B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y

Teacher’s Guide

• Small Group Reading Lesson • Skills Bank • Reproducible Activities

Math

Anchor Comprehension StrategyMake Predictions •

Phonemic AwarenessOnset and rime •

Phonics Silent b •Short a •

High-Frequency Words here, many, some •

Concept Vocabulary Animals that have legs •

Grammar/Word Study Pronoun referents •

Math Big Idea Students can count animal legs to practice •basic math skills.

skills & strategies

How Many Legs?Level D/6

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2How Many Legs?

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Before Reading

Activate Prior KnowledgeEncourage students to draw on prior knowledge and build background for reading the text. Create an overhead transparency of the graphic organizer “Animals’ Legs” (left) or copy the organizer on chart paper, leaving the outer circles blank. Discuss different kinds of animals with students. Ask: How many legs do you think animals have? Can an animal have two legs? What animals can you think of that have two legs? Can an animal have four legs? What four-legged animals can you think of? Write students’ responses in the circles of the web. Tell students that they will return to the web after they read the book.

Preview the BookRead the title and name of the author to students. Ask:

• What kind of animal is this? How many legs does the insect have?

Show students the title page. Ask:

• What kind of animal is this? How many legs does it have?

Preview the photographs with students, reinforcing the language used in the text. For example, say: I see giraffes and zebras in this picture. How many legs do they have? What do they use their legs for? What do you see walking on the sand? How many legs does a crab have?

Set a Purpose for Reading Have students turn to page 2 and whisper-read the book. Say: I want you to read the book to find out about different kinds of animals and how many legs they have. Monitor students’ reading and provide support when necessary.

Review Reading Strategies Use the cues provided to remind students that they can apply different strategies to identify unfamiliar words.

Small Group Reading Lesson

ViSuAl CueS• Look at the beginning

letter or letters. (l in legs; cr in crab)

• Look for familiar chunks within the word. (et in get; bug in ladybug)

StRuCtuRe CueS• Think about whether the

sentence sounds right.• Look for repeated language

patterns. (“Here is . . .”; “. . . has . . . legs.” “. . . uses its legs to...”)

MeAning CueS• Think about what makes

sense in the sentence. • Look at the picture to

confirm the meaning of the word.

Animals’ Legs

8 legsspider

6 legsbeetle

4 legs cat dog cow horse lion elephant

2 legsduck

chickenswan

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Observe and Prompt Reading StrategiesObserve students as they read the text. Take note of how they are problem-solving on text. Guide, or prompt, individual students who cannot problem-solve independently.

Reflect on Reading StrategiesOnce students have completed their reading, encourage them to discuss the reading strategies they used. Reinforce the good reading behaviors you noticed by saying:

• I noticed, [student’s name], that when you came to a word you didn’t know, you tried to sound it out. Did that help you figure out the word?

• [Student’s name], I saw that you tried to sound out the word spider. You looked at the first letter in the word, then you checked the picture. That was good reading.

Build ComprehensionASK And AnSweR QueStiOnS

Help students review text content and relate it to what they already know by asking some or all of the following questions.

• How is the way a bat uses its legs different from the way a lamb uses its legs? (A bat uses its legs to hang upside down. A lamb uses its legs to walk. pp. 10, 12) (Locate facts/Compare and contrast)

• Why do you think animals always have an even number of legs rather than an odd number? (Answers will vary. Students may suggest that animals have two sides and that they have to have the same number of legs on each side to keep their balance and move efficiently, so they will always have an even number of legs, because two times any even number is an even number.) (Make inferences)

• Animals use their legs to move. If an animal does not have any legs, how does it get around? (Answers will vary.) (Use creative thinking)

How Many Legs?

Teacher Tip

After Reading

using the Skills BankBased on your observations of students’ reading behaviors, you may wish to select activities from the Skills Bank (pp. 6–9) that will develop students’ reading strategies.

Question typesStudents need to understand that they can use information from various places in the book, as well as background knowledge, to answer different types of questions. These lessons provide four types of questions, designed to give students practice in understanding the relationship between a question and the source of its answer.

• Questions that require students to go to a specific place in the book.

• Questions that require students to integrate information from several sentences, paragraphs, or chapters within the book.

• Questions that require students to combine background knowledge with information from the book.

• Questions that relate to the book topic but require students to use only background knowledge and experience, not information from the book.

