Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
Read-Aloud Lesson: Stellaluna
Reading Comprehension Unit: Stellaluna
Lesson Grade Level: 1st / 2nd
Common Core Standards Met: TBD
Learning Goal: Students will be able to identify key events in Stellaluna to determine the
theme of the story.
Materials Provided:
1. Detailed lesson plan
2. Graphic organizer for guided practice
3. Independent student worksheet
Materials Not Provided:
Stellaluna
Note To Teacher: The following lesson provides optional, suggested language for the teacher.
Part I: Teacher Modeling and Teacher-Led Questioning
Learning Goal: Students will be able to identify key events in Stellaluna to determine the theme
of the story.
Note to Teacher: This lesson is intended to be used while you read the book out loud to your
students. Ideally, this will be the second time you read this book to your students. The first
time, just read the book out loud to the class all the way through, without stopping.
1. Write the learning goal on the board (before class starts), then read the learning goal, out
loud, with the class.
2. Transition your students into the text:
Suggested language: “Have you ever seen a bat in a bird’s nest? Have you ever seen a bird
hanging upside down in a cave? How could a bat and a bird be friends? Let’s read and find out.”
3. Read pages 1-2, then stop. (Page 2 ends with “…she flew out to search for food.”)
4. Teacher asks students: “The author just introduced two characters in this story. Who are
they?”
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
Suggested student response (Have students answer using complete sentences): “They are
Mother Bat and her baby, Stellaluna.”
5. Teacher asks students: “What does the author tell us about them?”
Suggested student response: “The author tells us that they are fruit bats and fly at night.
Mother Bat loves Stellaluna and carries her as she searches for food.”
6. Read pages 3-5, then stop. (Page 5 ends with “…again she dropped.”)
7. Teacher asks self out loud: “The author writes that Stellaluna clutched a thin branch. I don’t
know what ‘clutched’ means. Again, the story says Stellaluna clutched a thin branch. I am going
to figure out what ‘clutched’ means by reading the sentence before and the sentence after.”
8. Teacher answers self out loud: “The author writes that ‘the dark leafy tangle of branches
caught Stellaluna as she fell,’ so we know that she’s no longer dropping through the air by the
time she’s clutching. And whatever clutching is, she’s doing it to a ‘thin branch.’ Her motion has
stopped, she has her wings wrapped around her, and she’s doing something to a thin branch. If
‘clutch’ means something like ‘hold onto,’ that would make sense here. Looking at the picture on
the facing page, holding onto a branch is exactly what Stellaluna appears to be doing.”
9. Teacher asks students: “Next we learn that Stellaluna is ‘trembling with cold and fear.’ Why
might she be feeling this way?”
Suggested student response: “Right after Stellaluna is described as being afraid, she calls
out for her mother. She is separated from her mother. She is a baby and is probably
frightened to be all by herself.”
10. Read pages 6-9, then stop. (Page 9 ends with “In dropped a big green grasshopper!”)
11. Teacher asks self: “The author writes, ‘Stellaluna was terribly hungry—but not for the crawly
things Mama Bird brought.’ I wonder why Stellaluna didn’t want to eat the crawly things?”
12. Teacher answers self out loud: “On page one the author told us Stellaluna is a fruit bat so
she would rather eat fruit than insects.”
13. Read pages 10-11, then stop. (Page 11 ends with “…fall and break your necks!”)
14. Teacher states out loud: “The author writes that ‘Stellaluna learned to be like the birds.’
When I read that Stellaluna is trying to be like the birds, I know that ‘to be like’ means that she
is trying to be similar to them or trying to fit in and act like the birds.”
15. Teacher asks students: “Give me examples from the text of how Stellaluna is trying to act
like a bird.”
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
Suggested student response: “She stayed awake all day and slept at night. She ate bugs
even though they tasted awful.”
16: Read pages 12-13, then stop. (Page 13 ends with “Stellaluna behaved as a good bird
should.”)
17. Teacher states out loud: “I’m going to take a close look at the picture of Mama Bird and
Stellaluna. It looks like Mama Bird is angry. I’m going to go back to the text to see why she
might be angry. Mama Bird says to Stellaluna, ‘You are teaching my children to do bad things.’
That’s why Mama Bird is angry at Stellaluna.”
18: Read pages 14-19, then stop. (Page 19 reads “How embarrassing!”)
19: Teacher states out loud: “The author just told us on the page before that Stellaluna tried to
make a graceful, or smooth, landing. Now look at the picture.”
20. Teacher asks students: “Does it look like Stellaluna made a smooth landing? How does the
illustration and text help you tell whether Stellaluna is landing gracefully like the birds?”
Suggested student response: “No, it doesn’t look like a smooth landing in the picture.”
21. Teacher states: “Yes, it’s clear in the illustration that Stellaluna did not make a smooth
landing. Also, the author wrote, ‘How embarrassing!’ because Stellaluna is embarrassed that she
did not make a smooth landing.”
