LESSON 14 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Leader of the Pack
by Philippe Santos
Fountas-Pinnell Level U
Realistic Fiction
Selection Summary
When the building supervisor threatens to place her puppy on his
list of troublemakers to evict, May Lin enrolls the pup in an obedience
class. The pup’s success draws the attention of Mrs. Deville, who
asks May Lin to train her dog. Eventually, May Lin entices all dog
owners in her building to bring their dogs for training.
Number of Words: 2,770
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Realistic fiction
• A problem and its solution are presented
• Time/order: chronological sequencing of plot events
• Third-person narrator
• Obedience training
• A young girl develops dog training skills
• Canine misbehavior upsets building supervisor
• A pet owner is responsible for his or her pet’s behavior.
• Use your knowledge and talents to help others.
• Sometimes you need to be creative to help others.
• Casual language/slang: galumphing, “poochie pie”
• Hyperbole: scene of the crime, herd of dogs, wild dog kennel
• Anthropomorphized dogs: Then he promptly turned his feelings of rejection into a puddle
that spread across the floor.
• Numerous complex sentences, some with two subordinate clauses
• Series of verb phrases: raced to the kitchen, snatched a handful of paper towels, and
returned to the scene of the crime
• Dog breeds and terms: kennel, Great Pyrenees, obedience school, alpha dog
• Some music terms: clarinet, reed, mouthpiece
• Many multisyllable words: immigrant, concentrate, fanatics, addition
• Realistic illustrations clarify and reinforce text
• Illustrations emphasize the humor in various situations
• Seventeen pages of text with an illustration on each page spread
• Enumerated, titled chapter headings
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Leader of the Pack
by Philippe Santos
Build Background
Help students use their experience with pets to visualize the story. Build interest by
asking questions such as the following: Do you or someone you know have a pet?
What responsibilities do you think a pet owner has? Read the title and author, and talk a
bout the cover illustration. Ask students what features they expect to find in realistic fiction.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 2: Point out the picture on page 2. Explain that May practices her clarinet
while her grandfather is writing a book in another part of the apartment. Ask
students to describe the sound of a clarinet. Suggested language: Look at page 2.
What is Monkey’s response to May’s music?
Pages 4–5: Point out the illustration on page 5. Explain that Vladimir Petrenko
supervises the apartment complex. Read the last sentence on page 4: Many of the
tenants, despite their differences, shared one very important thing in common—
they were dog fanatics. Ask: What is a fanatic? From the picture, why do you think
these pet lovers don’t fully understand their responsibilities as pet owners? How
would you feel if you were Mr. Petrenko?
Pages 8–9: Explain that Mr. Petrenko says he’d like to evict renters who own
naughty dogs. May repeats his words to Grandfather, who suggests obedience
school for Monkey. Ask: Do you think Mr. Petrenko has a right to feel as he does?
Why or why not? What is the aim of an obedience school?
Now turn to the beginning and read to find out if May can solve the dog problem
and truly become “leader of the pack.”
Target Vocabulary
aim – a goal or purpose, p. 13
anonymous – someone who has
a name or identity that is not
known or not given, p. 4
bland – something lacking strong
features or characteristics, p. 15
emulate – to imitate or try to be
like someone else, p. 14
Grade 6
fanatic – a person with extreme
enthusiasm for, or devotion to,
something, p. 4
motive – the reason why someone
does something, p. 15
reception – a social gathering
honoring, celebrating or
welcoming someone, p. 6
2
skeptical – to be doubtful,
questioning, or suspicious
about things that others
believe, p. 13
understatement – a simple
description of something big
or important, p. 8
veered – changed direction, p. 18
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Visualize Strategy
and to look
for important details to help them picture the story in their minds.
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the story.
Suggested language: Do you think May Lin has a natural gift for dog training?
Why or why not?
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
• May Lin’s puppy, Monkey,
misbehaves.
• Pet owners are responsible for
the behavior of their pets.
• Monkey’s behavior improves
after he attends obedience
school.
• Help others by sharing your
knowledge and talents.
• The story describes customs
and traditions in the Chinese
American culture.
• May devises a dog competition
in her apartment complex to
convince other dog owners to let
her train their dogs.
• Sometimes people need to be
persuaded to do something that
will benefit them.
• Because the story is about dogs,
the author includes details about
dog behavior, training, and
breeds.
• The author includes characters
from many different
backgrounds to show that,
despite their differences, people
can get along.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to participate in a readers’ theater. Have them choose a
passage in which one of the tenants or Mr. Petrenko speaks. Remind student to
express appropriate emotions as they read aloud.
• 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 many English words have Latin and
Greek roots. For example, the word anonymous on page 4 comes from the Greek
anonymos, or “without a name.” In this word an–, the prefix, means without, while
onoma means “name.” List these English words that end in –nym: homonym,
pseudonym, synonym.
