Sample Launch Focus Lesson 

Lesson Topic	Choosing Books that Make Us Feel Strong as Readers
Materials	Excerpts from texts for you to model reading and thinking aloud: one that is an appropriate choice and one that is not just right for you Student independent reading books Post-It notes and pens or pencils
Connection ​Set the tone. Link the new teaching to ongoing work and NAME THE TEACHING POINT. “Today I want to teach you…”	Readers, do you remember a few weeks ago, at the very beginning of the school year, when we talked about what reading is and why we read? You all had so many great ideas about why you read and how to do your best reading. Sometimes though, readers have trouble making sense of their books. And it isn’t because they aren’t smart or aren’t good enough. Readers may struggle to understand the book they are reading if they haven’t chosen the appropriate book. You’d have trouble going out for a run in a pair of shoes that were too big or too small for you; the same goes for reading! ​Today I want to teach you that it is important that readers choose books that make them feel strong as readers, books that allow them to do their best reading work.
Explicit Instruction Show them exactly how to do what is being taught.	Just like a runner will have a bad run if they are not wearing the right size shoes, a reader can have a “bad read” if they are not reading the right kind of book. Remember, reading is about making meaning and understanding, and if you are not understanding what you are reading, that book is not helping you grow as a reader. You want to be sure that the books you pick help you feel strong, that you understand the words that are in the book and the story that is being told. Let me show you what I mean.   Model by reading aloud from a book or article that is outside your experience and not an appropriate choice. Think aloud about how you feel when you are reading the selection (frustrated, unsure, etc…). Then read aloud from a text that is an appropriate choice. Think aloud, comparing the feelings of reading both selections.
Guided Practice Ask them to try out what has been taught, either independently or collaboratively. Coach into the work.	Now you’re going to get a chance to reflect, to really think about whether the book you are currently reading is one that makes you feel strong as a reader. How do you feel when you are reading it? Does it make you feel good, like you understand what is going on and you want to read more? Or is it a little frustrating? Think, and then jot down your thinking on the Post-It notes that you have with you.   After students have had a chance to take notes, have them share, either with partners or small groups or even as a whole class.
Send Off Transition students from the lesson to independent work.	It is ALWAYS important that you are reading a book that makes you feel strong as a reader, a book that you can understand and make sense of. If you find that you are not in that kind of book, it is so important that you make a change. If you feel like you need to make that change today, stay on the rug with me once independent reading begins, and we can talk through it together.