22. Read pages 20-23, then stop. (Page 23 ends with “…birds went home without her.”)
23. Teacher asks students: “Why do the birds decide to go home when the sun sets?”
Suggested student response: “Flitter ‘warned’ that the sun was setting, which suggests
some kind of danger. Then Flap says that they will get lost in the dark if they don’t go
home.”
24. Read pages 24-29, then stop. (Page 29 ends with “You are my baby.”)
25. Teacher asks out loud: “When Stellaluna is hanging by her thumbs, is she hanging upside
down? Why or why not?”
Suggested student response: “Stellaluna is hanging right side up for a bird but upside
down for a bat.”
26. Read pages 30-31, then stop. (Page 31 ends with “…bug as long as you live.”)
27. Teacher asks out loud: “Why is Stellaluna afraid to fly at night?”
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
Suggested student response: “Stellaluna is afraid because she thinks that she and the
other bats will crash into trees if they fly in the dark.” Some students may also explain,
“Stellaluna has this fear because after staying awake all day and sleeping at night with the
birds, she doesn’t realize that she has the ability to see in the dark.”
28. Read pages 32-39, then stop. (Page 39 ends with “…limb above them.”)
29. Teacher asks students: “What happens to the birds when they try to fly at night?”
Suggested student response: “The birds can’t see anything. They’re about to crash until
Stellaluna swoops down and rescues them.”
30. Read pages 40-41, then stop. (Page 41 ends with “‘And that’s a fact.’”)
31. Teacher states out loud: “Stellaluna tried to fit in with the birds. However, when she flew
she could not land gracefully. She didn’t like eating bugs and slept upside down. She preferred
to be active at night and sleep during the day. On the other hand, the birds landed gracefully on
branches when they flew. The birds ate insects and slept at night.”
32. Teacher asks students: “Is Stellaluna just like the birds or different from them? Explain your
answer.”
Suggested student response: “Stellaluna shares a few similarities with the birds, because
both Stellaluna and the birds have wings and can fly. However, Stellaluna and the birds
are also quite different. The birds sleep in a nest, whereas Stellaluna sleeps hanging
upside down. The birds like to eat bugs but Stellaluna likes to eat fruit. In addition,
Stellaluna can see in the dark while the birds can only see well during the daytime.”
33. Teacher asks students: “Despite their differences, how do Stellaluna, Pip, Flitter, and Flap
feel about each other at the end of the story?”
Suggested student response: “Despite the differences between Stellaluna and these three
birds, they’re friends. They may not understand how they can be so different and similar
at the same time, but they recognize the friendship that exists among them.”
Part II: Guided Practice and Discussion
Note to Teacher:
Both completed and incomplete versions of the graphic organizer are provided.
This guided practice section is an important step to ensure that students understood the theme
of the story and were able to identify the most important information from the text.
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
Complete the graphic organizer (see the following page) with your students, out loud, as a whole
group based on the suggested questions below. Have a completed graphic organizer on the
board and reveal each answer one at a time as students provide the correct response.
1. Teacher asks students: “Where does the story Stellaluna take place?”
Suggested student response: “Stellaluna takes place in a warm, sultry (humid) forest far,
far away.”
2. Teacher asks students: “Who is the story about?”
Suggested student response: “The story is about a fruit bat named Stellaluna. The other
characters are Mother Bat, the birds Flap, Pip, Flitter, and Mama Bird.”
3. Teacher asks students: “What is the big problem for Stellaluna in the story?”
Suggested student response: “The big problem for Stellaluna is that she becomes
separated from her mother and has to learn to live with the birds!”
4. Teacher asks students: “How does Stellaluna plan to solve the problem?”
Suggested student response: “To solve her problem, Stellaluna tries to live like the birds.”
5. Teacher asks students: “What happens as Stellaluna tries to solve her problem?”
Suggested student response: “She eats bugs, sleeps at night in a nest, and tries to land
gracefully after flying.”
6. Teacher asks students: “How does the story turn out? How is Stellaluna’s problem solved?”
Suggested student response: “Stellaluna’s problem is solved when a group of bats
discover her. She is reunited with her mother and starts living like a bat. Despite this
change, she maintains her friendship with Pip, Flitter, and Flap.”
7. Teacher asks students: “How does Stellaluna feel during different parts of the story?”
Suggested student response: “When she is separated from her mother, Stellaluna is
afraid. When trying to fit in with the birds, she feels embarrassed because she cannot land
like the birds. When she is reunited with her mother and the bats, she seems happy to be
with them and living like other bats. At the end of the story, she feels a strong friendship
with the birds.”
8. Teacher asks students: “What lesson do Stellaluna and the young birds learn over the course
of the story?”
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
Suggested student response: “Strong friendships can develop regardless of differences.”
