®
GUIDED
READING
LegenD
850L
When Paul Bunyan Came
to Middleburg Elementary
School
Written by Lynea Bowdish and illustrated by Adam Gustavson
KeY iDea A spin on the popular legend of Paul Bunyan, this book relates how Kevin
and Skipper keep a big secret—that Paul Bunyan is camping out behind their school.
LiTeracY sTanDarDs aDDresseD in THis PLan
rL.3.1
rL.3.4
Main Focus Key ideas & Details
L.3.5
Additional Instruction
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate
understanding of a text, referring explicitly to
the text as the basis for the answers.
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language,
word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
L.3.5a
Main Focus craft & structure
Determine the meaning of words and phrases
as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal
from nonliteral language.
Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of
words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).
Explain how specific aspects of a text’s
illustrations contribute to what is conveyed
by the words in a story (e.g., create mood,
emphasize aspects of character or setting).
rL.3.10
sL.3.1
range of reading & Level of Text complexity
By the end of the year, read and comprehend
literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry,
at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity
band independently and proficiently.
comprehension & collaboration
Sessions 1, 2, 3
ISBN 978-1-62889-183-6
rF.3.3c
Decode multisyllable words.
rF.3.4b
Vocabulary acquisition & use
Additional Instruction
Determine the meaning of the new word formed
when a known affix is added to a known word
(e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/
uncomfortable, care/careless, heat/preheat).
Fluency
Session 2
Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with
accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on
successive readings.
W.3.3
Text Types & Purposes
Writing Task
Write narratives to develop real or imagined
experiences or events using effective technique,
descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.3.8*
research to Build & Present Knowledge
Sessions 1, 2, 3
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and
texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing
their own clearly.
L.3.4b
Phonics & Word recognition
Additional Instruction
Main Focus integration of Knowledge & ideas
Sessions 2, 3
Vocabulary acquisition & use
Sessions 1, 2
Sessions 2, 3
rL.3.7
Vocabulary acquisition & use
Sessions 1, 2, 3
Recall information from experiences or gather
information from provided sources to answer a
question.
*Standard adapted from another grade
W.3.10
range of Writing
Write routinely over extended time frames and
shorter time frames for a range of disciplinespecific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
MONDO BOOKSHOP GRADE 3
1
Session 1 Text Selection: pp. 4–16
Learning Focus
RL.3.1
Students will ask questions
and use explicit text details
to answer.
Key Idea: Text Selection Kevin and Skipper find Paul Bunyan behind their
school building, and after a short chat, they offer to help him until his ankle
is healed.
PREVIEWING THE TEXT 5 minutes
Read the title and author and illustrator credits with students. Invite students
to study the illustration on the front cover and read the back cover.
ead the back cover quietly to yourselves. . . . The author uses the word
R
unexpected. Who knows what this word means?
Something that is unexpected is surprising because you don’t know that
it’s coming.
What events in this book do you think will be unexpected?
Kevin will meet Paul Bunyan. Paul Bunyan’s foot will be as long as Kevin is
tall. Kevin will become friends with Paul Bunyan.
What do you think Kevin will learn about unexpected events?
They can have good results!
urn and talk with a partner about how you might react if you bumped into a
T
man or woman who you thought only existed in stories. Be prepared to share
your ideas and your thinking with the group.
VOCABULARY
READING THE TEXT CLOSELY Lead students to
discuss the nonliteral phrase
hang out on page 4. Ask,
“What might a literal meaning
of this phrase be? What is its
nonliteral meaning?” Explain
that the phrase is an idiom,
an expression with a meaning
separate from the meanings
of its individual words.
Explain the learning focus for students. Ask them to read pages 4–6. Check to
see how well they are doing with the application of the focus. Provide support
if needed. Then have them read through page 16.
RL.3.4
10 minutes
In a legend, an author uses explicit or stated details to tell a story about a
hero who performs great deeds. Often, however, the details regarding the
hero’s deeds are exaggerated or made to seem more fantastic than they may
have been in real life. In this way, nonfiction becomes fiction.
As readers, we may ask and answer questions about explicit details to help
us understand events in a text. As we read today, let’s pay close attention to
the stated details. Let’s start by asking some questions.
How does a laugh bounce off a building?
Who can answer?
Well, when we read the word bounced on page 6, we might think of a
rubber ball. But a laugh doesn’t bounce like a rubber ball. A laugh makes
a sound, and sounds can bounce off objects and come back toward the
places where they started, like echoes.
COMPREHENSION SHARE
When you reach the end of
a chapter, review what has
happened so far in the story.
