Lesson: Main Idea (fiction), Lesson 17

Edward W. Brooke Charter School

Problems in Fiction Unit

Mini-Lesson: Readers can remember important events in their books by writing down when the problem gets better.

Materials:

• Book Baggies with leveled fiction books
• Familiar Read Aloud 1
• Familiar Read Aloud 2
• Problems in Fiction Graphic Organizers student copies

Connection: Scholars, yesterday we learned how to remember the important events in our books that make the problem worse by writing them down using a graphic organizer. Today we will use the graphic organizer to remember the important events in our books that made the problem get better.

Teach: Scholars, in order to understand our books and think deeply about  the problem in our story, we can notice whenever the problem gets worse and when it gets better. You can write events that make the problem get better down on a graphic organizer to help understand the story better because we will be thinking about how the important events relate to the problem. Listen as I read one of our read alouds and notice how I use the graphic organizer to help me think about events that make the problem get better. (Read a familiar read aloud to students, thinking aloud about the problem and the events that make the problem better as you read; when you finish reading, have students watch as you go back through the pages and write down when the problem got better). Did you notice how I figured out the problem and then thought about when the problem got better as I read the book? Did you notice how I used the graphic organizer to write down these events to help me remember them?

Active Engagement: Now it’s your turn to think about when the problem in the next story got better and then write it down on the graphic organizer. Listen as I read another one of our read alouds and think about when the problem got better. (Read a second familiar read aloud, thinking about when the problem got better). Now use the graphic organizer to write down when the problem got better. (Have students write the problem on the graphic organizer and the write the events that made the problem get better; circle to see that students are completing the graphic organizer correctly).

Link: Today and whenever you read fiction, you should think about when the problem gets better in the story. Today I want you to practice doing this by using the graphic organizer after you finish reading your books.

Share: who was able to notice the events in the story that made the problem better using the graphic organizer? (share successful students’ graphic organizers)