by Robert Kalan
Rain by Robert Kalan
Rain by Rozanne Lanczak Williams
'Rain' and 'Plant a Little Seed'
Old Favorites: Reread charts/poems from previous stories.
How do you know when it is about to rain? Do you like rainy weather? What types of things do you do when it rains?
Introduce the title, author, and illustrator of this week's focus story Rain. Show the cover and discuss how the word 'Rain' is written over and over to resemble rain coming down onto the earth and hills. Take a picture walk. The inside text closely matches the pictures and some lines of text are colored to correspond to the color word and colors seen on that page. Encourage students to name what they see and what color it is (exp. 'Blue sky'). Stress that the text and the picture cues both help us to read the story. See if students can point out some of the color words in the story. End the picture walk after the rain falls on the green trees. Ask students to make predictions- Will the rain ever stop? What might happen as the rain stops? What are some signs that the rain might end soon? Read aloud for enjoyment.
Introduce the companion poem 'Rain'. (Choose either the short version or the longer version. See photos below.) See if students can mask the word 'Rain' from our focus story and the repeated sight words 'on' and 'the'. Let students use the pictures to read the last word in each sentence. Read the poem aloud so students can check their decoding and enjoy the poem. Echo read.
Reread Rain by Robert Kalan. Show students pictures that are similar to the book (blue sky with white clouds and a yellow sun, gray clouds with the sun partially hidden, gray clouds with no sun, rain, rain with sun peeking behind clouds, rainbow). Let students discuss what they see in each picture and place the pictures in order so that they show the sequence of the story. Shared Reading - reread and let students be your echo after each page/line.
Companion Poem: Reread the companion poem 'Rain' (choral reading).
Show students the cover of the companion story Rain by Rozanne Lanczak WIlliams. Introduce the author and illustrator, but see if students can read the title of the story. Take a picture walk having students explain what the rain is on in each picture. Ask students 'What is it raining on? How is the little girl protected from the rain? What is she wearing/using? Are any of the insects and animals protected? How?'. Read the story together. After reading, ask students the following questions - What is rain good for? Why do we need rain? What might happen if it did not rain? What might happen to the plants and animals?
You may wish to read a story about what all living things need. A great book for this age level is What's Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. After reading, sort pictures of living and non living things. Stress that all living things grow and that they need air, water, and food.
Companion Poem: Reread the companion poem 'Rain' (choral reading).
Reread the companion story Rain by Rozanne Lanczak WIlliams. Review how rain is helpful to all living things.
Pass out either a colored sheet or a color word to each student. Have students find their partners by matching the colors and color words. To reread the focus story, each pair of students will be asked to read their corresponding color page.
Extra Science Connection:
Talk about which of the colors in the story actually make up a rainbow. You may wish to read a book about rainbows such as All the Colors of the Rainbow (Rookie Read-About Science) by Allan Fowler. Brainstorm ways that the class could make their own rainbow (paint, color, etc.). Then ask if they think it is possible to plant a rainbow. Read aloud Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. Plant a 'rainbow' with students by bringing in annuals that are the colors in the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). Before planting, show, discuss, and label the parts of a flower. Then plant the flowers in the order of the colors of the rainbow to make a Rainbow Garden!
Companion Poem and Story:
Reread the companion story Rain. Reread t