Ask any questions that you
have and use explicit details
and story language to answer.
That’s good thinking. Does anyone have another question?
Why does Kevin cringe?
What do you all think?
On page 4, it says that Kevin is standing around the corner of the building,
so he is standing next to it. When the sound bounces off the wall, it comes
back at him, and it’s loud. He shrinks away from the loud sound to protect
himself from it.
2 When Paul Bunyan Came to Middleburg Elementary School
If you are satisfied that students can apply the focus, set the reading
assignment for the session. If you are not, prompt students to return to
pages 4–6 to read and ask and answer questions based on explicit details and
language. Students may not read the entire selection during this session.
Our work as readers today is to continue to ask questions and use explicit
details and language to answer. I wonder how Kevin and Skipper will keep
this big secret from other students.
DISCUSSING THE TEXT
10 minutes
Have students engage in a variety of collaborative discussions with diverse
partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
corrective Feedback
Have students closely reread
the title and page 4. Have them
ask questions and answer using
explicit text details. Encourage
them to silently reread,
stopping at key points to think
and talk together about their
understandings.
sL.3.1
Discussion
collaborative
During discussion today, we’ll work with partners. First let’s match up with
partners who are wearing one of the same colors you are wearing today.
(Help students locate partners.) Now one partner will ask the other partner a
question about the story. The partner will answer using explicit details.
Finally, the partner who asked the question will add an idea to his or her
partner’s answer. Then you will switch roles. Listen carefully while I model
this strategy with (name a student). . . . Now let’s try it. Be prepared to share
your questions and answers aloud with the group.
Focus on the phrase rattling on on page 7.
When Kevin starts to talk to Paul Bunyan, he says that he is rattling on. What
might a literal meaning of this phrase be?
Kevin makes a series of short, fast sounds, like a baby’s rattle.
Do you think that this is what Kevin is doing?
No. To rattle on means “to keep talking even though you’re not really
saying anything because you’re nervous.”
So this phrase has a nonliteral meaning.
Confirm students’ good use of the focus and encourage them to keep it in
mind whenever they read legends.
You did a great job asking questions and answering them using explicit
details. Remember to use this same strategy when you read other legends.
ERESOURCE
Formative assessment: comprehension Using the Quick Start
Planner, note this session’s learning focus. Observe each student’s articulation
and use of text evidence to evaluate individuals’ effective use of the
learning focus.
L.3.5a
VocaBuLarY
nonliteral Language
eLL suPPorT
rL.3.1 Discussing the Text
Ask questions at students’
language proficiency levels
and provide the following
sentence frames for student
responses:
B: What is ___? Why does
___? Who is ___?
I/A: I want to know what ___
means. I want to know what
will happen ___. I found an
answer to my question.
It is ___.
TEACHER’S
CHOICE COMPREHENSION: ASK AND ANSWER QUESTIONS
ERESOURCE
Formative assessment Have students use the blackline master
on page 10 to ask questions about the book and find answers to their
questions in the text. Review students’ answers as you evaluate their mastery
of the learning focus.
rL.3.1
coMPreHension
ask and answer Questions
TEACHER’S
CHOICE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE: COLLECT TEXT EVIDENCE
ERESOURCE
Formative/summative assessment Have students use the
blackline master on page 11 as they read. Students will collect details from the
text to answer the following: What makes a legend a legend? What types of
things do legends try to explain? Review students’ collected evidence as you
evaluate their mastery of the learning focus.
W.3.8*, rL.3.1
WriTing
gather information
MONDO BOOKSHOP GRADE 3
3
Session 2 Text Selection: pp. 4–16
LEARNING FOCUSES
RETURNING TO THE TEXT RL.3.1, RL.3.4, RL.3.7
Ask students to reflect on the text read previously. Guide them to recall how
they applied the learning focus to their reading.
Students will ask questions
and use explicit text details
to answer. Students will
determine the meanings
of words and phrases,
distinguishing literal
from nonliteral language.
Students will also explain
how the text’s illustrations
emphasize aspects of
characters.
5 minutes
Let’s quickly review our discussion from the last session.
The author uses explicit or stated details to mix ideas from the original
legend of Paul Bunyan into a new story. We asked and answered questions
about these details to help us understand the story. For example, we talked
about how Kevin rattles on because he’s nervous around the giant.
Several of you found good details in the text to support this review.
READING THE TEXT CLOSELY 10 minutes
Explain the learning focuses. Invite students to reread page 4. Check to see
how well they have understood the focuses. If you are satisfied that students
can apply them, set the reading assignment for the session. If not, provide
corrective feedback as suggested on page 2 of this lesson plan.
