In this "Dragon Days:  5 Day Reading Comprehension Camp," students will meet daily for 1 week to listen to and discuss new books about dragons and the knights who love them!   We will focus on reading comprehension, writing, fluency, speaking, and listening.  These fun, colorful books are certain to be loved by your child as they listen to stories that might help them see dragons (and themselves!) with a whole new perspective!  

Students at this age are learning to be good readers.  Good readers use prior knowledge, make predictions, summarize, question, infer, visualize, and make inferences.  It is important for children to be able to comprehend what they read--but HOW does that happen?  Students must apply literal, inferential, and evaluative skills to answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions based on the text.  In this class, we will focus on characterization and cause/effect while we will practice answering the 5 W's + H (how).  Students will review new vocabulary, make predictions, and make connections while reading each story.

During the 45 minute class:
• Students will be welcomed to class.  We will quickly review the class rules, our learning goals, and writing prompts together as a class.  
• Students will listen to a "dragon story" and discuss plot details and characteristics of fairy tales.  We will focus on characterization and compare/contrasting with similar tales.  Students will review the 5 W’s + an H (who, what, when, where, why, how) of comprehension as I ask questions.
• Students will then be given approximately 20 minutes to respond to a writing prompt.  Younger children will draw a picture with details to respond to the prompt.  Teacher support will be available to all students during this time. Students should raise their hand if they have a question during this time.
• Once the independent writing time is over, students may share their writing with the class.  Sharing is optional but encouraged. 
• As a class, we will review the material covered in the mini lesson and I will answer any questions prior to dismissing the class. 

Book Sequence:
Day 1:  Take Care, Good Knight by Shelley Moore Thomas
Day 2:  Not Your Typical Dragon by Dan Bar-el
Day 3:  The Dragon Hunters by James Russell
Day 4:  My Father's Dragon by Ruth Styles Gannett
Day 5:  The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie dePaola

(NOTE:  Children learn vocabulary, sequencing, and prediction skills through repetition of stories.  If you feel your child would benefit from hearing the story again, I would love to have them join me in additional sections of the class!)