Suggested lesson plan for
"First Tee of St. Louis"

Possible hard words:

Proper names: Chris Booker, Augusta National golf Club, St. Rock School, Ethan and Aaron Michalicek, Vinita Park, Spencer C. Olin Course, University City, Alton, IL, Cardinal Creek, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, Nathan Holliday, Belleville, IL, Danny Oexeman, Jay Delsing

Other words: emotionally, perseverance, responsibility, affiliated, erroneously

BEFORE READING: Have the young reader read the list of possible hard words. Provide help as needed but keep track of how many items need your help. If no more than three need help, have the child read the article silently. If four to six require assistance, have him or her read the article aloud to you. If seven or more are problems, you offer to read the article aloud to the child. In all three examples, point out questions will be asked after the reading.

DURING READING: For the silent reader offer to help with words if asked. For the one reading aloud supply troublesome words promptly in order to keep the reading fluent. If you read aloud model fluent oral reading.

AFTER READING: Use questions such as the following to check comprehension and stimulate discussion.

Suggested lesson plan for
"Girl wins $5,000 for essay on golf ethics"

Possible hard words:

Proper names: Brooke Miller, Florissant, Hazelwood West High School, Junior Achievement of Mississippi Valley, Inc., Dr. Wilson, J. P. Hayes

Other words: ethics, dilemma, tactfully, integrity, disqualification, exemptions

BEFORE READING: Have the young reader read the list of possible hard words. Provide help as needed but keep count of the number of items requiring your assistance. If three or fewer require help, have the child read the article silently. If four to six require your help, have him or her read the article aloud to you. If seven or more are problems, you offer to read the article aloud. In all three instances, point out questions will be raised after the reading.

DURING READING: For the silent reader offer to help with any words if asked. For the one reading aloud, supply words promptly that seem to be impairing fluency. If you read aloud, model fluent oral reading.

AFTER READING: Use questions such as the following to check comprehension and stimulate discussion of the article.

Suggested lesson plan for
"Kid takes 3 foreign languages, earns karate black belt"

Possible hard words:

Proper names: Channing Hunter, Governor French Academy, Mandarin Chinese, Jeff Taylor, Bradford Agronomy Research Center, Syngenta

Other words: accomplished, pianist, contemporary, proficient, affiliation

BEFORE READING: Have the young reader read the list of possible hard words. Provide help as needed, but keep track of how many items need your assistance. If three or fewer require help, ask the reader to read the article silently. If four to six items require help, ask him or her to read the article aloud to you. If seven or more require help, you offer to read the article to the young reader. In all three instances point out questions will be raised afterward.

DURING READING: For the silent reader offer to help out with names and words if asked. For the one reading aloud, supply troublesome words fairly promptly in order to keep the reading fluent. If you read aloud, model fluent oral reading.

AFTER READING: Use questions such as the following to check comprehension and promote discussion of the article.

Suggested lesson plan for
"Kid's artwork highlights new anti-drug program"

Possible hard words:

Proper names: Destinee Hill, Imagine Academy, Dennis Trask, North Carolina, Atlantic Ocean, Faust Park

Other words: alternative, visibility, consistently, octopus, electricity

BEFORE READING: To obtain some idea of how easy or how difficult the article might be for a reader, have him or her read the list of possible hard words. Help with words as help is needed but keep count of the number of items requiring such assistance. If three or fewer require assistance, ask the young reader to read the article silently. If four to six require help, have him or her read the article aloud to you. If seven or more require help, you offer to read the article aloud. In all three examples, point out that questions will be asked after the reading.

DURING READING: For the silent reader offer to help with names and words if asked. For the one reading aloud, supply any words fairly promptly that appear to be disrupting reading fluency. If you read aloud, model fluent oral reading.

AFTER READING: Use questions such as the following to check comprehension and stimulate discussion of the article.

Suggested lesson plan for
"Kids working to improve pedestrian safety"

Possible hard words:

Proper names: Francis Howell Middle School, O'Fallon, Ryan Kustec, Kevin Grabbe, Zach Nicewarner, Dylan Salsman, Molly Lavictoire, Citizenship Education Clearing House, University of Missouri-St. Louis

Other words: pedestrian, negotiations, intersection, flexible, proposal

BEFORE READING: Have the young reader read the list of possible hard words. Provide help as needed but keep count of the number of items requiring your assistance. If no more than three items required help, have the child read the article silently. If four to six items require help, have him or her read the article aloud to you. If seven or more require help, you offer to read the article aloud. In all three instances point out that questions will be raised after the reading.

