Clark the Shark Lesson Ideas featuring ideas for Reading, writing, math, and center activities too. Download the free editable lesson plan template!
Clark the Shark Close Read
Clark the Shark is a great book to introduce to your students early in the year. Clark is big and rough and he has a hard time with his friends.
Can you think of a really enthusiastic student who might benefit from these gentle reminders?
In the end, Clark learns how to be gentle with his friends.
Clark the Shark Lesson Ideas – Reading Comprehension
In our, Engaging Readers units, students spend a week with a book. During this time, the teacher will read Clark the Shark to the class and do the decoding work, while the students are asked to do the comprehension work.
Character Analysis – Clark the Shark
We ask the students to consider these questions:
Knowing the characters helps readers understand what they are reading. You can get to know the characters by thinking about how they look and the things that they do and say.
- Discuss how Clark acts at the beginning of the book.
- Discuss how he feels at the end of the book.
- Discuss whether the students think the new kid will stay “cool at school.”
Retelling the Story – Clark the Shark
We also know that primary students need a lot of practice retelling the story and including text details. So each week we practice telling the story. This is done as a whole group activity with students discussing the text details and events in Clark the Shark with their partners. Then students work on their own retelling.
Inferring – Clark the Shark
We also know that students can practice sophisticated skills like inferring. Here is the prompt we used for that skill.
- How do you think Clark is feeling?
- What evidence from the text makes you think this?
Clark the Shark Close Reading
You can not do justice to a close read without the book. However, there are advantages for students do hear a different example of reading fluency. That’s when we love to include a video version of the book. We encourage teachers to limit the video use to just once a week.
Clark the Shark Craft
Students complete the Clark the Shark craft then added our sentence study. In sentence study, we look for various print concepts. We also do a little grammar work. The directions for this craft are also included in our Engaging Readers Comprehension units. Click here to find this craft and all of the reading comprehension activities to go with Clark the Shark:
Other Center Ideas for the Week
Here are a few other center ideas.
Writing Center for October
This is an older picture and the unit has been updated, but you can get an idea of what the writing center looks like.
You can find this writing center by clicking:
Write the Room for October
Students love getting up and moving about the room. Here are a few photos from the October Write the Room set.
You can find these by clicking:
Sentence Center
This pocket chart sentence center was a staple in my room. Students work on building sentences then writing them.
You can find these by clicking:
Clark the Shark Lesson Ideas and Plan Template
You can download this free template by clicking HERE.
Do you need help in editing these visual lesson plans? Click: Tech Support for Teachers
Want to see other lesson plans like this?
To see additional Lesson Plan Posts like this, click HERE.
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- How to introduce stations at the beginning of the year
- What does a guided reading lesson look like
- Literacy station ideas
- Math station ideas
- Early Finishers “I’m DONE!”
- Writers workshop nuts and bolts
- Reading workshop nuts and bolts
- Math workshop questions answered
- Classroom behavior and expectations
- Organizing for Instruction (click HERE to view)
6 Responses
Hi Dee Dee, where do you sell the work for Clark the Shark? I see it in you weekly plans, but don’t see what bundle it belongs to. Thank you!
Yes, the lessons are hyperlinked in the blog post and in the lesson plans. You just need to click on the links. You can find them in the Engaging Readers Aug/Sept units (Set 2). They are in Deanna Jump’s store. Here is the link again.
Thank you!
You are welcome!
Hi Deedee! Do you bundle your Weekly Curriculums? I see Week 3 and Week 28 and some other random weeks, but if I wanted to download ALL the weeks, do you have a bundle for that? Or do I need to search harder on your TPT site for all the weeks?
I’m sorry I don’t but if you click on this link, you will be able to see what I have available: