Level L/24
The King’s Mapmaker
xplorers
Teacher’s Guide
For students reading at Literacy
Level L/24, including:
•• English-language learners
•• Students reading below grade level
•• Second grade readers
•• First graders reading above grade level
Skills & Strategies
Anchor Comprehension
Strategies
•• Identify sequence of events
•• Summarize information
•• Analyze text structure and
organization
Metacognitive strategy
•• Make connections
Genre Study
•• Recognize the characteristics of fairy
tales
•• Analyze problem and solution
Vocabulary
•• Recognize high-frequency words
•• Develop academic content (Tier Three)
vocabulary
•• Develop robust (Tier Two) vocabulary
Word Study
THEME: Geography
•• All About Continents (Level L/24)
•• The King’s Mapmaker (Level L/24)
•• Use compound words
Language
•• Recognize the sentence structure
_____ is not _____
•• Use negatives
Phonics
•• Use word parts to problem-solve
multisyllable words
•• Recognize comparatives
Fluency
•• Read with appropriate pitch
Writing
•• Write to a picture prompt
•• Write to a text prompt
B
GENRE/SUMMARY:
In this fairy tale, King Lost-a-lot keeps
getting lost in his kingdom. Maps don’t help
him until Milo the clerk draws a map that
shows the king exactly what he needs to
know.
e n c h m a r k
E
d u c a t i o n
C
o m p a n y
Before Reading
Related Resources
The following Benchmark Education
Company resources support the skills
and strategies taught in this lesson.
Early Explorers Partner
•A
ll About Continents (Nonfiction,
Level L/24)
Early Comprehension Strategy Poster
• Identify Sequence of Events
Fluency and Language Development
• The King’s Mapmaker Audio CD
Text-Dependent Comprehension
Resources
•T
he King’s Mapmaker Comprehension
Question Card
• Power Tool Flip Chart for Teachers
• Student Bookmark
Assessment
•E
arly Explorers Overview & Assessment
Handbook
•G
rade 2 Comprehension Strategy
Assessment Book
Make Connections
and Build Background
• Use a Map Draw an outline of the classroom
on the board. Say: This is a map of our room.
The map is not very good, though. The door is
not on the map. Draw the door in the correct
loca­tion. Then ask: What else should be on the
map? Use students’ ideas to make the map more
detailed and accurate. Then say: Now we have
a good map. We will read a book about a king
who needs a good map to keep from getting lost.
• Use a Graphic Organizer Write the word
Lost! on the board and underline it. Read the
word and ask students to help you make a list of
places a king might get lost in his kingdom. As
students respond, record the places under the
heading. Then read each entry and ask students
to echo-read.
Copyright © 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may
photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be
reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Lost!
castle
forest
garden
town
Introduce the Book
• Preview Cover and Table of Contents Give
each student a copy of the book. Point to the
front and read the title and author. Ask students
to echo-read, and invite them to tell what they
see in the illustration. Repeat the process with
the chapter headings and page numbers on the
table of contents. Then model how to make
a prediction based on the cover and table of
contents information: The title tells me the king
has or wants a mapmaker. I also see the word
mapmaker in three of the chapter headings. I
think the king is looking for a mapmaker. Allow
time for students to share their own predictions
about the book.
• Introduce Characters and Setting Remind
students that characters are the people in a story
and the setting is where the story takes place. Ask
students to turn to pages 2 and 3, and point to
each character as you read the matching name.
Repeat the process, inviting students to echo-read.
Then help them use the illustrations to determine
that the story takes place in and around a king’s
castle and kingdom.
• Preview Illustrations and Vocabulary Take
students on a picture walk, emphasizing words
such as bell, king, lost, map, mapmaker,
queen, moat, direction, north, south, east,
and west as you talk about the illustrations and
what is happening in the story. Make sure students
can pronounce each vocabulary word.
