Summary Near a jungle in Southeast Asia, four crocodile friends are constantly being tricked by a mouse deer named Kanchil. It seems that whatever the crocodiles do, they become victims of one of Kanchil’s jokes. Budi, the head crocodile, promises never to be fooled by Kanchil again. He tries and tries to catch Kanchil, but with no success. Budi finally succeeds at tricking Kanchil’s friend Kade, a water buffalo. Kade is in danger of becoming a delicious crocodile meal until Kanchil proves once again that he can always outwit Budi.

Objectives FLUENCYStudents will:• Buildfluencythroughecho-reading,choral-reading,andrepeatedreading

• Readwithappropriatestressoremphasis

• Readcommas

COMPREHENSIONStudents will:• Analyzecharacter• Compareandcontrast• Makeinferences• Makepredictions• Synthesize

WRITINGStudents will:• Writealettertoacharacterinthescript

GENREStudents will:• Identifyandanalyzefeaturesoffolktales

VOCABULARY AND WORD STUDYStudents will:• Buildvocabulary:crafty,hesitation,

salaam• Identifycolloquialisms• Useadjectives• Role-playwords

CHARACTER EDUCATIONStudentswilllearnabout:• Trustworthiness• Fairness

Kanchil Outsmarts the Crocodile

Teacher’s Guide

Reader’s Theater™for Fluency and Comprehension

LEVELS 20–38 K–P

World Folktales

Characters LevelsArti (AR-tee) K/20Santoso (san-TOH-so) L/24Budi (BOO-dee) N/30Kade (KAYD) N/30Kersen (KER-sehn) N/30Kanchil (KON-chil) P/38

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Build Background•Askstudentstoshareexperiencesin

which they have played a joke on someone, or when they have had a joke played on them. Ask them why the joke was being played and how they felt about the trick or joke. Discuss the characteristics of a person who plays tricks. Encourage students to consider positive characteristics, such as being smart, and perhaps negative ones, such as being unkind.

•UseaworldmaptopointoutMalaysiaandIndonesia.Explainthatthis is the area where the folktale they are about to read takes place.

•Displayphotographsofthetypesof animals in the script: a crocodile, a mouse deer, and a water buffalo. Discuss their physical characteristics, including their differing sizes.

Introduce the Script•Giveeachstudentacopyofthescript

andexplainthattheyaregoingtoreada folktale. Ask students to name other folktales they have read.

•Explainthatfolktalesoftenusecharacterssuchastalkinganimals.UsetheLearningAboutGenresidebartohelp teach characteristics of folktales.

•Tellstudentsthatthefolktaletheywillread has a trickster character, Kanchil. Trickstercharactersareoftensmallanimals that use their intelligence to defeat bigger, stronger animals.

•Readthetitleandbackcoverblurbwithstudents.Explainthatthewordoutsmarts means outwits or tricks. Ask students to predict how Kanchil might outsmart the crocodile.

See page 8 for English-Language Learner and Striving Reader Support.

Introduce Vocabulary• Introducetheglossarywords.Readthe

word crafty together. Ask students to give a thumbs-up if they have heard the word before and know what it means, a thumbs-down if they don’t know the word at all, or a thumbs-in-the-middle if they’ve heard the word before but don’t know the meaning.

Day One

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Copyright©2007BenchmarkEducationCompany,LLC.Allrightsreserved.Nopartoftheguidemaybereproducedortransmittedinwholeorinpartinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopy,recording,oranyinformationretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.

ISBN:978-1-4108-7189-3

• Include simple characters and language• Stories come from a particular culture

or belief• From an oral tradition handed down

over generations• Have a moral or lesson that is learned

Learning About Genre: Folktales

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•Readthedefinitionandthecontextsentence together. Ask students to use the word in an oral sentence.

•Repeattheprocessforhesitation and salaam.

•Pointouttheword“fellas” on page2.Explainthatthisisslang,ora colloquialism, for the word fellows. Tellstudentsthatcasualspeechsuchas this is used throughout the script. Forexample,Kersen’slineonpage6includesthephrase,“Itellya.”Kersenuses this phrase to emphasize the point he is making about Kanchil.

•Pointouttheword“pip-squeak”on page3.Tellstudentsthisisaname,often used unkindly, for someone who is very small.

•Askavolunteertoexplainthephrase“teensy-weensy,itsy-bitsy”(page16).

•Pointtowordsthatareusedtoindicate sounds that a character makes, forexample,“Heehee”and“Zzzzz”(page7),“Ptooey”and“Bleh”(page9),and“Ooof”and“ahhh”(page15).

