ES Literacy Shared Text Grade 3: Intervention

Day 1 Focus: Read and Understand the Text

• Title: “Dividing the Cheese” (Folklore)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • 2 C’s stole cheese but cannot trust each other to divide it equally because they are both thieves. C’s ask M to divide it equally
  • M takes advantage by dividing it unevenly on purpose and then eating it to even it up
  • Dishonesty invites dishonest treatment in return
• Craft and Structure Focus: Dialogue
  • Discuss how the author uses dialogue to highlight the Monkey’s untrustworthy characteristics.
    • Monkey tells the two cats he will divide the cheese “with pleasure.” This gives the reader insight to Monkey’s sneaky personality. (paragraph 2)
    • Further in paragraph 2, through dialogue, Monkey describes how he “doesn’t divide it quite right” and he will just “even it up.”

Day 2 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing

• Title: “Dividing the Cheese” (Folklore)
• Question 1: What lesson does this text teach us?
  • Sample answer: This text shows that dishonesty may be returned with more dishonesty.
    • The two cats stole the cheese and sought a fair divide of the cheese from Monkey.
    • Monkey tricks the cats into thinking he is dividing the cheese equally but in fact just eats it.
• Question 2: How does the author reveal that Monkey is untrustworthy?
  • Sample answer: The author shows Monkey is untrustworthy through the use of dialogue and by describing Monkey’s actions.
    • Monkey states that he will divide the cheese “with pleasure” (paragraph 2)
    • Monkey eats from both sides of the cheese—the author shows that the monkey is purposefully dividing the cheese unequally so that he has the excuse to eat it.

Day 3 Focus: Read and Understand the Text

• Title: “The Ant and the Grasshopper” (Folklore)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • Lazy G played while hardworking A prepared for winter
  • Use the present to think ahead and prepare for the future
• Craft and Structure Focus: Word Choice
  • Discuss how the author uses specific words to show how the grasshopper changes from the beginning of the text to the end of the text.
    • The grasshopper first wants to play and not focus on gathering food, but then learns the importance of working to get food when he is hungry in the winter.
    • “The grasshopper was cold, miserable, and hungry all winter. The next summer, the grasshopper worked hard to store food for the upcoming winter.” (paragraph 8)
    • “The grasshopper went to the ant’s nest and asked for food.” (paragraph 6)

Day 4 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing

• Title: “The Ant and the Grasshopper” (Folklore)
• Question 1: How does the grasshopper change from the beginning of the story to the end of the story?
  • Sample answer: The grasshopper first wants to play and not focus on gathering food, but then learns the importance of working to get food when he is hungry in the winter.
    • A lazy grasshopper was chirping and sitting and playing games when a hard-working ant passed by. (paragraph 1)
      • “The grasshopper was cold, miserable, and hungry all winter. The next summer, the grasshopper worked hard to store food for the upcoming winter.” (paragraph 8)
• Question 2: Describe the role of the ant in the story.
  • Sample answer: The ant helps the grasshopper realize the importance of storing food for the winter.
    • The ant stored food for winter and tells the grasshopper, “You should be working for just the same reason. What will you eat when the weather gets cold?” (paragraph 3)
    • “Now that the winter had arrived, the grasshopper couldn’t find any food, and soon became very hungry. He soon remembered the hard-working ant he had made fun of in the summer. The grasshopper went to the ant’s nest and asked for food.” (paragraph 6)

Day 1 Focus: Read and Understand the Text

• Title: “Myth of Medusa” (Folklore)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • M’s vanity and pride in her beauty led A to punish her by taking away her beauty.
  • Pride and vanity have consequences.
• Craft and Structure Focus: Foreshadowing
  • Discuss the definition of foreshadowing: foreshadowing means the author is giving readers a hint about what will happen later in the story.
  • Discuss the author’s use of foreshadowing in paragraph 3 to create suspense for upcoming events in the story.
    • The author includes details demonstrating the reactions of the other people in the Parthenon to emphasize that Medusa’s arrogance is truly shocking.
    • The author uses the word “unfortunately” in the first paragraph before even describing how proud Medusa was of her beauty to alert readers that her pride is a problem.
    • Paragraph 2 emphasizes that something is going to happen in the Parthenon that changes Medusa.