• Preview Sentence Structure For students who
need additional support, write _____ is not _____
on the board. Read the sentence structure aloud
and ask students to repeat it several times. Say:
The words is not are in the book. Page 16 has
a sentence with the words is not. Can you find
the sentence? Can you read it? Allow time for
students to do so, assisting as needed. Then invite
them to locate and read three additional examples
on page 13.
ISBN: 978-1-4108-6771-1
2
The King’s Mapmaker
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
During Reading
• Use Graphophonic Cues Write the word
lovely on the board. Say: Another word in this
book is lovely. Look at the word lovely. Say
the word lovely. What word parts do you see
and hear in lovely? Allow time for students to
respond, assisting as needed. Say: The word
lovely has two parts, love and -ly. We see -ly
at the end of many words. Lovely is another
form of the word love. Ask students to find
the word lovely on page 10. Then repeat the
process with the word prickly on page 12. Say:
Use word parts to help you when you read.
• Scaffold Spanish-Language Speakers Say:
Say the word map. Does map sound similar
to a word you know in Spanish? (Allow time for
students to respond.) The English word map
sounds similar to the Spanish word mapa. Map
and mapa mean the same thing. The words
look similar, too. Write the word map on
the board and ask students to locate it on
page 7 in the book. Repeat the process with in/
en, castle/castillo, no/no, plant/planta,
explore/explorar, and direction/dirección.
Then point out that the words to and too on
page 5 sound like the Spanish word tu but do
not mean the same thing. Finally, invite students
with other first languages to share their cognates.
Observe and Prompt
Reading Strategies
• After the supportive introduction, students
should be able to read all or most of the book on
their own. Observe students as they read. Take
note of the graphophonic, syntactic, and semantic
cues they use to make sense of the text and selfcorrect. Prompt individual students who have
difficulty problem-solving independently, but be
careful not to prompt English-language learners
too quickly. They may need more time to process
the text as they rely on their first language for
comprehension.
Set a Purpose for Reading
• Say: Now it’s time to read the book. You may
whisper-read or read silently to yourself. Assign
one or more chapters, depending on available
time and the needs and abilities of students in
the group. Use the chart to set a purpose for
each chapter. Invite students to place self-stick
notes on pages where they find information to
add to the list they made before reading, and
look for opportunities to add to the list at each
stopping point. If students do not complete the
book, orally summarize the previously read
chapters and begin at this point in the Teacher’s
Guide the next time you meet.
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Pages
Purpose for Reading
4­–5
Read to find out
King Lost-a-lot’s problem.
6–7
Read to find out why
Queen Findhim is worried.
8–13
Read to find out what
happens when the fancy
mapmaker makes a map.
14–17
Read to find out what
happens when the fast
mapmaker makes a map.
18–20
Read to find out who is
the best mapmaker of all.
The King’s Mapmaker
3
After Reading
Use the Graphic
Organizer to Summarize
Reading Strategy Mini-Lesson:
Make Connections
• Ask students to think about their reading. Say:
Look at our list. Does King Lost-a-lot get lost
in any of these places? Put a ✟ next to any
matching responses. Then ask students to name
other places the king got lost in the story. Add
these places and put check marks next to them.
Choral-read the checkmarked words. Then ask
students to use the graphic organizer to tell the
story to a partner.
Lost!
castle ✟
forest
garden
town
barn ✟
kitchen ✟
prickly plants ✟
moat ✟
• Reflect Ask students to think about the parts of
the book that were hard for them to understand.
Ask: What did you do to help yourself understand
what you read?
Genre Study
• Say: This story is a fairy tale. A fairy tale often
takes place long ago in a faraway land. Fairy
tales often have kings and queens. Most fairy
tales teach a lesson and have a happy ending.
Many fairy tales also use the number three. For
example, King Lost-a-lot tries three different
mapmakers. What makes The King’s Mapmaker
a fairy tale? Guide students to mention that the
story takes place long ago and far away. The story
has a king and queen. The king learns a lesson,
and the story has a happy ending. Then invite
students to share other fairy tales they have read
or heard and explain why the stories are fairy
tales.