During Reading

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4How Many Legs?

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Build ComprehensionClASSiFY And CAtegORiZe

Model Create an overhead transparency of the graphic organizer “How Many Legs?” or copy the chart on the board. Review with students the animals in the book and how many legs the animals have. Model how to record this information on the chart. Use the following think-aloud.

To help me remember the information that I read, I can organize it on a chart like this one. This chart asks me to list the animals in the book according to how many legs they have. I have to decide what animal or animals to write next to each number. I’ll start by looking at the book. On page 2 it says that a crab has 10 legs. So I write “crab” in the box next to the number 10. Let’s see how many legs the next animal has.

Practice and Apply Guide students as they look for each animal and find out how many legs it has. Make sure they understand that they are to write the animal’s name next to the number that tells how many legs the animal has. If you think students can complete the chart independently, distribute copies and monitor their work. Allow time for students to share their recorded information.

MonitoringComprehension• Are students able to revisit

the text to locate specific answers to text-dependent questions? If they are having difficulty, show them how to match the wording of the question to the wording in the text.

• Are students able to find answers to questions that require a search of the text? If they are having difficulty, model how you would search for the answer.

• Can students combine their background knowledge with information from the text to make inferences? If they are having difficulty, model how you would answer the question.

• Are students’ answers to creative questions logical and relevant to the topic?

• Do students’ completed graphic organizers reflect an ability to classify information? If students are having difficulty, provide more modeling.

Teacher Tip

Small Group Reading Lesson (continued)

How Many legs?

number of legs Animals

10

8

6

4

2

0

crab

spider

ladybug

lamb

bat

snake

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5How Many Legs?

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interactive writingHave students use the information from the graphic organizer to write summary sentences about the book. Say: The author told us about animals with different numbers of legs. Let’s think back on what we read. Our chart can help us remember. Let’s think of a sentence we can write that tells about animals’ legs. (Possible sentences include “A crab has ten legs.” and “Spiders have eight legs.”) Repeat the sentence aloud several times with students so they can internalize the language pattern. Collaborate with them to write the sentence on chart paper or on the board one word at a time. Start by saying the first word slowly. Ask: What sound do you hear at the beginning of this word? What other sounds do you hear? Let students write the known sounds in each word, then fill in the remaining letters for them. Continue until the sentence is completed.

write independentlyHave students write their own sentences based on the text. Encourage them to articulate words slowly, use spaces between words, and write known words fluently.

When students have completed their sentences, conference with them individually. Validate their knowledge of known words and letter/sound correspondences by placing a light check mark above students’ contributions. Provide explicit praise as you write the message conventionally for students to see.

Reread for FluencyAsk students to reread How Many Legs? with a partner. For each spread, one partner can read the text and the other partner can describe the picture.

Connect to HomeHave students read the take-home version of How Many Legs? to family members. Encourage students and family members to think of other animals with 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 0 legs.

Teacher TipModeling Fluency • Read sections of the book

aloud to students to model fluent reading of the text.

• Model using appropriate phrasing, intonation, volume, expression, and rate.

• Have students listen to you read a portion of the text and then read it back to you.

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

A l a m h z 4 l i g s .

A lamb has 4 legs.

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Phonemic Awareness: Onset and rimeSay the word leg, segmenting it into its onset and rime: /l/ /eg/. Ask: What is the word? Have students blend the onset and rime and say the word leg. Repeat the procedure with the words get, crab, sand, move, climb, leaf, grass, walk, bat, and hang.

Phonics: Silent bWrite the word climb on the board. Say the word slowly with students. Ask them what sounds they hear in climb. (/kl/, long i, /m/) Ask them which letter or letters make each sound. (cl, i, m) Circle each of these letters as students name them. Ask: What letter is left? (b) What sound does the letter b make? Students should realize that b makes no sound in climb; it is silent. Ask them to find another word in the book that ends with a silent b. (lamb, p. 10) Write lamb on the board. Have students identify the sounds and the letters that make the sounds in lamb. (/l/, short a, /m/; l, a, m) Then ask pairs of students to brainstorm other words that end with a silent b, such as thumb, bomb, comb, dumb, limb, numb, and tomb. Write the words on the board as students offer them.

