterned sentence 
• noticing a change at the end of a patterned sentence

Supportive Text Features: 

• familiar words and concept 
• patterned sentence 
• strong picture-text match

Essential Components of Reading Instruction: 

 Phonemic Awareness: concept of word 

Phonics: initial consonant blends and digraphs /ch/, /sn/, /sp/; r-controlled vowels /ir/, /ur/ 

Vocabulary: eggs, chicks, birds, turtles, snakes, bugs, spiders 

 Language Mechanics: adding “s” to a noun 

Fluency: reread the story independently or with a partner Comprehension: determine what is important, make connections, ask questions

High-frequency Words: here, are, the

Getting Ready to Read 

1. Introduce the concept and vocabulary by asking open-ended questions: 

• What do you know about eggs? 
• Tell me the names of some animals that you think might hatch from eggs. If necessary, explain what the word hatch means. 
• What colors are the eggs you have seen? 

1. Connect children’s past experiences with the story and vocabulary: 
   • Hold the book, calling children’s attention to the title. Read: “Eggs, Eggs, Eggs.” 
   • Ask children to predict what animals might hatch from the eggs on the cover. 
   • Show the back cover and read the copy. Ask children to compare the eggs on the back cover to the eggs on the front cover. 
   • Have children predict some words they might read in the story. 
   • Give children the book and have them look at the photographs. 
   • Ask them to look for the different animals that come from eggs.
2. 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 photographs and the beginning sound of the word.

4.Be aware of the following book/text features: 
* The book contains familiar words: chicks, birds, turtles, snakes, bugs.   * The text is below the photograph on each page.   * There is a patterned sentence: “Here are the ___.”   * Only one word changes on each page.   * The last page is a visual chart that shows all the animals and the eggs from which they hatch, including those shown on the title page.

Reading the Book 

1. Set a purpose by telling children to read the book to find out what animals hatch from 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 the first reading: 

• Do the words children say match the printed words in the book? (voice-to-print match) 
• Do children look at the photographs before or after they read the text ? 
• What do they do if they encounter an unfamiliar word? (appeal to you, try a strategy) 
• Do their eyes go up to the photo 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 (/c/-/h/-/i/-/c/-/k/-/s/) 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 sounds to their reading? 
• Have they responded with a laugh or other sound as they read the text? 
• Do they make comments as they read?

1. As children read, suggest a reading strategy if they are struggling: “Try looking at the photograph to make sense of the print.” Encourage children to take a guess or use the beginning letter sound.

5. Possible teaching points to address based on your observations: 

• Review using the photograph to help with each new word. 
• Review using initial consonant blends and digraphs, and r-controlled vowels to read new words. 
• Model how to reread the sentence if it does not sound right or make sense. 
• Call attention to all the high-frequency words children have learned and used. 
• Provide help with reading two-syllable words. 
• Talk about how an “s” is sometimes added to the end of a word to show more than one (eggs, chicks, birds, etc.). 
• Make sure children understand that the animals shown on the right-hand page hatch from the types of eggs shown on the left-hand page.

After the First Reading 

1. Have children confirm their predictions and talk about what animals hatch from eggs.

2. Discuss the differences among the eggs. Talk about size, color, shape, and where eggs are laid.

3. Ask children to name other animals that they think hatch from eggs. Record their ideas on a chart and use the list for the Science activity below to find out about other animals that hatch from eggs.

4. Revisit the photographs on the front and back covers and ask children if they remember what kind of animals hatch from the blue eggs on the front and the brown eggs on the back. After children respond, they can check their answers against the pages in the book.

5. Focus children’s attention on the photographs on the first page (title page) of the book. What animals are shown there? Where in the book can children check to see if they are right?

6. Talk about how the chart on the last page provides the reader with a summary of the information in the book.

Second Reading 

1. Have children reread the book in a whisper voice or to a partner.

2. This is a time for assessment. While children are reading, watch what they 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 book Horton Hatches an Egg by Dr. Seuss. Discuss the qualities that made Horton a good choice to sit on the egg. Have children create some new animals by “crossing” two different animals. For example, what would you get if you crossed an alligator and a giraffe? Record children’s ideas on the chalkboard.

Art: After you brainstorm several different animal combinations for the Language activity, let each child choose her or his favorite and draw the animal combination along with the eggs from which the animal hatched. Children may also wish to name and label their animals.

If dinosaurs have not come up during your discussions, let children know that these prehistoric animals hatched from eggs. Children might then enjoy making their own hatching dinosaur using an empty eggshell, some pom-poms, and felt. You can find step-by-step directions at: http://crafts.kaboose.com/hatching-dinosaur-egg.html.

Science: Using children’s list of other animals that they think hatch from eggs, help children find information that confirms or disproves their ideas. The following article, which can be downloaded as a pdf file, contains information at just the right level for beginning readers. A graph and some simple math questions are also included: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/classmags/files/new/SN1_Week1.pdf.

Math: Have children estimate and then check the weight of hard-boiled eggs. Materials needed are: balancing scale; Unifix cubes, crayons, tiles, or any other items you wish to use for balancing; and a hard-boiled egg for each group of children. As each group decides how many of the balancing items it will take to balance the scale, record the estimate on a chart. Then let children perform the experiment to determine the actual number of items needed. Record the results alongside the estimates. Compare and talk about the final figures.

Writing: Let children make their own book of animals that come from eggs. They may include those mentioned in Eggs, Eggs, Eggs along with other animals they have learned about (and perhaps their imaginary animal combinations too). Have children draw pictures of the eggs on the left side of the paper and the animals on the right side. Add the sentences “Here are the eggs.” and “Here are the ___.” on each page. Bind the pages together to create a book for rereading.

Phonics Supplement