LESSON 9 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Manny’s Story
by Jane Bingley
Fountas-Pinnell Level L
Realistic Fiction
Selection Summary
The narrator’s cousin, Manny, likes to embellish his stories, as
evidenced by the story he tells about his struggle with the Giant Scary
Tuna of Minnesota. The narrator challenges him and frowns, but in
the end she’s eager to hear another of his tall tales.
Number of Words: 869
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
• First-person narrative
• Chronological plot includes flashbacks
• Fishing on a lake
• Using exaggeration when telling stories
• Humor and exaggeration add flavor to an uninteresting story, as long as the story isn’t
meant to be true.
• Appreciation of people’s strengths
• Use of humorous elements, including exaggeration and sarcasm
• Story advanced mostly through dialogue
• Similes: as long as a school bus, as wide as a house, as large as the wheels on a car
• Exaggeration: nothing to eat but weeds, didn’t sleep for days
• Various sentence lengths, including some longer, complex sentences
• Some fishing/lake terms: ranger station, lily pads, fishing pole, hooked, tuna.
• Idioms and informal expressions: tug-of-war, round of applause
• Several words may be unfamiliar, such as lumberjack.
• Multisyllabic words, some of which might not be familiar to English language learners
• Art sometimes contained within speech balloons
• Humorous illustrations support the text but do not carry the content.
• 13 pages of text, including 4 pages all text, 3 pages all art
• Captions and labels that provide additional information and clarify text
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Manny’s Story
by Jane Bingley
Build Background
Help students think about story telling. Build interest by asking a question such as the
following: What kinds of stories do you like to listen to? Read the title and author and
talk about the cover illustration. Tell students that this book is realistic fiction, so the
characters seem real, but it is about a boy who likes telling stories that are not real.
Front-Load Vocabulary Some everyday words may be unfamiliar to English
learners. Before reading, check understanding of the following words: leaky, flipped,
tall tales, lumberjack.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, reading the captions, noting important ideas, and helping
with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Call their
attention to any important labels. Here are some suggestions:
Pages 2–3: Explain that this story is about a boy named Manny, who likes to tell
silly stories. Call attention to the illustration, read the caption, and explain that the
girl labeled Me in the illustration is telling the story.
Suggested language: The picture in the thought bubble over Manny’s head shows
part of the story he’s telling. What is the narrator’s attitude about the story? How
can you tell?
Page 5: Direct attention to the illustration, and read the caption and label. Look at
the fish. How would you describe it?
Page 7: Read the caption. What do you think of Manny’s fishing story so far?
Pages 10–11: Manny’s cousin tells him that it’s rude not to tell the truth. Do
you agree that not telling the truth is an impolite, or rude, thing to do? Then the
narrator’s mother explains what a tall tale is. It’s a made-up story with a lot of
exaggeration. Why do you think Manny likes to tell tall tales?
Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to find out what Manny and
his cousin learn about tall tales.
Target Vocabulary
applause – clapping, p. 7
blasted – made a sudden, loud
sound or movement, p. 5
blurry – unclear, p. 5
familiar – something or someone
that is known, p. 4
rickety – shaky or likely to fall
apart, p. 2
jerky – moving in sudden,
uneven, or awkward ways, p. 4
rude – not being polite, or having
bad manners, p. 10
vacant – empty, p. 2
Grade 3
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Lesson 9: Manny’s Story
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Read
Have students read Manny’s Story silently while you listen to individual students read.
Support their problem solving and fluency as needed.
Remind students to use the Monitor/Clarify Strategy
clear up anything in the story that doesn’t make sense to them.
, finding ways to
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: Did you enjoy Manny’s tall tale? 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
• Manny tells his cousin, the
narrator, a story about catching
a giant tuna that she keeps
interrupting to point out things
that are exaggerated.
• If you know a personal story
includes exaggeration, you don’t
expect it to be true-to-life.
• Story events alternate between
what is actually happening and
the tales the characters tell.
• What you think is a person’s
weakness may be his or her
strength.
• The author makes this story
humorous by using exaggeration
(Manny’s tall tale) and sarcasm
(the narrator’s responses).
• The narrator’s mother identifies
Manny’s story as a tall tale, like a
Paul Bunyan story.
• The author shows Manny’s
storytelling skills by having him
use description and figurative
language (as long as a school
bus).
• Manny agrees and offers to tell
another of his tall tales, which
the narrator is now eager to hear.