4
• Say: Fairy tales have problems and solutions.
King Lost-a lot has a problem. The king gets lost
in his kingdom. The king tries to solve his problem
by getting a mapmaker. Queen Findhim has
a problem. The queen has to eat dinner late
because the king gets lost. The queen tries to
solve her problem by giving the king a bell. The
queen can hear the bell and find the king. What
problem does Milo have? Allow time for students
to respond. Say: Yes, Milo is too shy to say he
is the best mapmaker. How does Milo solve his
problem? Again allow time for students to
respond. Say: Yes, Milo shows the king that he
knows a lot about maps. Then Milo becomes the
king’s mapmaker. Thinking about the problems
the characters solve helps us better understand
The King’s Mapmaker. Think about problems and
solutions any time you read a story.
The King’s Mapmaker
• Model Say: I want to make sure I understand
what I read. One way is to connect the story
characters, setting, and events to my own
experiences. Pages 8 and 9 make me think of a
connection. Read the pages aloud and then say:
The man in the fancy coat says he can make a
fancy map. King Lost-a-lot loves fancy things.
Sometimes I am like the king. Sometimes I like
fancy things, too. Thinking about the things I
like helps me understand the story. Making this
connection shows me how the king might feel.
• Guide Ask students to turn to page 6. Read the
page aloud together. Ask: Why does the queen
worry about the king? Who have you worried
about? Who has worried about you? Allow time
for students to share their connections. Then
invite them to tell how making connections
helped them better understand page 6.
• Apply Ask students to read their favorite page to
a partner and then make a connection to their
own experiences. Observe students as they share
their connections, providing assistance if needed.
See the Early Explorers Overview & Assessment
Handbook for an observation chart you can use
to assess students’ understanding of the make
connections monitor-reading strategy. Then
say: You can make connections any time you
read. Remember to make connections to help
you understand.
Answer Text-Dependent
Questions
• Explain Remind students they can answer
questions about books they have read. Say:
We answer different kinds of questions in
different ways. I will help you learn how to
answer each kind. Tell students today they will
practice answering Take It Apart! questions.
Say: The answer to a Take It Apart! question
is not stated in the book. You must think like
the author to figure out the answer.
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
• Model Use the first Take It Apart! question
on the Comprehension Question Card. Say: I
will show you how I answer a Take It Apart!
question. I will read the question to figure out
what to do. The question says: “Look on pages 4
and 5. The author uses . . . to tell where the
king got lost.” This question asks me to analyze
text structure and organization. I know because
the question has the words The author uses.
What other information in the question do you
think will help me? (Allow student responses.)
Yes, I need to look on pages 4 and 5. The first
sentence on page 4 says the king is always
getting lost. The next sentence starts with
the words For example. This phrase tells me
the author will give an example of where the
king got lost in the barn. Page 5 gives another
example of where the king got lost in the
kitchen. The author uses examples to tell where
the king got lost. Using examples answers the
question. The answer makes sense.
• Guide Say: Let’s find out what happens then.
Look on page 12. Where does Milo find the king?
(Allow time for students to respond, assisting if
needed.) Yes, Milo finds the king in a patch of
prickly plants. Let’s add this event to the graphic
organizer.
• Apply Ask students to work with a partner to
figure out the rest of the events in the story.
Remind them that a sequence happens in order, so
they will need to keep turning the pages. After
each partnership shares, agree on how to word
the entries on the graphic organizer. Finally, read
the completed graphic organizer aloud and invite
students to echo-read.
• Guide Ask students to answer the other questions
on the Comprehension Question Card. Use the
Power Tool Flip Chart and Student Bookmark to
provide additional modeling as needed. Remind
students to ask themselves: What is the question
asking? How can I find the answer? Does my
answer make sense? How do I know?
