TEACHER'S GUIDE FOR:

Snapshots

By Edith Hope Fine
Illustrations by Judy Sakaguchi

Focus: Concepts of Print

• one-to-one matching
• story told by pictures and words
• using exclamation points

Supportive Text Features

• familiar concept
• strong picture/text match

Concept Words: feet, arms, legs, hair

Getting Ready to Read

1. Introduce the concept and vocabulary by asking open-ended questions:
   • When do people take photographs of each other?
   • How do you get the best picture you can with your camera?
   • Tell me about a time someone took a strange picture of you.
   • What parts of the body would you see in a picture of a person?
         
2. Connect children’s past experiences with the book vocabulary:
   • Hold the book, calling children’s attention to the title. Read: “Snapshots.”
   • Give children the book and have them look at the pictures.
   • Ask them what they see happening.
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 look at the pictures and the beginning sound of the word.
4. Be aware of the following text features:
   • Most of the story is told in pictures.
   • The text matches the picture, but would not tell the story by itself.
   • The book contains familiar words: smile, just, feet, arms, legs, hair, hold, still, right.    
   • The word “click” is illustrated in an inset of a man with a camera.

Reading the Book

1. Set a purpose by telling children to read about a time Mai had her picture taken.

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 they 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 /c/ - /l/ - /i/ - /c / - /k/ 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?

4. 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.

5. Possible teaching points to address based on your observations:
   • Say the word “click” emphatically or with feeling.
   • Use the exclamation point as a stop before going on to the next word.
   • Read the words like the man might say them—inflection to enhance meaning.

After the First Reading

1. Have children tell what happened as Mai had her picture taken. They will be making inferences and drawing conclusions based on the pictures and the words read.

2. Focus children’s attention on the snapshot on each page. Discuss why the man got only Mai’s feet on page 3. Consider each snapshot in the same way. Ask: “What caused the picture to come out incomplete? How did the man adjust his camera after he took each picture?” Discuss what Mai and the man had to do in order to get the picture on page 8.

3. Make connections between what Mai did in the story and their own experiences having a picture taken.

4. Divide children in half. One group reads “Click” and the other reads the rest of the page: “Just feet.” etc.

Second Reading

1. Have children reread the book in a whisper voice 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 student as an assessment of the student’s reading behavior.

Cross-Curricular Activities

Art: Children make a picture frame using ice-cream sticks. Position the sticks in the shape of a square and glue them together. Have children decorate the frame with markers, seashells, or other art objects. Take pictures of children jumping and mount the pictures inside the frames.    

Math: Using a Polaroid camera, take four pictures of the daily morning routine. String a small clothesline and using clip clothespins, hang the pictures in the correct order. Attach numbers to the pictures or clips to show the sequence. Then make sets of pictures and put them into envelopes for children to practice sequencing.    

Science: Explore how a camera works and film is developed. Invite someone who takes photographs and develops their own pictures to speak to children. As an alternative, children can make their own prints by putting objects on a sheets of black construction paper and leaving them in the sun for a couple of days. Discuss the changes and generate some hypotheses as to why the papers changed color.    

Social Studies: As part of a study of community helpers, investigate who uses cameras in their jobs—newspaper reporters, police detectives, real estate salespeople, etc.    

Writing: Take photos of whole objects and parts, or close-ups, of objects, such as the trunk of a tree or the side of a building. Show close-ups to children and have them write a word or sentence about the picture. Display the close-up photos and children’s written responses. Reveal the whole photo and have children write about it.

FOTOS
    
Guided Reading™: C        DRA: 3        Reading Recovery®: 4

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.

Be aware that many children speak dialects or may mix Spanish and English. During the introduction, help children understand that “book language” does not always match the words we use every day. In this story, the phrase Estáte quieta may pose a problem. Use the phrase to direct children to stay still or stop moving.

If children have difficulty with concepts or words in the story, see the article “Guided Reading with Emergent Readers” for suggestions.