See page 8 for English-Language Learner and Striving Reader Support.

Model Fluent ReadingAsk students to listen and follow along with you as you read the script aloud to modelfluencyandexpression.

Background Information

Kanchil—The Trickster

Trickstertalescomefromstorytellingtraditionsallaroundtheworld.Theyusually feature a main character that plays the parts of hero, prankster, and fool. Trickstersareusuallyanimalswithhumancharacteristics.Thecharactersintrickstertales often represent a single characteristic, such as slyness, greed, stupidity, intelligence, orsilliness.Thestoriesareoftenhumorous,with the main character defeating bigger, stronger animals using his wit and charm. Typicaltrickstercharactersincludethehare,the spider, and the tortoise from Africa; the foxfromJapan;andtheraven,thecoyote,and the rabbit from Native American stories.

ThetricksterKanchilisamousedeer,ananimal that appears in many Malaysian and Indonesian folktales. Mouse deer are about thesizeofcats.TheyliveinthejunglesofAfrica,Asia,andthePacificIslands.

In Kanchil Outsmarts the Crocodile, Kanchil, like other trickster characters, uses his wits to defeat animals that are much larger and morepowerfulthanhe.Otherfolktalesportray a mouse deer tricking a tiger and a farmer.

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Build Fluency: Echo-Read•Readthescriptaloud,andaskstudents

to echo-read, or repeat, the lines after you.Stopwherenecessarytoexplainunfamiliarwords—forexample,“trickery”(page2),“transport”(page3),“appreciates”(page4),“mischievous”(page11),“budge”and“appreciation”(page12),and“betraying”(page13).

•Pointoutthestagedirectionsinparentheses,forexample,“(arrogantly)”inBudi’ssecondlineonpage3.Explainthat these directions often tell the performer the appropriate emotion tousewhenreadingthelines.Guidestudents to understand the meaning of someofthedirections.Forexample,pointtotheword“arrogantly.”Explainthat Budi should read his line with an expressionthatshowshethinksheisveryimportant.Thenpointtotheword“humbly”inBudi’snextlineonpage3 andexplainthatBudishouldreadthis line as if he is not very important. Explainthatthechangeinthestagedirections shows that Kanchil’s words have affected Budi.

•Pointoutthatsomeofthestagedirections in parentheses tell the reader to whom they should speak. Ask studentstoturntopage6andpointtothefirstlinebySantoso.Explainthat the words imagining to himself in parentheses mean that he should say the line aloud, but not direct it to any of the other characters. He should direct the line to himself, as if he were daydreaming.

•Explainthatsomelines,suchasKanchil’sfirstsetoflinesonpage7,should be directed to the audience instead of to another character.

•AskstudentstolookattheCrocodiles’line on page 3. Direct students’ attention to the three commas in the sentence and ask them to point to eachone.Explainthatcommastellthereaderwhentopausebriefly.Readthe sentence aloud and ask students to echo-read, or repeat, the sentence after you:“Hello,goodday,andsalaamtoyou,too.”Thenreadthesentencealoud again without the commas to demonstrate why commas are a helpful tool for reading fluently.

Build ComprehensionEnsure students understand the ideas in the story, as well as character development, by involving them in discussion.

•Who keeps playing tricks on the crocodiles? (recalldetails)

•Which crocodile seems to be the leader of the group? (analyzecharacter)

•Has Kanchil played tricks on the crocodiles before? How can you tell? (makeinferences)

•Why does Budi say that Kanchil is crafty?(analyzecharacter)

•Why does Budi get so angry when Kanchil tricks him? (drawconclusions)

•Why does Kanchil pretend to betray Kade? (makeinferences)

Day Two

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Assign Roles•Usethereadinglevelsprovidedonthe

front of this guide to help you assign roles that support or challenge each student appropriately.

•Thisscriptcontainssixparts.Ifyouhave more students than roles, one student could be a prop manager or sound effects master.

• Ifyouhavefewerthansixstudentsin the group, you may want to assign the student playing Kade to also play the role of Kersen, since the roles are at the same reading level and the characters do not need to appear onstage at the same time.

•Do you think Budi will ever trick Kanchil? (makepredictions)

•What is the lesson of the folktale? (synthesize)

See page 8 for English-Language Learner and Striving Reader Support.

Build VocabularyMake sure students fully understand theglossaryterms.TheVocabularyinAction suggestions on the inside back cover of the script provide further ideas for building students’ understanding.