DURING READING: For the silent reader offer to help with words if asked. For the one reading aloud supply troublesome words fairly promptly in order to keep the reading fluent. If you read aloud model fluent oral reading.

AFTER READING: Use questions such as the following to check comprehension and stimulate discussion of the article.

Suggested lesson plan for
"Kids develop plan for public dog park"

Possible hard words:

Proper names: Mayor Gerry Welch, Holy Redeemer School, Webster Groves, Teresa Martz, Rick Schmidt, Katie Garasky, Christie Garasky, Guillamine Delabar, Luke Appelbaum, Jack Brauer

Other words: municipal, liability, guidelines, vandalism, officials

BEFORE READING: Have the young reader read the list of possible hard words. Provide help as needed but keep count of the number of items requiring your assistance. If no more than three require help, have the young reader read the article silently. If four to six require assistance, have him or her read the article aloud to you. If seven or more items are problems, you offer to read the article aloud. In all three instances, point out questions will be raised after the reading.

DURING READING: For the silent reader offer to help with words if asked. For the one reading aloud, supply troublesome words promptly in order to keep the reading fluent. If you read aloud model fluent oral reading.

AFTER READING: Use questions such as the following to check comprehension and stimulate discussion of the article.

Suggested lesson plan for
"Boys team earn return trip to AAU nationals"

Possible hard words:

Proper names: St. Louis Majestics, St. Louis Gateway, Coach George Merritt, Zach Glotto, Cameron Scales

Other words: bracket, adapt, prevailed, qualified, career

BEFORE READING: To help the young reader anticipate the vocabulary in the article, have him or her read the list of possible hard words. Provide help as needed. Then ask him or her to read the article aloud to you and be ready to discuss it afterward.

DURING READING: FProvide help with any names or words that are troublesome in order to keep the reading fluent.

AFTER READING: Use questions such as the following to check comprehension and stimulate discussion of the article.

This Month's Book Reviews

A story about a boy who has taught himself
to survive in the wilderness

Gary Paulsen is noted for writing award-winning adventure stories for boys. One of his best-known novels is titled "Hatchet," the story of a boy who survives a plane crash in the northern wilderness. Paulsen followed up the success of "Hatchet" with several variations on the survival theme. One of them is "The River," which takes the young survivalist back into the wilderness, but this time with an adult companion, who has to be saved by the young boy. The story is vivid in detail, and Paulsen knows, like many children's authors, that kids like to read about kids who know better than the grown-ups around them.

 

A story of an unhappy boy and a dog that changes his attitude toward life

"Strider" was authored by Beverly Cleary and is the free-standing sequel to the Newbery-Award Winning "Dear Mr. Henshaw." The story is a not unusual one of a modern child living in a working-class home with a recently-divorced parent. The boy's mother is busy getting educated to a new profession while working full time. The father, who is trying to do the right thing, is going through job loss and a drastically reduced income. The teen-aged boy is facing the troubles that come with trying to grow up and deal with changing responsibilities. "Strider" is the stray dog that appears on the scene and helps the boy develop a positive attitude toward his future.

A paperback by an author who writes ghost stories for kids

"Deep and Dark and Dangerous" by Mary Downing Hahn is representative of the types of books that the author writes for kids. She writes about kids experiencing ghosts - ghosts who are kids themselves. She sets the stage where the appearance of ghosts seems quite plausible. The chilly feeling that ghost story readers expect to feel is a given. In this one, the reader experiences a ghostly character that, for unknown reasons, at least at first, clearly is intent on doing harm to the living children characters in the story. When the resolution comes about at the end of the story, the benefits are mostly to the adults who can't bring themselves to accept that a ghost is truly involved. The main child character doesn't suffer from the same limited viewpoint with which adults seem to be afflicted. Of course, this makes the story even more acceptable to a young reader.

A girl and her partner almost get killed
trying to save an abused horse

"Stealing Thunder" by Mary Casanova is more than just a story about a girl and a horse. Young Libby would like to own Thunderhead, an Appaloosa that belonged to the Porter Stable. She knew that when Mrs. Porter suddenly left her husband, the horses were to be sold. When she discovered Mr. Porter was abusing the three unsold horses left behind, Libby knew she had to do something to save all of them and not just Thunder, her favorite. Little did Libby know that Mr. Porter was willing to commit arson by setting fire to the stable and burning the horses to collect the insurance. The girl's life was in jeopardy when she and her friend tried to implement a plan to save the horses. All in all, it is quite a thrilling horse story.