Build Comprehension:
Identify Sequence of Events
• Explain Create an overhead transparency of
“The King’s Mapmaker” graphic organizer on
page 8 or draw it on the chalkboard. Say: Fiction
books tell stories. The events in stories happen in
order, or sequence. Good readers pay attention
to the sequence of the events. This helps readers
get the most out of the story.
• Model Say: Let’s figure out the sequence of
events in The King’s Mapmaker. We need to start
where the action starts. Pages 4 and 5 describe
the king. The first event happens on page 6. The
king adds Swan Lake to his kingdom. I will write
about Swan Lake in the first box on the graphic
organizer. Now I will read on to see what
happens next. On pages 8 and 9 the king gets
a fancy map. I will write about the map in the
next box. On page 10 the queen gives the king a
chain with a bell. I will write about the bell, too.
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Teacher Tip Use Benchmark Education
Company’s K–2 Early Comprehension Strategy
Poster Set to provide additional instruction
in identifying sequence of events. Use BEC’s
Comprehension Strategy Assessment books to
assess students’ ability to identify sequence of
events in other brief, grade-level texts.
Home Connection
• Give students the take-home version of The
King’s Mapmaker to read to family members.
Encourage students to work with a friend or
family member to make a map of the area
around their home. Invite students to bring
their maps to share with the group.
The King’s Mapmaker
5
Writing
Connections
Mini-Lessons
Reader Response
Phonics: Comparatives
Invite students to respond to the book in a way
that is meaningful to them. Model and use thinkalouds as needed to scaffold students before they
try the activities on their own.
• Draw a map of King Lost-a-lot’s kingdom.
Include his castle, the moat, the river, and
Swan Lake.
• Tell why Milo’s map is the best of the three maps.
• Tell how the story would be different if the king
did not wear a chain with a bell.
• Write three words that describe the king, the
queen, and Milo.
• Write directions from the king’s castle to
Swan Lake.
• Write something you would like to say to
the king.
• Ask students to locate the word bigger on page 6.
Write bigger on the board. Explain that the two
letters at the end of the word—/e/ and /r/—are
blended together to make /er/. Slowly draw your
finger under the word as you blend the sounds.
Then ask students to do the same in their books.
Say: We add the -er ending to an adjective to
compare two things. Display two books and point
out the one that is bigger. Then ask students to
find other adjectives with -er on pages 8 (fancier)
and 14 (faster).
Write to a Picture Prompt
• Describe a Setting Tell students they will
describe and write about a setting they see in
the story. Say: I like to see where different
parts of the story take place. I can describe the
settings in my own words, too. I see the king
falling into a moat on page 15. I can describe
the moat: The moat is between the castle and
the land. A bridge over the moat connects the
land to the castle. Fish live in the moat’s blue
water. What do you notice about the setting?
How would you describe the setting? Allow
time for students to respond. Ask: Which picture
do you like best? How would you describe the
setting? Allow time for students to respond,
prompting further if needed. Say: You have
described the setting in the picture you chose.
Now write your description. After you are
finished, read your description to a partner.
Write to a Text Prompt
• Analyze Characters’ Feelings Say: Think
about Milo. How does Milo feel when the king
gets his first two maps? How does Milo feel
at the end of the story? Write about Milo’s
changing feelings. When you are finished,
read your ideas to a partner.
6
The King’s Mapmaker
for Differentiating Instruction
• Ask students to brainstorm adjectives with the
-er ending while you record them on index cards.
Read each word, inviting students to echo-read.
• Pair students. Ask partners to take turns selecting
one of the words and making up a sentence about
the word using pantomime or classroom objects.
Vocabulary
• Academic Content Vocabulary Review the
story with students and record words that apply
to kingdoms and maps: bell, king, lost, map,
mapmaker, queen, moat, direction, north,
south, east, and west. Read the cards together.
