EQ: How do characters interact and change in stories?
ELA Week Theme: Wolves

Learning Target:I can describe how characters interact and change in a story. I can identify examples of onomatopoeia and personification in a story.

Genre: Fiction
Text Features or LiteraryElements:onomatopoeia, personification
Materials / ResourcesWolf (Bloom); Big Bad Wolves at School (Krensky); Venn diagram labeled “Wolf and Big Bad Wolves”

Prior Knowledge:

Students are reading Wolfby Becky Bloom in class. They have identified personification and onomatopoeia in that story. Students have discussed how the wolf interacted with other characters and how their opinions of him changed as the story progressed.

Procedure
Modeling and/or Skills Development

  1. Briefly review Wolf by reminding students how the farm animals felt about the wolf at the beginning of the story. (nuisance, loud and noisy, uneducated, one to ignore)
  2. Ask students if the attitudes of the barnyard animals changed during the course of the story and give them a chance to share their ideas (animals acknowledged improvement in Wolf’s reading ability, eventually invited him to become a member of their group of storytellers).
  3. Point out the onomatopoeia on p. 6 in Wolf. Ask students what we call words that imitate sounds. Point out several other examples of onomatopoeia in the story. Have students share one or two examples of personification in the story.
  4. Show students the cover of Big Bad Wolves at Schooland ask them to predict what this story might be about.
  5. Challenge students to listen to Big Bad Wolves at School to find out how the star wolf in the story relates to the other characters and how their relationships change as the story progresses.

Guided Practice
6. After reading, ask students to describe the relationship of the main character to the
other wolves and the teachers in the school at the beginning, middle, and end of the
story. Discuss examples of onomatopoeia and personification in the story.

  1. Use the Venn diagram to compare and contrast the wolf characters. Examples:
  2. Alike – main characters are wolves; neither character was respected by the other animals
  3. Different - one wolf worked hard to learn to read and earn respect; the other gained respect by doing what came naturally; story settings; schools and students; other characters.

Extension

  1. As you read, ask students if the story makes them think of other stories they have read about wolves. Discuss the interesting details the author includes. For example:
  1. Three little Pigs - Huff and Puff Range
  2. Three Little Pigs - Pigs’ houses called Breezy, Gusty, and Gale
  3. Little Red Riding Hood – Is it easier to wear a nightgown or pajamas?
  4. The Boy Who Cried Wolf – the shepherd’s crook
  5. Halloween – the one night each year that the wolves visit the village
  1. a lesson plan by Spoken Arts with additional ideas for activities.