Description · Lexia Reading Core5 LEXIA LESSONS GRADE 4 | Comprehension Compare/Contrast Stories (Supplemental) ... ask the following questions about story elements; tell students

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Lexia Reading Core5LEXIA LESSONS

GRADE 4 | Comprehension Compare/Contrast Stories (Supplemental)

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Direct Instruction Today we’ll start reading stories from sources that originated long ago. Traditional literature

includes folktales that were passed down by being told aloud long before they were written down. These stories come from different cultures but over time have spread all over the world. We’ll look for ways these tales are alike.

Display the tale “The Old Man’s Advice.” Have students read aloud the title and subtitle. Ask whether the author made up the story (no) and how students can tell (the word retelling means the author is using her own words to tell an old story again).

You know that the plot of a story often begins with a problem that characters face or a goal they want to reach. The plot continues with events that happen at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. Readers find out whether or not the problem is solved. As you read “The Old Man’s Advice,” think about characters’ problems and how they are solved.

Distribute copies of the story, and direct students to read it silently. After they have finished, ask the following questions about story elements; tell students to read aloud details in the text that helped them come up with the answer:

When and where is this story set? (a long time ago in a farming village in Japan)

Who are the main characters? (a young farmer and his father)

What problem do the main characters face at the start? (The lord has commanded that anyone over sixty must go to the mountains to die. The father is sixty, but his son decides to protect him secretly. They can’t let the lord find out that his law has been broken.)

How would you sum up the events in the plot after that? (The lord sets an impossible task before the villagers, of weaving a rope of ash. Only the young farmer can solve that puzzle because he follows his father’s instructions. Then the lord sets another impossible task, of threading a spiral seashell. Again, the young farmer performs the task with his father’s help. When the lord finds out that it is the old father who knows so much, he makes a new command to treat old people with respect and care.)

DescriptionSupplemental Lexia Lessons can be used for whole class, small group or individualized instruction to extend learning and enhance student skill development. This lesson is designed to help students express ideas about plots, themes, and other characteristics that are similar in traditional literature. The examples used in this lesson come from folktales from Japan and India.

Teacher Tips

Students should be able to read the stories independently. Preview the stories to determine if your students are likely to require some support. Possible support: Have students identify any challenging vocabulary, and discuss meaning; ask students to summarize what has happened at several key points in the story.

Preparation/Materials

• Copies of “The Old Man’s Advice” and “The Wise Old Bird” (for display and for each student)

• Copies of the compare-contrast graphic organizer (for display and for each student)

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The big idea or central message in a story is called the theme. What do you think the theme of this story is? (Sample responses: Old people should be respected. Wisdom comes with age.)

Display the story “The Wise Old Bird.” Have students read aloud the title, subtitle, and author’s name. Distribute copies, and direct students to read the story silently. After they have finished, prompt them to point out similarities between this story and the “The Old Man’s Advice”:

How are the settings of both tales alike and different? (They’re alike because both are set “long ago,” which is when many folktales take place. “The Old Man’s Advice” takes place in a farming village in Japan. “The Wise Old Bird” takes place in a forest in India.)

Which characters in the tales seem most similar? How are they alike? (The father in “The Old Man’s Advice” and the old gander in “The Wise Old Bird” are both older and wiser than the other characters. They solve problems by using their knowledge and experience.)

What are important ways that the plot of “The Wise Old Bird” is like the plot of “The Old Man’s Advice”? (The characters face danger from someone more powerful—a lord who sets cruel laws, or a hunter who kills birds. A problem can be solved only by the oldest, wisest characters. In “The Old Man’s Advice,” only the old father can figure out the answers to the lord’s puzzles. In “The Wise Old Bird,” only the old gander knows that the vine will cause a problem and how to escape from the hunter’s net.)

How might you state the theme of “The Wise Old Bird”? (Sample responses: Wisdom comes with age. Listen to those who are older, because they know more. Wise people know that you should solve a problem when it’s little instead of waiting for it to grow bigger.)

Guided PracticeDistribute copies of both texts, along with copies of the compare-contrast graphic organizer.

Now that we’ve read the two stories, we can use this compare-contrast organizer to list ideas about similarities and differences. Start by writing the title of each text above the left and right sections.

Prompt students to reread in order to compare and contrast the texts. Tell them to fill out the chart with key words and phrases. Suggested prompts follow.

We’ve read two stories that are alike in many ways. Both stories belong in what genre or category? (traditional tales, folktales) What about their places of origin? (different—one tale is from Japan, the other from India)

How are the problems in both stories similar? (Characters face danger from someone more powerful.) How do the problems differ? (A lord forces old villagers to die in the mountains. A hunter traps birds.)