Phonics: Short aWrite the word crab on the board and say it with students. Ask them what vowel sound they hear in crab. (short a) Point out that in crab the vowel a is between the consonants cr and b. A word with a vowel between two or more consonants often has a short vowel sound. Ask students to find other words in the book that have the vowel a between consonants. (has, p. 4; sand, p. 5; lamb, p. 10; grass, p. 10; bat, p. 12; hang, p. 12) Write the words on the board as students find them. Then have students explain how they knew that has, sand, lamb, grass, bat, and hang have the short a sound.

cl i m b

l a m b

6How Many Legs?

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Skills Bank

crab

consonant consonant

vowel

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7

High-Frequency word VocabularyWrite the high-frequency words some, many, and here on the board. Read the words with students. Ask a volunteer to choose one of the words and use it in an oral sentence. Give several students the opportunity to choose words and create sentences. Then tell students that they are going to play a spelling game. Choose a word from the list and read it aloud with students. Spell the word together. Blocking the board so students cannot see it, erase one letter from the word. Ask students to tell you which letter is missing. Together spell the word, including the missing letter. Replace the letter in the word on the board. Do this several times for each word, erasing a different letter each time.

Concept Vocabulary: Animals that have legsAsk students to think of animals that have legs. Suggest that they look through the book and review their pre-reading graphic organizer to find animals that have legs, such as rhinoceros, turtle, giraffe, zebra, antelope, lamb, cat, dog, cow, and horse. Then encourage students to brainstorm other animals, such as pig, hippopotamus, deer, rabbit, and elephant. Assign one animal name to each student. Have students draw a picture of their animal. Let them use picture or reference books if they need help. Then have them label their pictures with the animal’s name. Post the pictures on a bulletin board titled “Animals With Legs.”

grammar/word Study: Pronoun referents Have students turn to page 2. Read the two sentences aloud. Ask students what the word they means in the second sentence. Explain that the word they stands for, or refers back to, some animals in the first sentence. Show students how you can use some animals in place of they, with the sentence keeping the same meaning. Follow a similar procedure to identify crab and its pronoun referent, it, on pages 4–5. Explain to students that we often use such words as he, she, it, they, and you to take the place of the names of people or things. Ask students to find other sentences in the book with the word it and tell you what word it refers to. (spider, p. 6; ladybug, p. 8; bat, p. 12)

somemanyhere

Copyright © 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN# 1-4108-0073-3

Here are some animals.They use their legs to get around.Who are they? Some animals.Some animals use their legs to get around.

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Skills Bank

8How Many Legs?

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Build ComprehensionMAKe PRediCtiOnS

explain • Create an overhead transparency of the graphic organizer “How Many Legs?” or draw it on the board. Say: We make predictions before we read a book and while we read. Then we check our predictions by reading. Making predictions helps us pay close attention to our reading.

Model • Say: Let’s think about a prediction someone might make before reading How Many Legs? The title asks us how many legs something has. The picture on the cover shows a caterpillar with lots of legs. The book could be about the number of legs on different kinds of bugs. Write this in the first Prediction box on the graphic organizer. Then say: We check the prediction by beginning to read the book. Take a picture walk through the first few pages. Say: We can’t mark Yes because the prediction is not totally correct. The book is about the number of legs on different kinds of animals and how they use them. Write this statement in the first No box on the graphic organizer.

guide • Say: Now let’s think about another prediction. What might someone predict about the photograph on page 3? How many legs do you see on these animals? (Allow time for students to respond, assisting if needed.) Yes, readers might think that these animals have four legs. They use their legs to move. Write the page number and prediction in the second row of the graphic organizer. Then say: We check the prediction by reading the book. Read page 2 aloud. Say: We can mark Yes because the prediction is correct. Draw a check mark in the Yes column.

Apply • Ask students to work with a partner to think of other predictions readers might make based on the photographs. After each partnership shares, record some of the predictions and results on the graphic organizer. Finally, read the completed graphic organizer aloud and invite students to echo-read.

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name _______________________________________________________ date __________________

©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLCHow Many Legs?

How Many legs?Make Predictions

Prediction Yes No

Before reading the book someone might predict …

On page _____, someone might predict …

On page _____, someone might predict …

On page _____, someone might predict …

On page _____, someone might predict …

On page _____, someone might predict …

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Notes

How Many Legs?©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC10

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Notes

11©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLCHow Many Legs?

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© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

name _______________________________________________________ date __________________

How Many legs?

number of legs Animals

10

8

6

4

2

0

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