Description · The stories are in the same genre/ category, like mystery stories or friendship stories. The main characters are the same. The action may take place in similar settings

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.9Lexia Reading Core5LEXIA LESSONS

GRADE 3 | Comprehension Compare/Contrast Stories (Supplemental)

Direct Instruction Today we’ll start reading stories and thinking about how they are alike and different. We know that almost all stories share some basic story elements. Let’s review what we know. I’m going to show the name of a story element. The name is the answer to a question. What’s the question?

Display the following terms, one at a time. Encourage students to ask at least one question answered by the term. Prompt them with clues if necessary.

• characters (Who is in the story? Who are the fictional animals or people?)

• setting (Where does the story take place? When do the story events happen?)

• plot (What happens in the story? What problem do the characters have and solve? What are the story events at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end?)

• theme (What’s the big idea in the story? What lesson is in the story? What do the characters learn? What do we learn from the story?)

Display Chapter One from the book Prize Dog? Have students read aloud the series title, author’s name, and book title.

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 story elements in books from a series and build their awareness of how similar stories are constructed. Students who are developing reading skill and interests are often drawn to series, which feature established characters and predictable plots; the books offer “fictional friends” and escape into a comfortable fictional realm.

Teacher Tips

Popular series are recommended in the Independent Application section of this lesson, as well as in the Adaptations section. Preview the lists to determine which may be available in your classroom, school, and public libraries, and which are most appropriate for your students. Add others based on librarians’ recommendations. This lesson should be extended over time, so that students can find and read at least two books in a series, before completing the writing assignment shown.

Preparation/Materials

• A set of cards with terms that name story elements: characters, setting, plot, theme (for display)

• A copy of each of two first chapters from an imaginary series, Ellsworth and Friends (for display and for each student)

• Copies of the passage about two books in David A. Kelley’s Mysteries at the Ballpark series (for display and for each student)

• Copies of the compare-contrast planning form (for display and for each student)

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Books in a series are similar to TV shows or movies in a series. The same characters appear in all the stories. Each story has a different plot, but the plots are alike in some ways. The settings and the themes are often similar. Let’s read Chapter One of one book in the series Ellsworth and Friends and think about the story elements in it.

Distribute copies of the chapter, 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:

Where is this story set? (in a neighborhood; Ellsworth’s street and home)

Who is the narrator of the story? (a boy named Ellsworth, called Ells)

Who is another important character? (his buddy Marcus)

What is the main character’s problem or goal? (He wants a dog but can’t have one. He doesn’t like things to be unfair.)

What do you think might happen in the rest of the plot? (Accept all reasonable predictions. Students should recognize that this is a realistic-fiction story about friends who have an adventure, and that the events will probably involve Ellsworth’s attempt to get a dog, or to use Marcus’s dog Snore to enter a contest or win a prize.)

Display Chapter One from the book The Haunted House. Have students read aloud the series title, author’s name, and book title. Distribute copies, and direct students to read the chapter silently. After they have finished, use the following questions to encourage them to point out similarities between this chapter and the first chapter of Prize Dog?:

Are the settings of both books alike or different? (alike—both take place in the neighborhood where Ellsworth and Marcus live)

Which characters appear in both books, and what are they like? (Ellsworth, Marcus, Ernestine. Students should recognize that Ellsworth is the narrator, so readers see things from his point of view, and that his friendship with Marcus is important to him. Students may point to evidence that Ellsworth’s older sister, Ernestine, seems to act superior.)

What problem in The Haunted House starts off the plot? (Marcus is moving from across the street to the end of another street. His family will be living in an old house that’s supposed to be haunted. The plot will probably have to do with whether the house is really haunted, and what adventure the boys have in it.)

We can tell from these two chapters that the books in the series will be about Ellsworth’s experiences with Marcus and maybe with other friends, too. In books about friends’ adventures, one theme we often find is the importance of friends helping one another. What might be some other themes in books about friends’ experiences? (Sample responses: how friends work together to solve problems; how friends protect each other from bullies or danger; the importance of being loyal and honest with friends; why it’s fun to do things with a good friend)

We’ve looked at a chapter from each of two books in a series called Ellsworth and Friends. A series usually has more than two books, and all are alike in some ways. We often enjoy reading books in a series, because we get to know the characters and what they do.

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Guided PracticeDistribute copies of the passage about the series Ballpark Mysteries.

When we read two or more books in a series, we can tell other readers how the books are alike and different and what we learned in them. This passage is written to inform readers about two books in the Ballpark Mysteries series.

Have partners read the text to each other, alternating paragraphs. Then bring the group together to discuss the passage.

Display one copy of the planning chart.

The passage tells us about the setting, characters, plots, and theme in two books. Let’s find information about those story elements in the passage, and I’ll put them in the chart. Help me fill out the information for the book The Fenway Foul-Up.