COMPREHENSION SHARE
As you read, look carefully
at the illustrations. They can
help you discover more about
characters, setting, or plot.
e read to ask questions and to answer using explicit details. One strategy
W
that authors use to exaggerate events is to use nonliteral language, or words
and phrases that have meanings beyond their dictionary definitions. Today
as we reread, we are going think about the author’s language and also about
how the illustrations draw attention to character details. Let’s reread page
4 to try this strategy. . . . What question can we ask about the size of Paul
Bunyan’s foot?
How big is his foot?
Can anyone answer using details from the text?
The text says that his foot is as tall as Kevin.
ow let’s look at the illustration on page 5. How does this illustration help us
N
understand details about each character’s physical size?
We see Kevin standing next to the foot, and we can see that the foot is
taller than Kevin. This picture helps us get an idea of just how big Paul
Bunyan really is.
How does Kevin try to explain the size of the foot?
He tries to compare it with something else he knows: a parade balloon.
Why doesn’t this explanation work for Kevin?
The foot smells like a foot!
Draw students’ attention to this language the author uses: “it was as tall
as I was.”
What two things does the author compare here? Who would like to share?
She compares Kevin’s height with the length of the foot.
Would you say this phrase has a literal meaning or a nonliteral meaning?
It’s literal. The foot really is about the same height as Kevin.
4 When Paul Bunyan Came to Middleburg Elementary School
Formative assessment: Fluency Listen to each student read a portion of
the text. Observe students’ fluency. If students need additional practice with
fluency, provide the necessary support at the end of the session. Ask students
to note words or phrases they find challenging for discussion after reading.
DISCUSSING THE TEXT
10 minutes
Have students engage in a variety of collaborative discussions with diverse
partners, building on each others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
During our discussion today, you’ll work with a partner. The first partner will
ask a question about the story. The other partner will answer, using explicit
details, story language, and details in the illustrations.
Take turns asking questions and adding ideas to the discussion. Listen
carefully while I model this strategy with (name a student). . . . Now let’s
try it. Later each pair will share some of the questions and answers they
discussed with the group.
Focus on Paul Bunyan’s explanation for the Great Lakes on page 11.
Remember that the authors of legends often exaggerate events to make
heroes seem larger than life. Let’s look at page 11 again. How does this
author play with the idea of exaggeration here, using nonliteral language?
sL.3.1
Discussion
collaborative
Discussion TiP
To help students ask
questions, post the following
question words: Who, What,
Where, When, Why, and How.
L.3.5a
VocaBuLarY
nonliteral Language
She has Paul say that the story about making the Great Lakes with his
footprints isn’t true. But then he says that he made one of the lakes, just
not with one footprint. The author downplays the exaggeration, but she still
exaggerates because Paul Bunyan didn’t make any of the Great Lakes.
Help students understand the benefits of asking questions and using explicit
details, story language, and illustrations to answer.
We’ve talked a lot about how to answer questions about the story
using details in the text. How do these strategies help us demonstrate
understanding of the text? Who has thoughts on this?
When we read this way, we understand how the parts of the story work
together to give readers information. Answering each other’s questions
helps us think about what we read.
ERESOURCE
Formative assessment: comprehension Using the Quick
Start Planner, note the session’s learning focuses. Observe each student’s
articulation and use of text evidence to evaluate individuals’ effective use of
the learning focuses.
TEACHER’S
CHOICE FLUENCY FOLLOW-UP
Fluency Practice Lead students in echo-reading to promote accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression. Follow this procedure: 1) Read aloud
page 11, beginning with “‘Now granted, . . .’” and ending with “‘. . . nice
people along the way.’” Make sure to pronounce unfamiliar words, such as
vat, carefully. Slow your rate at dashes and ellipses to indicate pauses in
conversation. Use expression to convey character traits through dialogue.
2) Have students echo your reading of each sentence.
rF.3.4b
FLuencY
accuracy, appropriate rate, and
expression
MONDO BOOKSHOP GRADE 3
5
TEACHER’S
W.3.8*, rL.3.1
WriTing
gather information
6
CHOICE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE: COLLECT TEXT EVIDENCE
ERESOURCE
Formative/summative assessment Have students continue
to use the blackline master on page 11 for collecting evidence as they read.
Students will continue to collect details from the text to answer the following:
What makes a legend a legend? What types of things do legends try to
explain? Review students’ collected evidence as you evaluate their mastery of
the learning focus.
When Paul Bunyan Came to middleBurg elementary SChool
Session 3
Text Selection: pp. 17–29
Key Idea: Text Selection Kevin and Skipper meet the challenge of secretly
feeding a giant and try to keep the nosy Roberta from becoming suspicious.
