The Common Core Companion: Booster Lessons, Grades 3-5. Leslie Blauman

will be paying attention to how words and phrases are used in the text and also analyzing the structure of texts. Being able to do these reading moves is particularly essential for fourth graders, who are tested on their ability to write compare/contrast pieces with a focus on point of view. In addition, students read closely and pay attention to how the characters interact. (Reading Standards 4 and 5, which address Craft and Structure, are center stage). Collaborative conversations incorporate Speaking and Listening Standards and deepen comprehension and are a part of the writing process. Students put their understanding of POV into play as they write a persuasive piece, employing the writing process. Finally, to enhance both their writing and speaking, students will understand how language functions in different contexts, looking atFormal or Informal English and its role in revealing author’s intent and the point of view of the narrator and characters.

      Literacy Moves

       Make inferences

       Ask questions

       Determine similarities and differences

       Select details

       Analyze text

      Booster Reading Lesson: Understanding Point of View

      Getting Ready

       The materials:

       Text sets—traditional fairy tales and the same fairy tales depicting a different POVTwo suggestions are: Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten! The Story of Little Red Riding Hood as Told by the Wolf by Trisha Speed Shaskan (2012) or What Really Happened to Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf’s Story by Toby Forward (2005)—this is the one I’m using in this lesson.

       Anthology of fairy tales such as Michael Hague’s Read-to-Me Book of Fairy Tales (2013)

       Online resources (see mentor texts, page 38)

       Venn diagram chart

       Sticky notes for pairs of students

       Clipboards

       Text sets for small group work at a variety of reading levels

       Chart paper

       Graphic organizers for students (www.corwin.com/thecommoncorecompanion)

      Core Connections

       Reading Standard 6

      Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

       Grade 4, Reading Standard

      Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narratives.

       Reading Standards 1, 4, 5, and 10

      Context of This Fourth-Grade Lesson

      You will notice this first lesson is longer and contains more direct instruction than subsequent reading lessons. This is because it sets the foundation for the remaining lessons. You want to do the initial work together, but then each day do just a short 10-minute mini-lesson and then get out of the way so students can work independently as you meet with small groups or confer. Repeat this lesson using different texts and resources throughout the year. In addition, whenever you share a book with the class, ask: Who’s telling the story? Is it first or third person? What is the point of view? (While second person is not a requirement of the fourth-grade standard, I still like to teach second person—you, as it often shows up in nonfiction texts.)

      Core Practices

       Gradual Release Model

       Co-Construct

       Turn and Talk

       Graphic Organizers

      The Lesson

      We begin with a discussion of first person and third person, and how we determine these points of view when we read. (First person is told from “I” and third person is “he” or “she.”) By fourth grade, students should have a basic understanding of this and think about it every time they read a piece of text.

      I tell students that we are going to do a unit of study on fairy tales, and that noticing point of view will come into play. We will be reading traditional fairy tales and then comparing them to “fractured” fairy tales.

      I read aloud the first text, Little Red Riding Hood, and we answer these questions in the course of doing so. (Display these questions on chart paper—this is your anchor chart):

       Is the text written in first person or third person?

       How does this affect the narration and the point of view?

       Who is telling the story and why?

       What point of view does the narrator take?

      First, I ask: Is this first person or third person? How do we know? I record students’ thinking on our anchor chart. I also ask: Who is telling the story (the narrator) and we discuss what a narrator is. As I continue to read, I think aloud as I notice specific places in the text where the narrator is expressing the point of view (Red Riding Hood, good; wolf, villain.) I use sticky notes to mark these spots so that we can go back to them when we finish the story.

      After reading and discussing the story, students discuss the difference between first person and third person and determine who is telling the story. We talk about author’s intent. We record our answers to the four questions on the anchor chart, along with our examples from the text that prove it.

      (Remember, you don’t have to use fairy tales; any genre could be substituted as long as you have at least two examples written from two different points of view. Folk tales are a terrific substitute and also lend themselves for multicultural content. The lesson would still be the same, it’s just the text and genre would be different!)

      Time Crunched?

      You can stop here and continue the lesson on another day. You might even consider having students read the second book on their own, in advance of reading it together.

      Reading a Contrasting Book

      As we move into reading our second book, we refer to the anchor chart. Remember the goal here is for students to ask and answer these questions independently, to own them as readers, writers, and thinkers; so keep handing these questions off to kids whenever considering POV, so it becomes part of their DNA as they read.

      Now I write on a Venn diagram “Red Riding Hood—original adaptation” on the left side and “Fractured Fairy Tale—The Wolf’s Story” on the right. I tell students that now we are going to add two more questions to our list—and these will help us to compare and contrast the new book we are about to read with the traditional version. I write:

       How are the stories similar?

       How are they different?