During this close reading lesson, students will analyze the text Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. The students will determine the central message and gain insight from valuable lessons that enhance the character development throughout the story. The students will be encouraged to ask and answer open-ended and text-dependent questions. The students will also have opportunities in this lesson to practice other comprehension strategies such as making predictions and inferences, determining importance, and making connections to characters and text. To apply the concepts learned the students will use evidence from the text to write an opinion paragraph explaining the lesson learned and then proving that lesson's importance in the characters' lives.