RETURNING TO THE TEXT
5 minutes
Explain that students will return to the text to read pages 17–29, asking
questions and using explicit details, literal and nonliteral language, and
illustrations to answer.
As the author presents the characters, setting, and conflict, we note explicit
details, literal and nonliteral language, the illustrations, and the questions
we have. We are able to answer our questions by citing details, discussing
nonliteral language, and noting how the illustrations reveal aspects of
character. How do these strategies help us understand the text?
Learning Focuses
rL.3.1, rL.3.4, rL.3.7
Students will ask questions
and use explicit text details
to answer. Students will
determine the meanings
of words and phrases,
distinguishing literal
from nonliteral language.
Students will also explain
how the text’s illustrations
emphasize aspects of
characters.
By asking our own questions about the text and finding our own answers,
we can understand how the details, story language, and illustrations work
together.
READING THE TEXT CLOSELY
10 minutes
State the learning focuses. Invite students to read pages 17–22. Check to
see how well they are doing with the application of the focuses. Then have
students read the remainder of the book, asking and answering questions
based on explicit details, story language, and illustrations.
Today we will continue to ask questions based on explicit details, story
language, and illustrations. Based on page 22, who can ask a question about
the apples in Paul’s hand?
What does the author compare the apples to?
VocaBuLarY
rL.3.4 Lead students
to discuss the nonliteral
phrase split up on page 17.
Ask, “What might a literal
meaning of this phrase
be? What is its nonliteral
meaning?” Point out that this
phrase is an idiom.
Can anyone use an explicit detail to answer?
She says, “The apples looked like tiny candies.”
Let’s look at the word like. This phrase is an example of a simile—a
comparison between two objects that uses the word like or as. Are the
apples literally candies, or do they just share a trait with candies?
They share a trait. They are both small.
So this is a good example of nonliteral language. Now let’s look at the
illustration on page 21. How does it help us understand the physical size of
Paul’s hand?
coMPreHension sHare
When you are explaining
what a text says, make
sure to use the words the
author wrote so that your
explanation is logical.
I can barely hold one apple in my hand. Paul holds four apples and a juice
box and has lots of room to hold more!
DISCUSSING THE TEXT
10 minutes
Have students engage in a variety of collaborative discussions with diverse
partners, building on each others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
sL.3.1
Discussion
collaborative
During discussion today, I’d like everyone to write a question about the story
on a strip of paper. I’ll collect these strips and place them in a container. We’ll
take turns drawing questions from the container. When it’s your turn, draw
a question and read it aloud. I’ll choose three people to work together to
answer the question. We’ll hear ideas from all three people. Then we’ll move
on to the next question. Are we ready to give it a try?
MONDO BOOKSHOP GRADE 3
7
eLL suPPorT
Vocabulary Support
L.3.4
phrases such as good sign,
wound up with, and turn a
little red in context using the
ELL vocabulary strategies in
Getting Started.
Support students as they continue to ask questions and answer using explicit
details, the meanings of literal and nonliteral language, and details from
illustrations.
You’ll finish the book on your own. You may want to use two-column charts to
record your questions and answers. Why do you think it is important to use
details in the words and in the pictures to ask and answer questions?
There is information in the pictures that tells us more about some of the
details in the words.
Encourage students to ask and answer questions with different partners.
Remember to use details and language from the text when answering
questions. . . . Who would like to share any questions and answers?
Why is Roberta always bothering Kevin? In the picture on page 19, she looks
lonely. I think she wants to be friends with Kevin, but she doesn’t know how.
TEACHER’S
CHOICE CLOSE READING OPTIONS
ERESOURCE
summative assessment Print the online blackline master for
independent close reading. Ask students to read the selection indicated on
the page independently and respond to the prompts (summarize author’s
message, identify critical vocabulary, respond to constructed response
questions) before returning for a small-group discussion. Alternatively, you can
use the completed blackline master for summative assessment.
TEACHER’S
W.3.8*, rL.3.1
WriTing
respond to Question
TEACHER’S
CHOICE
CHOICE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE: WRITE TO SOURCE
ERESOURCE
Formative/summative assessment Have students continue to
use the blackline master on page 11 as they finish reading. Then ask them to
write a response on a separate sheet of paper that answers the following: What
makes a legend a legend? What types of things do legends try to explain?
Have students use the text evidence they collected to support their writing.