Ask student pairs to choose any two of the words
and use them in an oral sentence.
• Robust Vocabulary Say: On page 14, King
Lost-a-lot can’t wait to explore Swan Lake. To
explore is to get to know something very well.
The king wants to explore Swan Lake to see what
it is like. Say the word with me: explore. Here are
some ways people explore: You move to a new
town. You and your brother walk around the
neighborhood. A scientist is searching for new
planets. Every night he studies the sky through his
telescope. A girl is staying at her grandmother’s
house. She looks at everything in the attic. Now,
tell about a time you might explore. Try to use
the word explore when you tell about it. You
could start by saying, “I explore when I _____.”
(Allow time for each student to respond, assisting
if needed.) What is the word we’ve been talking
about? Yes—explore. Let’s try to use the word
explore many times today. We can use the word
at school and at home. For additional practice in
developing robust vocabulary, repeat the process
with the words shy (page 8), fancy (page 8), and
explained (page 16).
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Word Study: Compound Words
• Model Say: Authors sometimes use compound
words when they write. A compound word
is made of two words put together. I see a
compound word in the story title: The King’s
Mapmaker. The word mapmaker is a compound
word. Write the word mapmaker on the board.
Draw a line under each part as you say: The
words map and maker make the compound
word mapmaker.
• Guide Invite students to read page 5 with you.
Ask: Which word is a compound word? (inside)
What two words make the compound word
inside? (in, side) Write the word inside on the
board. Draw a line under each part as you and
the students say in and side.
• Apply Ask students to find the compound words
on pages 7 (something) and 12 (sundown).
Read the compound words aloud and ask students
to echo-read. Then invite volunteers to name the
words that make up each compound word.
Language Development:
Negatives
• Model Say: Sometimes authors use words that
are negative. Negative means no. Invite students
to read the third sentence on page 6 aloud. Say:
The queen was not happy. Was the queen happy?
No. Then ask students to choral-read the first
sentence on page 11. Say: The bell was not a
gift. Was the bell a gift? No. I use the word
not, too. Point to the appropriate places in the
classroom as you share not sentences, such as:
The door is closed. The window is not closed.
Farah is wearing a blue shirt. Steve is not
wearing a blue shirt.
I wrote on the board this morning. I am not
writing on the board now.
• Apply Pair students. Ask partners to make up
sentences using the words not, no one, and
never. As they share their sentences with the
group, write them on the board and underline
the negatives
Fluency: Read with
Appropriate Pitch
• Say: In fiction books, characters talk to one
another. We can tell when characters are talking.
We look for quotation marks around the
characters’ words. Point out the quotation marks
on page 5. Then ask students to find other places
that have quotation marks (pages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12,
13, 14, 16, 17, and 20). Say: Good readers think
about who is talking. Good readers think about
what the character is saying. They also think
about how the character might talk. (Use a low
pitch.) Some characters might talk with a low
pitch. (Use a high pitch.) Some characters might
talk with a high pitch. (Use a normal voice.) Other
characters might talk with a normal pitch, like
this.
• Ask students to turn to page 7. First, read the
entire page in a normal voice. Ask students if they
think the queen’s voice would have the same pitch
as the king’s. Then read the page again using a
higher pitch for the queen and a lower pitch for
the king. Ask students to echo-read.
• Ask students to turn to page 10. Choral-read the
page with them, changing pitch for the king’s and
queen’s words.
• Invite students to take turns rereading The King’s
Mapmaker with a partner. Remind them to
change their pitch to match what the characters
are saying.
• Guide Invite students to read the first sentence
on page 12 with you. Ask: Was the king back by
sundown? (no) How do you know? (The author
uses the word not.) Repeat the procedure with
the negatives no one (pages 8 and 14) and
never (page 20).
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
The King’s Mapmaker
7
Name
Date
The King’s Mapmaker
Identify Sequence of Events
8
The King’s Mapmaker
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC