Text Talk Lesson Plan

A text talk lesson plan is a lesson plan that focuses on helping students connect with and understand the story that they are reading. It focuses more on the text of a story and less on the illustrations and asks higher order thinking questions as well as questions that ask students to make predictions throughout the story. The lesson also includes a section where students learn certain vocabulary words mentioned in the story and check their understanding of these words in several contexts. It is a great way to keep students engaged in a read aloud and to check for comprehension and listening skills.

Here is an example of a text talk lesson plan created for the book, Sheila Rae The Brave:

Title: Sheila Rae The Brave
Author/Illustrator: Henkes, Kevin
Publisher and Date:Penguin Group, 1987
Genre:Picture Book
Age Range:K-2nd



Text Talk Lesson Plan:


Vocabulary: Sheila Rae, The Brave

(Page 10) Fearless: Sheila Rae was skipping, and she started to sing, “I am brave, I am fearless.” (Fearless means to be brave and calm in a scary or dangerous situation.) “Say fearless.”

What would be fearless…..
Taking a bath or Petting a shark
Eating ice cream or Going to the dentist
Getting a shot at the doctor or Playing at the park with your mom

“What’s our word?”


(Page 17) Convince: Sheila Rae is lost in the woods and she ties to convince herself that she is brave and fearless. (Convince means to make yourself or someone else believe something that you say.) “Say convince.”

Would you try to convince……
Your mother or your fish
Your dog or your friend
Your teacher or your cat

“What’s our word?”


(Page 26) Dash: When Sheila Rae saw her house through the trees, she grabbed Louise and they dashed home. (Dash means to move quickly or fast.) “Say dash.”

Which things could dash?
Your brother or a turtle
A cheetah or a slug
A caterpillar or your cousin

“What’s our word?”




Review: fearless, convince, and dash:
--Would making friends at a new school or watching a movie with your family be fearless.
--If you tried to convince someone what would you be doing?
--Would your dog or your turtle be more likely to dash to the house?






Text Talk Questions and Possible Answers:
Sheila Rae, The Brave

•(Page 5) What’s going on here?
-she giggled at the principal
-she tied her classmate up with a jump rope
•(Page 5) Why does she do these things?
-she’s brave
•(Page 9) What is happening now?
-She’s being mean to her sister
-She’s walking home a new way
•(Page 13) What are some things Sheila Rae does to be “fearless”?
-stepping on cracks
-walking backwards with her eyes closed
-growling at stray dogs
•(Page 19) What’s the big problem here?
-She’s lost
-She’s all alone
-She’s sad
•(Page 19) How do you think Sheila Rae feels right now?
-She’s sad
-She’s crying
-She’s scared
•(Page 21) What just happened?
-Sheila Rae was found by her sister Louise and Louise knows the way home
•(Page 24) What did we just find out here?
-Louise can do everything Sheila Rae can do
-Louise is copying her sister
•(Page 27) What just happened?
-they made it home
•(Page 27) How do you think Sheila Rae feels now?
-happy
-safe
-excited
•(Page 28) What do you think Sheila Rae learned from getting lost?
-not to walk home alone
-to be nicer to her sister
-she needs help from others sometimes
-other people can be fearless too

The Rainbow Tulip

Title: The Rainbow Tulip
Author: Pat Mora
Illustrator: Elizabeth Sayles
Publisher and Date: (Viking) Published by Penguin Group, 1999
Genre: Multicultural, Picture Book
Age Range: K-2^nd

Summary:

Stella is not your average first grader. She is a little uncertain of herself and very special to those around her. Stella notices that she is not like all of her neighbors, friends, or even her teacher. Her family is rather quiet, her mother wears simple long dresses and no makeup, and her parents speak only Spanish. Stella’s mother and father came to the Untied State’s from Mexico and have kept and shared their cultural heritage with Stella and her siblings. Most of the time, her differences from her classmates and others do not bother Stella, but during the May Day parade her differences are highlighted. Stella’s teacher tells the class that they will be able to participate in the school’s May Day Parade and the girls will be able to design and wear their own tulip costumes. Stella is beyond excited; she immediately begins to plan her tulip costume. She loves bright colors and plans for her tulip costume to be a celebration of all of her favorite bright colors.

Stella gets up early on parade day and dresses with care, but when she arrives at school, her confidence falters. All of the other girls are not dressed like her. She is wearing a bright multicolor outfit, while the other girls have monochromatic outfits. Stella suddenly becomes quiet, even when her friends and teacher assure her she looks great. The parade begins and Stella spots her family. She decides that she must be brave for her family and executes her part in the May pole dance perfectly. She is even able to help her classmates with their dances. Her teacher commends her and her parents clap and clap. Later, Stella and her mother talk about the day she has had. Stella says, “I liked being the only rainbow tulip, but it was hard too.” Her mother responds, “It’s hard to be different; It’s sweet and sour like sherbet.” Stella is different, yet she still has a place, and that place is as needed and special as she is. It is very true that different is beautiful!


