ES Literacy Shared Text Grade 3: Characters

Day 1 Focus: Read and Understand the Text (Shared Text)

Title: “Our Gracie Aunt” (Fiction)

• Main Idea Jot:
  • G – don’t want to, miss mom
  • B and narrator both realize G is kind/will take care of them
  • Although someone new may come into your life, doesn’t mean they replace someone else
• Craft and Structure Focus: Descriptive Language
  • Discuss how the author shows (and doesn’t tell) the character’s feelings through action and dialogue.

Day 2 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing (Shared Text)

• Title: “Our Gracie Aunt” (Fiction)
• Question 1: Why does the narrator become comfortable living with Gracie Aunt?
  • Sample answer: The narrator sees that Aunt Gracie is caring.
    • “Our Aunt Gracie pulled the cover tight around me and made sure my head was comfortable on my pillow.” (paragraph 21-22)
    • “I have some cookies baking…with your names on them.” (paragraph 17)
• Question 2: How does the author show Beebee’s change in attitude towards Aunt Gracie?
  • Sample answer: The author shows this by highlighting Beebee’s actions.
    • “But Beebee stayed stiff.” (paragraph 17)
    • “Beebee smiled. It was a little tiny smile. But I saw it.” (paragraph 19)
    • “Beebee turned her head a little. She was listening, too.” (paragraph 25)

Day 1 Focus: Read and Understand the Text (Shared Text)

• Title: “One Giant Leap” (Nonfiction)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • F’s high dive was dangerous and groundbreaking
  • F set record and faced dangerous circumstances
• Craft and Structure Focus: Text Features
  • Discuss how the author uses text features to explain the sequence of Felix’s dive.
  • Highlight how the author uses a Words to Know box to define domain-specific vocabulary.

Day 2 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing (Shared Text)

• Title: “One Giant Leap” (Nonfiction)
• Question 1: What is the main idea of this article?
  • Sample answer: The article teaches that Felix’s jump was both dangerous and groundbreaking.
    • “He took the death defying leap from the edge of space—more than 24 miles above the earth. That’s the highest skydive ever!” (paragraph 1)
    • “He was moving faster than sound waves travel through the air. He’s the first skydiver to achieve that feat.” (paragraph 3)
• Question 2: How does the diagram support the main idea of the text?
  • Sample answer: The diagram shows both how risky and important Felix’s dive was.
    •  “Set the record for the highest piloted flight and highest skydive.” (paragraph 1)
    • “He finally opened his parachute 5,300 feet above the ground.” (paragraph 3)

Day 3 Focus: Read and Understand the Text (Mastery Text)

• Title: “Roaming the Red Planet” (Nonfiction)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • Curiosity’s explorations momentous and fascinating
  • Goal is to see if there could be life on Mars
• Craft and Structure Focus: Text Features
  • Discuss how the author uses subheadings to describe Curiosity and explain how it is looking for evidence of life.

Day 4 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing (Mastery Text)

• Title: “Roaming the Red Planet” (Nonfiction)
• Question 1: What is the author’s point of view about Curiosity?
  • Sample answer: The author thinks that Curiosity’s exploration of Mars is impressive and momentous.
    •  Through exclamation marks and descriptive language, we see how impressed the author is. “Those images were beamed back to Earth—more than 150 million miles away!” (paragraph 3)
    •  Scientists hope that Curiosity can help them answer a big question: “Did life ever exist on Mars?” (paragraph 1)
• Question 2: Why is “Rover in Action” an effective subheading?
  • Sample answer: It is an effective heading because the paragraphs describe how Curiosity works.
    •  “As soon as Curiosity hit the ground, it began snapping photos with its seventeen digital cameras.” (paragraph 3)
    •  “Scientists on Earth control the rover as it slowly rolls along the rocky surface.” (paragraph 4)
    • “The laser is busy taking aim at Martian rocks and blasting them into tiny bits. Curiosity then scoops up the pieces and examines them in a lab.” (paragraph 5)

Day 1 Focus: Read and Understand the Text (Shared Text)

• Title: “Monster of the Deep” (Nonfiction)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • Reveals the truth about the myth of Kraken, a giant squid
  • Shows how difficult it was to solve this fascinating mystery
• Craft and Structure Focus: Text Structure
  • Discuss how the author organizes the article to first hook the reader and then reveal that the Kraken is really a giant squid.
  • Highlight how the subheadings organize the text and enable the reader to understand and categorize information.

