TUMBLEBOOKLIBRARY LESSON PLAN COMMON CORE STANDARD – READING: LITERATURE

3CC.RL.5 CRAFT AND STRUCTURE

Suggested TumbleBookLibrary Text:

MERCY WATSON GOES FOR A RIDE By Kate DiCamillo

Illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

This lesson plan is intended to encourage students to read literature closely to comprehend complex literary text while developing understanding of story

structure such as chapter, scene and how plot is developed. It is designed for readers in grade 3 to explore in partners or pairs, and could be part of either a

whole-class or Literature Circles learning experience.

(The suggested organizers provided within this lesson plan may be used directly with students or as a possible teaching tool to guide teacher instruction.)

LESSON TOPIC: EXPLORING KEY IDEAS, VOCABULARY, STORY STRUCTURE AND

PLOT Common Core Standard: 3.RL.5 – ask students to refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections 6 - 8 sessions, 30 – 45 minutes each

Materials/Resources: - MERCY WATSON GOES FOR A RIDE by Kate DiCamillo e-book on TumbleBookLibrary - SmartBoard or white board - laptops/iPads - learning logs or journals - writing utensils, highlighter markers - Book Discussion Chart, Character map, Chronological Order, Circle Story Planner, Interesting Words, Comic Strip

Strategic Lesson Plan Development: Introduction:

o Activate prior knowledge about novels – stories that are longer and require more in-depth telling, chapter organization, multiple changes of setting and multiple characters and events, a problem or multiple problems, solutions and a final conclusion – focus on chapter divisions, scene changes at the Grade 3 level

o Discuss with students possible themes novels might have (e.g. Friendship, loss, a quest, help, coping with a disaster, good versus evil, etc) and genres (mystery, adventure, coming-of-age, sports, biography, autobiography, historical fiction, science fiction) and what genre this could be (animal/anthromorphized adventure)

o Discuss with students the meanings of PERSONIFICATION and ANTHROMORPHISM – look up meanings and discuss

o Activate a discussion around ‘reading closely’ – looking for details and clues, being aware not everything is explained outright but may require some deep thinking, comparing and contrasting, making connections with previous knowledge, texts or events

o Display the e-book MERCY WATSON GOES FOR A RIDE from TumbleBookLibrary on the SmartBoard and ask students to consider the front cover and ‘blurb’ – make preliminary predictions about this picture book

o Make predictions and record in learning logs/journal

Instruction: o Briefly discuss and brainstorm the basic components of novels o Display/introduce the 5 organizers and discuss with students how they will

complete them o Explain students will be engaging in a read-along/listening experience as they

read/listen to the e-book MERCY WATSON GOES FOR A RIDE on TumbleBookLibrary over several sessions (6 – 8, guided by a general guideline of 2-3 chapters per session)

o Introduce the picture book to the group by selecting one group member or partner to read the first chapter aloud (or listen to it online) and ask the students what they notice about the story so far – who is Mercy Watson, what is her family like?

o Review the Discussion Starter to begin the discussion around what is being read – make connections

o As students track the events of the story, use both the chronological order and circle planner simultaneously – this is an excellent strategy for helping students to understand these two types of story structure and how they can be similar right up until the end – ask students to decide which story structure fits best once they have finished tracking the plot on these two structure charts

o Explain students will be listening/reading carefully to participate in the following Student Activities:

o Identify the events, characters, setting of the novel – use the Book Discussion Guide

o complete the Character Map, Circle Story Planner, Chronological Order o Complete the Interesting Words organizer

o Create a coloured comic strip of Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride with captions

Discussion: Text-dependent questions These questions can be used as:

‘discussion starters’ for student discussions in pairs or small groups questions to be answered in learning logs/journals

1. What do you know about Mercy Watson and her family? 2. Who are the Watsons’ neighbours? What do you know about them? 3. Describe the adventure Mercy, Mr. Watson and ‘Baby’ have. What is the

problem? What are the events? How does the problem get resolved (this is the plot structure – track on the two charts – chronological and circle)

4. Is this a circle story? Explain your thinking.

Assessment (Formative): o Identify the events, characters, setting of the novel – use the Book

Discussion Guide o complete the Character Map, Circle Story Planner, Chronological Order o Complete the Interesting Words organizer o Create a coloured comic strip of Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride with

captions

INTERESTING WORDS

Find 7 interesting words in this text that are present in both Spanish and English. Write a sentence for each word. Use dictionary as needed.

1. Interesting word: __________________________________

Sentence______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

2. Interesting word: __________________________________

Sentence______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

3. Interesting word: __________________________________

Sentence______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

4. Interesting word: __________________________________

Sentence______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

5. Interesting word: __________________________________

Sentence______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

6. Interesting word: __________________________________

Sentence______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

7. Interesting word: __________________________________

Sentence_________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Book Title: Chronological Order

FIRST...

THEN...

NEXT...

AFTER...

FINALLY...