Pinky and Rex and the Just Right Pet Lesson Plan

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Subject Area: Language Arts

Reading Level: 2.0

Book Summary
It's time for Pinky's family to get a pet. Unfortunately, Pinky wants a dog while the rest of the family wants a cat. At first Pinky is unhappy with the family pet selection…until the new cat worms its way into his affections.

Objective
Students will become comfortable with the chapter-book format and develop reading strategies.
Standard: Students will practice using meaning clues (e.g. pictures, picture captions, title, cover, heading, story structure, story topic) to aid comprehension and make predictions about content (e.g. action, events, character's behavior).

Before Reading
What's in a Title?
What might the title mean?

1. Hold up Pinky and Rex and the Just-Right Pet so that your students can examine its cover art.
   
2. If your students are not familiar with the Pinky and Rex series, tell them a little bit about the two friends, or share a different Pinky and Rex book to introduce the characters.
   
3. Ask your students to look at the artwork carefully. What emotions are displayed on Pinky's face? How about Rex? Amanda?
   
4. After each student has had a chance to study the cover (and armed with knowledge of Pinky and Rex), ask each to write a brief paragraph about the possible plot of the book.
   
5. Ask each student to read his or her invented plot aloud to the class.
   
6. Keep the plots and, if possible, review them after reading the story. Who came closest to the actual plot? Whose alternate plot is most interesting?

Teaching Plan

Activities

Picture This!
Help your students come up with their own picture clues.

1. Distribute paper and crayons to your students.
   
2. Ask each student to choose a favorite chapter from Pinky and Rex and the Just-Right Pet. Have each student read his or her own selected chapter to him- or herself.
   
3. Ask each student to create a new illustration for the chapter, one that pictures a different scene than that presented in the book.
   
4. When they are finished, have each student present his or her artwork. If feasible, have the rest of the class guess which moment has been re-illustrated.
   
5. Post students' artwork on a classroom bulletin board.

The Pet That I Want
Have students practice their storytelling abilities

1. Ask each student to choose a favorite pet.
   
2. Next, have each write a short story about acquiring the pet. If any student already has a pet at home, he or she may simply retell the story of how they ended up with that animal.
   
3. Have students divide their stories into short chapters.
   
4. Ask students to provide one illustration for each chapter of their story.
   
5. Read the stories aloud to your class. Post the finished stories on a classroom bulletin board.

More Pinky and Rex Chapter Books
by James Howe
Pinky and Rex's adventures delight young readers again and again. Their engaging text and inviting pictures encourage emergent readers and foster confidence and skill mastery.
Pinky and Rex
Pinky and Rex Get Married
Pinky and Rex and the Spelling Bee
Pinky and Rex and the Mean Old Witch
Pinky and Rex Go to Camp
Pinky and Rex and the New Baby
Pinky and Rex and the Double-Dad Weekend
Pinky and Rex and the Bully
Pinky and Rex and the New Neighbors
Pinky and Rex and the School Play
Pinky and Rex and the Perfect Pumpkin

Other Books by James Howe
Bunnicula (with Deborah Howe)
Howliday Inn
The Celery Stalks at Midnight
Nighty-Nightmare
Return to Howliday Inn
Bunnicula Strikes Again
There's a Monster Under My Bed
There's a Dragon in My Sleeping Bag

Teaching Plan Written by Rebecca Gomez

ARTICLE	Presidential Best Friends: Lesson Plan based on First Pets: Presidential Best Friends, by Nell Fuqua Activity that will allow students to research fun facts about the pets of U.S. Presidents.