Fluency Assessment Rubric•TheReader’sTheaterOverview

contains an assessment rubric you can use to quickly assess each student. Usetherubricatdifferenttimesduring the lesson to assess different skills.Forexample,youmaywantto select students to assess their understanding of characterization during the comprehension discussion. Alternatively, you may wish to use their performance to assess how appropriately they develop their characters.

•Discusstheassessmentrubricwithstudents so that they know what you expectofthem.

Character Tips for Voice and Expression

Budi loud, angry

Arti silly, foolish

Kersen silly, foolishSantoso silly, foolish

Kanchil confident, tricky

Kade frightened

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Build Fluency Skills: Read with Appropriate Stress or Emphasis•Model:Explainthatwhenareader

emphasizes certain words to show the character’s emotions, listeners can betterappreciatethestory.PointtoKade’sfirstgroupoflinesonpage13.Say: Kade is afraid and upset. I will read her lines stressing the words what, serious, and friends. Emphasizing these words will help me show how upset Kade is. Model reading the lines with the appropriate stress or emphasis.

•Guide: Ask students to look at Kade’s secondsetoflinesonpage13.Guidethem to think about how Kade is feeling and to decide which words should be stressed to show those feelings. Ask them to read the lines aloud, emphasizing the words they chose. Ask them to repeat the lines to practice fluent reading.

•Apply: Invite pairs of students to choose another character and talk about how the character is feeling in a particular scene. Ask students to take turns reading some of the character’s lines with the appropriate stress or emphasis.

Choral-Read for Fluency Involve students in a choral-reading of the script to reinforce the fluency skill of reading with appropriate stress oremphasis.Remindthemtousedramaticexpressiontobringeachcharacter’s mood or personality to life.

Repeated Reading: Rehearse the Script•Discusstheexpectationsyouhavefor

student behavior during the rehearsal. UsethesuggestionsprovidedhereandintheReader’sTheaterOverview.

•Usesmall-grouptimeforstudentstorehearse their script. Monitor students as they rehearse, and tell them you will be listening to how they develop the characters through their reading.

•Offersuggestionsforexpression,voice,and characterization as you monitor students’work.Seethechartonpage5fortipsonvoiceandexpression.Usespecific comments, rather than general ones, directed at the character, not the student.Forexample:Budi, you should sound angrier.

•Usethistimetoobserveparticularstudents and assess for behavior. Remindstudentsoftheassessmentrubric and let them know you will be assessing them as you monitor the rehearsal.

See page 8 for English-Language Learner and Striving Reader Support.

Day Three

When part of the audience, students should:• demonstrate active listening;• stay silent during a performance;• give appropriate comments to performers

that provide positive feedback;• use the names of the characters when

giving feedback, rather than names of the performers.

Expectations for Rehearsing

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Perform the ScriptInvite students to present the script to anaudience.Theaudiencemightbemembers of their class, students from other classes, school staff members, and/or parents.

Assess Students’ Fluency•Usetheassessmentrubrictocomplete

your assessment of students’ fluency.

•Taketimetobrieflyconferencewitheach student to provide feedback on his or her reading and behavior.

Repeated Reading: Rehearse the Script•Usesmall-grouptimeforstudent

rehearsal. Do not interrupt this second rehearsal, but simply observe students as they read.

•Usetheassessmentrubrictomonitorstudents’ rehearsal behaviors and reading fluency.

Staging and Performance SuggestionsDecide on a stage area, how students will be positioned, and whether props or movements will be added. See staging tipsintheReader’sTheaterOverview.Here are some other ideas:

PLACEMENT/MOVEMENT

•Allcrocodilecharactersarepresentonthe staging area at the beginning of the script; other characters are offstage and enter when they speak.

•Pausebrieflyasstudentsmoveonandoff the staging area; a student may play music during this time.

PROPS/COSTUMES

•Useabluebedsheetorblueposterpapertorepresenttheriver.Crocodilescan line up across it, and Kanchil can hop across it.

•Kanchilmayhidebehindachairorasheet of green poster paper when Budi tricks Kade.

•Charactersmaywearnametagsorsimple masks of their creation.

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Day Four Day Five

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Support for nglish anguage earners and Striving Readers

Build Background and Make Connections (Day One)•Askstudentswhattheyknowabout

folktales. Invite them to name other folktales from other cultures they know. If they are not familiar with folktales, ask them if they know of any other stories that have talking animals. Encourage students to name the stories or talk about what they know about them.

