LESSON 5 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Balina
by Michael Sandler
Fountas-Pinnell Level Q
Tall Tale
Selection Summary
Balina was discovered as a baby inside a whale’s mouth. She can lift
cows, pull tugboats, and swim for hours in the ocean. When Balina’s
talents compete with local businesses, she is banished from working
as a tugboat. Her kindness, however, is put to the test when a large
ship collides with rocks during a severe storm.
Number of Words: 1,328
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Tall tale
• Third-person narrative with dialogue
• Narrative structure includes multiple episodes related to a single plot.
• Detailed episodes reveal sequence of plot
• A girl with superhuman powers
• Oceans, life on the sea
• Home can be found in more than one place.
• Differences make people unique and special.
• Assigned dialogue throughout the story
• Complex fantasy elements such as exaggeration and hyperbole
• A mix of short and complex sentences
• Colons and semicolons
• Many ocean-related terms: seaweed, marine, harbor, tugboat
• Many multisyllable words: unexpected, inspection, bellowing
• Lively, cartoon-like drawings support the story.
• Twelve pages of text, illustrations on every page
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Balina
by Michael Sandler
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of whales and oceans to visualize the story. Build
interest by asking a question such as the following: What kinds of special characteristics
might a character who loves the ocean possess? Read the title and author and talk about
the cover illustration. Tell students that this story is a tall tale, which is a humorous story
about impossible or exaggerated events.
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 3: Explain that a whale in the bay and in other tidal areas, especially on
the beach, is an unusual sight. The whale’s mouth being open for inspection
is especially strange. Suggested language: Look at the illustration. The whale
is ready for close inspection by the people standing on the beach. What does
inspection imply?
Pages 4–5: Tell students that to everyone’s astonishment, a baby girl is inside
the whale’s mouth and is pried from it. Ask: What might it look like for a baby to
be pried from a whale’s mouth? Why would people respond to this event with
astonishment?
Pages 8–9: Explain that Balina has unusual talents. She lifts cows and swims
better than any marine creature. She even pulls tugboats!
Page 12–13: Balina learns that a ship has collided with rocks and needs her help.
The captain is horrified, but Balina is fearless and seafaring. Ask: Why do you
think Balina is seafaring?
Now turn back to the beginning of the story to learn how Balina’s special strengths
are put to the test.
Target Vocabulary
betrayed – do something to
disappoint or let down, p. 10
unpleasant, p. 12
condition – state of being, p. 11
memorable – so special that it is
worth remembering, p. 11
foaming – making a layer of
foam, or small bubbles, p. 12
outcast – someone who is not
accepted by a group, p. 11
horrified – shock, terror, or
fear because of something
seafaring – working or traveling
at sea, p. 12
Grade 4
2
shortage – not enough of
something, p. 5
tidal – affected by the regular rise
and fall of the sea level, p. 3
yearning – strongly desiring
something, p. 7
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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 Infer/Predict Strategy
and to use text
clues to figure out what the author means or what might happen in the future.
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the story.
Suggested language: What special talents did Balina have? How did she use these special
talents to help others?
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
• A whale appears on a Florida
beach, and a little girl is inside
its mouth.
• Differences make people special
and unique.
• The details of the characters
make the story amusing and fun
to read.
• Balina is adopted and exhibits
superhuman abilities.
• Pursuing individual interests and
callings can lead to happiness.
• Local tugboat owners lobby to
outlaw Balina’s presence, but
she saves the day when a ship is
stranded.
• The illustrations help in
understanding the story.
• Dialogue makes the narrative
realistic for readers.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to work in partners and choose a passage from the text to
demonstrate phrased fluent reading. Remind them to read at an appropriate rate,
moving along rapidly with a few slowdowns and stops or pauses to solve words.
• 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. Tell students that names are sometimes derived from nouns.
Explain that the whale shown in the illustrations is a baleen whale, and that baleen
whales live in coastal areas like Florida. Explain that the author might have named the
main character Balina as a tribute to her unusual connection to baleen whales.