Grade 6
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 14.8.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s
Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding
of the comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Author’s Purpose
Remind students that authors have various purposes
for writing, such as to entertain, to inform, or to persuade. Sometimes authors have more
than one purpose. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think
Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
Additional details showing how May solved a problem include that May
trains MacGregor, and that May eventually trains all the dogs in the
building. Adding these details to the chart contributes to the author’s
purpose of showing how May solves the problem of bad dog behavior in
her building.
Practice the Skill
Encourage students to share an example of another story in which author’s purpose
can be determined.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the writing prompt on page 6. Remind them that
when they think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new
understandings.
Assessment Prompts
• What does the word galumphing mean in the sentence Panting with enthusiasm,
the big mountain dog came galumphing across the floor and threw himself at May?
• In paragraph two on page 7, the expression You dogs will be the death of me! means
that Mr. Petrenko felt
_______________________________________________.
• What is the author’s point of view on the subject of dogs?
Grade 6
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair advanced and intermediate readers to read the story softly,
or have students listen to the audio or online recordings.
Cultural Support The Chinese New Year is an important holiday in the Chinese
culture. Chinese New Year begins in either January or February, and instead of being
a one-day celebration, it lasts for fifteen days.
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 Monkey?
Speaker 1: Why is Mr. Petrenko upset?
Speaker 2: May Lin’s new puppy
Speaker 2: the supervisor of the
apartment complex where May lives
Speaker 2: Mr. Petrenko is upset
because people in his apartment
complex let their dogs run free.
Then the dogs cause trouble for Mr.
Petrenko.
Speaker 1: How do the dogs in
the apartment complex affect Mr.
Petrenko’s health?
Speaker 1: Where does May take
Monkey?
Speaker 1: Why does May take Monkey
to obedience school?
Speaker 2: to Miss Begley’s O-Bay Dog
Obedience School
Speaker 2: Monkey goes to obedience
school to learn good behavior. If he
does not, Mr. Petrenko might evict
May’s family.
Speaker 1: Who is Vladimir Petrenko?
Speaker 2: The dogs in the
apartment building run wild and
cause Mr. Petrenko’s high blood
pressure to worsen.
Speaker 1: Why does Monkey’s
behavior improve after obedience
training?
Speaker 2: Monkey’s behavior
improves because he knows that
May is the boss.
Lesson 14
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 14.8
Date
Critical Thinking
Leader of the Pack
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text Why does May name her puppy Monkey?
She names him after his Chinese zodiac sign.
2. Think within the text What is the author’s purpose in this story?
The author’s purpose in this story is to show how May solves a
problem.
3. Think about the text May learns that leadership is important when
training a dog. How can what she learned with her dog help her
become a good leader to humans, too?
Good leaders are not cruel or harsh. They offer praise and give
advice to help others. Good leaders are consistent and fair.
4. Think beyond the text What do you predict will happen in May’s
apartment now that the dogs have been trained?
The dogs will continue to behave, and their owners will not be
forced to move.
Making Connections Describe a time when you or someone you know had
to take on the role of leader. How did the experience make you or the other
person feel? What did you or the other person learn from the experience?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Critical Thinking
10
Grade 6, Unit 3: Going the Distance
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Grade 6
5
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Name
Date
Leader of the Pack
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two or three
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
On page 10, Miss Begley says “You must be consistent and fair when
disciplining your pets. Reinforce positive behavior.” What does Miss Begley
mean by reinforcing positive behavior? Do you think this advice for pet
owners could apply to disciplining children? What could parents learn from
Miss Begley’s advice?
Grade 6
6
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Lesson 14
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
BLACKLINE MASTER 14.8
Leader of the Pack
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text Why does May name her puppy Monkey?
2. Think within the text What is the author’s purpose in this story?
3. Think about the text May learns that leadership is important when
training a dog. How can what she learned with her dog help her
become a good leader to humans, too?
4. Think beyond the text What do you predict will happen in May’s
apartment now that the dogs have been trained?
Making Connections Describe a time when you or someone you know had
to take on the role of leader. How did the experience make you or the other
person feel? What did you or the other person learn from the experience?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 6
7
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Student
Lesson 14
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 14.12
Leader of the Pack • LEVEL U
page
15
Leader of the Pack
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
May thought seriously about Mr. Petrenko’s suggestion. It
seemed like a giant step to go from training one unruly dog
like McGregor to training an apartment full of them. It would
be quite a challenge. Was she up to it? She decided she was.
With her family’s help, May created posters advertising the
classes, which she planned on holding in the courtyard. But
when the first day of classes arrived, not a single dog owner
showed up. May had never felt so disappointed.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/83 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Behavior
Error
Substitution
0
Self-corrects
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 6
0
Insertion
Code
cut
cat
cut sc
Error
1
cat
0
the
1
cat
1414510
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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