Level

Allie and Ollie

Lesson Plan
About the Book
Text Type: Fiction/Realistic

Page Count: 10

Word Count: 50

Book Summary

Allie and Ollie are dogs, but they think they are people. How can
dogs and people be alike? Read this story about two cute dogs
and find out. This book provides the opportunity for students
to compare and contrast as well as visualize as they read. Highfrequency words and repetitive phrases make this book perfect
for beginning readers. Illustrations support the text.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy
Visualize

Objectives

Use the reading strategy of visualizing to understand and remember story events
Compare and contrast
Segment syllables
Initial consonant Dd
Identify and use compound subjects
Understand how to alphabetize words

Materials
Green text indicates resources available on the website

BookAllie and Ollie (copy for each student)

Chalkboard or dry erase board
Compare and contrast, initial consonant Dd, compound subject worksheets
Discussion cards
Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may be
demonstrated by projecting book on interactive whiteboard or completed with
paper and pencil if books are reused.)

Vocabulary
High-frequency words: and, are, just, like, they
Content words: Allie, chase, dogs, Ollie, people, sisters

Before Reading
Build Background
Write the word people on the board and point to the word as you read it aloud to students.
Repeat the process and have students say the word aloud.
Ask students to name some things that people do each day. Make a list on the board.

Book Walk
Introduce the Book
Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask what
they think they might read about in a book called Allie and Ollie. (Accept all answers that
students can justify.)
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Allie and Ollie

Lesson Plan (continued)

Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, authors name,
illustrators name).
Write the following sentence on the board: Allie and Ollie ____ like people. Read the sentence
aloud, pointing to the words as you read them. Next, have students read the sentence aloud.
Explain that these words repeat throughout the book.

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Visualize

Explain that good readers often visualize, or make pictures in their mind, as they read. Readers
often use what they already know about a topic to make the pictures in their mind.
Model how to visualize.
Think-aloud: As I read, I look at the pictures and think about what I have read. Then I make a
picture in my mind about what I have just read. For example, when I read the words Allie and
Ollie, I picture two small white dogs that look almost exactly alike. I picture them running and
playing together. I will continue to visualize as I read the rest of the story.
Read page 3 aloud to students. Have them close their eyes and listen as you read. Ask them to
make a picture in their mind, or visualize, as you read. After you have read page 3, ask students
to share what they visualized. Make a list on the board or chart paper. Then show students the
picture in the book. Explain that the picture in their mind might be different from the picture
in the story, and the picture in the story doesnt always show everything told in the words
they read.
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 understand and organize new information in a book is to
explain how objects are alike and different. Write the words compare and contrast on the board.
Point out that explaining how things are alike is called comparing, and explaining how things are
different is called contrasting. Write the word alike under compare and the word different under
contrast on the board.
Draw a Venn diagram on the board. Label the left side Dogs and the right side Cats.
Model how to compare and contrast using these animals.
Think-aloud: I can compare and contrast dogs and cats by thinking about how they are alike and
different. I know that dogs bark and cats meow. I will write bark on the Venn diagram under
the Dogs heading and meow under the Cats heading to show one way these two objects are
different. I know that dogs and cats are both animals. I will write animals on the diagram where
the circles overlap to show one way that dogs and cats are alike.
Invite students to suggest other ways that dogs and cats are the same and different. Write
student responses on the Venn diagram under the appropriate headings.

Introduce the Vocabulary

While previewing the book, reinforce the vocabulary words students will encounter in the story.
For example, while looking at the picture on page 5, you might say: It looks as though Allie and
Ollie think they are people.
Remind students to look at the pictures and the letters with which a word begins or ends to
figure out a difficult word. For example, point to the word sleep on page 9 and say: I am going
to check the picture and think about what would make sense to figure out this word. The
picture shows that Allie and Ollie rest like people in small beds. When I look at the first part
of the word, it starts with /sl/. However, the word rest starts with the /r/ sound, so this cant be
the word. I know that another word for rest is sleep. The word sleep starts with the /sl/ sound.
I also hear the /p/ sound at the end of sleep. The sentence makes sense with this word. The
word must be sleep.

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Level

Allie and Ollie

Lesson Plan (continued)

Set the Purpose

Have students read to find out how Allie and Ollie are like people and how they are different
from people. Remind students to visualize as they read.

