18 teacher’s guide jack prelutsky

Number of Words: 690

L E S S O N 1 8 T E A C H E R ’ S G U I D E

Jack Prelutskyby Elizabeth Wells

Fountas-Pinnell Level MBiographySelection SummaryThis book tells the life story of the contemporary American poet Jack Prelutsky. The engaging narrative gives young readers an appreciation of Prelutsky’s work, while appealing to their own creativity.

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Characteristics of the Text Genre • Biography

Text Structure • Third person factual narrative• Major events presented in chronological order

Content • Milestones in Prelutsky’s career including his decision to become a poet• Themes and subjects in Prelutsky’s poems

Themes and Ideas • Love of writing and the writer’s relationship with readers• Poetic inspiration and the importance of creativity

Language and Literary Features

• Conversational language• Descriptive language: fl y through the sky on their fl uttering wings

Sentence Complexity • A mix of short and longer, more complex sentences• Exclamations for emphasis

Vocabulary • Proper nouns: Jack Prelutsky, New York City, School of Music and Art, Seattle, Carolynn• Target vocabulary words highlighted in text

Words • Multisyllabic words that might not be familiar to English language learners: boring, furniture, company, fl uttering, spaghetti, dinosaurs

• Open and closed compound words: ice cream, bookstore, anything, hot dogs, sometimes, notebook, grownups

Illustrations • Humorous illustrations from Prelutsky’s books extend content.• Reproduction of Prelutsky’s hand-written poem extends content.

Book and Print Features • Names of books in italics; names of poems in quotation marks• Excerpt from poem in italics• Labels on photos that clarify text

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

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Target Vocabulary

accepted – agreed to something, p. 8

express – v. show what you are feeling or thinking, p. 6

fl uttering – moves with small, quick movements, p. 9

grand – large, special, or important, p. 10

pretend – to imagine, or make-believe, that something is real, p. 6

prize – an award for winning a contest or doing something well, p. 13

taught – told or showed what to do, p. 4

wonder – v. try to understand more about something, p. 7

Jack Prelutsky by Elizabeth Wells

Build BackgroundHelp children use their knowledge of poetry to understand this biography. Build interest by asking questions such as the following: What kinds of poems do you like to read? Why do you enjoy them? Read the title and author and talk about the cover picture. Tell children that this book is a biography. It tells about the life of a real person.

Front-Load Vocabulary Some everyday words may be unfamiliar to English learners. Before reading, check understanding of the following words: taxi, scary, prizes, dinosaurs, laundromat.

Introduce the TextGuide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Call their attention to any important labels. Here are some suggestions:

Pages 2-3: Explain that this book tells about the life of a famous American poet, Jack Prelutsky. Direct attention to the photographs on these pages.Suggested language: On page 2 you can see a photograph of Jack Prelutsky today. He has written more than 40 books of poetry. On page 3, you can see what he looked like when he was your age.

Page 6: Draw attention to the illustration and the label. As a young adult, Jack started to write poetry. He liked that, in a poem, he could pretend things, such as trees that sing. Why can a writer imagine, or make believe, things in a poem? What might you pretend if you wrote a poem?

Page 7: Draw attention to the hand-written poem and help children read it. This photo shows a poem that Jack Prelutsky wrote. It’s in his own handwriting. Why do you think he ends it this way: “This poem is from the new kid on the block”?

Page 10: Some of Prelutsky’s poems are about grand ideas that are big and important. What is an example of a grand idea? Prelutsky also writes about things in everyday life. The photo shows the subject of one of his poems, and the label tells you what it is. What is the poem about?

Now turn back to the beginning of the book and read to fi nd out how Jack Prelutsky became an award-winning poet.

2 Lesson 18: Jack Prelutsky Grade 2© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

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ReadHave children read Jack Prelutsky silently while you listen to individual children read. Support their problem solving and fl uency as needed.

Remind children to use the Analyze/Evaluate Strategy and to tell how they feel about the book as they read and why.

Discuss and Revisit the TextPersonal ResponseInvite children to share their personal responses to the book.Suggested language: After reading this book, would you like to write your own poetry? Why or why not?

Ways of ThinkingAs you discuss the text, help children understand these points:

Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text

• Jack Prelutsky has written many books of poems.

• Jack Prelutsky has won many awards for his poetry.

• Jack Prelutsky writes about simple and grand ideas.

• Ideas for poems are all around us.

• Finding something you love to do is important.

• The author’s attitude toward her subject is that readers will enjoy learning about this creative man and his poetry.

• A mix of photographs and humorous illustrations make the text more fun to read.

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

Choices for Further Support• Fluency Invite children to choose a passage from the text to read aloud to the class.