Writing Task: Narrative
W.3.3
WriTing
narrative
ERESOURCE
summative assessment Review with students the elements of
a narrative. Invite students to write stories based on characters from other
legends they have read or are familiar with. Encourage them to think about
how to blend elements of the original stories with new ideas. Before they
write, students will discuss their ideas with partners. Then they will work
independently to write their narratives. Have students use the organizer on
page 12 to help plan their narratives. Consider binding students’ stories and
placing a copy in the school library for other students to read and enjoy.
We have been thinking about how the author blends parts of the legend of Paul
Bunyan with new ideas to make a new story. Work with a partner to discuss
stories you know about other legendary heroes, such as John Henry, Pecos Bill,
or Slue-Foot Sue. Then write a new story about a character such as this.
Begin by establishing the situation and narrator and introducing the characters
and setting. Then develop an event sequence. Use dialogue and descriptions to
develop the story. Use words such as first, next, and finally to make the order of
events clear. Provide a solution to the main problem that the character faces.
8
When Paul Bunyan Came to middleBurg elementary SChool
TEACHER’S
CHOICE
Additional Instruction
WORD STUDY
affixes Help students find examples of -ly words and define them.
L.3.4b
VocaBuLarY
affixes
An adverb is a word that describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
Some adverbs answer the question “How?” For example, “She spoke
loudly.” The word loudly means “in a loud manner”; it tells how she spoke.
Many adverbs that tell how end with the suffix -ly. This is a clue about a
word’s use and its meaning. Let’s look at page 7 to find other -ly words.
quickly; finally
Who can share what you think these words mean?
“in a quick way”; “in a final way”
VOCABULARY
synonyms Help students develop vocabulary by encouraging them to
understand word relationships through a study of synonyms.
One way we can build understanding of new words is to find synonyms. Let’s
try this with the word declared near the bottom of page 25. Based on how
it is used in the text, what word do you suggest we use as a synonym for
declared?
The word comes right after something Roberta said, so said is probably a
synonym.
L.3.5
VocaBuLarY
Word relationships
TeacHer TiP
Have students create word
web diagrams that include
other possible synonyms for
the word declared.
Often synonyms don’t have exactly the same meanings. Who has an idea
about the difference in meaning between declared and said?
Roberta is talking in a strong way, so declared might mean “said in a
strong way.”
WORD RECOGNITION
Multisyllable Words Help students use letter-sound correspondence,
syllabication, and morphology to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllable words
in context. Direct students’ attention to the word enormous on page 30.
rF.3.3c
PHonics & WorD
recogniTion
Multisyllable Words
Let’s find the word enormous on page 30. This may be an unfamiliar word,
but we can use familiar strategies to read it. First, do you recognize the
suffix?
-ous, meaning “having the qualities of”
Yes, -ous is a one-syllable suffix that forms an adjective or a describing word.
(Write the word and mark the syllables: enor/mous.) Now does anyone
recognize a prefix?
I think e- is a prefix.
Yes, e- is a one-syllable prefix, meaning “out.” (Mark the syllables: e/nor/
mous.) Let’s say this word. I’ll say it first. Then you say it after me. (Say
the word.)
enormous
The Latin root norma means “carpenter’s square, or rule.” It was something
used to measure. The word enormous means “very large in size or amount or
huge.” Something that is enormous is outside the normal measurements, or
unable to be measured, just like Paul Bunyan!
MONDO BOOKSHOP GRADE 3
9
Name
Date
Comprehension: Ask and Answer
Questions
Use this organizer to ask yourself questions about the book and look for
answers in the text. Write the number of the page where you found an answer.
Answer I Found in the Text
Page number ___
Question 2
Answer I Found in the Text
Page number ___
Question 3
Answer I Found in the Text
Page number ___
© Mondo Publishing
Question 1
Score:
10 When Paul Bunyan Came to Middleburg Elementary School
Name
Date
Collecting Text Evidence
What makes a legend a legend? What types of
things do legends try to explain?
Use this chart to collect evidence from the text to help you answer these
questions. Be sure to include page numbers.
Page Number
© Mondo Publishing
Evidence from the Text
Score:
MONDO BOOKSHOP GRADE 3 11
Name
Date
Writing Task: Planning Your Narrative
The author of this story blends details from an old story with new
details to make a new story. Create a new story based on a character from
another legend you know. Plan your narrative using this organizer.
Beginning
Who is the narrator?
What is the setting?
Who are the characters?
What problem does the main character face?
Middle
What happens first?
What happens second?
What happens next?
What happens last?
Ending
© Mondo Publishing
How does the main character solve his or her problem?
NOTE: Use a separate sheet of paper or a computer to write your
narrative. Don’t forget to revise and edit your narrative.
Score:
12 When Paul Bunyan Came to Middleburg Elementary School