Text Type:
Fiction / Adventure
Reading Level:
S
Word Count:
1,792
Pages:
24
Text Summary
Woolly, a mammoth, and Fang, a saber-toothed tiger, are born on the same day. Saber-toothed tigers hunt and kill mammoths, but mammoths are not easy prey. Food becomes scarce, and Woolly's tribe has to migrate. While leaving the glacier, the tribe is attacked by Fang's parents. At the end of the action-filled story, Fang and Woolly are left alone on the glacier. The author invites the reader to tell the rest of the story. Engaging illustrations support the text.
Suggested Lesson Focus
Comprehension/Literary Element Strategies
Make, revise, and confirm predictions.
Word Skills
Identify and discuss the author's use of imagery.
Grammar Skills
Identify adjectives and provide synonyms to show understanding of their meanings.
Phonics Skills
Compare the pronunciation of words containing similar letter patterns.
Targeted Vocabulary Words
compacted, crystalline, coincidentally, migration
Before Reading
Introducing the Book
Hand out the books and have children read the title and scan the illustrations to make initial predictions about the setting and the plot.
Ask and say: What do you think this story is about? Do you recognize the animals in the illustrations? What do the illustrations tell you about the setting? Can you tell where and when this story might be happening? Share with the group anything else that you can infer from the illustrations.
Build Background
Discuss mammoths.
Ask: What is a mammoth? Are mammoths extinct? What modern-day animals do you think might be related to mammoths? Why? Can you relate the size of a mammoth to any other animal that you know? What do you think mammoths eat?
Discuss saber-toothed tigers.
Ask: What is a saber-toothed tiger? Why do you think it is called saber-toothed? If saber-toothed tigers are part of the tiger family, what do you think they would eat? Do you think they would prey on mammoths? Why or why not?
Book Walk
Have children turn to page 3 and read the first sentence.
Say and ask: Now that you know when the story is set, does it cause you to alter your initial predictions? If so, in what ways?
Read the fourth sentence on page 3 to children. The snow began to fall and became so deep that it compacted, turning into massive frozen mountains. Ask children what compacted means. You may need to discuss this word further since its meaning in this sentence could be misleading.
Ask: Who can use the word compacted in another sentence?
Have children turn to page 6 and scan the last sentence on the page.
Say and ask: Now let’s talk about this sentence. Let’s discuss how it adds to the predictions you made when you scanned the illustrations. What does this sentence tell you about the plot? Can you predict what might happen further into the story?
Discuss the words special delicacy.
Say and ask: If someone asked you if you wanted a special delicacy, what would you choose? What other two words could you use to describe a special delicacy?
Have children turn to the first word on page 8.
Ask: Who can read this word? How would you go about breaking it into syllables to help you pronounce it? What smaller words can you see in this word that would help with pronunciation. Now let’s talk about what the word means. Who knows the noun from which the word coincidentally is formed?
Have children turn to page 12 and read the last sentence on the page.
Ask: What does migrating mean? What is the noun from which the word migrating comes from? Who do you think might be migrating? Does this sentence help you with making further predictions about the plot?
Have children return to page 3.
During Reading
Model Reading
Say: Read to the end of page 4 and then be prepared to discuss the images that formed in your mind as you read.
When children have finished reading, discuss the first paragraph on page 4. Say and ask: Talk about what particular picture you saw when you read this paragraph. What does draped the earth in icy wonder mean? Why do you think the author chose those words? What other words could the author have chosen to paint the same picture? What does crystalline mean? What images does it conjure up? Why do you think the author used the word blanketed? Why does the author use the simile like a white rose? Can you think of another simile he could have used? What do you think the author is referring to when he uses the words bitterly long, cold thorns?
Have children read to the end of page 6 and then discuss if they have revised or confirmed their initial predictions. Have them read to the end of page 11.
Say: What do you think will happen next? What makes you think that?
Have children read the rest of the book independently. Have them mark with a sticky note any word or phrase they do not understand or cannot pronounce. You can clarify these later. During this time, you may choose to work with another group. Alternatively, you may wish to work individually with some children to monitor their oral reading and comprehension of parts of the text.
Say: I want you to finish reading the book at your own pace. As you read, I want you to stop at the end of page 16 and confirm or revise you initial predictions about what will happen. Stop again and do the same thing at the end of page18. I also want you to pay particular attention to the images that you see in your mind as you read, and note the words that the author uses to create those images. When you have finished reading, we are going to discuss those images and we are going to discuss the plot.
Using the Worksheet
Introduce and explain the Worksheet. Have children start work on the Worksheet as they finish reading the text.
After Reading
Comprehending the Text
Draw the group together again and ask children to discuss the plot.
Ask: Who can summarize the plot in less than five sentences? Talk about it with the person next to you and then together come up with a summary to share with the group.
Discuss at what points in the text children revised their initial predictions.
Say and ask: Let’s talk about your predictions. Were you able to predict the plot correctly from the illustrations? Were there points in the story where you needed to revise your predictions? Share those points with the group and say what caused you to change your predictions.
Building Skills
Word Skills
Discuss the imagery in the text with children. Write the phrase blue-ice glacier on the board.
Ask: What image do you see when you read this phrase? Why do you think the author chose those words? What other words could he have chosen to create the same image?
Write the phrases there he would scamper and skid and stalking the shadows of his parents on the board. Have children discuss the images created by these phrases and suggest alternative phrases that create the same images.
Phonics
Write the following words on the board: creatures, earth, nearly, great, heavy, searched, beneath, easily, weapons, eat, meal, easy. Ask children what spelling/phonics pattern is common to all these words (ea). Have children read the words aloud listening for the different pronunciations. Have them work with a partner to classify the words under the pronunciation. Then have children search through the rest of the text to find other words with the ea spelling pattern and classify them according to how they are pronounced.
Grammar
Discuss adjectives with children.
Ask and say: Who can tell me a word that is an adjective? How would you define the word adjective? Turn to page 3 and share with the person next to you the adjectives that you can see.
Have children give a synonym for each adjective, They may need to use a dictionary or a thesaurus. Have them use Woolly and Fang to complete the Worksheet.
Expand the Reading
Writing Connection
Generating Alternative Endings
Say: I want you to think back to our discussion about different endings to the story. Choose your own ending and prepare a draft. Be sure that it follows the story of Woolly and Fang.
Discuss the genre with children.
Say: This book is realistic fiction until page 23, when the author says that Woolly cried. As you think about your ending, think about whether you want to continue the story as realistic fiction or if you want to add another fantasy element.
Science Connection
Have children use the library and the Internet to further research either mammoths or saber-toothed tigers. Have them present their findings as an informational report.
Reading Independently
Invite children to reread the book, Woolly and Fang, independently or with a partner. They could then look for and read other books about mammoths and/or saber-toothed tigers. Children should also read each other’s alternative endings and the informational reports they prepare.
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