The cow was in a silly mood.
“I will have fun soon,” she said.
Then she tiptoed
to the sheep.
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The Boo Cow
By Janice Behrens
From the May/June 2024 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will decode words with the vowel team /oo/ and understand the sequence of events in a story.
Lexiles: 340L
Word List: boo, cool, coop, foot, good, hoot, look, moo, mood, rooster, snooze, soon, spook, stood, yahoo
High Frequency Words: away, said, she, that, was
Challenge Words: animals, doodle-doo, silly, stamped, yoo-hoo
Common Core Standards
TEKS Standards
“I made him jump,”
said the cow.
“That was cool.”
The cow tiptoed to the pig.
“Yahoo!” said the cow.
“That was good.”
The cow tiptoed to the hen.
“Look!” said the cow. “The hen
ran away too. What a hoot!”
All the animals had run away.
Only the rooster was left.
He stood on the chicken coop.
“Yoo-hoo!” called the cow.
“Where are all the animals?”
The rooster would not tell.
The cow stamped her foot.
“Oh well,” said the cow.
“Maybe I will just take
a snooze.” She lay down in
the cool grass. But soon . . .
From then on, the cow did not spook her friends.
She did not say boo. But she DID say . . .
Games
(1)
Activities
(2)
Skills Activities
Answer Key
(1)
More About the Article
English Language Arts Focus
Phonics and Phonological Awareness
Fluency
Phonics Focus
two sounds of /oo/
Word List
boo, cool, coop, foot, good, hoot, look, moo, mood, rooster, snooze, soon, spook, stood, yahoo
High Frequency Words
away, said, she, that, was
Challenge Words
animals, doodle-doo, silly, stamped, yoo-hoo
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Implementation
- Whole Group
- Small Group
- Technology Time: Students can listen and read along to the read-aloud of the article. They can also play the Nosey Digs Phonics game to reinforce phonics skills.
Pairings and Text Connections
- From the Storyworks archive: ”Silly Story: Please Pass the Peas” (February 2024)
- Suggested books: Matilda’s Bad Mood by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Kirsti Call; Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin; Interrupting Cow by Jane Yolen
Before-Reading Resources
- Word Sounds Slideshow (3 minutes)
Suggested Reading Focus
Phonics and Comprehension (20 minutes)
- Do a mini phonics lesson to review words with the /oo/ vowel team. Explain that words with the /oo/ vowel team can make a short sound or a long sound.
- One way to practice the /oo/ phonics skill is by completing a word sort. Label a T-chart with long /oo/ on one side and short /oo/ on the other. Practice saying each sound. Say the following words and guide students through sorting them: moo, look, soon, good, cool, hoot, foot, stood.
- Review high-frequency words from the story. Students can practice reading words with a partner, as a class, and individually.
- As children read, check comprehension: What kind of mood was the cow in? What did the cow think was cool? Why did the cow scare the pig, hen, and chicken? Why wouldn’t the rooster tell the cow where the animals were? What did the animals do to the cow? What lesson did the cow learn?
- Have students review the story and highlight /oo/ words. They can practice by reading the words aloud.
After-Reading Skills Practice
- Skills: Phonics (15 minutes)
Extension Activity
Skills: Writing (15 minutes)
- Have students draw a picture of a cow scaring them. When they’re done, they can use the following sentence starter to write about their picture: If a cow scared me, I would _____________.
Text-to-Speech