Encourage them to use rising and falling tones in a way that refl ects the text meaning and end-mark punctuation, including question marks and exclamation points.

• Comprehension Based on your observations of the children’s reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind children to go back to the text to support their ideas.

• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples from the text. Help children identify the base words and endings in the following: writes (page 2), boring (page 3), jobs and artist (page 5), accepted (page 8), funny (page 9), and scary (page 11). Work with children to use three of the base words in original sentences.



Writing about ReadingCritical ThinkingHave children complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 18.10.

RespondingHave children complete the activities at the back of the book. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.

Target Comprehension SkillUnderstanding Characters

Target Comprehension Skill Remind children that they can use details to

help them understand a person described in a book. Model the skill, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:

Think Aloud

What can I learn about Jack Prelutsky from reading this book? On page 14, I read that he’s happy that children enjoy reading his poems. He hopes that children will think about being poets like him. These details help me understand something about him. He cares about his young readers and their lives. It’s clear that he wants children to be happy and creative.

Practice the SkillHave children fi nd another detail in the book that tells them something important about Jack Prelutsky.

Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the TextHave children write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use what they know and their own experience to think about what happens in the book.

Assessment Prompts• Which words on page 5 help readers understand the meaning of the word artist?

• What are three words that describe Jack Prelutsky’s poetry?



Read directions to children.

Think About ItRead and answer the questions.

1.WhatkindsofpoemsdoesJackPrelutskywrite?

He writes silly poems and scary poems.

2.WhydoesJackwritesillypoems?

Possible response: He writes silly poems to make people

laugh.

3.WheredoesJackfindideasforhispoems?

He finds ideas in his life.

Making Connections Write two or more ideas for a silly poem.

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Grade 2, Unit 4: Heroes and Helpers

Name Date

12

Lesson 18B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 1 8 . 1 0

Jack PrelutskyThink About It

Think About It© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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English Language DevelopmentReading Support Work with children in pairs to help them echo-read the poem on page 7 of the book. Remind them to pay attention to the commas and other punctuation marks at the end of each line of the poem. Then discuss the meaning of the poem and the imagery of the wolf in a laundromat. Or have children use the audio or online recordings.

Cognates Tell children that the following target vocabulary words have Spanish counterparts: accepted/aceptó; express/expresar; prize/premio.

Oral Language DevelopmentCheck children’s comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches their English profi ciency. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the child.

Beginning/Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced

Speaker 1: Who is this book about?

Speaker 2: Jack Prelutsky

Speaker 1: What does Jack Prelutsky do?

Speaker 2: writes poems

Speaker 1: What kind of job did Jack Prelutsky want to fi nd?

Speaker 2: The right job for him.

Speaker 1: What are two things Jack Prelutsky wrote about in his poems?

Speaker 2: talking animals; singing trees; wishes; dreams

Speaker 1: How would you describe Jack Prelutsky’s poems?

Speaker 2: Some are silly; some are scary; some are about big ideas; some are about everyday things.



Name Date

Jack PrelutskyThinking Beyond the Text

Read the paragraph below. Then write your questions and answers on the lines.

Write three questions you would like to ask Jack Prelutsky about his poetry. Then write the answers you think Jack Prelutsky would give, based on details in the book.



Think About ItRead and answer the questions.

1. What kinds of poems does Jack Prelutsky write?

2. Why does Jack write silly poems?

3. Where does Jack fi nd ideas for his poems?

Making Connections Write two or more ideas for a silly poem.

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Name Date Lesson 18

B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 1 8 . 1 0

Jack PrelutskyThink About It



1413804

Student Date Lesson 18

B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 1 8 . 1 4

Jack PrelutskyRunning Record Form

Jack Prelutsky • LEVEL M

Behavior Code Error

Read word correctly ✓cat 0

Repeated word, sentence, or phrase

®cat

0

Omission —cat 1

Behavior Code Error

Substitution cutcat 1

Self-corrects cut sccat 0

Insertion the

cat 1

Word told Tcat 1

page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections

2

3

A poem is a kind of writing with short lines.

The words in a poem help show pictures and

feelings. Do you like poems?

Jack Prelutsky is a poet. A poet is someone

who writes poems. Jack’s poems are silly!

He writes about ice cream that tastes like

chicken. He writes about horses that ride

on people’s backs.

In the bookstore, there are many books of

poems by Jack. One book is called It’s Raining

Pigs & Noodles.

This book is about Jack Prelutsky.

Jack was born in 1940.

Comments: Accuracy Rate (# words read

correctly/89 × 100)

%

Total Self- Corrections



18 teacher’s guide jack prelutsky

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