LESSON 13 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Timid Boy and Mama Bear:
A Pueblo Legend
retold by Pleasant DeSpain
Fountas-Pinnell Level L
Legend
Selection Summary
Because his older brother will not teach him how to play with the
village children, Timid Boy seeks out Mama Bear’s cubs to play and
stay with. Worried Older Brother searches for him and uses honey to
trick the bears so that he can bring his brother back home and finally
teach him how to play, garnering the boy a new name—Bear Boy.
Number of Words: 542
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Legend
• Third-person narrative has a simple, chronological plot.
• Pueblo culture reflected in setting, illustrations, character names, weapons (bow and
arrow), beliefs (Bears are our friends), and children’s activities (foot race, wrestling)
• Bears: cubs’ playfulness, their love of honey
• Learning how to play is an important part of growing up.
• Family members have responsibilities toward one another.
• Animals should be valued and respected.
• Storytelling language that is direct, somewhat formal, with just two contractions (p. 3).
• As in many Native-American tales, humans and animals interact as equals.
• Characters have descriptive names (Timid Boy, Older Brother, Bear Boy, Mama Bear).
• Mostly short sentences/paragraphs with only a few longer, complex sentences
• Three sentence types are used: statements, exclamations, questions.
• Dialogue is always split.
• Words related to animals (e.g., cubs), and the Pueblo culture/setting (e.g., pueblo)
• Possibly unfamiliar words: timid, ignored, foot race, wrestle(d), and shaggy
• Many two-syllable words but few three-syllable ones: suddenly, decided, another.
• Possible decoding challenges: wrestle(d), Pueblo village, worried, calm, promise
• Realistic art supports the text and adds to understanding/appreciation of Pueblo culture.
• At least one illustration per page, captioned and sometimes including a label (character
identification, place names, object names)
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Timid Boy and Mama Bear: A Pueblo Legend
retold by Pleasant DeSpain
Build Background
Use students’ knowledge of games to build interest. What games do you like to play?
What if no one ever taught you how to play games that everyone else knows? Read
the title and author and discuss the cover illustration. Tell students that this is a Pueblo
legend; the Pueblo are a Native-American people in New Mexico and Arizona. Remind
them that a legend is a story that is passed down from one generation to another.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and bringing in key vocabulary so
that they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that this Pueblo legend, or tale, tells a story about two brothers
named Older Brother and Timid Boy. Draw attention to the illustration.
Suggested language: The children are dressed in clothing the Pueblo people used
to wear. Older Brother and Timid Boy are watching boys run a foot race. A timid
person is afraid to do things, but Timid Boy is not afraid to play with the other
children. He just doesn’t know how to play. His brother never taught him. Does
this seem fair? Why or why not?
Page 4: Use the art to introduce the other main character. What kind of an animal
is Timid Boy talking to? Her name is Mama Bear. While pausing in front of her
cave, Timid Bear pleaded with her to let him play with her cubs. What is Timid
Bear doing?
Page 5: Refer students to the illustration. Explain that Timid Boy learns how to play
by wrestling with Mama Bear’s cubs. Does it look like he’s having fun? How can you
tell?
Page 6: Draw attention to the illustration. Older Brother goes looking for him and
this is what he sees. What would you think if you saw this scene?
Pages 8-9: Explain Older Brother’s trickery. Bears love honey. Older Brother leaves
some for Mama Bear and her cubs. While they eat, he speaks fondly to his younger
brother. How do you think he is feeling about his younger brother?
Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to find out how Timid Boy
solves his problem.
Target Vocabulary
examined – studied
pausing – stopping briefly, p. 3
fondly – in a loving or caring
way, p. 9
peak – n. the pointed top of
something
mist – a fine spray
Grade 3
pleaded – made an urgent
request, p. 4
rugged – rough and uneven
steep – adj. very high, p. 3
2
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Read
Have students read Timid Boy and Mama Bear silently while you listen to individual
students read. Support their problem solving and fluency as needed.
Remind students to use the Analyze/Evaluate Strategy
what they are reading and then form an opinion about it.
, to think about
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Encourage students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: How do you think Timid Boy feels at the end of the story? Why do
you think that?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• At first, Timid Boy’s older brother
would not teach him how to play
Pueblo games.
• Family members need to take
care of one another.
• The author tries to make the
story sound as if a storyteller is
telling it.
• Timid Boy seeks out Mama
Bear so he can teach himself by
playing with her cubs.
• Older Brother uses trickery
(honey) to get his brother away
from the bears.
• Learning how to play games is
an important part of learning to
get along with others.
• Labeling people can be
misleading.
• People can learn from animals.
• After Older Brother teaches him
to play, Timid Boy’s name is
changed to Bear Boy.
• The illustrations help the reader
see what life used to be like in a
Pueblo village.
• While what happens between
Timid Boy and the bears is
fantasy, the author has the bears
behave like real bears, never
acting human.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices For Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choose a character’s speech from the text to read aloud,
demonstrating how to read dialogue. Remind them to pay attention to punctuation and
to use their voices to show how the character would sound when speaking the words.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Remind students that longer words are sometimes formed
by adding endings to base words. Demonstrate with these words from the text: older,
younger, largest. For largest, review how a base word ending in silent –e has the –e
dropped before adding endings starting with vowels, like –er and –est. Have students
practice adding –er and –est to these words from the text: long, tall, calm, steep,
smooth, new, and little.
