Level I

Lesson Plan Amazing Beaches

About the Book
Text Type: Nonfiction/Informational Page Count: 16 Word Count: 285

Book Summary
The world is full of beaches, but they are not all alike. In Amazing Beaches,
students will read about beautiful beaches that have special features, such as
pink sand or a shore covered in smooth glass pebbles. Gorgeous photographs
illustrate the information in the text, and simple world maps show the location
of each highlighted beach. Each small section is only one page long, and the
sentence complexity is adjusted for emergent readers.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy
• Visualize

Objectives
• Visualize to understand text
• Compare and contrast
• Discriminate initial consonant /g/ and /j/ sounds
• Identify initial consonant Gg
• Form and use contractions
• Identify and use color words

Materials
Green text indicates resources are available on the website.
• Book—Amazing Beaches (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry-erase board
• Sheets of paper
• Colored markers or chalk
• Highlighters
• Compare and contrast, initial consonant Gg, contractions worksheets
• Discussion cards

Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may be
demonstrated by projecting the book on an interactive whiteboard or completed with
paper and pencil if the books are reused.)

Vocabulary
*Bold vocabulary words also appear in a pre-made lesson for this title on VocabularyA–Z.com.
• High-frequency words: from, have, some, this
• Content words:
Story critical: beaches (n.), gems (n.), grains (n.), rare (adj.), shore (n.), tide (n.)

Before Reading
Build Background
• Ask students to draw a picture of a beach. Have students share and describe their picture with
a partner, and invite volunteers to share their picture with the rest of the class.
• Draw a beach scene on the board. Discuss with students concrete details about beaches.
Ask questions, such as: What are beaches, what do people wear at the beach, what do people
do at the beach? As students share new details, add them to the picture on the board.
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 Level I
Lesson Plan (continued) Amazing Beaches
• Have students share with a partner what they would do on a beach. Invite volunteers to share their
thoughts with the rest of the class, and record key words on the board above the beach scene.

Book Walk
Introduce the Book
• Give students their copy of the book. Guide them to the front and back covers and read the title.
Have students discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage them to offer ideas as to what
type of book it is (genre, text type, and so on) and what it might be about.
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author’s name).
• Preview the table of contents on page 3. Remind students that the table of contents provides
an overview of the book. Ask students what they expect to read about in the book, on the basis
of what they see in the table of contents. (Accept all answers that students can justify.)
Introduce the Reading Strategy: Visualize
• Explain to students that engaged readers often make pictures in their mind, or visualize, while
they read. Point out that the images they create are built on the information in the text and their
own prior knowledge. Explain to students that visualizing helps readers remember and enjoy
what they are reading.
• Model visualizing using information on the cover.
Think-aloud: I see the title of this book is Amazing Beaches. Before I let myself focus on the picture,
I close my eyes and create my own visualization for the topic. I’ve been to the beach before. I know
a beach has sand, and waves that rush in and out, and water that gets deeper and deeper. Since
I already know what a beach is, I visualize what would make an amazing beach. I see in my mind
soft sand that slips through my fingers and water that is so clear you can see to the bottom. The
beach I see is extremely beautiful. I visualize a beach that has people but is not too busy, with kids
building sand castles and people riding surf boards. This is what I visualize when I read the words
amazing beaches. My visual picture is different from the picture on the cover because it is my own.
• Draw a picture on the board that represents your visualization from the think-aloud.
• Have students close their eyes. Read the text on page 4 aloud and have students create in their
minds a picture to match the words. Ask students to open their eyes and draw a picture that
shows what they visualized. Invite volunteers to share their picture with the rest of the class.
• As students read, encourage them to use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted
strategy presented in this section.
Introduce the Comprehension Skill: Compare and contrast
• Explain to students that one way to organize information from a book is to explain how objects
are alike and different. Write the words compare and contrast on the board and read them
aloud. Explain that compare means noting how objects are similar or alike, and contrast means
noting how objects are different.
• Draw a Venn diagram on the board. Point out that graphic organizers help students keep track
of information, and explain that a Venn diagram is a special type of organizer that works well
for comparing and contrasting information. Explain to students that they label each circle with
one of the objects to be compared. Explain that details the two objects have in common are
recorded in the middle where the circles overlap, and details that are different are listed
in the appropriate outside circle.
• Label the left side of the diagram elephants and the right side turtles. Model comparing
and contrasting.
Think-aloud: When I compare and contrast two items, I think about how they are alike and
different. Let’s compare elephants and turtles. What are features that an elephant and a turtle
have in common? They both have four legs. I will write four legs in the middle part where the
circles overlap. They both have two eyes, so I will write two eyes in the middle. How are they
different? An elephant is a mammal, and turtle is a reptile. I will write mammal in the far side

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 Level I
Lesson Plan (continued) Amazing Beaches
of the left circle and reptile in the far side of the right circle to show that these details only apply
to the elephant and the turtle, respectively. How else are these animals similar or different?
• Fill in the Venn diagram while you speak.
• Have students work in groups to continue comparing and contrasting elephants and turtles.
Invite volunteers to share details they discussed, and record the information in the appropriate
portion of the Venn diagram. Ask students to review the comparison with a partner, and remind
them to use the words alike or similar, different or contrast, and compare.
Introduce the Vocabulary
• While previewing the book, reinforce the vocabulary words students will encounter. For
example, while looking at the picture on page 10, you might say: The grains of sand on this
beach are unusual. What do you notice about them? They are black. What is a grain of sand?
It is one tiny piece of sand.
• Remind students to look at the picture and the letters with which a word begins to help decode
difficult words. For example, point to the word grains on page 8 and say: This word is difficult,
so I will use the picture and the beginning sound of the word to help me decode it. The sentence
informs me that some part of the beach is shaped like tiny stars. In the picture, I see a close-up
of the sand, and each little piece of sand is shaped like a star. The word piece begins with the
/p/ sound, though, and this word begins with the /g/ sound. What are pieces of sand called? I
remember that small bits of sand are called grains. The word grains begins with the /g/ sound
and makes sense in the sentence. The word must be grains.
• Write the vocabulary words on the board, and read them aloud with students. Have students
work in groups to search through the pictures in the book to find an example for each word.
Invite students to say a word and identify the example they found from the pictures in the book,
and explain their choice.
• Have students fold a piece of paper in half and write the word beaches on one side of the paper.
On the other side, have students draw a picture that illustrates the meaning of the word. Have
students repeat with the remaining vocabulary words. Have students work with a partner and
use their pictures to create an oral sentence for each vocabulary word.
• Point out the glossary at the back of the book. Explain that a glossary contains a list of words
and their definitions specific to the book. Invite volunteers to read the definition for a vocabulary
word from the board, and discuss with students the meaning of the word. Repeat with the
remaining vocabulary words.
Set the Purpose
• Have students read to find out more about these special beaches. Remind them to visualize as
they read and to compare and contrast the information in the book.

During Reading
Student Reading
• Guide the reading: Have students read from page 4 to the end of page 7. Encourage those who
finish early to go back and reread.
• Model visualizing.
Think-aloud: When I read about the hot-water beach on page 5, I used the words in the text
to create visual images in my mind. The book informed me that visitors dig holes in the sand
because warm water comes up from beneath and they want to sit in it. Using this information
and my own prior knowledge about beaches, I visualized a strip of sand and water with lots
of holes scattered about. Steam is rising from the holes, and boys and girls are sitting in them
like they are little tubs. When I looked at the picture in the book, I saw it was similar to my
visualization. A boy and girl are sitting in a ring of water, and other people are sitting in
different holes in the background. It was also different from what I saw in my mind because
it was a close-up of the hot water, instead of a long shot of the whole beach, with the water
and sand and hot-water circles.
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 Level I
Lesson Plan (continued) Amazing Beaches
• Draw a picture on the board to represent the visualization described in the think-aloud.
Reinforce that visualizations will always be unique to the reader and probably different from
the pictures in the book.
• Have students draw a picture to represent a visualization they made as they read. Have students
share their picture with a partner, and invite volunteers to describe their picture to the rest of
the class.
• Erase the information from the Venn diagram, and review with students how to use the graphic
organizer to compare information, Write the words hot-water beach above the left circle and
glass beach above the right circle.
• Have students work in groups to compare and contrast the two beaches. Call on each group to
share how the beaches are similar or different, and record the information in the Venn diagram
using key words.
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 11. Have students draw one more
picture to represent a new visualization they made.
• Draw a new Venn diagram on the board, and label the left circle bowling-ball beach and the
right circle pink-sand beach. Have students work with a partner to compare and contrast the
two beaches. Discuss with the class details that describe how the beaches are similar and how
they are different. Invite volunteers to come to the board and record a detail in the appropriate
section of the Venn diagram, using key words or pictures.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to visualize as they read and
to compare new beaches to the ones they read about earlier.

Have students make a small question mark in their book beside any word they do not
understand or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

After Reading
• Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their book. Use this opportunity to model
how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Think-aloud: On page 14, I read about the 75-mile beach in Australia. I read that it was so long,
airplanes used it as a runway. Also, the water at this beach was full of sharks. When I thought
about this unusual information, I created a funny visualization. I saw a long beach full of
airplanes, taking off and landing. The water crashing into the sandy beach was choppy, with
numerous shark fins circling around. I hope the beach doesn’t really look like that! That was the
picture I saw in my mind, though. After looking at the picture in the book, I was relieved to see
the beach looked like a normal beach, just very long and straight. Any sharks were hidden in the
water. The visual pictures we make in our mind are imaginary and don’t always match the real
pictures. We need to be aware of the potential differences between what we create and see
in our mind, and the reality of places and events.
• Read page 15 aloud to students and have them draw a picture of what they visualized as they
listened to the words. Ask students to review all the pictures they drew of visualizations. Have
students work with a partner to choose their favorite picture, and have their partner guess
what page the chosen visual image connects with.
• Have students discuss with a partner how visualizing helped them remember and enjoy the book.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Review the two Venn diagrams on the board comparing different beaches. Draw a
new Venn diagram, and label it with two different beaches from the book. Have students work
with a partner to compare and contrast the new beaches. Invite volunteers to come to the board
and record a detail in the appropriate section of the Venn diagram, using key words or pictures.

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 Level I
Lesson Plan (continued) Amazing Beaches
• Discuss with students how they could use the Venn diagrams to compare and contrast more than
one beach. Ask students to work with a partner to find a trait all the beaches have in common,
and invite a volunteer to share the information with the rest of the class. Guide students in
making other comparisons, such as finding details that two beaches share and the others do
not or discovering beaches that have everything in common except one feature. Have students
discuss with a partner how this sorting of information helps them to better remember the details
from the book.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the compare-and-contrast
worksheet. Ask students to compare two beaches that they didn’t compare during the lesson.
Have them work in pairs to check their work.
• Enduring understanding: In this book, you learned about unique beaches from around the world.
Why do these beaches stand out as special? Which ones would you like to visit, and why?

Build Skills
Phonological Awareness: Initial consonant /g/ and /j/ sounds
• Say the word grains aloud to students, emphasizing the initial /g/ sound. Have students say
the word aloud and then say the /g/ sound.
• Have students work in groups to think of other words that begin with the same sound. Invite
volunteers to share a word with the rest of the class.
• Say the word gem aloud to students, emphasizing the initial /j/ sound. Have students say
the word aloud and then say the /j/ sound.
• Have students discuss with a partner the difference in sound between the two words, grain
and gem. Invite volunteers to share their comparison with the rest of the class.
• Check for understanding: Say the following words one at a time, and have students clap their desk
if the word begins with the /g/ sound and stomp their feet if it begins with the /j/ sound: good,
giraffe, give, gypsy, glue, and gold.
Phonics: Initial consonant Gg
• Write the words grains and gem on the board and say them aloud with students.
• Have students say the /g/ sound aloud. Then, run your finger under the letters in the first word
as students say the whole word aloud. Ask students to identify which letter represents the
/g/ sound in the word grains.
• Have students say the /j/ sound aloud. Then, run your finger under the letters in the second word
as students say the whole word aloud. Ask students to identify which letter represents the
/j/ sound in the word gem.
• Explain to students that the letter Gg can make two sounds. Most often, the consonant Gg
makes the /g/ sound, but sometimes it makes the /j/ sound. Explain that the sound used depends
on the word.
• Ask students to work with a partner and find words that begin with the consonant Gg in their
book. Have them circle words that begin with the /g/ sound and underline words that begin with
the /j/ sound. Invite volunteers to share a word they found with the rest of the class and specify
the beginning sound.
• Have students practice writing the letter Gg on a separate piece of paper while alternately
saying the /g/ sound and the /j/ sound.
• Check for understanding: Write the following words that begin with the initial consonant Gg on
the board, leaving off the initial consonant: girl, gym, goal, grab, and genie. Say each word,
one at a time, and have volunteers come to the board and add the initial Gg to each word while
other students trace the letter in the air. Have students discuss with a partner which words begin
with the /g/ sound and which begin with the /j/ sound. Invite volunteers to come to the board
and circle the words that begin with the /g/ sound and underline the words that begin with
the /j/ sound.