How are the plots similar? (Only the old character has the wisdom to solve a problem. Young characters learn to respect older characters.) What are the main differences in the plots? (Students should list brief notes about major events in each story.)

Are the themes in both stories similar or different? (Both tales share the theme of respect for elders’ wisdom; the additional theme of solving small problems before they grow bigger is in “The Wise Old Bird.”)

Can you think of other similarities to include in the “Both” section? Discuss students’ ideas and reasoning.

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Independent ApplicationDisplay this prompt, and read it aloud with students:

Think about the theme shared by the tales “The Old Man’s Advice” and “The Wise Old Bird.”

• How would you state the shared theme?

• What are key events from both tales that point to that theme?

Use complete sentences in your answer to the questions.

Encourage students to use their own words to tell what they are being asked to do. Tell them to refer to the chart they just filled out, along with the two tales, to answer the questions.

(Sample response: We should show respect to old people. That is a theme in both “The Old Man’s Advice” and “The Wise Old Bird.” In the first tale, only the old father is able to solve the puzzles that seem impossible to the younger villagers. The command to solve them comes from a cruel young lord. He thinks old people are useless and forces them to go into the mountains to die. When he discovers that only an old person has the wisdom to solve his puzzles, he realizes that he has been wrong. He learns that old people should be respected and treated well. In “The Wise Old Bird,” the characters are geese, but the tale has a message for human beings. Only the old gander knows that a vine growing at the base of a tree should be destroyed while it is still small. He tells the geese that the vine will grow too big for them to cut, and it will allow a hunter to climb the tree to their roost. The younger geese pay no attention to him. But when everyone is trapped in the hunter’s net, the geese beg him to save their lives. The old gander tells them to play dead so that the hunter will toss them to the ground. Then they can fly off. Because of the old gander’s wisdom, the geese fly off to freedom. The tale teaches how important it is to show respect to those who are older and wiser and to listen to their advice.)

Wrap-UpCheck students’ understanding.

What does it mean to say that tales have similar themes? (The big idea or message in the tales are alike. The tales teach lessons that are alike. The tales might be about the same important ideas, like wisdom, respect, honesty, or cooperation.)

When you are thinking about how the plots of stories are similar, why should you pay attention to the problems faced by the characters? (The plot is what happens in the story. The characters’ problems are important to the plot, because the story events will have to do with what the characters do to solve the problem. For example, in “The Old Man’s Advice,” the problem is that a cruel lord sends old people to die. In “The Wise Old Bird,” the problem is that a hunter is going to kill the geese. Both plots have to do with taking action to save your life.)

Review students’ passages comparing and contrasting the themes of the two tales. Allow time for students to read their passages to the group.

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Adaptations

For Students Who Need More Support

Reread each tale together. Pause at key points in the plot to check students’ understanding of vocabulary and events. Ask them to tell or show you what they visualize happening. At the end of “The Old Man’s Advice,” direct students to underline the words that show what the young lord learned. At the end of “The Wise Old Bird,” have students write a statement of the lesson that the young geese learned. Discuss how both lessons are similar.

For Students Ready to Move On

Option 1: Tell students to imagine what might happen in another, not-yet-written tale called “The Old One’s Wisdom,” which shares some features with the two tales they have read. Ask small groups to brainstorm a possible plot for this short tale and then write a script for it. Each group then uses the script for a read-aloud or staged performance. Afterward, encourage the audience to discuss the lesson that is taught in each tale.

Option 2: Choose another pair of traditional tales with similar themes. Students should be able to locate retellings of the fairy tales “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Frog Prince,” for example; or the Greek myths about Icarus and about Phaëthon. Give each student time to read the tales and think about the most important similarities. Afterward, make a group list of similarities and differences, using students’ observations and suggestions.

Reproducible page 1



The Old Man’s Advice

a retelling of a Japanese tale, by Karin Shurtleff

Long ago, the young lord of a region decided that old people were no longer useful. He commanded that anyone who reached the age of sixty must leave home. Sixty-year-olds were taken away to the mountains and left there to die.

In one village, a farmer turned sixty. The man’s son had to obey the lord’s command, so he lifted his frail father onto his back and began to climb the mountain trail. As they climbed, the father broke off the ends of twigs from the trees along the path. “Why are you doing that, Father?” asked the son.

“I am marking the trail for you,” the father answered, “because I do not want you to get lost on the trip back.”

