Characteristics of the Text Genre • Informational Text
Text Structure • First-person narrator speaking in the present tense• Setting shift: from nearby neighborhood to farther away (park, playground, school)
Content • Living in a big city• Neighbors and neighborhoods
Themes and Ideas • It is rewarding to be a good neighbor.• Good neighbors contribute to the community.
Language and Literary Features
• First-person narrator has a conversational, informal tone (use of contractions, kids).• Author uses neighbor in the denotative sense (it is defi ned on p. 3) and in the connotative
sense (what it means to be a good neighbor).Sentence Complexity • Each sentence begins on new line.
• Mix of short, simple and longer, more complex sentences (especially pp. 2, 5, 8)• Commas used to set off a clause (p. 6) and the word too (p. 8)
Vocabulary • Potentially diffi cult vocabulary has photographic and text support: apartment, neighbors, friendly, everyone, garden, build, playground
Words • Mostly 1-, 2-, and a few 3-syllable words (family, apartment, everyone)• Simple -s plurals (e.g., seeds, books), and -s infl ected endings (lives, feels); two
contractions (It’s on p. 5 and you’ll on page 10) • Possible decoding challenges: neighbors, family, apartment, building, laughs, pictures
Illustrations • Photographs complement text/support vocabulary (apartment, neighbor, everyone).Book and Print Features • Nine pages of text, with photographs at the top of each page
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Permission is hereby granted to individual teachers using the corresponding (discipline) Leveled Readers to photocopy student worksheets from this publication in classroom quantities for instructional use and not for resale. Requests for information on other matters regarding duplication of this work should be addressed to Houghton Miffl in Harcourt Publishing Company, Attn: Contracts, Copyrights, and Licensing, 9400 SouthPark Center Loop, Orlando, Florida 32819. Printed in the U.S.A. 978-0-547-29969-3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0940 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Miffl in Harcourt Publishing Company retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited.
Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format.
Number of Words: 244
L E S S O N 4 T E A C H E R ’ S G U I D E
Neighborsby Kenyetta Ray
Fountas-Pinnell Level IInformational TextSelection SummaryThe narrator, who lives in an apartment in a big city, tells about her neighbors and talks about what it means to be a good neighbor.
Build BackgroundRead the title and author to children. Draw on their knowledge of their own neighbors and neighborhood to build interest, using questions like these: What is your neighborhood like? What are your neighbors like?
Introduce the TextGuide children through the text, noting important ideas and key vocabulary, and helping with unfamiliar language. Here are some suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that this book tells about neighbors and the things they do together. Suggested language: Turn to page 2. What do you see? It’s a row of buildings on a street in a city. Several families can live in these kinds of buildings because inside are separate homes. Each home is called called an apartment. The narrator of this book lives in one of the buildings. She and her family have many neighbors. Neighbors are people who live near her.
Page 4: Turn to page 4. All these people are neighbors. Everyone is gathered on the front steps of the building. Do you think everyone enjoys this activity? Why or why not? Find the word everyone on the page and put your fi nger under it. Do you see that the word everyone has two smaller words in it? Say each small word and put your fi nger under each one as you say it.
Page 5: On page 5, the narrrator says that good neighbors like to come and help each other. How is this boy helping?
Now go back to the beginning and read to fi nd out what good neighbors do together.
ReadAs the children read, observe them carefully. Guide them as needed, using language that supports their problem solving ability.
Respond to the TextPersonal ResponseAsk children to share their personal responses to the selection. Begin by asking what they liked best about the book, or what they found most interesting.Suggested language: What things in the book reminded you of your neighbors and your neighborhood?
Ways of ThinkingAs you discuss the text, help children understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text
• The narrator lives in an apartment in a big city.
• The narrator talks about her neighbors, which include her grandma upstairs.
• The narrator tells what things good neighbors do.
• It feels good to be a good neighbor.
• Good neighbors help each other and the rest of the community.
• The book begins around the narrator’s home. Then it moves to other places farther away in her neighborhood—a park, a playground, a school.
• The author’s attitude is that good neighborhoods make people feel connected.
Choices for SupportFluencyTo help children develop their phrasing, especially the grouping of words within sentences, choose a page and read it to children. Then focus on one sentence at a time. Have children echo-read with you as you go phrase by phrase in the sentence. For example: Some of them / live in a house / across the street.
Phonics and Word WorkProvide practice as needed with words and sounds, using one of the following activities:
• Long e Word Sort Materials: index cards. Display these words from the text: me, read, seeds, we, feels, each, meet, weeds. Read each word together, and have children identify the letters that spell long e. Have partners copy each word onto an index card and sort the words by how long e is spelled: e, ee, or ea.
• Past-Tense Practice Give children practice with the irregular past tense of familiar verbs used in the text. List these words and read them together: sit, come, write, draw, meet, and see. Display and read these sentence frames: Today I ___. Yesterday I ___. Work together to complete these frames for each verb.
Writing About ReadingCritical ThinkingRead the directions for children on BLM 4.8 and guide them in answering the questions.
RespondingRead aloud the questions at the back of the book and help children complete the activities.
Target Comprehension SkillText and Graphic Features
Target Comprehension Skill Tell children that pictures in books—
illustrations or photographs—are important parts of the books. They help readers understand what the text is saying. They are also fun for readers to look at. Model how to use pictures while reading:
Think Aloud
At the beginning of the book, the narrator tells how she and her family live in an apartment in a large building in a city. The photograph shows me what she’s talking about. I can see a row of apartment buildings on a city street.
Practice the SkillHave children choose another photograph from the book and tell what they learned from looking at the picture.
Writing PromptRead aloud the following prompt. Have children write their response, using the writing prompt on page 6.
What are some things you like to do with a neighbor? Write a paragraph. Tell what you like to do and why.
English Language LearnersCognates Point out that the English word apartment is quite similar to the Spanish word with the same meaning, apartamento.
Oral Language DevelopmentCheck the children’s comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches their English profi ciency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the child.
Beginning/ Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: Turn to the page that shows where the narrator lives. Point to an apartment building.
Speaker 2: [Turns to page 2 and points to one of the apartment buildings.]
Speaker 1: What word names all the people that the author talks about in this book?
Speaker 2: neighbors
Speaker 1: The narrator lives in a big city. What kind of house does she live in?
Speaker 2: an apartment (building)
Speaker 1: The narrator tells about her neighbors. Look at page 5. What is this boy doing for his neighbor?
Speaker 2: He is helping her.
Speaker 1: Finish this sentence: The author lives ___.
Speaker 2: in an apartment in a city
Speaker 1: Name something that tells about good neighbors. Start with the words Good neighbors.
Speaker 2: Examples: Good neighbors are friendly. Good neighbors like to help.
