Name Grade 3 Reading Unit #1: Choices and Lessons Learned In this unit, you will interact with a variety of characters to describe their feelings, traits, and motivations. You will analyze the choices characters make and how those choices fuel the plot, leading to uncovering a message or lesson within the text. Learning Targets: I can use text details to support my ideas I can read closely to gain new understanding about characters and texts I can describe character s traits, motivations, and feelings at various points in a text I can explain how characters actions, feelings, and motivations influence events in the plot I can explain how characters actions across a text lead the reader to an overall message of theme Unit Texts Title Author Text 1 Sylvester and the Magic William Steig Pebble Text 2 Excerpts from The Stories Julian Ann Cameron Tells Pudding Like the Night on the Sea Catalogue Cats Gloria who Might be my Best Friend Text 3 Teachers Choice Choose any text from this unit. 1
Text 4 Fox Margaret Wild Text 5 Things Eloise Greenfield QUICK WRITE (PRE-ASSESSMENT) What problem does Sylvester face? What lesson does he learn? TEXT 1: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble Lessons 1 and 2- Thinking about Character Feelings Use the graphic organizer below to describe the characters in the text and collect evidence that supports your thinking. Who is the character? Character Feelings Across the Text How is the character feeling? How do you know? Pull some evidence from the text! 2
Lesson 3- Thinking About the Character Sylvester 3
Lesson 1-3 Supplemental Materials Word Bank Below are some of the emotion words that William Stieg uses in his text. Confused Perplexed Puzzled Bewildered Helpless Hopeless Frantic Miserable QUICK WRITE Pick a character from the text. Describe how the character s feelings change across the text. Be sure to include details from the text. Challenge yourself to use at least one word from the Word Band above. 4
TEXT 2: The Stories Julian Tells Pudding Like the Night on the Sea Lesson 4- Discussion: Tracking Character Feelings and Reactions Below, describe Julian, Huey and Father s feelings and reactions in the text. Use your notes to support your ideas in a class discussion. Pages Character Feelings How is the character feeling? Reactions What does the character do? 5
TEXT 2: The Stories Julian Tells Catalog Cats Lesson 5- Discussion: Character Motivation and Obstacles Use the chart below to track what characters want and the obstacles in their way. Use your notes to support your ideas in a class discussion. Character Huey Motivation What does the character want? Obstacles What is in the character s way of getting what he/she wants? Father Julian 6
Lesson 5- Supplemental Use the sentence frame below to help you think and write about character motivation and obstacles that are in their way. Character Motivation and Obstacles Motivation- What a character wants The character, wants. I know this because _. Obstacles- What gets in the way of the character getting what he or she wants The character,, is facing an obstacle. The obstacle is. I know this because. 7
Lesson 6- Character Feelings TEXT 3: Teacher s Choice The text is. As you read, determine character feelings at different points in the text. Who is the character? Character Feelings Across the Text How is the character feeling? How do you know? Pull some evidence from the text! 8
Lesson 7- Character Traits What a character does, says or thinks gives readers important clues about what kind of a person the character is. Use the chart below to record your thinking. What the character is saying, doing, or thinking Text Evidence What this makes me think Inference A character trait word that sums it up! What kind of person says, does, or thinks these things? 9
Lesson 8- Character Motivation All characters want things and make decisions based on what they want. We call that character motivation. Below, you will think deeply about what a character wants and how you know it. Character Motivation The character,, wants I know this because there are moments in the text that give me important clues. One example is Another example is 10
TEXT 2: The Stories Julian Tells Gloria Who Might Be My Best Friend Lessons 9-12- Close Reading For the next three lessons, you will be doing a close read of another chapter from The Stories Julian Tells. You will work on determining how Julian changes across the text. When I read closely, I Read with my pencil in hand, marking up the text as I go Read the text multiple times, each time with a new purpose Read, write, and talk about the text a lot! Phase 1- What the Text Says Reading for the Gist What we know about JULIAN What we know about GLORIA 11
Phase 2- How does the text work? Lens: Character Motivation The author uses a lot dialogue (character talk) in this text. Reread the dialogue between Julian and Gloria. Jot down evidence that shows what each character wants. 12
Phase 3- What does the text mean? New understanding. Why do Julian and Gloria make a kite? What effect does it have on their relationship? 13
Written Response How does Julian change from the beginning to the end of the text? What events contribute to that change? Use details from the text and ideas from the three phases of close reading in your response. 14
TEXT 5: Teacher s Choice Lessons 13 and 14- Analyzing Character Choices Text: Use the chart below to analyze the choices the characters make by asking, Did this have a positive effect? Did this have a negative effect? Why? Then, think about the life lessons the characters learned. Character Choice Teacher Model What kind of an effect? Positive, negative? Circle one. Describe the effect. Life Lesson What does this teach us about life? POSITIVE NEGATIVE Guided Practice POSITIVE NEGATIVE Independent Practice POSITIVE NEGATIVE 15
TEXT 6: Fox Lessons 15-17- Close Reading For the next three lessons, you will be doing a close read of a new text, Fox, by Margaret Wild. You will examine the characters in the text closely, paying special attention to Magpie. This close read will prepare you for the final task of the unit. For Phase 1, use the graphic organizer below to capture information about the characters in Fox. Phase 1- What the Text Says Reading For the Gist What do you know about the characters? DOG MAGPIE FOX 16
For Phase 2, reread the text, annotating all of the important details you can find about Magpie. Use the graphic organizer below to record your thinking. Traits Phase 2- How does the text work? Lens: Text Details about Magpie What We Know About Magpie What words describe Magpie? How do we know it? Write down specific lines from the text. Motivations What does Magpie want? Obstacles What stands in Magpie s way? Choices What choices does Magpie make? 17
Effects What are the effects of Magpie s choices? Phase 3- What does the text mean? New understandings! What might be some lessons that Magpie learned in Fox? How did the events in the story help her learn these lessons? Capture your ideas below. 18
Final Task We have spent the last few weeks thinking deeply and growing ideas about characters. As readers, we have described character feelings, traits, and motivations. We have analyzed the choices characters make to overcome their obstacles, leading us to uncover a message or lesson learned. All of this work has prepared you for this final task. After reading Fox, by Margaret Wild, write an essay that explains a lesson Magpie learned. Use several details from the text to support your response. What do you know about the character Magpie? What lesson does Magpie learn? Be sure include evidence about how the character s feelings, traits, choices, and story events contributed to the lesson. 19
FINAL TASK After reading Fox, by Margaret Wild, write an essay that explains a lesson Magpie learned. Use several details from the text to support your response. What do you know about the character Magpie? What lesson does Magpie learn? Be sure include evidence about how the character s feelings, traits, choices, and story events contributed to the lesson. _ 20
21