Day 2 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing (Shared Text)

• Title: “Monster of the Deep” (Nonfiction)
• Question 1: Why did people believe the myth of the Kraken?
  • Sample answer: People believed in the myth of the Kraken because they saw evidence of the giant creature, but never saw it.
    •  “People saw body parts from giant squid that had washed ashore.” (paragraph 4)
    • “They also found tentacles inside the stomachs of whales that fishermen hunted back then.” (paragraph 4 )
    • “Nobody understood what they were…so they started making up stories about them.” (paragraph 5)
• Question 2: Why is “Monster of the Deep” an effective title?
  • Sample answer: “Monster of the Deep” is an effective title because people originally thought that the large squid was a monster.
    •  “Kraken stories were likely based on a real animal—the giant squid” (paragraph 1)
    •  “’Nobody understood what they were,’ squid expert Richard Ellis tells Scholastic News. ‘So they started making up stories about them.’” (paragraph 5)

Day 3 Focus: Read and Understand the Text (Mastery Text)

• Title: “China’s Ancient Army: Dozens of Clay Soldiers are Found in China” (Nonfiction)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • Amazing discovery of ancient Chinese warrior statues
  • Discovering new information about them
• Craft and Structure Focus: Text Features
  • Discuss the function of the different types of text features—map, photos.

Day 4 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing (Mastery Text)

• Title: “China’s Ancient Army: Dozens of Clay Soldiers are Found in China” (Nonfiction)
• Question 1: What is the author’s point of view on the discovery of the terra-cotta soldiers?
  • Sample answer: The author’s point of view is that the discovery of terra-cotta warriors was exciting and amazing.
    • “As they worked, they made an amazing discovery.” (paragraph 1)
    • “It was the first of nearly 2,000 found nearby.” (paragraph 1)
• Question 2: How do the text features help the reader understand the text?
  • Sample answer: The text features help the reader visualize where the clay soldiers were found and what they look like.
    • Map shows where in China the soldiers were found.
    • The photos show that the statues were life-sized.

Day 1 Focus: Read and Understand the Text (Shared Text)

• Title: “Jackie Robinson” (Nonfiction)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • Robinson was first Major League African American player
  • Broke racial barriers and pursued dreams despite discrimination
• Craft and Structure Focus: Repetition
  • Discuss how the author uses repetition to highlight central ideas in the text:
    • Paragraph 1: “On the playgrounds and vacant lots of Pasadena,
      California, no ballplayer was better than young Jackie Robinson. No kid ran faster. No kid hit more home runs. And no kid had bigger dreams.”

Day 2 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing (Shared Text)

• Title: “Jackie Robinson” (Nonfiction)
• Question 1: Why was Jackie Robinson called “a ballplayer with guts?”
  • Sample answer: Jackie Robinson was called “a ballplayer with guts” because he accepted the challenge to not fight back against abuse.
    • “The abuse enraged him, he maintained his cool.” (paragraph 8)
    • “Today Jackie Robinson is remembered most for his integrity and courage.” (paragraph 10)
• Question 2: What is the author teaching us about Jackie Robinson?
  • Sample answer: The author is teaching us that Jackie Robinson was the first African American Major League baseball player. The author teaches us that he is unique, and amazingly talented.
    • “No ballplayer was better than young Jackie Robinson.” (paragraph 1)
    • “From an early age, Jackie showed incredible skill.’” (paragraph 3)
    • “Jackie helped the Dodgers win the National League pennant six times.” (paragraph 9)

Day 3 Focus: Read and Understand the Text (Mastery Text)

• Title: “Tick-Tock” (Nonfiction)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • BB, hard working African-American inventor
  • Known for making the first clock in America
• Craft and Structure Focus: Author’s Purpose
  • Discuss how the author uses specific details to show the significance of Banneker’s accomplishment.
    • Benjamin carved each piece by hand and successfully completed the project in 1753.
    • It struck every hour and kept the correct time for over 40 years.

Day 4 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing (Mastery Text)

• Title: “Tick-Tock” (Nonfiction)
• Question 1: What was significant about Banneker’s accomplishment?
  • Sample answer: Banneker’s accomplishment was significant because he invented the first clock made in America and was the first African-American inventor.
    • “It was the first clock made in America.” (paragraph 3)
• Question 2: What was the author’s purpose for writing the article?
  • Sample answer: The author’s purpose for writing this article was to show the significance of Banneker’s clock making.
    • “It was the first clock made in America.” (paragraph 3)
    • “Benjamin carved each part of the clock by hand and it struck every hour and kept the correct time for 40 years.” (paragraph 3)

• Shared Text Selections:
  • Fiction: “Our Gracie Aunt” excerpt from Our Gracie Aunt by Jacqueline Woodson
  • Non-fiction: “One Giant Leap” from Scholastic News
  • Non-fiction: “Roaming the Red Planet” from Scholastic News
  • Non-fiction: “Monster of the Deep” from Scholastic News
  • Nonfiction: “China’s Ancient Army: Dozens of Clay Soldiers are Found in China” from Scholastic News
  • Nonfiction: “Jackie Robinson” from Scholastic News
  • Non-fiction: “Tick- Tock” by Jackie Myers from Hopscotch Magazine