Beating the Drought 6-pack Author: Diana Noonan ISBN: 9780478122954 Copyright Date: 1999 Lesson Plan Blackline Master Grade Level: 3 Reading Level: N Strategy/Skill: Dialogue, Prior knowledge, Summarizing, Text structure Genre: General Narrative Theme/Topic: Family, Humor, Plants Classification: Fiction

Book Summary

In an effort to keep his prize pumpkin alive during the water restrictions, Grandpa carries the art of water recycling to an extreme, driving his family crazy in the process.

Features of the Book

• The humor in the illustrations
• The twist in the story on page 30
• The use of inference – “That’s it,” said Mom, gazing at the television. “Everyone has to share the bathwater.”
• Compound words – bathwater, wastewater, wheelbarrow, everything, everyone
• Contractions – that’s, we’re, can’t, there’ll
• Verbs – groaned, switched, mumbled
• Specialized vocabulary – drought, sprinkler

Purpose

Beating the Drought can be used to introduce and reinforce the following skills:

• using prior knowledge to anticipate meaning and to make sense of the text
• recognizing the distinguishing features of narratives – plot, characters, setting, and theme
• demonstrating comprehension by identifying answers in the text
• exploring the conventions of direct speech
• recognizing the main idea and retelling the events of the story in order

For more information please see our Lesson Plan