The son stopped. He thought, Even as he is going to his death, my father is thinking only of me. I cannot obey the lord’s command. The son turned around and carried his father back home. He dug a hiding place beneath the house, where his father could live in secret.

Now, this lord was demanding in other ways, too. Every so often, he presented a challenging task and required the villagers to perform it. This time, he called the villagers to a meeting. “Everyone must bring me a rope woven from ashes!” he ordered.

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The Old Man's Advice 1

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All the villagers went home worried. Ash crumbles when touched. How could it possibly be used in a weaving? That night, as the young farmer delivered food to his father, the older man saw his son’s worried face. “What troubles you?” he asked.

“The lord has demanded that I weave a rope of ash,” said the son. “This is impossible.”

The father said, “It can be done. Weave a rope as tightly as you can. Then place it on a dish, and carefully burn the rope until it turns to ashes. The ashes will be in the shape of a rope, and you can show it to the lord.”

The son did exactly what his father told him. When he delivered the ash rope, the lord was surprised, but pleased. “You are the only one who has succeeded,” the lord told the young farmer.

Soon after, the lord brought the villagers together and made another demand. “Bring me the spiral shell of a sea snail with a thread passed through it,” the lord said.

Everyone thought it would be impossible to pull a thread through the narrow, twisting tunnel of a seashell. The young farmer went directly to his father and told him of the task.

“That is not so hard,” said the father. “Just glue a grain of rice to the end of a thread. Give the rice to an ant, and make the ant crawl into the large opening of the shell. Seeking the light, the ant will crawl through to the tip of the shell, dragging the thread with it.”

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The son followed his father’s instructions and was able to show the lord a thread pulled through the shell. “How did you do this difficult thing?” the lord asked the young farmer.

“I have broken your law,” said the young farmer bravely. “I did not send my father into the mountains to die. My father has lived more than sixty years and knows many things, and he gave me the answers I needed.”

The lord then realized how mistaken he had been to think that old people were useless. He made a new command. “Let all our old people be shown respect, and let them be well taken care of for as long as they live.”

And that is how it has been ever since.


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The Wise Old Bird: A Tale from India

retold by Adam Silva

A long time ago in a forest, a tall tree was home to a flock of geese. The geese were safe from harm in the high branches, and they roosted there every night.

One of the geese was older than the others. This old gander happened to observe a vine growing at the base of the tree trunk. “We must destroy that vine before it grows up the tree,” he told the other geese.

“It is such a tiny plant,” said a young goose. “It cannot harm us.”

“But it will grow quickly,” said the old one. “It will become thick enough to be used as a ladder. A hunter could use that vine to climb up and catch us.”

“That little thing?” asked a young gander. “Let the vine live, and we can always kill it later.”

The old gander insisted, “But later, it will be too big and hard for us to destroy. Please, let’s pull it up now.” But the geese paid no attention to the old gander’s advice.

The vine grew quickly and climbed in a spiral around the tree trunk, just as the old gander had predicted. One day, when the geese were at a nearby pond, a hunter came along and saw the vine. He had seen geese roosting in the high

The Wise Old Bird 1

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Reproducible page 5



branches, so he knew this tree was their home. “When those geese come home this evening, I’ll trap them,” the hunter decided. He used the thick, strong vine as a ladder, spread out a net in the branches, climbed down, and left.

When the geese came home that evening, they did not see the net and flew right into it. Their wings and feet and heads were trapped, and they began to wail in despair.

The old gander was trapped, too, but he did not panic like the others. “Stop crying,” he told the other geese, “and I will tell you how we can free ourselves. But you must listen to me, not like last time, when you did not cut the vine in time.”

“Yes, yes, we will listen,” said one goose.

“Please help us,” said another. All the geese begged the old gander to tell them what to do.

The old gander answered, “When the hunter comes back in the morning, we must all lie completely still, as if we are dead. The hunter will toss us to the ground, and each of us must lie there stiffly until all of us are out of the net. When we are all on the ground, then we will fly off to freedom.”

Just as the old gander had predicted, the hunter returned in the morning. He was somewhat puzzled to see that all the birds were dead, but he tossed them to the ground one by one. As he began to climb down the vine to collect the birds, each one suddenly stood up, and the whole flock rose into the air and flew off.

The hunter’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. He had never imagined that dead birds could come to life again. And he never learned how they did it.

The Wise Old Bird 2

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Description · Lexia Reading Core5 LEXIA LESSONS GRADE 4 | Comprehension Compare/Contrast Stories (Supplemental) ... ask the following questions about story elements; tell students