During Reading
Student Reading
Guide the reading: Give students their copy of the book. Have a volunteer point to the first word
on page 3 (Allie). Point out to students where to begin reading on each page. Remind them to
read the words from left to right.
Ask students to place their finger on the page number in the bottom corner of the page. Have
them read to the end of page 5 using their finger to point to each word as they read. Encourage
students who finish before others to reread the text.
Model visualizing.
Think-aloud: On page 5, after reading about Allie and Ollie and looking at the picture, I imagine
the dogs sitting close to their owner, dressed in tiny sweaters. They almost appear to be smiling
with their mouths open.
Invite students to share how they used the text and pictures to visualize.
Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 8. Encourage them to share what
they visualized as they read. (Accept all answers that show students understand how to visualize.)
Introduce and explain the compare-and-contrast worksheet. Have student pairs discuss how dogs
and people are alike and different using the information from the book and the list made in the
Build Background section of the lesson.
Think-aloud: I read that Allie and Ollie eat like people. I know that both dogs and people can eat.
I will write the word eat in the center section of the Venn diagram to show one way that dogs
and people are alike. I also know one way that people and dogs are different. Dogs bark and
people talk. I will write these words on the diagram as well.
Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to visualize and think about how
dogs and people might be alike and different as they read.
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: When I read page 10, I thought about how Allie and Ollie did many things like
people. I pictured them sleeping in small beds and eating from plates. Then I pictured them
running through the yard chasing a cat up the tree, just like dogs.
Have students select a favorite page from the story and draw a picture of what they visualized
after reading it. Invite them to share and explain their picture with the rest of the class.
Ask students to explain how visualizing helped them to understand and remember the story.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

Discussion: Review the meanings of compare and contrast, as well as the Venn diagrams created
earlier in the lesson.
Independent practice: Have students complete the compare-and-contrast worksheet. If time allows,
discuss their answers.

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Level

Allie and Ollie

Lesson Plan (continued)

Enduring understanding: In the story, Allie and Ollie did many things just like people. The dogs did
many things just like their owners. In the end, they were just like dogs because they chased a cat
up a tree. Now that you know this information, why is it important to think about the needs
a pet might have before you get one?

Build Skills
Phonological Awareness: Segment syllables
Say the word people. Tell students that you are going to count the syllables, or parts of the word.
Repeat the word, clapping on each syllable. Tell students that you clapped two times because
there are two parts to the word. Use clapping to demonstrate syllables for the following words:
dogs, sisters, Allie.
Ask students to say the word Ollie and clap for each syllable they hear in the word.
Check for understanding: Say the following words, one at a time, and have students clap the
syllables: sleeping, eating, cats, run.

Phonics: Initial consonant Dd

Write the word dog on the board and say it aloud with students.
Have students say the /d/ sound aloud. Then run your finger under the letters in the word as
students say the word aloud. Ask students which letter stands for the /d/ sound in the word dog.
Check for understanding: Write the following words that have the /d/ sound on the board, leaving
off the initial d: den, dip, down. Say each word, one at a time, and have volunteers come to the
board and add the initial consonant d in each word. Have students practice blending the sounds
together to say each word.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the initial consonant
d worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Grammar and Mechanics: Compound subject

Write the following sentence on the board: Allie and Ollie are sisters. Read the sentence aloud
with students.
Review or explain that the subject of a sentence is who or what the sentence is about. Ask
students who or what the story is about (Allie and Ollie). Say: The sentences in this story are
about Allie and Ollie. This story is about two dogs, so the subject is called a compound subject.
Reread the sentence aloud to students. Emphasize the words Allie and Ollie.
Have students locate and underline all the compound subjects in the story. Have them read
the sentences to a partner.
Check for understanding: Have students get together with a partner and make a sentence using
both of their names. Ask volunteers to name the compound subject in each oral sentence.
Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the compound subject
worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Word Work: Alphabetical order

Review or explain to students that words are sometimes placed in a list by alphabetical order.
Words are placed in alphabetical order by first looking at the beginning letter in each word and
then deciding which letter comes first in the alphabet.
Write the words Allie and Ollie on the board. Underline the first letter in each word. Ask students
which letter comes first in the alphabet, a or o. Explain that the word Allie would come first in an
alphabetical list.
Write the words like and just on the board. Have students identify the initial letter in each word
(l and j). Ask them to identify which letter comes first in the alphabet (j). Explain that the word
just would come first in an alphabetical list.

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Level

Allie and Ollie

Lesson Plan (continued)

Check for understanding: List these content vocabulary words in the following order on the board:
dogs, people, chase, sisters, and run. Have students write the words in alphabetical order on
a separate piece of paper. When they have finished, discuss their answers.

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

Home Connection
Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. Have
students explain to someone at home what they visualized as they read the story. Have them
explain how dogs and people are alike and different.

Extend the Reading

Realistic Fiction Writing Connection
Have students draw a picture of an animal doing something that a person can also do. Then have
them write a sentence to tell about their picture.

Math Connection
Discuss with students some types of animals that might make good pets. Make a list of pets that
students have. Use this information to make a pet graph. Have students poll other grades or other
classes about the pets they have. Make other graphs to show this information.

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:

accurately and consistently visualize during discussion to understand and remember story events
accurately compare and contrast during discussion and on a worksheet
accurately segment syllables during discussion
identify and write the letter symbol that stands for initial consonant /d/ sound during discussion
and on a worksheet
accurately identify and understand the use of compound subjects during discussion and on
a worksheet
understand how to place words in alphabetical order on a separate piece of paper

Comprehension Checks
Book Quiz
Retelling Rubric
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