Note to Teacher: After the answers for the graphic organizer have been completed and discussed
with the class, ask and discuss the following extension question:
1. Teacher asks students: “What happens to the three young birds at the end of the story?”
Suggested student response: “The birds learn a little about what it means to be a fruit
bat. They try hanging upside down among bats and flying at night. They experience a
little of what Stellaluna must have felt when she was living with them. They recognize that
they and Stellaluna are different and similar at the same time.”
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (Literary)
Graphic Organizer Type: Story Grammar Frame
Story Grammar Frame
Story Title and Author: What is the title? Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
Setting: Where does the story Stellaluna take place?
Characters: Who is the story about?
Problem: What is the big problem for Stellaluna in the story?
Plan to solve the problem: How does Stellaluna plan to solve the problem?
Attempt(s) to solve the problem: What happens as Stellaluna tries to solve her problem?
Ending: How does the story turn out? How is Stellaluna’s problem solved?
Feelings: How does Stellaluna feel during different parts of the story?
Theme: What lesson do Stellaluna and the young birds learn over the course of the story?
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
Story Grammar Frame
Story Title and Author: What is the title? Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
Stellaluna is written and illustrated by Janell Cannon.
Setting: Where does the story Stellaluna take place?
Stellaluna takes place in a warm, sultry (humid) forest far, far away
Characters: Who is the story about?
The story is about a fruit bat named Stellaluna. The other characters are Mother Bat, the birds
Flap, Pip, Flitter, and Mama Bird.
Problem: What is the big problem for Stellaluna in the story?
The big problem for Stellaluna is that she becomes separated from her mother and has to learn
to live with the birds!
Plan to solve the problem: How does Stellaluna plan to solve the problem?
To solve her problem, Stellaluna tries to live like the birds.
Attempt(s) to solve the problem: What happens as Stellaluna tries to solve her problem?
She eats bugs, sleeps at night in a nest, and tries to land gracefully after flying.
Ending: How does the story turn out? How is Stellaluna’s problem solved?
Stellaluna’s problem is solved when a group of bats discover her. She is reunited with her
mother and starts living like a bat. Despite this change, she maintains her friendship with Pip,
Flitter, and Flap.
Feelings: How does Stellaluna feel during different parts of the story?
When she is separated from her mother, Stellaluna is afraid. When trying to fit in with the birds,
she feels embarrassed because she cannot land like the birds. When she is reunited with her
mother and the bats, she seems happy to be with them and living like other bats. At the end of
the story, she feels a strong friendship with the birds.
Theme: What lesson do Stellaluna and the young birds learn over the course of the story?
Strong friendships can develop regardless of differences.
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
Part III: Student Independent Practice
Note to Teacher:
Both the student question set and teacher answer sheet are provided.
This independent practice section is an important step to check for student understanding of the
text. It also serves to reinforce the learning goal. Students should be given time to
independently complete the question set. Ideally, there will be a thorough review of the
completed question set so that the teacher has the opportunity to provide corrective feedback to
students as needed.
Discussion Guide
Teacher Guide & Answers
To the Teacher: Use the text-dependent questions below to facilitate a whole class discussion
to ensure students comprehend the text.
1. What happens to Stellaluna at the beginning of the story?
Suggested answer: At the beginning of the story, an owl attacks Mother Bat and
Stellaluna. Mother Bat then drops Stellaluna, who falls and eventually lands in a bird’s
nest.
2. Describe one challenge Stellaluna experiences when she is living with the baby birds and
Mama Bird.
Suggested answer: Answers will vary. One challenge Stellaluna experiences while living
with Mama Bird and the baby birds is that Stellaluna had to eat bugs, though she is a fruit
bat. In addition, while she can fly like the baby birds, Stellaluna can’t land like the baby
birds and she feels embarrassed. Furthermore, Mama Bird makes Stellaluna sleep with the
baby birds in the nest, instead of hanging upside-down by her feet.
3. How does Stellaluna’s life change after the other bats and her mother find her?
Suggested answer: Stellaluna starts to live like a bat instead of a bird. She eats fruit
instead of bugs, realizes she can fly at night, and goes back to sleeping upside down.
4. What lesson do Stellaluna and the young birds learn in the story?
Suggested answer: Strong friendships can develop regardless of big differences.
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
Directions: You have been provided with a sentence based on the text. Break down the
sentence and write the key words or phrases that best complete the question words below. The
first question has been completed for you.
One night an owl attacked Mother Bat and Stellaluna in the sky.
What? an owl
5. (did) What? attacked Mother Bat and Stellaluna
6. Where? in the sky
7. When? one night
8. Read the following sentence: “Wrapping her wings about her, she clutched the thin branch,
trembling with cold and fear.”
What does the word clutched mean?
A jumped down from
B climbed on top of
C held onto
D fell off of
9. Stellaluna was very hungry, ________ she didn’t want to eat the crawly things that Mama
Bird brought to the nest.
A but
B because
C so
10. Stellaluna was raised like a bird, _______ she thought that she would crash into a tree if
she tried to fly at night.
A but
B because
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Unit: Stellaluna Lesson Type: ReadAloud
C so
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© 2012 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved.