COMMON CORE GEORGIA PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS INTEGRATED LESSON PLANNING TEMPLATE
Third Grade Lesson: Tales of the Trickster
Duration:
2-3 days
Task:
Students will study trickster characters from various cultures and write a persuasive essay about the morality of the trickster
Essential Question for Lesson: What are some things that all people have in common, even people from very different cultures?
Task
Skill
Standard
Students will read selected tales of
Anansi Spider (the African trickster
tales) and Coyote (Native
American trickster tales).
Attentive Reading
Identifying theme
Inference
ELA3R3 The student uses a variety of strategies to gain meaning from gradelevel text. The student
c. Generates questions before, during, and after reading.
d. Distinguishes fact from opinion.
e. Recognizes plot, setting, and character within text, and compares and contrasts
these elements between texts..
f. Makes judgments and inferences about setting, characters, and events and supports
them with evidence from the text.
i. Makes connections between texts and/or personal experiences.
q. Formulates and defends an opinion about a text.
ELACC3RL2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse
cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is
conveyed through key details in the text.
ELACC3RL3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings)
and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
ELACC3RL9: Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written
by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).
Students will use a Venn Diagram
to discuss similarities and
differences between the two
selected tales using evidence from
the text and supported inference.
Graphic organizers
Collaborative discussion
Using text evidence to support
claims
Compare and Contrast/Infer
ELA3R3 The student uses a variety of strategies to gain meaning from gradelevel text. The student
c. Generates questions before, during, and after reading.
d. Distinguishes fact from opinion.
e. Recognizes plot, setting, and character within text, and compares and contrasts
these elements between texts..
f. Makes judgments and inferences about setting, characters, and events and supports
them with evidence from the text.
i. Makes connections between texts and/or personal experiences.
q. Formulates and defends an opinion about a text.
ELA3LSV1 The student uses oral and visual strategies to communicate.
ELACC3SL1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one,
in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building
on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly
draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas
under discussion.
ELACC3RL2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse
cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is
conveyed through key details in the text.
ELACC3RL3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings)
and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
ELACC3RL9: Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written
by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).
Students will brainstorm in small
groups to make connections
between the trickster archetype
and characters they know from life,
movies, or other books (teachers
may provide a list of Disney
movies, comic books or graphic
novels, an anecdote of an older
brother or sister tricking them into
taking blame or doing chores, or
otherwise provide helpful hints).
Class discussion may include
sharing of times the students have
used cleverness or trickery to
accomplish a goal.
Real-world connections
Collaborative discussion
Generalization of concept
Archetypal characters
Students will write a short
persuasive paper using evidence
from the text to defend or reject
Coyote and/or Anansi’s behaviors.
Are they fair and justified or unfair
and wrong?
Argument Writing
Organization
Distinguishing important facts from
extraneous detail
ELA3R3 The student uses a variety of strategies to gain meaning from gradelevel text. The student
c. Generates questions before, during, and after reading.
d. Distinguishes fact from opinion.
e. Recognizes plot, setting, and character within text, and compares and contrasts
these elements between texts..
f. Makes judgments and inferences about setting, characters, and events and supports
them with evidence from the text.
i. Makes connections between texts and/or personal experiences.
q. Formulates and defends an opinion about a text.
ELA3LSV1 The student uses oral and visual strategies to communicate.
ELACC3SL1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one,
in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building
on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly
draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas
under discussion.
ELACC3RL2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse
cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is
conveyed through key details in the text.
ELACC3RL3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings)
and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
ELACC3RL9: Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written
by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).
ELA3W1 The student demonstrates competency in the writing process. The
student The student produces a persuasive piece of writing a-f
ELA3C1 j. Uses resources (encyclopedias, Internet, books) to research and share
information about a topic.
ELACC3W1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with
reasons. (a-d)
ELACC3W7: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.