Response:

This is such a great multicultural book to share with children. I think it gives children a look into the Hispanic culture that is on their level, and that they can understand. It shows them how being different and celebrating your heritage is sometimes hard, but it is ultimately a very rewarding thing to do. This would be such an encouraging book for children whose parents or grandparents came to the Untied States from another country. Stella knows that her family is different, yet she is still proud of them and realizes that their differences are part of what makes them special to her. This would actually be a great book for all children, because it gives them a realistic look into the life of a girl around their own age. It allows them to see that cultural differences can be a great thing. Stella was able to share her individuality with her class, and actually helped her classmates through the May Day dance. Another important feature of the book that is useful for both adults and children to learn is the need for us all to work together. Stella says in the beginning of the book that she wishes her mother would learn English and at the end of the book she wishes her teacher knew Spanish. I think that this is the author's clever way of prompting us to think of ways we can help each other out in our culturally diverse world. It truly does take everyone to make diversity beneficial to all.

Teaching Ideas:

I think this would be a great book to share with Kindergartners when studying families. This book can be read to the students, and then the students can discuss what they liked about Stella and her family. They can also talk about their own families and ways that Stella’s family was the same or different from their family. It is a great thing for children to see at a young age that we all have families of some sort, whether or not our family’s culture, speech, or dress is different, we all have that common bond.

Inkheart

Author: Funke, Cornelia

Publisher and Date: The Chicken House, 2003

Genre: Fantasy

Grade: 4-6

Summary:

This book transports its reader to a magical world where books themselves come to life. Meggie is a 12-year-old girl whose childhood has consisted of two major facts. The first fact is that her mother disappeared when she was a young child, and the second fact is that she and her father have moved around a lot her whole life. Meggie’s father (Mo) is a famous book binder and they travel around the country following his work. Meggie’s life takes an unexpected turn when a figure from Mo’s past (Dustfinger) shows up late one night. After a whispered conversation and an early morning attempted get away, Meggie realizes that something is very wrong. The book takes readers to the house of book loving Aunt Elinor, to the seaside town of the writer Fengolio, and ultimately to the run down village controlled by the evil Capricorn. Throughout this incredible story Meggie begins to unravel the secrets of her past. She learns that her father has the unique ability to “read” characters and objects out of books and unfortunately accidentally into books as well. Meggie’s father had accidentally read the evil Capricorn out of the book “Inkheart” several years earlier. Capricorn is now after her father and his last surviving copy of “Inkheart.” It is ultimately up to Meggie to prove how brave she can really be and find a way to save her father, mother, Aunt, and others with a happy ending before it is too late for them all.

Response:

This is such a great book! It is literally one of those page tuners that will keep you up late into the night, engrossed in a world that feels as real as your own. Cornelia Funke does such a great job of creating characters with such unique and loveable details. I would love to be able to “read” characters like these out of the book and into our world. One of my favorite characters of the book would have to be Meggie. She is so real throughout the entire story. She faces many of the challenges kids can face throughout their lives and does so with bravery and maturity. (She does also have her moments of sass just like any pre-teen girl.) She deals with loss, love, betrayal, and fear. She would be a great role model for children to learn from and look up to. One of my favorite things about her is the fact that she absolutely loves to read. She and Mo read everywhere, from the kitchen table in the morning to their beds at night. Mo even made her a beautiful box to put all of her favorite stories in. I think this sends out such a positive message to children. That not only is it good to read, but it is also fun to read. Reading can take you to a whole new place!

One of the things that I found most unique about this book was that it opened my eyes to new way of thinking. Often when I read books, I find myself falling into the story. However, in this book the characters were the ones falling into our world. It showed readers how hard it can be for outsiders to learn how to function in such a new and unusual setting. While I was reading, I compared how Dustfinger and Farid felt to how an immigrant into a new country would feel. It truly opened my eyes to a new way of thinking.

Teaching Ideas:

There are so many ways a story like this could be used in classroom. One of the first things I thought of to do with a class is to let the students try to write a story that they would want to “read” to life. They would have to think about what would be the good or bad outcome of such a thing. You could also have students to try to write an alternate ending the story. It would be very interesting to see what your students could come up with. One thing I would definitely have students do would be to discuss the themes of the story. This is a story rich with themes, with one of the more prominent themes being the struggle between good and evil. All in all, a book as good as this one can insprire students to want to read, to write more creatively, and to even think more open mindedly. It is a book that everyone should read and have available in their classroom or library for sure! I look forward to reading (and writing) about the sequel “Inkspell.”

P.S. Here is a link for some more lesson plan ideas:

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/unitplan.jsp?id=324