Andrea Elmore
RE 3030
Trathen
Text Talk Lesson
For
Annie and the Wild Animals
By Jan Brett
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985
Summary: This is a story about a little girl named Annie that is lonely when her only companion, Taffy, a cat, goes missing. In an attempt to find a new furry friend to keep her company during the long cold winter, Annie places corn cakes at the edge of the woods. Annie attracts many wild animals, such as a moose, a wildcat, a bear and a dear, with the corn cakes, but none are soft and cuddly like Taffy. Annie becomes very sad because she thinks she will never find a pet, but spring finally arrives and Taffy returns with three soft kittens.
Focus: The focus of this story is to never give up hope. After Taffy ran away Annie continued to look for a new companion even though each attempt only produced a disappointment. In the end Annie was rewarded for her diligence because Taffy returned with three kittens as friends for Annie and she would never be alone again.
Questions:
Page 3: Why did Annie think something was wrong with Taffy? (She had stopped playing, she ate more than usual, she slept all day and she was found curled up in strange places)
Page 6: What did Annie place at the edge of the woods? (Corn cake)
What was Annie hoping would happen by placing this corn cake at the edge of the woods? (That a small furry animal would come out of the woods that she could tame as a pet.)
Page 9: What was the first animal that came out of the woods? (A giant moose)
Why was Annie not satisfied with the moose as a pet? (He was too big to tame.)
Page 13: Besides the moose what other animals have shown up to eat the corn cakes? (A snarling wild cat and a growling bear.)
Page 15: Did Annie give up trying to find a pet? (No) How do we know this? (She continued to make corn cakes and leave them at the edge of the woods.)
Page 17: What is wrong with the animals that are showing up to eat the corn cakes? (They are not soft and friendly like Taffy.)
Page 22: Was Annie able to feed all of the wild animals that showed up at her house? (No) Why not? (She ran out of corn meal to make the cakes.)
Page 25: What is happening in the story? (Spring is coming; the woods were coming alive again.) Why did the wild animals leave? (They would be able to find their own food.)
Page 28: Did Taffy return? (Yes) Who did she bring with her? (Three kittens) Why had Taffy left? (To have her kittens)
Vocabulary:
Imagine
Snarl
Grumpy
Imagine: In the story Annie imagined that a small, furry animal would come and she would tame him for a pet. Imagine means to think something will happen that has not happened.
Say the word imagine.
I am going to give you two examples and I want you to tell me which one would more likely be imagined.
- Our class reading a story about Annie and the Wild animals or it snowing tonight while we sleep?
- Your mom dropping you off for school today or the class running on foot into the city?
- Bears flying around the room or you eating breakfast this morning?
What’s our word? Imagine
Snarl: In our story on the second morning after Annie had placed out the corn cakes the moose was back and a snarling wildcat was there too. Snarl means an angry growl.
Say the word snarl.
I am going to give you examples of things that may or may not snarl. If you think they would snarl say snarl if not say no way.
- Rabbit (no way)
- Lion (snarl)
- Dog (snarl)
- Baby chick (no way)
What’s our word? Snarl
Grumpy: In our story Annie says the bear that showed up is too grumpy for a pet. Grumpy means cranky, bad tempered.
Say the word grumpy
I am going to give you two examples and I want you to tell me which one would be grumpy.
- A man whistling or a man shouting.
- A laughing baby or a brother pushing his sister.
- A woman frowning or a grandmother singing.
What’s our word? Grumpy
Let’s look at all our vocabulary words one more time.
Which is imagined?
Flying horses or the lights being on in the classroom
Which would snarl?
A mouse or a tiger
Which is grumpy?
A singing mother or a shouting child
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