Guide students to find details in the passage that belong in the chart. Fill out the displayed chart:

• Story Subject or Genre: Mystery/Detective

• Title of Series: Ballpark Mysteries

• Author: David A. Kelly

• Title of Book: The Fenway Foul-Up

• Main Characters: cousins Kate and Mike

• Setting: Fenway Park, Boston

• Plot:

• Problem or Goal: Kate and Mike want to find out who stole a star player’s bat. • Beginning: Kate and Mike visit Fenway Park with Kate’s mother. They learn about the

theft. • Middle: Kate and Mike track down the bat by finding it hidden in plain sight. The player

gets his bat back and hits a grand slam. • End: Kate and Mike are rewarded with a ball signed by all the Red Sox. • Theme: Solving mysteries takes cooperation. Crime doesn’t pay.

Independent ApplicationDistribute copies of the planning chart to individuals or partners. Tell them to fill out the chart by using details in the passage to tell about the other book in the series, The Pinstripe Ghost. Keep the previously filled-out chart on display for students to use as a reference.

When students have completed the chart, meet again to review the story elements in their charts:

• Story Subject or Genre: Mystery/Detective

• Title of Series: Ballpark Mysteries

• Author: David A. Kelly

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• Title of Book: The Pinstripe Ghost

• Main Characters: cousins Kate and Mike

• Setting: Yankee Stadium, New York City

• Plot:

• Problem or Goal: Kate and Mike want to find out about Babe Ruth’s ghost. • Beginning: Kate and Mike visit Yankee Stadium with Kate’s mother. They learn about

the ghost and the ghostly sounds. • Middle: Kate and Mike track down the reason for the ghostly sounds. Kids are sneaking

into the park through the air-conditioning vents. • End: Kate and Mike are rewarded with special passes to sit in the owner’s box. • Theme: Solving mysteries takes cooperation. Crime doesn’t pay.

Talk with students about which elements in the charts are the same and similar. Explain that the charts can help them plan their own passages that compare and contrast two or more books in a series.

Then direct students to use library resources to locate books in a series that they can and want to read. Examples of series appropriate for students in Grade 3 are shown below; see the Adaptations lists for other choices.

Annabel the Actress series by Ellen Conford Ballpark Mysteries series by David A. Kelly Clementine series by Sara Pennypacker Flat Stanley series by Jeff Brown (and others) Ghost Buddy series by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver Jenny Archer series by Ellen Conford Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne Marvin Redpost series by Louis Sachar

Ramona series by Beverly Cleary

Give a time frame for completion of two books. After students have read both, give them time to write to compare and contrast. They should start by filling out two planning charts, one for each book. They may then use the model passage as a guide to writing their own passages.

Wrap-UpCheck students’ understanding.

When you read two or more books in a series, what do you find about important ways the books are alike? (The same author writes all the books. The stories are in the same genre/category, like mystery stories or friendship stories. The main characters are the same. The action may take place in similar settings. The themes are alike; they might have to do with getting along with others, or being honest, or growing up and changing, or using your wits to get out of danger.)

Why do people like to read books in a series? Tell students that there is no right or wrong answer to this question. Encourage a variety of responses. (to see what the same characters will do next; to get to know the characters; to have fun guessing what might happen and how it will be like events in other books in the series)

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Adaptations

For Students Who Need More Support

These series are appropriate for students who can succeed with shorter books and simpler language:

Alvin Ho series by Lenore Look

Gooney Bird Greene series by Lois Lowry

Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant

Ivy and Bean series by Annie Barrows

Kids at the Polk Street School series by Patricia Reilly Giff

Nate the Great series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

For Students Ready to Move On

Encourage students to read one or more books that have more challenging language and less familiar contexts. Examples:

A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket

Alcatraz Smedry Adventures series by Brandon Sanderson

Dear America series by various authors

Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Phineas L. MacGuire series by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Poppy and Friends (Tales of Dimwood Forest) series by Avi

The Borrowers series by Mary Norton

Tim and Grk Adventures series by Joshua Doder

Year of the Dog; Year of the Rat by Grace Lin

Review students’ passages comparing and contrasting the books they have read. Allow time for students to read aloud. Emphasize what is interesting in the passages and what might inspire other readers to read the books, too.

The lists in the Adaptations section below show alternative choices for books in a series.

Reproducible page 1

Lexia Reading Core5LEXIA LESSONS


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CHAPTER ONE

I looked out my window and saw Marcus and Snore. Marcus is my buddy, and Snore is his poo-gle-terri-huahua. At least, that’s what we think Snore is. The two of them were taking their afternoon walk.

I ran outside to join them. When Snore saw me, he began his usual thrilled jumping. I gave him the usual belly rub, and he stretched out like a rug. That dog loves me!

“Hey, Ells, are you going to the bike rodeo tomorrow?” Marcus asked me. “They’re giving out prizes.”

Marcus likes contests. “Where is it?” I asked.

“In the park behind the police station,” Marcus said. “It begins at nine.”

“I’ll ask my parents,” I said.

Well, I did ask my mother if I could go to the bike rodeo, and she said, “Sorry, you have a dental appointment Saturday morning.”

I groaned. Marcus would be riding his bike on an obstacle course and getting a prize. I would be sitting in a chair and getting my teeth cleaned. How unfair is that?

That night, I asked my parents, “Well, if I can’t go to the bike rodeo, can I get a dog?”

Prize Dog? 1

The Ellsworth and Friends Series by F.L. Posen Prize Dog?

Reproducible page 2



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My older sister, Ernestine, rolled her eyes. My mother and father shook their heads like twin bobble-head dolls. Nobody bothered to answer me, because I ask that question almost every day. The reason I can’t have a dog is that we rent our house, and the landlord doesn’t allow pets. But Marcus lives right across the street, and his landlady says pets are allowed. How unfair is that?

Prize Dog? 2

Reproducible page 3



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CHAPTER ONE

My older sister, Ernestine, stood at the open door of my bedroom. I’d forgotten to shut it. “Why are you kneeling at the window in the dark?” she asked me. But she answered her own question when she saw the blinking yellow light across the street. “Oh, I get it,” she said. “Secret agents sending messages in code. How cute.”

Sometimes Ernestine can be sarcastic, which is annoying. But a good way to stop someone from doing something you don’t like is to ignore what they’re doing, so I ignored her comment, and she left me alone to do my messaging.

My buddy Marcus lives right across the street. We can see into each other’s windows. We send each other Morse code messages by blinking our flashlights. A short blink stands for a dot. A quick wave stands for a dash. In Morse code, combinations of dots and dashes stand for letters.

I was jotting down the letters that Marcus signaled. So far, I had W-E A-R-E M-O. Marcus flashed dot-dot-dot-dash. I wrote the letter V. He flashed dot-dot. I wrote I. He flashed dash-dot. That was N. He flashed dash-dash-dot. That was G. “We are moving,” I read. What?

I quickly called Marcus on the phone. “What do you mean you’re moving?” I yelled. “You can’t move! That’s so unfair!”

The Haunted House 1

The Ellsworth and Friends Series by F.L. Posen The Haunted House



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Reproducible page 4

The Haunted House 2

“Don’t worry,” Marcus told me. “We’re not going far. Just to the end of Fremont Street.”

For a moment there, I’d really panicked. Short breaths, fast heartbeat, sticky palms. Now I breathed deeply. Fremont Street was around the corner, and I could ride my bike there or even walk.

I’d been down Fremont Street many times. What was at the end? It was a small, run-down house with a broken porch. Nobody had lived in it for years. Some people said it was haunted. Was Marcus moving into a haunted house?

Reproducible page 5



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Books in a Series: Alike and Different

The Ballpark Mysteries Series The Ballpark Mysteries series is written by David A. Kelly. Two books in the series are The Fenway Foul-Up and The Pinstripe Ghost. The main characters in both books are the cousins Kate and Mike. They solve crimes that take place in a ballpark. The Fenway Foul-Up is set in Fenway Park. This ballpark is in Boston, where the Red Sox play. The Pinstripe Ghost is set in Yankee Stadium in New York City.

Kate’s mother is a sports reporter. She brings Kate and Mike on her travels. The stories in both books are similar. Kate and Mike follow clues that the author puts in each book for readers to find.

At Fenway Park, someone has stolen a star player’s bat. The player is superstitious and needs his bat to play well. Kate and Mike track down the bat. It has been hidden in plain sight by the thief, who plans to sell the bat to a collector. When the player gets his bat back, he hits a grand slam. Kate and Mike are rewarded with a ball signed by all the Red Sox.

In The Pinstripe Ghost, Kate and Mike learn about the ghost of the great Yankee player Babe Ruth. People say that the ghost wanders in the new stadium. Ghostly sounds are heard at the same time each day. The cousins track down the source of the sounds. They’re not made by Babe Ruth. They’re made by some kids who are sneaking into the park through the air-conditioning vents. Kate and Mike are rewarded with special passes to sit in the owner’s box during a game.

Both books show that solving mysteries takes cooperation. And readers learn that crime doesn’t pay.

Reproducible page 6



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Story Subject or Genre (check one or more)

Friendship Family

School Adventure

Mystery/Detective Fantasy Other:

_______________________

Title of Series:

Author:

Title of Book:

Main Character(s):

Setting (where and/or when):

PLOT (what happens)

Problem or Goal:

Beginning:

Middle:

End:

Theme:

Documents

Description · The stories are in the same genre/ category, like mystery stories or friendship stories. The main characters are the same. The action may take place in similar settings