Day 2 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing

• Title: “Myth of Medusa” (Folklore)
• Question 1: How does the author build suspense in the first part of the story? ○ Sample answer: The author builds suspense by using foreshadowing and detailing people’s reactions to Medusa.
  • • Medusa’s friends grew pale. The priestesses who overhead Medusa gasped.
    • Whispers ran through all the people in the temple who quickly began to
      leave – for everyone knew that Athena enjoyed watching over the people of Athens and feared what might happen if the goddess had overheard
      Medusa’s rash remarks.
• Question 2: What is the role of Athena in the folktale?
  • Sample answer: Athena punishes Medusa for her selfishness and vanity.
    • “You think you are prettier than I am! I doubt it to be true, but even if it were— there is more to life than beauty alone.” (paragraph 4)
    • “And by my powers, your loveliness shall be stripped away completely. Your fate shall serve as a reminder to others to control their pride.” (paragraph 6)

Day 3 Focus: Read and Understand the Text

• Title: “The Golden Touch: The Story of Bacchus and King Midas” (Folklore)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • M unable to eat because everything he touches turns to gold, realizes greed will kill him.
  • Greed leads to consequences.
• Craft and Structure Focus: Word Choice
  • Discuss how the author shows King Midas’ poor decision through detailed descriptions of his thoughts and actions.
    • Midas laughed uneasily, then reached for a piece of bread…Weak with dread, Midas reached for his goblet of water.” (paragraph 15)
    • “The sobbing king fell off his chair to his knees. He beat his fists against the ground, turning even little anthills to gold.” (paragraph 18)

Day 4 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing

• Title: “The Golden Touch: The Story of Bacchus and King Midas” (Folklore)
• Question 1: How do King Midas’ feelings about his golden touch change throughout the story?
  • Sample answer: At first King Midas is elated about his golden touch, but then feels dreadful when he realizes his wish will kill him.
    • The king screamed with joy, then shouted after Bacchus, “My wish has come true!” (paragraph 9)
    • “Weak with dread, Midas reached for his goblet of water. But alas! His lips touched only hard, cold metal…Covering his head and moaning, King Midas realized his great wish was going to kill him. He would starve to death or die of thirst!” (paragraphs 15-16)
• Question 2: How does the author show that King Midas has made a poor decision about his wish?
  • Sample answer: The author shows that King Midas made a poor decision about his wish by describing his thoughts and actions.
    • “But suddenly King Midas realized his wish may not have been as wonderful as he thought – for the moment he bit down on the meat, it, too, turned to gold” (paragraph 14)
    • “But as soon as his hands touched the bread, it also became a hard golden nugget! Weak with dread, Midas reached for his goblet of water. But alas! His lips touched only hard, cold metal.” (paragraph 15)

Day 1 Focus: Read and Understand the Text

• Title: “Smart” (Poem)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • S begins with one dollar and ends with five cents after trading with others—thinking that quantity is more than the value of the coins
  • Thinks he is getting more money when he is actually getting less
• Craft and Structure Focus: Repetition
  • Discuss the way the author strategically repeats a similar structure in stanzas 1-4. Discuss how this repetition highlights the fact that the speaker is getting more coins, but less money.
    • “For three dimes—I guess he don’t know/ That three is more than two!” (lines 7-8)
    • “And the fool gave me five pennies for them,/ And five is more than four!” (lines 15-16)

Day 2 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing

• Title: “Smart” (Poem)
• Question 1: Why is “Smart” a good title for this poem?
  • Sample answer: “Smart” is a good title for this poem because the speaker is in fact not very smart. OR The speaker is not very smart because although he gets more coins, he ends up with less money.
    • “For three dimes—I guess he don’t know/ That three is more than two!” (lines 7-8)
    • “And the fool gave me five pennies for them,/ And five is more than four!” (lines 15-16)
• Question 2: How does the fifth stanza support the main idea?
  • Sample answer: The fifth stanza supports the main idea because it shows another way the boy is not smart.
    • In stanza five, the boy misinterprets his father’s reaction thinking he is proud when in fact he is not.
    • “And closed his eyes and shook his head— / Too proud of me to speak!” (lines 19-20)
    •  The speaker thinks his dad’s actions show pride but in fact show disappointment.

