I chose this book because my students love this character. The wording is limited, although there is some high level vocabulary (morsel, splendor, celebration, sensation, experienced). The characters are great for inferencing because the story is very predictable and the plot line (someone else wanting to taste a person's food) is something my students can connect to.
**This is the one of the first lessons I've taught about inferencing, so I'm giving lots of clues and help, especially with the evidence. In future lessons, I'll hold them more accountable for describing the evidence and their own schema to create an inference, but that's a lot to expect from a 2nd grader who is just learning about inference. By scaffolding this skill (modeling and providing support early on and the weaning them off this support), I'm building a foundation for the students of how to describe characters and other parts of a story by focusing on how they respond to major events and challenges. (RL.2.3)
Underlined words below are lesson vocabulary words that are emphasized and written on sentence strips for my Reading & Writing word wall. I pull off the words off the wall for each lesson, helping students understand this key 'reading and writing' vocabulary can be generalized across texts and topics. The focus on acquiring and using these words is part of a shift in the Common Core Standards towards building students’ academic vocabulary. My words are color coded ‘pink’ for literature/’blue’ for reading strategies/’orange’ for informational text/'yellow' for writing/’green’ for all other words)
Common starting point
I chose to front load some of this vocabulary (expose the kids to it before the lesson) because it's difficult. I want the kids to see how I use it with my snack, so when we get to the story, they'll recognize it better. I also want to get them excited about this book.
Give the purpose of the lesson
Introduce strategy - teacher models
Practice strategy - guided practice
Work as a Group
Share what you know
Scaffolding and Special Education: This lesson could be easily scaffolded up or down, depending on student ability.
Since most of the lesson is group work, students with academic challenges should be able to participate, but may need help writing out the inference. With the worksheet, perhaps they could work with a partner to make the inference and draw the images.
Those with great academic abilities should be able to use higher level vocabulary when making the inferences ('Pigeon had tasted a hot dog in the past' vs 'Pigeon ate a hot dog'). Challenge those students to add their own ideas and language.