© 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 passage from pp. 4–8 of the text to read with
expression. Remind them that Manny is telling an exciting tall tale that is annoying the
narrator; their voices should express appropriate excitement or annoyance.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to look
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 some words are formed by adding -y to
a base word. Use words from the text to illustrate how base words change when -y is
added, including how a base word ending in consonant-vowel-consonant has the final
consonant doubled and how a base word ending with silent e has the e dropped. Have
students practice finding the base word in each of these story words: leaky, jerky,
scary, blurry, and funny.
Grade 3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 9.10.
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
Cause and Effect
Remind students that one way to connect story events is
to see if one event causes other events to happen and to think about why this is so. Model
the skill, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
Some of the things that the characters do or say in this story cause other
things to happen. Manny says it snowed during his fishing trip. The
narrator stops the story. When Manny says he hadn’t slept for days, the
narrator frowns.
Practice the Skill
Have students pick one of the events in Manny’s story and write two or three sentences
that tell how one thing causes another thing to happen.
Writing Prompt: Thinking About the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think about the text, they reflect back on the text. They notice and evaluate language,
genre, literary devices, and how the text is organized.
Assessment Prompts
• Tell one word that best describes Manny’s tall tale.
• Which words and phrases on page 6 help the reader to picture the Giant Scary Tuna?
• What can the reader tell from the narrator’s words on page 14?
Grade 3
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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. Or have students use the
audio or online recordings.
Cultural Support Explain to students that in places with many bodies of water, such
as lakes, ponds, and rivers, some people enjoy fishing. They may bring home the fish they
catch to eat or catch and release the fish for sport.
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 tells the story about
the Great Fearsome Tuna?
Speaker 1: What is Manny’s story about?
Speaker 1: Why does the narrator
say that Manny’s stories are
ridiculous?
Speaker 2: Manny
Speaker 2: It’s about trying to catch the
Great Fearsome Tuna.
Speaker 1: Is Manny’s story about the
tuna a true story?
Speaker 1: Why does the narrator keep
interrupting Manny?
Speaker 2: No
Speaker 2: She points out things that
can’t be true.
Speaker 1: The narrator’s mother tells a
tall tale. Who is the tall tale about?
Speaker 2: She says they’re
ridiculous because they are full
of things that can’t be true.
Speaker 1: Why does Manny like
to turn his stories into tall tales?
Speaker 2: He wants to make his
stories fun, and he thinks his real
stories are not very interesting.
Speaker 2: Paul Bunyan
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Lesson 9
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.10
Date
Critical Thinking
Manny’s Story
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text What does Manny always do at
his cousin’s house?
He tells silly stories.
2. Think within the text Why is Manny’s cousin happy at
the end of the story?
She is happy because Manny admitted that his stories are made up.
3. Think beyond the text Do you think Manny should
stop telling his stories? Explain your answer.
Responses will vary.
4. Think about the text Why does the author include the
cousin’s mother in the story?
The author includes the mother as a way to solve the problem between Manny
and his cousin.
Making Connections Manny’s story is exciting because of the
many amazing details. Think of an amazing story or tall tale you
have heard or read. What was the story or tall tale about?
Why did you enjoy it?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Read directions to students.
Critical Thinking
12
Grade 3, Unit 2: Express Yourself
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Grade 3
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Name
Date
Manny’s Story
Thinking About the Text
Write a paragraph that answers the following questions:
Would this book have been as much fun to read if Manny had described his
fishing trip without exaggerating? Why or why not? Use details from the
story to support your opinion.
Grade 3
6
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Lesson 9
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.10
Critical Thinking
Manny’s Story
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text What does Manny always do at
his cousin’s house?
2. Think within the text Why is Manny’s cousin happy at
the end of the story?
3. Think beyond the text Do you think Manny should
stop telling his stories? Explain your answer.
4. Think about the text Why does the author include the
cousin’s mother in the story?
Making Connections Manny’s story is exciting because of the
many amazing details. Think of an amazing story or tall tale you
have heard or read. What was the story or tall tale about?
Why did you enjoy it?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 3
7
Lesson 9: Manny’s Story
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Student
Lesson 9
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.14
Manny’s Story • LEVEL L
page
12
Manny’s Story
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
“Paul Bunyan was a lumberjack. That’s a person who chops
wood. He was very, very big. The buttons on his shirt were as
large as the wheels on a car! There are a lot of tall tales about
Paul Bunyan. In one tall tale, Paul fights giant bugs. In another
tall tale, Paul cooked giant pancakes!”
“But those Paul Bunyan stories aren’t true,” I said. “Manny’s
stories aren’t true either.”
13
Manny scratched his head. “I guess I do turn my stories into
tall tales,” he said. “But I do that because I want the stories to
be funny and interesting!”
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
1414250
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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