Day 3 Focus: Read and Understand the Text

• Title: “Some People” (Poem)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • S describes how his thoughts are affected negatively or positively depending on the type of people he is surrounded by.
• Craft and Structure Focus: Compare and Contrast
  • Discuss how the author compares and contrasts his thoughts to different things in nature in order to create a meaningful visual image for the reader.
    • “Your thoughts begin to shrivel up/ Like leaves all brown and dried!” (lines 3-4)
    • “Your thoughts as thick as fireflies/ All shiny in your mind!” (lines 7-8)

Day 4 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing

• Title: “Some People” (Poem)
• Question 1: What is the author’s purpose for writing this poem?
  • Sample answer: The author’s purpose for writing this text is to show how the type of people he is surrounded by affects the speaker’s thoughts.
    • In stanza one, the speaker describes the feeling that some people make him feel—tired, like leaves shriveling up.
    • In stanza two, the speaker compares being around other people to giving him the feeling of “thoughts as thick as fireflies/ shiny in your mind!” (lines 7-8)
• Question 2: How does the poet use imagery/description to develop the main idea? ○ Sample answer: The poet uses images to show the reader how different people can affect you.
  • Some people inspire you— “Your thoughts as thick as fireflies.”
  • Some people bore you or lower your energy—“Your thoughts begin to shrivel up/Like leaves all brown and dry!”

Day 1 Focus: Read and Understand the Text

• Title: “Daily Lives of Egyptian Children” (Nonfiction)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • Egyptian kids learned to do the same things their parents did.
• Craft and Structure Focus: Text Structure
  • Discuss how the different sections of the text support the main idea.
    • Paragraph 2 and 3 focuses on Egyptian girls
    • Paragraph 4 focuses on Egyptian boys

Day 2 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing

• Title: “Daily Lives of Egyptian Children” (Nonfiction)
• Question 1: What is the main idea of the text?
  • Sample answer: The main idea of the text is that Egyptian kids learned to do the same things their parents did.
    • “If you were a girl from an average family, you helped your mother cook and clean and care for the children.” (paragraph 2)
    • “If you were a boy from an average family, by the time you were 5 you went to work with your father.” (paragraph 4)
• Question 2: What does the author mean when he says, “Most children followed in their parents’ footsteps?” (paragraph 1)
  • Sample answer: The author means that Egyptian children learned to do the same things their parents did.
    • “If your mother was a doctor or priestess, you might have followed in her footsteps to one of those professions.” (paragraph 3)
    • “If he was a carpenter or jeweler, you would learn every detail of his craft.” (paragraph 4)

Day 3 Focus: Read and Understand the Text

• Title: “Aztec School Days” (Nonfiction)
• Main Idea Jot:
  • Wealthy Aztec children went to different schools than common Aztecs kids
• Craft and Structure Focus: Compare and Contrast
  • Discuss how the author compares and contrasts the different schools wealthy and common Aztec children went to.
    • “The priests were strict with children at these schools, giving hard punishments if a child broke a rule.” (paragraph 2)
    • “The priests were less strict with these children and allowed them to go home sometimes.” (paragraph 3)
    • “In both kinds of schools, children learned about religion and war.” (paragraph 3)

Day 4 Focus: Responding to Literature in Writing

• Title: “Aztec School Days” (Nonfiction)
• Question 1: What is the author’s purpose for writing this text?
  • Sample answer: The author’s purpose for writing this text is to teach us about the different schools Aztec children attended.
    •  “One kind was for the sons and daughters of nobility…” “There children learned to read, write, and do math.” (paragraph 2)
    • “Children of common people went to a different kind of school.” “The priests were less strict with these children and allowed them to go home
      sometimes.” (paragraph 3)
• Question 2: How does the section “Different Schools for Aztec Kids” help you understand the main idea?
  • Sample answer: The section “Different Schools for Aztec Kids” helps me understand the main idea because it gives examples of the different types of schools and what kids learned in the different schools.
    • “They learned to play musical instruments.” (paragraph 2)
    • “The priests were less strict with these children and allowed them to go home sometimes.” (paragraph 3)

• Shared Text Selections:
  • Folklore: “Dividing the Cheese” edited by Susan Kantor from An Illustrated Treasury of African American Read Aloud Stories
  • Folklore: “The Ant and the Grasshopper” by Aesop
  • Folklore: “The Golden Touch: The Story of Bacchus and King Midas” retold by Mary Pope Osborne
  • Poem: “Smart” from Shel Silverstein
  • Poem: “Some People” by Rachel Field from A Child’s Anthology of Poetry
  • Nonfiction: “Daily Lives of Egyptian Children” by Julie K. Cohen from Appleseeds Magazine
  • Nonfiction: “Aztec School Days” from Appleseeds Magazine