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 Level I
Lesson Plan (continued) Amazing Beaches
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the initial consonant Gg
worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.
Grammar and Mechanics: Contractions
• Have students read the last sentence on page 8 aloud. Ask students to point to the word they’re.
Write they’re on the board.
• Explain to students that they’re is a contraction and is made by joining together the words they
and are. Write the words they and are on the board beneath the word they’re. Have students
read the sentence from page 8 again, this time substituting the words they and are for the word
they’re. Ask students to give a thumbs-up signal if the sentence still makes sense.
• Explain to students that a contraction is a word formed by joining two words and connecting
them with an apostrophe.
• Write an apostrophe symbol on the board, and have students point to the apostrophe in they’re.
Point out that the apostrophe shows where a letter has been left out. Explain to students that
in contractions one letter is always left out when the two words are combined. Ask students
to identify which letter has been left out of the contraction they’re.
• Write the following contractions on the board: didn’t, that’s, and can’t. Have students work
with a partner to determine the two words that form each contraction, and have each student
write the words on a separate sheet of paper. Point to the contractions on the board and have
students call out the two words that are joined to create the contraction.
• Write the words she and is on the board and read them aloud with students. Have students work
in groups to discuss how they would join these words to make a contraction, and ask students to
write the contraction on their separate sheet of paper. Write the contraction she’s on the board,
and have students correct their written contraction if necessary.
• Check for understanding: Have students work with a partner to find and highlight all the
contractions in the book. Have students write somewhere on the page the two original words
that were joined to form the contraction. Invite volunteers to share a word with the rest of the
class, and have other students give a thumbs-up signal if the word is a contraction.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the contractions worksheet.
If time allows, discuss their answers.
Word Work: Color words
• Have students turn to page 11 and identify the color of the sand on this beach. Then, ask
students to point to the word pink on the page. Have them share with a partner how they
know that the word is pink.
• Remind students that pink is a color word. Review with students that color words are words that
identify colors. Have students look through the book and count the number of color words they
find (thirteen, including section titles and whitest).
• Have students discuss with a partner the colors they see in the pictures. Call on random students
to share a color, and record it on the board using a marker or chalk of the same color.
• Read a color word from the board and have students repeat. Brainstorm with students to
generate a list of objects of that color. Record the names of the objects beneath the appropriate
color word. Repeat this process with the other color words on the board.
• Check for understanding: Have students work with a partner to choose four color words from the
board and create oral sentences for each one. Ask students to draw a picture for one of the
sentences they made and color it with the color described in the sentence. Invite volunteers to
share their picture with the class.

Build Fluency
Independent Reading
• Allow students to read their book independently. Additionally, partners can take turns reading
parts of the book to each other.

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 Level I
Lesson Plan (continued) Amazing Beaches
Home Connection
• Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.
Have them discuss the connections they made to the book with someone at home.

Extend the Reading

Informational Writing Connection
Have students choose a location they think is amazing (not a beach). Ask them to draw a picture
of their chosen spot with as much detail as they can remember. Then, have students write one
sentence identifying their location, two sentences describing it, and one sentence explaining why
their place is amazing.
Visit WritingA–Z.com for a lesson and leveled materials on informational writing.

Social Studies Connection

Provide a blank world map to students. Have students work in groups to mark on the map the
location of each beach from the book. Allow them to color their map. Assign each group one
location from the map and have them research the area surrounding the beach. Ask groups to
find information on the state (where applicable), country, and continent of the beach. Then, have
students learn about the language and customs of that region. Have groups create a poster that
displays the information they gathered and present it to the class.

Skill Review
Discussion cards covering comprehension skills and strategies not explicitly taught with the book
are provided as an extension activity. The following is a list of some ways these cards can be used
with students:
• Use as discussion starters for literature circles.
• Have students choose one or more cards and write a response, either as an essay
or as a journal entry.
• Distribute before reading the book and have students use one of the questions
as a purpose for reading.
• Cut apart and use the cards as game cards with a board game.
• Conduct a class discussion as a review before the book quiz.

Assessment
Monitor students to determine if they can:
• consistently use the strategy of visualizing to understand text during discussion
• accurately compare and contrast information from the book during discussion
and on a worksheet
• consistently discriminate initial consonant /g/ sound and /j/ sound during discussion
• accurately write the letter symbol that represents the /g/ sound and /j/ sound during
discussion and on a worksheet
• correctly form and use contractions during discussion and on a worksheet
• accurately use color words during discussion and in oral sentences

Comprehension Checks
• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric

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