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BEFORE READING
Target Skill SKILLS
 STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT
Character
Visualize
Skills Trace
OBJECTIVES
Test
Selection Test: Unit 2 Benchmark Test: Unit 2
Reteach/
Review
TE: 3.1 25, 141b, DI•56; 3.2 197b, 207, 215, 259,
DI•53
PB: 3.1 16, 43, 47, 48, 63, 67, 68, 76, 96
Practice
TE: 3.1 116–117, 123; 3.2 174–175,
181, 189
Introduce/
Teach
Target Skill Character
Target Skill Understand character.
Target Skill Visualize to understand character.
INTRODUCE
Write the topic "Our Favorite Stories"
on the board. Ask students to share
the titles of their favorite stories.
As you add a title to the board, ask
who the people in the story are and
write their names under the story title. Explain that the people in a story are
called characters. As students
describe the characters, write down
two or three words about each one.
Have students read the information on
p. 174. Explain the following:
  • What a character says and
    does helps us understand what
    the character is like. It also
    helps us understand the story
    better and predict what will
    happen later in the story.
  • We can use what a character
    says and does to visualize, or
    imagine, what that character
    looks like. Visualizing helps us
    understand the character and
    the story better too.
Use Skill Transparency 7 to teach character and visualize.
TEACH
1 STRATEGY Use paragraphs 1
 and 2 to model how to visualize
characters.
Think Aloud MODEL When I read a story,
I create pictures of the
characters in my mind. In the
first two paragraphs, I see a grasshopper resting in the shade
of a bush. His words tell me that he's very relaxed. In the first paragraph, I see a busy ant with several large kernels of corn balanced on its back, walking steadily toward its nest.
2 SKILL Use paragraphs 1 through  4 to model how to use clues
to understand character.
Think Aloud MODEL The author doesn't
tell directly what Ant and Grasshopper are like, but I
can use their words and actions to understand them. Grasshopper relaxes in the shade and tells Ant to rest with him, but Ant is very busy moving corn. I think Grasshopper is lazy, and Ant is hard working.
PRACTICE AND ASSESS
STRATEGY Students should use
Grasshopper's words to hear his voice, which might sound slow and lazy.
SKILL Students should recognize
how Grasshopper's words reveal that he is a lazy character and not concerned about the future.
WRITE Have students complete
the Write to Read activity. You might consider using this as a whole class activity.
Monitor Progress
then… use Practice Book 3.1, p. 63, to provide additional practice.
If… students are unable to complete Write to Read on
p. 174,
Target Skill Character
A Day's Work
Comprehension
THE Grasshopper AND THE Ant
Skill
Character
THE Grasshopper AND THE Ant
THE Grasshopper AND THE Ant
Characters are the people or animals
in a story.
Look at what a character says and does
to learn what he or she is like.
A retelling of an Aesop fable
THE Grasshopper AND THE Ant
Strategy
Visualize
Skill
Character
     On a warm summer day, Grasshopper sat in the shade and chirped. Ant walked up carrying some corn.
     "Ant," said Grasshopper. "What are you
doing working in the hot summer sun?
Come relax in the shade with me."
     "I can't," said Ant. "There is
work to be done! I am storing
food for the winter, and I
suggest you do the same."
     "Winter?" said Grasshopper. "That's a long
time away. I can't be bothered about winter in
the middle of summer! Are you sure you won't
sit in this lovely shade with me?"
     Ant just picked up the corn and went back
to work.
     Winter came, and the ground was cold and bare. Grasshopper had no food and lay under
a bush. I'm dying of hunger! he thought. Nearby, the ants were eating the corn they had stored
last summer. When they saw Grasshopper, they
dragged some food over to him.
     Grasshopper learned an important lesson.
Next summer would be different.
1
Strategy Here is a good place to visualize. Picture how Grasshopper looks sitting in the shade. Hear how he talks to Ant.
Strategy
Active readers make pictures in their minds of
what they are reading. When you read how a character acts, picture it. When you read what a character says, hear it. Visualizing will help you understand what the character is like.
2
Skill In this paragraph, notice the words that Grasshopper is using. They tell that Grasshopper is not a
hard worker.
Write to Read
2. Use the information in
    your graphic organizer to     write a description of     Grasshopper.
1. Read "The Grasshopper
    and the Ant." Make a graphic     organizer like the one above.     Complete it to tell what     Grasshopper is like.
   What Character Is Like
     What   Character      Does
     What   Character
     Says
Strategy: Visualize
 
   
Close  
Access Content
Beginning/Intermediate For a Picture It! lesson on character, see the ELL Teaching Guide, p. 44.
Advanced Before students read "The Grasshopper and the Ant," have them share what they know about both insects and fables.
Target Skill Character A simple graphic organizer may help students organize details in order to understand a character. Draw a web (Graphic Organizer 14 or 15) on the board. Then write "Grasshopper" in the center. Tell students that sometimes authors tell us directly what a character is like; other times, we have to look for clues in the story that tell what a character is like. Elicit details from "The Grasshopper and the Ant" that apply to the grasshopper. Remind students to think about what the character says and does in the story and add their details to the web. Then have students work together in pairs to write two or three sentences that tell what the grasshopper is like. Repeat for the ant.
ELL
Strategic Intervention
Practice Book
Practice Book 3.1 p. 63
with | without Answers