Anna Fenton

Interactive Read-Aloud/Vocabulary Lesson

The book we chose for our read aloud is When will it be Spring? by Catherine Walters.
We are reading and presenting this book to a first grade class. This book is about a
young bear who impatiently waits for Spring when he should be hibernating. He is
constantly waking his mother up with any sign he believes is Spring, until he goes out to
find that finally Spring has come.

The three words we will teach and explain are bleary, peered, and crept. We picked
these Tier Two words because they are usually not in the first grade students’ everyday
vocabulary and they are more sophisticated. We chose these words rather than words
such as sunshine and dreamed because bleary, peered, and crept are not the most
basic ways of expressing ideas (Beck, McKeown, Kucan). These words are for
someone with a more mature vocabulary. Rather than using bleary, peered, and crept,
students may have used looked, blurry/tired, or walked.

Dictionary definitions: Google.com

Bleary-(of the eyes) unfocused or filmy from sleep or tiredness.
Peered-look keenly or with difficulty at someone or something.
Crept-move slowly and carefully in order to avoid being heard or noticed. (

Student friendly definitions:

Bleary- tired or blurry
Peered- look closely
Crept- walk quietly or tip-toed

Lesson Plan #1

NJ Language English Arts Standard

RL.1.4. Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal
to the senses.

Objective(s)
Students will be able to identify characters feelings and thoughts through the context of
the story.

Materials
Book: When will it be Spring? by Catherine Walters
Instructional Sequence Lesson #1
1. Book Introductions
a. Begin with a very brief introduction of the book, showing front and back
covers.
b. “Today we are going to read about a young bear, his name is Alfie. Alfie is
so excited for Spring, we’re going to read to find out why he wants spring
so badly…”
2. Inserting vocabulary support
a. Stop after reading page 4, re-read sentence “He tiptoed across the floor of the
cave, rubbed his bleary eyes, and saw…”
i. Explain that bleary means tired, blurry.
ii. Associate with rubbing of the eyes
B. Stop after reading page 10, re-read sentence “He crept across the floor, peered
outside, and saw…”
I. Explain that crept means to tip toe or walk quietly.
II. Associate with a quiet tip toe.
III. Explain that peered means look closely.
IV. Associate with a hand over the eyes, searching.
3. Comments and questions to support and extend comprehension
a. Stop on page 3
i. “I think bears hibernate (explain that means to sleep) during the winter.
That must be why Alfie’s mom keeps telling him to go to sleep.”
B. Stop on page 14
I. “Alfie’s mom seems angry at Alfie. Why is she so angry?”
4. After reading questions
a. “Why did Alfie want spring so badly?”
b. “What do you think is so great about spring?”
c. “What happened at the end? Was he sleeping?”

Lesson Plan #2

NJ Language English Arts Standard

L.1.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade 1 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of
strategies.
L.1.6. Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read
to, and responding to texts, including using frequently occurring conjunctions to signal
simple relationships (e.g., because).

Objective(s)
● Students will be able to define new vocabulary words and apply them outside of
the story.

● Students will be able to use the words in the story in their own sentences.

Materials
Book: When will it be Spring? by Catherine Walters

Instructional Sequence Lesson #2

1. Book Introductions
a. We read this book yesterday (last week, etc.) and you guys really liked it
remember? It was about Alfie, a little boy bear who couldn’t go to sleep!
Who remembers why he couldn’t sleep? Why was he so excited for
spring? What were some things he was excited for? Let’s read it again.
2. Inserting vocabulary support
a. Stop on page 4
I. “Who remembers what bleary means? Turn and show your partner what
you would do if your eyes were bleary.”
B. Stop on page 10
I. “What does it look like if something crept? What’s something that
creeps?”
Ii. “Peered is to look right? Show me peered. Why was Alfie peering?”
3. Comments and questions to support and extend comprehension
a. “What did you notice this time that you did not notice last time? Does ALfie
know what Spring looks like? How do you know? Was he making mistakes
when he looked outside? What kind?”
4. After-reading questions
a. “What do you think about Alfie? Would you be able to sleep if you were him?
Why is he sleeping so much? Why can’t Alfie’s mom find him at the end?”

Some additional activities that can be used for better understanding of

vocabulary.
Activity #1
Materials
● Dry erase boards
● Markers

Procedure
1. Have students write all 3 vocabulary words on the dry erase boards.
2. Teacher reads a sentence out loud, or writes it on the board, with a blank in the
sentence.
3. Students circle on their board which word they think fits best in the sentence.
4. Check answers and discuss as a class.
5. Erase & repeat.

Activity 2

Materials
● Just the student’s and their bodies

Procedure
1. Select one student at a time to come up and stand in front of the class.
2. Give student one of the vocabulary words to act out.
3. Student will act out the word until another student guesses it correctly.
4. Repeat until redundant, or you can set a point system .

Activity 3

Materials
● Projector screen

Procedure
1. In a pictionary, type, fashion, place pictures on the projector that display a
character showing the vocabulary word on action.
2. Have students guess which word the picture is displaying an example of.
3. Repeat until understanding is clear.

Example photos:

Peer
Bleary

Crept
446 × 510