Image of Nosey speaking to student, "Hi, my name is Nosey. Woof!"
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How-To Text,

How to Make a New Friend

There are different ways to make a friend. This is Nosey’s favorite.

From the September 2024 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will discover how to make a new friend by reading a how-to article. 

Lexiles: 170L
Featured Skill: Key Details,
Topic: SEL,
Common Core Standards
  • RF.1.1 Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print RF.1.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words RI.1.3 Describe the connection between two ideas or pieces of information in a text RI.1.5 Know and use text features to locate key facts or information in a text SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with peers and adults
TEKS Standards
  • Health
    (3) Mental health and wellness—social and emotional health. The student identifies and applies strategies to develop socio-emotional health, self-regulation, and healthy relationships. The student is expected to: (E) describe ways to build and maintain friendships.

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Nosey's Tip: You may feel nervous. That is OK. Take a deep breath, and try these steps.

Step 1: Say “hello,” and say your name.

Step 2: Ask their name.

Step 3: Ask them to do something.

Step 4: Let others join in.

video (2)
video (2)
Activities (2)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
video (2)
video (2)
Activities (2) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)

More About the Article

English Language Arts Focus

Sequencing

Nonfiction text features

Social and Life Skills Focus

Relationship skills

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

  • Whole group
  • Small group
  • Morning meeting

Pairings and Text Connections

  • In this issue: “Big Read-Aloud: The Lonely Little Horse” ;“Early Reader Fiction: Yeti and Unicorn” 

Before-Reading Resources

  • Video: How-to Writing (5 minutes) Learn how to read nonfiction how-to writing.

Suggested Reading Focus

Reading how-to texts/Relationship skills (20 minutes)

  • Preview the article with students. Explain that it is a how-to text. Ask students what they notice about the text. What are how-to texts for? (They teach us how to do something.)

  • Tell children that the article teaches how to make a new friend. Have a volunteer come up and act out each step with you. Read through each step aloud. 

  • Next, read the article again. This time, have volunteers read for each different part of the section. Have students turn and talk to a partner after each step to act it out. 
  • Before closing the lesson, ask students how it felt to introduce themselves to someone and ask them to play. Where or when might they try out this new skill in real life?

After-Reading Skills Practice

  • Skills: Writing

Text-to-Speech