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Lesson Plan Water
About the Book
Text Type: Nonfiction/Concept Page Count: 10 Word Count: 14

Book Summary
In the book Water, students will learn about the
many forms of water and where water can be
found. Detailed, supportive pictures, a repetitive
sentence pattern, and the high-frequency word
the support early emergent readers.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy
• Connect to prior knowledge

Objectives
• Use the reading strategy of connecting to prior
knowledge to understand text
• Identify main idea and details
• Discriminate initial consonant /r/ sound
• Identify initial consonant Rr
• Recognize and use nouns
• Recognize and use the high-frequency word the

Materials
Green text indicates resources available on the website
• Book—Water (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Highlighters
• Main idea and details, initial consonant Rr, nouns worksheets

Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may
be demonstrated by projecting book on interactive whiteboard or completed with
paper and pencil if books are reused.)

Vocabulary
*Bold vocabulary words also appear in a pre-made lesson for this title on VocabularyA–Z.com.
• High-frequency words: the
• Content words:
Story critical: ice (n.), lake (n.), ocean (n.), rain (n.), river (n.), snow (n.), water (n.)

Before Reading
Build Background
• Write the word water on the board and point to it as you read it aloud to students. Repeat
the process and have students say the word aloud.
• Ask students to name places where they would see water. Discuss these types and forms of
water. Make a list on the board.

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Lesson Plan (continued) Water
Book Walk
Introduce the Book
• Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask what they
think they might read about in a book called Water. (Accept all answers that students can justify.)
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author’s name).
• Write the following repetitive sentence on the board: The ____. Read the sentence aloud,
pointing to the words as you read them to students. Have students read them aloud. Explain that
these words repeat throughout the book.
Introduce the Reading Strategy: Connect to prior knowledge
• Explain to students that good readers make connections between what they already know and
new information they read. Remind students that thinking about what they already know about
the topic of the book will help them understand what they read.
• Model connecting to prior knowledge using the information on the covers.
Think-aloud: When I read the title on the cover and look at the picture, it makes me think about
times when I have seen waterfalls in the mountains. I think about the long walks I have taken
along trails to find a waterfall. I like to hear the water gently pouring over the rocks to the water
below. I know that a waterfall is one place to see water.
• Invite students to share how they connected to prior knowledge, on the basis of the covers and
title of the book.
• As students read, encourage them to use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted
strategy presented in this section.
Introduce the Comprehension Skill: Main idea and details
• Explain to students that every book has a big, or main, idea, which is what the book is mostly
about. Read the title to students. Explain that the title often provides clues about the book’s
main idea. Invite students to share predictions about the main idea of this book.
• Explain to students that the main idea of this book has to do with the types and forms of water
found on Earth. Write the following sentence on the board: Earth’s water is in many forms and
places. Point to each word as you read the sentence aloud with students.
• Model how to identify details.
Think-aloud: I know that every book has details that help explain the main idea. I also know that
this book is about the places water can be found on Earth. I see a picture on the title page of
ducks swimming in the water. I think these ducks are in a lake. I know that a lake is a body of
water. Since this information helps to explain the main idea, a lake might be a detail in the book.
• Review the different types and forms of water that were discussed in the Build Background
section. List these ideas on the board. Discuss whether any of these things might be details in
the book.
Introduce the Vocabulary
• While previewing the book, reinforce the vocabulary words that students will encounter. For
example, while looking at the picture on page 3, you might say: It looks as though a boy is
cooling off with water.
• Remind students that they can help themselves when they come to a tricky word by looking at
the first letter of the word and then checking the picture on the page to see what might start
with the same sound and what might make sense in the story. For example, on page 5, point to
the letter l in lake. Say: I am going to help myself by looking at the picture and thinking about
what object I see in the picture that starts with /l/ (make the /l/ sound).
• Prompt students to identify the word (lake). Use the word in the sentence and ask students if
the word lake makes sense.

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Lesson Plan (continued) Water
Set the Purpose
 ave students use what they already know about types and forms of water to help them read
• H
the book. Remind them to think about the details that support the main idea as they read.

During Reading
Student Reading
• G uide the reading: Give students their copy of the book. Have a volunteer point to the first word
on page 3 (Water). Point out to students where to begin reading on each page. Remind them to
read the words from left to right.
• Ask students to place a finger on the page number in the bottom corner of page 3. Have them
read to the end of page 5, using their finger to point to each word as they read. Encourage
students who finish before others to reread the text.
• Model connecting to prior knowledge.
Think-aloud: On page 4, I see the ocean. I know that an ocean has salt water and that oceans cover
most of Earth. People often visit an ocean on vacation. They go there to swim in the water and
relax on the beach. I also know that oceans are home to many kinds of animals.
• Invite students to share how they connected with what they already knew as they read.
• Review the main idea of the book: Earth’s water is in many forms and places. Ask students to
explain whether an ocean is a detail that supports the main idea of the book and why (yes; an
ocean is a place with water).
• Introduce and explain the main-idea-and-details worksheet. Write the word ocean on the board.
Have students write the word and draw a picture that represents the word ocean in one of the
spaces on their worksheet.
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 8. Encourage them to share
how they connected to prior knowledge as they read. (Accept all answers that show students
understand how to connect to prior knowledge.)
• Ask students to think about other details they read that support the main idea Earth’s water is
in many forms and places. Have them choose one of the details to draw on their worksheet. Ask
them to label their drawing using the word from the book. Have students share the detail they
drew and wrote about.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to use what they already know
about types and forms of water to help them understand new information as they read.

Have students make a small question mark in their book beside any word they do not
understand or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

After Reading
• Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their book. Use this opportunity to model how
they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Think-aloud: When I read page 10, I thought about water and all of the ways it can be used. The
picture shows a child pouring a glass of water to drink. I know that plants and animals need
water to live. I also know that water helps livings things stay cool on a hot day. The water in
lakes, oceans, and rivers is important to many animals. Water is important to all living things.
• Have students draw a picture on a separate piece of paper showing how they connected to prior
knowledge while reading about water. Invite them to share and explain their picture to the rest
of the class.
• Ask students to explain how thinking about what they already knew helped them to understand
and remember the story.

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Lesson Plan (continued) Water
Reflect on the Comprehension Skill
• Discussion: Read the main idea on the board with students. Review the details that students drew
on their worksheet. Invite them to explain why each of the details on their worksheet matches
the main idea of the story.
• Independent practice: Have students complete the main-idea-and-details worksheet. If time allows,
discuss their responses.
• Enduring understanding: In this book, you have learned about several types and forms of water
found on Earth. Is water important? Why?

Build Skills
Phonological Awareness: Discriminate initial consonant /r/ sound
• Say the word river aloud to students, emphasizing the initial /r/ sound. Have students say the
word aloud and then say the /r/ sound.
• Read page 7 aloud to students. Have them raise their hand when they hear a word that begins
with the /r/ sound.
• Check for understanding: Say the following words, one at a time, and have students give the
thumbs-up signal if the word begins with the /r/ sound: lake, raft, sea, round, water, rabbit.
Phonics: Identify initial consonant Rr
• Write the word river on the board and say it aloud with students.
• Have students say the /r/ sound aloud. Then run your finger under the letters in the word as
students say the whole word aloud. Ask students to identify which letter represents the /r/ sound
in the word river.
• Have students practice writing the letter Rr on a separate piece of paper while saying the
/r/ sound.
• Check for understanding: Write the following words that begin with the /r/ sound on the board,
leaving off the initial consonant: rip, run, rat. Say each word, one at a time, and have volunteers
come to the board and add the initial Rr to each word.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the initial consonant Rr
worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.
Grammar and Mechanics: Nouns
• Show students a picture of a person, a place, and a thing. Ask volunteers to identify the pictures.
Explain that words that name a person, a place, and a thing are called nouns.
• Have students turn to page 4 in their book. Ask them to name the object in the picture. Then
read the sentence with students, pointing to the words as you read them aloud. Ask students to
point to the word that names the object, or place, in the picture (ocean). Explain that this word is
a noun.
• Have students turn to page 5. Read the sentence aloud with students, pointing to the words as
you read them aloud. Ask students to point to the word that names the object, or thing, in the
picture (lake).

Check for understanding: Have students look at the object in the picture on each page of the
book. Point to the words as you read each page aloud with students. Have them underline all the
nouns in the book. Discuss the words they underlined.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the nouns worksheet. If time
allows, discuss their responses.
Word Work: High-frequency word the
• Tell students that they are going to learn a word that they will often see in books they read.
Write the word the on the board and read the word aloud. Have students read the word
with you.

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Lesson Plan (continued) Water
• Ask students to write the word the on the top of their desk with their finger as you spell it aloud
with them, pointing to each letter on the board as you say the letter name with students.
• Read the first sentence on page 4 aloud to students. Point to the word The. Explain that the word
the is often used to explain which object someone is talking about.

Check for understanding: Have students locate and highlight every occurrence of the word the
in the book. Have them write the word on a separate piece of paper several times. Then have
each student use the word the in an oral sentence.

Build Fluency
Independent Reading
• Allow students to read their book independently. Additionally, partners can take turns reading
parts of the book to each other.

Home Connection
• Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.
Have them identify the main idea and details of the book to someone at home.

Extend the Reading

Concept Writing and Art Connection
Have students draw a picture of themselves with a type or form of water. Under the picture, have
students write one sentence telling about their picture.

Social Studies Connection

Using a map or globe, point out all the main bodies of water located on Earth. Help students see
that there is more water than land on Earth. Discuss the similarities and differences between fresh
water and salt water.

Assessment
Monitor students to determine if they can:
• consistently connect to prior knowledge to understand text
• accurately identify the details that support the main idea of the book during discussion and
on a worksheet
• accurately discriminate the initial consonant /r/ sound during discussion
• accurately identify and write the letter symbol that represents the /r/ sound during discussion
and on a worksheet
• correctly identify and use nouns during discussion and on a worksheet
• correctly use and write the high-frequency word the

Comprehension Check
• Retelling Rubric

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