Reading Level:
R

Word Count:
1,580

Pages:
22 

Text Summary
In this folktale-style story by famous Irish author Juliana Horatia Ewing, poor Pat finds himself dancing with the fairies after he accidentally takes the infamous Murdoch's Path. Fortunately, Pat knows his manners, and the fairies richly reward him despite his trespasses. But when a greedy shoemaker tries to duplicate Pat's success, he finds that the fairies aren't so generous to those who would trick them. 

Lesson Objectives

Reading Strategies
Students should use a variety of strategies to determine word meaning and comprehend text. The target strategy for this lesson is: using context clues. 

Word and Print Skills

Word Work
Synonyms
Grammar
Adverbs formed with –-ly

Targeted Vocabulary Words
Barged, beckoned, brambled, exhaustion, fetch, infested, muttered, tingled, trustworthy, uttered
These words are printed in bold and included in the glossary. Encourage students to use both the context and the glossary definitions to help them understand the words. 

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as students work to understand the text. The target comprehension strategy for this lesson is: understanding the features of a folktale. 

Before Reading

Build Background
Ask questions that elicit prior knowledge and build background about folktales and the culture of Ireland. Most students will have had experience with folktales. If students cannot name a folktale they are familiar with, remind them of familiar stories including fairy tales popularized by things such as Disney features. Introduce the features of folktales, including the hero, the villain, the setting, the magical elements or characters, the hero's test, the villain's test, reward and punishment, and the moral.
Ask: What are some folktales you know? Who was the hero? What was he or she like? Was he or she a kind person? Were there "bad" characters, or villains, in the story? Were there magical characters? How did the main character interact with the magic or the magical characters? How did the villain? Did the story have some kind of message or moral?
On a world map, point out the country of Ireland. Invite students to brainstorm things they know about Irish culture. Mention St. Patrick's Day to elicit the features we think of when we think of Irish culture. Be sure to mention Ireland's strong history of tales involving little people, including fairies, pixies, and the ever-popular leprechauns. Explain that Irish children are very familiar with fairies and stories about fairies.
Be sure to introduce children to the dialect spellings and Irish phrases, such as "Top 'o the morning to ye." 

Introduce the Book
Give students their copies of the book and have them look at the front and back covers. Read the title with them, including the names of the author and illustrator. Ensure that students know what the author and illustrator do. Have students preview the illustrations. As they go through the book, ask students to make predictions about the events of the story. Reinforce the features of a folktale.
Say and ask: What do you think is happening in the story? Who is that on the cover? What kind of person do you think he might be? Who is the person in the strange coat on page 8? What kind of character do you think he might be? How do you think he will treat the main character? 

Reading Strategies
Point out the word trustworthy in bold on page 4. Encourage students to figure out the meaning of the word using context.
Say and ask: The sentence says that Pat was "as trustworthy as a clock." Read the rest of the sentence. What do you think of when you think of clocks? Would it be good if clocks were late or did not keep the correct time? Knowing that Pat is compared to a clock, what do you think the word trustworthy might mean? Read the next sentence. It seems like Pat is someone who can be trusted. Read the word trustworthy again. What do you notice about it? Do you see any smaller words within the word? Can someone tell me what they think trustworthy might mean? Now, let's look it up in the glossary to check if we are correct. 

Set the Purpose
Tell students that you want them to look for the features of a folktale. They should look for magic or a magical character, the hero and the villain, the hero's test and his reward, and the villain's test and his punishment. Tell students you will discuss these features after reading. 

During Reading

Have students read the book independently. You may suggest they pause at the end of each page or chapter in order to summarize, ask themselves questions, and reread if necessary. Then they can reread the book and mark places where they had trouble or were confused. 

After Reading

Reflect on Reading Strategies
Draw the students together and invite them to share the strategies they used to understand the text. Encourage volunteers to retell how they figured out words from the context.
Ask and say: Did any of you figure out a vocabulary word without looking in the glossary? Why don't we have [student's name] tell us how [he/she] figured out the word tingled without looking it up. Now, let's check and see if [he/she] was correct. 

Comprehending the Text
Understanding Folktales
Ask students if they noticed how this folktale compared to other folktales they have read before. Ask retelling questions that relate to each of the folktale elements.
Ask: What happened when the fairies offered Pat the gems? What happened to the flowers? What did the shoemaker do when the fairies asked him the same thing? What happened to the shoemaker? Why was Pat rewarded? What do we call it when we learn a lesson by watching a hero rewarded for good behavior, and a villain punished for bad behavior? 

Hand out worksheet 1 and explain to students that they are to choose a familiar folktale and compare it to Murdoch's Path. They should identify the folktale features of each story and write them in the columns across from the names of the features. Guide students as they begin, and then allow them to work independently, intervening if necessary. 

Building Skills

Word Work
Synonyms
Reinforce that a synonym is a word that means the same or nearly the same as another word. Tell students that a good way to reinforce vocabulary is to brainstorm synonyms for unfamiliar words. Point out the word fetch on page 5. Ask students to see if they can think of a synonym using the context.
Say and ask: Read the sentence that contains the word fetch. Then read the paragraph. What do we know about Pat's job? How would you describe Pat's job? He gets things for people. Let's use the synonym get in place of the word fetch in the sentence. 

Give out worksheet 2. Ask students to find the listed words in the book (page numbers are provided) and, using the context, try to think of a synonym. Have the students rewrite the sentences from the book using the synonyms. Do their synonyms make sense? 

Grammar
Adverbs formed with -ly
Have students look at the word nearly on page 8. Explain that it is an adverb describing how close the little man came to the ground when he bowed. Have students tell you the root word, near. Explain that near is an adjective that tells the position of a noun. Have volunteers use the word near in an oral sentence, and have them identify the noun that near modifies. Explain that when we add -ly to an adjective, we form an adverb, nearly, that modifies a verb or another adjective. Repeat with the words barely on page 8, hardly on page 10, politely on page 16, and immediately on page 18.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Have students write their own folktales. Before writing, have students consult their worksheets. On a piece of paper, have them brainstorm new elements for their folktale; have them invent a hero, a villain, a magical character or element, and tasks for the hero and villain to go through. Students can write the tale individually and have a partner help them edit it, or they can write a single folktale as a group. Have students provide illustrations, and bind the results into a class book. 

Reading Independently
Invite students to read Murdoch's Path independently. They may also take the book home to read with family members. 

Assessment

• Monitor students' responses in the Comprehending the Text section to see if they can identify the elements of a folktale. Review their completed folktale charts to assess if they are able to identify the particular elements of Murdoch's Path and compare them to the elements of another tale. Check their Writing Connection stories or brainstorm sheets to assess whether they are able to create new elements.
• Monitor students' responses during the Reflect on Reading Strategies section to determine if they are able to use context to understand words.
• Assess students' synonyms worksheets to see if they are able to substitute synonyms for unfamiliar words by using context clues.