“Today’s book is called What Makes a Shadow? It is written by Clyde Robert Bulla and illustrated by June Otani.”

“Can anyone tell me what type of punctuation mark they see at the end of the title of the book?”

I select a student who is following the correct protocol of raising their hand to respond to the question.

“Well done Kallee; this is a question mark. What type of sentence is a question mark used for?”

Again I select a student following the correct protocol.

“Yes Justin it is an asking sentence. There is another clue that this is an asking sentence. Can anyone tell me what it is?”

Once again I select a student following the correct protocol.

“Good work Emily; the asking sentence does begin with a question word. Does anyone else know any other question words?”

This time I use the fair sticks to select students to respond. I select as many fair sticks as I need to cover the many question words. Words such as – what, when, why, who, where, how and can.

I like to take advantage of the fact this book's title is a question. It is a quick way to review what a question is as there are several questions within the text itself. This conversation helps my students recall question words and reminds them that we use questions to discover new information or to clarify a point.

“Let’s go ahead and read this book and see what new information we can learn.”

During reading I will stop and discuss new vocabulary words such as transparent, translucent and opaque. I have a book, a lid to a Glad ware container, a glass dish handy and a flashlight handy so I can demonstrate the word meanings right then and there to the students. This helps to clarify the words which aids in comprehension.

There is a section in the book where the author discusses how the rotation of the Earth upon an axis creates day and night and how nighttime is actually a shadow. I keep the globe close by so we can practice using the flashlight to show how one side of the Earth is in light and the other side is in shadow. This reinforces the information in the book and creates a clearer representation for those who have difficulty following the book. This activity also helps to build prior knowledge which will be used later on during our Space unit.

Another section of the book mentions how the size of the shadow is affected by the distance relating to the light source. I use the flashlight and a student volunteer to demonstrate how this phenomenon works which once again clarifies the point for those who need a materialistic experience rather than just a pictorial visualization.

When I have finished reading the book I tell the students to take a seat around the edge of the rug.

Edge of the Rug Song.

“Can anyone give me a brief summary of what this book was about?”

I select a student who is following the correct protocol of raising their hand to respond to the question.

“Thank you Connor; you are right. The book is about shadows and how they are made.”

“Does anyone remember a fact from the short video clip we watched before reading the book?”

Again I select a student following the correct protocol.

“Nice one Carson; shadows can only show us shape not details.”

Having students summarize the book and recall a detail from the video clip prompts students to recall information about the current topic. This keeps my audience focused on the lesson at hand just in case they get called upon.

“Now can anyone tell me the blend they hear at the beginning of the word “shadow”?”

I select a student to respond.

“Yes Ava the beginning sound blend is /sh/ and which two letters make-up the /sh/ blend?”

“Right Ava; /sh/ is made up by the letters s and h.”

Why Blends?

“Today at one of the integrated work stations you are going to take a shadow outline and use it to record at least four /sh/ blend words. Today your /sh/ blend does not necessarily have to be at the beginning of the word like in the word “shadow.” You might choose to use a word like “brush.” Where do you hear the /sh/ blend in the word “brush”?”

I select a student to respond.

“Good listening skills Shelby; the /sh/ blend is at the end of the word. Sh–adow has the /sh/ blend at the beginning, but bru-sh has the blend at the end.”

“At this station you will find all the materials you need. There is the shadow outline, some white crayons and white pencils.”

“Why do you think there are white crayons and white pencils here?”

I select a student to respond.

“That’s right Owen; I am going to use white writing tools so my work shows up on the shadow outline.”

“Now remember I will be using a checklist to go over your work to make sure you have followed the directions you were given. Did the student write their name on their shadow? Are there at least four /sh/ blend words drawn on the shadow outline? Is the student’s work neat and tidy?”

Checklist overview for students.

After I have gone quickly over the checklist I ask, “Does anyone have any questions?”

Once I feel the group has a good grasp of the instructions I send the students over one table group at a time to maintain a safe and orderly classroom. It usually sounds like this;

“Table number one let’s go have some /sh/ shadow fun.

Table number two, you know what to do.

Table number three, hope you were listening to me, and

Table number four, you shouldn’t be here anymore.”

Allow the students 15-20 minutes to work on this activity. Set a visual timer and remind the students to look at the timer so they will use their time wisely.

Student working on sh blend on a shadow shape. Student working on sh blend on a shadow shape 2. Student working on sh blend on a shadow shape 3. Student working on sh blend on a shadow shape 4. Student working on sh blend on a shadow shape 5.

Students sharing their sh blends.