Grade 3
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical thinking questions on BLM 13.7.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book. Use the instruction below as
needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Compare and Contrast
Remind students that one way to think about
the characters in a story is to figure out how they are alike and different. Model, using a
“Think Aloud” like this:
Think Aloud
This story is about two brothers. How are Timid Boy and Older Brother
alike? One way they are alike is that they both like to play games. One
way they are different is that Timid Boy doesn’t know how to play games
and his brother does. Another way they are different is that Timid Boy
wants to play with the bear cubs. He likes bears. That’s not how Older
Brother feels about these animals.
Practice the Skill
Have students write two or three sentences that tell how the main character changes from
the beginning to the end of the story.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think beyond the text, they use what they know and their own experience to think about
what the characters do and why they act as they do.
Assessment Prompts
• What word on page 6 tells you that Older Brother cares about his little brother?
• From the way he acts around the bears, do you think Timid Boy is a good name for
this character? Why or why not?
• What word would you use to describe the main character, now called Bear Boy, at the
end of the story?
Grade 3
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support In Introduce the Text (p.2), use pictures, concrete objects, or
demonstrations that will help students understand the concepts and ideas in the text.
Don’t ask students to read any text they will not understand.
Cultural Support Students may not be familiar with bears or bear behavior. Use the
illustrations on pp. 3–6 as you talk about bears’ love of honey; the dens/caves they live in;
and bear-cub playfulness. But also stress that unlike Mama Bear, real mother bears are not
friendly to people. They will hurt and even kill people to protect their cubs.
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: Who is this story about?
Speaker 1: At first, why doesn’t Timid
Boy play with the children?
Speaker 1: At first, Timid Boy
doesn’t know how to play. What
does he do to solve his problem?
What does his brother then do to
help him?
Speaker 2: Timid Boy
Speaker 1: What can’t he do?
Speaker 2:. play games
Speaker 2: Older Brother won’t teach
him how to play.
Speaker 1: Who teaches him?
Speaker 1: Why does he go to Mama
Bear?
Speaker 2: Mama Bear
Speaker 2: to play with her cubs
Speaker 1: What does Older Brother do
after he brings his brother back?
Speaker 2: Timid Boy goes to
Mama Bear. He plays with her
cubs. His brother searches for
him, brings him back, and finally
teaches him how to play.
Speaker 2: He teaches him to play.
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Lesson 13
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 13.7
Critical Thinking
Timid Boy and
Mama Bear
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text At the beginning of the story,
how does Timid Boy’s brother treat him?
He ignores Timid Boy. He does not teach him how to win a foot race or how
to wrestle.
2. Think within the text When Timid Boy leaves
the village, what does he discover at the foot of the
mountain?
He discovers two bear cubs playing near a cave.
3. Think beyond the text When people are sad, they
sometimes turn to an animal, such as a dog or a cat, for
comfort. Why do you think they do this?
Possible response: Animals can make people feel loved and accepted.
4. Think about the text Timid Boy changes after his time
with the bears. How is he different from the way he used
to be?
Possible response: He is more outgoing and more interested in playing with other
children and having fun.
Making Connections Older Brother found a creative way to solve
his problem with the bears. Have you read a story about someone
solving a problem creatively? Write about one of these problems
and how it was solved.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Read directions to students.
Critical Thinking
9
Grade 3, Unit 3: Learning Lessons
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Grade 3
5
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Name
Date
Timid Boy and Mama Bear
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the question below. Then write a paragraph that answers the
questions.
Why do you think that Timid Boy got a new name at the end of the story?
Do you think Bear Boy is a good name for him now? Why or why not?
Use details from the story to support your opinions.
Grade 3
6
Lesson 13: Timid Boy and Mama Bear: A Pueblo Legend
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Lesson 13
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 13.7
Date
Critical Thinking
Timid Boy and
Mama Bear
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text At the beginning of the story,
how does Timid Boy’s brother treat him?
2. Think within the text When Timid Boy leaves
the village, what does he discover at the foot of the
mountain?
3. Think beyond the text When people are sad, they
sometimes turn to an animal, such as a dog or a cat, for
comfort. Why do you think they do this?
4. Think about the text Timid Boy changes after his time
with the bears. How is he different from the way he used
to be?
Making Connections Older Brother found a creative way to solve
his problem with the bears. Have you read a story about someone
solving a problem creatively? Write about one of these problems
and how it was solved.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 3
7
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Student
Lesson 13
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 13.11
Timid Boy and Mama Bear
Timid Boy and Mama
Bear
Running Record Form
LEVEL L
page
3
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
Timid Boy left the village early one morning. He walked the
long path to the tall mountain.
Pausing at the foot of the mountain, he saw two bear cubs
playing near a cave. The cave was halfway up the steep trail.
Timid Boy climbed up the trail to the bear cubs.
“Don’t be scared, little ones,” he said. “I won’t hurt you.”
4
Suddenly the huge mother bear roared out of the cave.
Timid Boy took a big breath and pleaded his case.
“Please let me play with your children, Mama Bear,” he said. “I
have no friends in the village.”
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/100 ×
100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 3
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414109
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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