•Askstudentsiftheyknowwhatatrickis. Demonstrate someone playing a trickonyou.Pretendsomeonehashidden your markers. Look for them and say: Someone hid my markers. Someone played a trick on me. Ask students if they ever played a trick on someone. Discuss how sometimes tricks can be funny and friendly and sometimestheyarenot.Tellstudentsthat they will read a story about a character that plays tricks on the other characters in the story.

•Showstudentsapictureofacrocodile.Invite students to each think of a sentence about the crocodile. Invite them to each say their sentences aloud to partners.

Develop Vocabulary and Language (Day One)•Pointoutwordstostudentsthat

they may not be familiar with, such as“capture”(page2),“humongous”(page4),“dawned”(page7),and“hearty”(page10).Writeeachwordon the board and then act out the meaning of the word for students. For capture, pantomime capturing a small animal or other object. For humongous, pantomime carrying something very large. Ask students to describe what you are demonstrating.

•Pointtothephrase“bustagut”onpage9.Explaintostudentsthatitmeans to laugh very hard, deep down in their bellies. Demonstrate what a hearty laugh looks like and sounds like. Ask students to talk about a time they have laughed that hard.

•Pointouttheword“jam”onpage15.Explainthatthisisamultiplemeaningword.Tellstudentsthatjam can mean a fruit spread for toast, or it can mean a difficult situation that is a problem for a person.Usethewordinsentencesthatshow the two meanings.

•Explainthatthephrase“markmywords”(page16)isusedtoemphasizethespeaker’scomment.Tellstudentsthat the speaker isn’t saying to literally put a mark on his words, but instead he wants the listener to pay careful attentiontohiswords.Usethephrasein several sentences.

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Support for nglish anguage earners and Striving Readers•Pointtothephrase“Smoothasaset

ofsilksheets” onpage6.Explaintostudents that this is a simile. A simile is a figure of speech that compares one thing with another, often using the words like or as. In this case, Kanchil isbeingdescribedassmooth.Explainto students that smooth is a casual way of saying sly. Ask students to think of things that feel smooth. If possible, supply a piece of silk for them to feel. ExplainthatKanchil’sbehavior,notthe feel of his skin or fur, is being compared to the smoothness of the silk.

•Askstudentstopracticemakingtheirownsimiles.Usethesentenceframe_____ is as smooth as a set of silk sheets. Ask students to fill in the frame with something they know that feels smooth.

Build Comprehension (Day Two)Engage students in discussion about the script, starting with simple literal questions and progressing to more difficult ones. As students discuss the questions, ask them to point to places in the script that best answer the questions. Suggested questions:

•Who is the main character of the story? (analyzecharacter)

•Who is the smarter character, Kanchil or Budi?(compareandcontrast)

•Why is Budi mad at Kanchil? (identifymainideaandsupportingdetails)

•Who are Budi’s friends? (makeinferences)

•What does Budi want to do to Kanchil? (recalldetails)

•Why do the crocodiles want to capture Kade? (recalldetails)

•Do you think Kanchil will trick the crocodiles again?(makepredictions)

Read and Perform (Days Two–Three)•Provideextrapracticereadingthe

script as a group before students read their individual parts to ensure they are familiar and comfortable with the language and vocabulary.

•Youmaywanttoassigntwostudentsto a role so they can read the part together.Thiswillhelpsupporttheirreading.

•BesuretousethereadinglevelsprovidedonthecoverofthisTeacher’sGuidetohelpyouassigntheroles.

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Literacy Extensions

Word StudyADJECTIVES

•Explaintostudentsthatanadjectiveis a word that describes a noun and discuss some adjectives that students know. Discuss how adjectives can make a story more interesting for the reader.

•Askstudentstoturntopage3.Readaloudthephrase“razor-sharpteeth”inArti’sline.Explainthatthewordsharp is an adjective that describes the noun teeth. Razor-sharp gives an even more vivid description of the teeth than just sharp alone. Ask students to think of other words they can use to describe teeth.

•Pointtothephrase“spikybacks,”alsoonpage3inKersen’sline.Explainthat the word spiky is an adjective that describes the crocodiles’ backs. Ask students to name other words that might describe a crocodile’s back.

•PointtoBudi’slastsetoflinesonpage2andexplainthatBudiisdescribingthemousedeeras“crafty.”Talkaboutthevariousmeaningsofcraft, including the art projects that studentsmightcreateinclass.Explainthat in the script, crafty means clever or tricky.

•Pointoutthephrase“humongouspresent”inSantoso’slineonpage4.Ask students to think of synonyms for both humongous and present, such as huge and gift.

