Familiar Stories
Students become engaged in reading through a variety of familiar stories with predictable patterns and illustrations that allow them to anticipate words, phrases, and events on their own.
Unit Summary
As part of the upgrade to Fishtank Plus, this unit was revised in September 2020. See which texts and materials have changed as part of the revision in this guide to our Kindergarten text adjustments.
In this unit, students are exposed to familiar stories with predictable patterns and illustrations. Exposure to predictable texts is incredibly important for beginning readers as they begin to explore the world of reading independently. Predictable texts are incredibly engaging for students, allowing them to anticipate words, phrases, and events on their own and better follow the storyline sequence of a story. The story patterns also allow students to try and read the stories on their own, using the repetitive texts and pictures as a guide for either reading or pretending to read the story. Predictable texts are also incredibly important for exposing students to phonological awareness concepts in context, particularly rhyme, rhythm, and fluency. In order for students to reap these benefits, however, they need to deeply engage with the stories. This means that the stories need to be read, reread, retold, and reread some more so that students are able to build the confidence they need to pretend to read or read the text on their own. Within the context of this unit, students are only exposed to the text once; therefore, it is the responsibility of the teacher to find ways to bring the stories to life in other parts of the day so that students are able to reap the rewards of engaging with predictable texts or, if necessary, to slow down the pacing of the unit in order to include multiple readings of a text.
In reading, students will continue to be challenged to ask and answer questions about the texts they read daily. Students will begin to work on retelling what happens to the characters in the story, using key details from the text and illustrations. Because the stories are repetitive in nature, this unit provides a strong foundation for teaching how to retell a story. Another focus of this unit is on understanding how authors and illustrators use illustrations and repetition to help a reader understand the main events in a story. Students will learn how to closely “read” illustrations for subtle clues about character feeling or foreshadowing clues for what is going to happen next in a story. In order to engage deeply in the content, students will continue to develop active participation and discussion habits, allowing them to learn from and with one another.
In writing, students will continue to write daily in response to the text. In Unit 1, the focus was on establishing the routines and procedures necessary for daily writing about reading. In this unit, students will continue to write daily in response to the text with a focus on using words and pictures to correctly answer the question.
Texts and Materials
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Core Materials
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Book: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle (Philomel Books, 1985) — 330L
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Book: Jump, Frog, Jump! by Robert Kalan (Greenwillow Books, 1989) — NPL
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Book: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury and Michael Rosen (Alladin Paperbacks, 2003) — BR280L
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Book: We’re Going on a Lion Hunt by David Axtell (Square Fish, 2007) — BR260L
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Book: Sitting Down to Eat by Bill Harley (August House, 2005)
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Book: The Napping House by Audrey Wood (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2009)
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Book: Rap a Tap Tap: Here’s Bojangles – Think of That! by Leo Dillon (Blue Sky Press, 2002) — AD360L
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Book: Hush! A Thai Lullaby by Minfong Ho (Scholastic Inc, 2000) — AD600L
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Book: Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys, and Their Monkey Business, by Esphyr Slobodkina (Harper Collins, 1987) — AD480L
See Text Selection Rationale
Assessment
This assessment accompanies this unit and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.
Unit Prep
Essential Questions
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- What makes stories fun to read?
Writing Focus Areas
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In Unit 1, students learned the routines and procedures for daily writing about reading. In this unit, students will continue to write daily in response to the text with a focus on using a combination of drawings and words to correctly answer the question.
Opinion Writing Focus Areas
- State an opinion about a book.
- Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to include one detail to support their opinion.
In this unit students begin to explore opinion writing by writing about which book from the unit is their favorite.
Vocabulary
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Text-based
busy enough fame focused hunt pleasure
Related Teacher Tools:
Content Knowledge and Connections
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- Stories are fun to read when:
- Silly things happen
- Authors repeat things
- The illustrations are interesting
Lesson Map
1
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The Very...
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
Explain why the spider has a very busy day by retelling key details in a text.
2
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Jump, Frog...
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
Retell what happens in Jump, Frog, Jump! using the illustrations and key details.
3
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We're Going...
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
Explain what happened when they saw the bear at the end of the bear hunt and why.
4
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We're Going...
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
Explain how the characters feel at the end of the story and why.
5
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Sitting Down...
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
Retell what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
6
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The Napping...
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
L.K.5.d
Retell what happens in the beginning, middle, and end of The Napping House.
7
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Hush!
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
L.K.5.d
Explain what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of Hush! A Thai Lullaby.
8
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Rap a Tap Tap
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
Explain what happens in the beginning, middle, and end of Rap a Tap Tap: Here’s Bojangles – Think of That!
9
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Caps for Sale
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
Retell what happens in the beginning, middle, and end of Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys, and Their Monkey Business.
10
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Caps for Sale
RL.K.2
RL.K.3
Explain how the peddler feels in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
11
Writing
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Sitting Down...
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The Napping...
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Rap a Tap Tap
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Hush!
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Caps for Sale
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We're Going...
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The Very...
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Jump, Frog...
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We're Going...
W.K.1
Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to state an opinion about which book was their favorite.
12
Assessment
Common Core Standards
Language Standards
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L.K.1 — Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
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L.K.4 — Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on kindergarten reading and content.
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L.K.5.d — Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs describing the same general action (e.g., walk, march, strut, prance) by acting out the meanings.
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L.K.6 — Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
Reading Standards for Literature
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RL.K.2 — With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
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RL.K.3 — With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
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RL.K.6 — With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.
Speaking and Listening Standards
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SL.K.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
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SL.K.2 — Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
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SL.K.6 — Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
Writing Standards
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W.K.1 — Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is…).
Spiral Standards
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