4. The Little Star

The lesson, step by step

1. Warm up

   Have your child reread a few lines of Lesson III, for example:

   Dear Santa Claus:

   Praise smooth reading and help with any word that sticks.

2. New words

   Point to the new words at the top of the lesson:

   above world dark oft never spark dew till diamond twinkle blazing

   Say each word and have your child say it after you. Clap the parts of long words. Then point to words in any order and let your child read them.

3. Read it aloud

   Look at the page together first. Then your child reads the poem aloud, a line at a time. Pause a little at the end of each line.

   Here are a few lines from it:

   Twinkle, twinkle, little star;

   How I wonder what you are!

   Read it a second time, more smoothly.

4. Talk about it

   SayWhat does the child in the poem wonder about?

   SayWhere is the star? What is it like?

   SayHow does the star help people on a dark night?

   SayListen for rhymes: star and are. Can you find more rhyming words in the poem?

   Let your child look back at the page to find answers.

5. Tell it back

   Close the book.

   SayTell me what the poem says about the little star. You can sing the first verse, too.

   Let your child talk without stopping them. Afterward, help with anything left out by asking "What happened next?"

6. Copywork

   Write this lines from the lesson for your child to copy, or let them copy it straight from the book:

   Twinkle, twinkle, little star;

   How I wonder what you are!

   Check capital letters, commas and the mark at the end.

7. Spelling

   Say each word, use it in a short sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: star, dark, never, world.

   Check together and fix any mistakes right away.