•Explainthatwriterscanusedifferentwords to describe the same thing and that they choose the words they use to convey a particular meaning. Ask students why they think the writer chose to use the word humongous instead of huge, enormous, or big.

•Askstudentstoturntopage9andtell how Kanchil describes Budi as hisfriend.Explainthatthephrase“muddy-mouthed”describeshowBudi’s mouth was covered in mud. Ask students what the words muddy-mouthed show about how Kanchil really feels about Budi.

ROLE-PLAY WORDS

•Reviewthethreeglossarywordswithstudents: crafty, hesitation, and salaam. Ask students to tell in their own words what each word means. Invite students to use the words in their own sentences.

•Focusstudents’attentiononthe word salaam.Explainthatsalaam is an Islamic greeting and it means hello, or peace.

•Dividestudentsintopairsandassigneach pair one of the words. Ask students to think of a way to role-play thewords.Forexample,studentsmaygive each other a greeting to indicate the word salaam. For crafty, students may demonstrate a person playing a trick. Students may demonstrate hesitation by pausing in their speech or in their walking.

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Reader ResponseAsk students to reflect on their reader’s theaterexperiencebywritingordrawingin their journals. Students could:

• reflectonwhatitmeanstotricksomeone or to be crafty;

• reflectonthelessonlearnedfromthestory;

• reflectonthehumorinthefolktale;

• reflectontheirfluencyandpacingduring their performance and how it could be improved.

Writing•Askstudentstochoosethecharacter

in the script that interests them the most. Invite students to write a letter to the character, giving the character advice about a problem he or she might face in the future. Ask students to think about a logical problem the character could face based on the events of the story. Encourage students to take into consideration the character’s traits and actions when giving the character advice.

•Besurestudentsuseproperletter-writing conventions, such as a greeting at the beginning and a closing and signature at the end.

• Inviteeachstudenttoreadhisor her letter aloud to a partner.

Read Across Texts•Askvolunteerstorecallotherfolktales

they know. Ask them to think about other tales that have tricksters as the maincharacters,forexample,BrerRabbitorAnansitheSpider.

•Readsometrickstertalesaloudto students and discuss the main characters of the stories. Ask students what the characters have in common. Studentsmaysuggest,forexample,that the characters are all animals and are all intelligent.

•CreateaVenndiagramtocompareKanchil with one of the characters from the other folktales.

Both

• tricks crocodiles to get what he wants

• is not afraid to be caught playing tricks

• tricks farmers to get food

• runs away so he does not get caught

Brer RabbitKanchil

• tricksters• play tricks on

characters bigger than themselves

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Trustworthiness•Talktostudentsaboutwhatitmeans

tobetrustworthy.Explainthattrustworthiness means worthy of trust, ordeservingoftrust.Tellstudentsthata trustworthy person is honest and doesnotstealorcheat.Peoplewhoaretrustworthy are reliable and do what they say they will do.

•Askstudentsiftheycanthinkofatimein the story when Kanchil acted in a trustworthy manner. Students may suggest that Kanchil was trustworthy when he stayed to help Kade escape from the crocodiles. Kanchil showed Kade that she could trust him in a difficult situation.

•Discussthecharactersinthestoryandexplainthatnoneofthemcanbeconsidered completely trustworthy because they constantly trick each other and try to get back at each other to get what they want.

•AskstudentstotalkaboutwhatKanchil might be like if he were more trustworthy. Discuss that a trustworthy person can still play tricks once in a while, as long as the tricks are not at someone’sexpenseandthepersonbeingtricked does not get angry or upset.

•Encouragestudentstotalkaboutaperson they know who is trustworthy.

B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y

Character Education Connection

Fairness•Explainthatafairpersonplaysbythe

rules, takes turns, and shares with others. Fair people can listen to the ideas of others withoutgettingangry.Theydon’ttakeadvantage of other people, and they don’t blame other people carelessly.

•DiscusswithstudentswhetherKanchilwas fair to the crocodiles when he tricked them at the beginning of the story. Ask them if they thought Kanchil was fair when he tricked Budi to put the log on his back again.

• Invitestudentstothinkaboutatimewhenthey felt they were being treated unfairly. Encourage them to discuss how they could respond to the situation with fairness.

Demonstrate Trustworthiness•Askstudentstomakeaposterwithpictures

that illustrate trustworthiness. Ask them to label each picture that they draw. Studentscanuseexamplesfromtheirreallives,ortheycanmakeupexampleswithimaginary characters.

•Followtheactivitywithdiscussionquestions, such as:

1. What are ways we can let people know we are trustworthy?

2. How can we improve if we are not already trustworthy?

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