Scott Foresman Reading Street

Happy Birthday Mr. Kang
Group Time

for Fluency

Use Decodable Reader 27.

Word Study/Phonics

LESSON VOCABULARY Use p. 306b to review the meanings of bows, chilly, foolish, foreign, narrow, perches, and recipe. Have students blend these decodable words: bows, chilly, foolish, foreign, narrow, perches. Then say and spell the nondecodable word recipe. Have individuals practice reading the words from word cards.

DECODING MULTISYLLABIC WORDS Write tightly and model how to use meaningful word parts to read it. I see that this word has a base word and a suffix. First I cover the suffix -ly and read the base word: tight. Then I uncover the suffix and blend the base word and the suffix to read the whole word: tight, ly, tightly. The suffix -ly means "in a certain way," so tightly means "in a tight way."

Use the Multisyllabic Word Routine on p. DI•1 to help students read these other words from Happy Birthday Mr. Kang: ceramic, homeland, kumquat, bamboo, mooncakes, freshly, and threshold. Be sure students understand the meanings of words such as ceramic and threshold.

Happy Birthday Mr. Kang,
pp. 308–317

BEFORE READING Yesterday we read about New York City's Chinatown. Today we will read about a Chinatown family whose pet causes them to think about freedom.

Using the Picture Walk Routine on p. DI•1, guide students through the
text, asking questions such as those listed below. Then read the question
on p. 309. Together, set a purpose for reading.

p. 313 The lines are the bars of a cage. Why do you think the bird is in a cage? (It's a pet bird.) This pet bird is called a hua mei. It is a songbird from the forests of southern China.

p. 316 What do you notice about the print on this page? (It changes.) The text passages in a special print called italics are poems.

DURING READING Follow the Guiding Comprehension routine on
pp. 310–317. Have students read along with you while tracking the print or do a choral reading of the selection. Stop every two pages to ask what has happened so far. Prompt as necessary.

What does Mr. Kang do after he retires from his job?
How does Mr. Kang care for his hua mei?

AFTER READING What has happened so far? What do you think may happen next? Reread passages with students for comprehension.

Extend Vocabulary

CONTEXT CLUES Choose and read a sentence or passage containing a difficult word, such as this sentence from p. 7 of China's Gifts to the World: "The sound should be clear and sharp, not muffled." What does the word muffled mean? (blurred, not clear) How did you figure out the word's meaning? (I looked at the words around it and used the context clues clear and sharp. The sentence says they have the opposite meaning.) Clear is an antonym of muffled. Looking for antonyms as context clues can help you figure out the meaning of an unknown word. Remind students to use the strategy as they read Happy Birthday Mr. Kang.

Happy Birthday Mr. Kang,
pp. 308–317

BEFORE READING In "Elsa," you heard about a lion that was given her freedom to return to the wild. Today you will read about a man who must decide whether to free his pet.

Have students write in their Strategy Response Logs about a time when they wanted to be somewhere else (p. 308). Tell them to think about how they felt as they read this story.

CREATIVE THINKING Have students read pp. 308–317 independently. Encourage them to think creatively. For example, ask:

Mr. Kang compares the hua mei's life trapped in a cage to his own life trapped working in a restaurant. What other comparisons could you make about a caged songbird?

AFTER READING In their Strategy Response Logs (p. 317), have students write to tell how they feel about Mr. Kang keeping the hua mei in the cage and to explain whether he should keep the bird as a pet or set it free. Invite students to include what the hua mei would say about the situation if it could talk. Then meet with students to discuss the selection and have them share their Strategy Response Log entries.