Grade 4
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 5.8.
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
Understanding Characters
Remind students that they can analyze a
character’s words, thoughts, and actions to better understand a story. Model how to add
details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
In the story, Balina demonstrates her love for the ocean in many ways.
As shown in the graphic organizer, she is happiest when she is in the
water. One of the actions that Balina takes is to work as a tugboat. This
supports her love of the ocean, so it is an important detail to add to the
Actions column. These details help the reader understand the character.
Practice the Skill
Have students share an example of another story in which they analyzed a character’s
words, thoughts, and actions to better understand a story.
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 should notice and evaluate
language, genre, literary devices, and how the text is organized.
Assessment Prompts
• Complete this sentence: Balina’s main problem is that she
_________________________________________________________________.
• Why do the tugboat owners complain to the mayor about Balina?
• How was the story’s ending different from what you might have expected?
Grade 4
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. Remind students that this story is a
tall tale about a girl with superhuman abilities.
Idioms The story includes many idioms that might be unfamiliar. Explain the meaning of
expressions such as taken aback (page 3) and hatched a plan (page 10).
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 telling the story?
Speaker 1: Why did Balina swim in her
bathtub?
Speaker 1: How does Balina
rescue the ship?
Speaker 2: She could not go to the
beach during the winter.
Speaker 2: She pulled it from the
rocks and lifted it overhead. She
swam on her back so the ship
wouldn’t sink. She took the ship
to a dock on land.
Speaker 2: a narrator
Speaker 1: Who is Balina?
Speaker 2: the main character
Speaker 1: Where does the story take
place?
Speaker 2: in Florida
Speaker 1: What kind of student is
Balina?
Speaker 2: She is nice, polite, and has a
lot of friends.
Lesson 5
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 5.8
Critical Thinking
Balina
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text How does Balina come to live in Tampa
Bay?
She is pulled out of the mouth of a whale and adopted by a local family.
2. Think within the text What is one disadvantage that the
author presents about Balina’s unusual abilities?
Her siblings get angry with her for spending so much time in the tub. The tugboat
captains get angry with her for taking business away from them. Balina is
unhappy when she cannot be in the ocean.
3. Think beyond the text List two human characteristics that
Balina has. How do you know?
Balina is a good student: she does well in school. Balina likes to help: she pulls
boats and charges very little for it. She also loves her family: she didn’t leave with
the whales without her parents’ permission, and she comes back yearly to see
them.
4. Think about the text What makes Balina a tall tale?
Balina is like other people in many respects, but she has superhuman
characteristics and can perform superhuman feats.
Making Connections Is there anything that you love as much as Balina
loves the ocean? Explain what you love and tell how it affects your life.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Critical Thinking
10
Grade 4, Unit 1: Reaching Out
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5
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Name
Date
Balina
Thinking About the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two paragraphs.
Remember that when you think about the text, you reflect back on the text.
You notice and evaluate language, genre, literary devices, and how the text
is organized.
In what ways are the illustrations in this tall tale an important part of its
humor? How do they add to the humor of the text? What detail did you find
most humorous? What kinds of things do the illustrations show about the
characters and settings that are not explained by the text and captions alone?
Grade 4
6
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Lesson 5
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 5.8
Critical Thinking
Balina
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text How does Balina come to live in Tampa
Bay?
2. Think within the text What is one disadvantage that the
author presents about Balina’s unusual abilities?
3. Think beyond the text List two human characteristics that
Balina has. How do you know?
4. Think about the text What makes Balina a tall tale?
Making Connections Is there anything that you love as much as Balina
loves the ocean? Explain what you love and tell how it affects your life.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 4
7
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Student
Lesson 5
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 5.12
Balina • LEVEL Q
page
4
Balina
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
Whale breath is awful. It smells of stinky fish and rotten
seaweed. The man held his breath. He stared inside the
animal’s mouth. “There is something in there,” he thought.
“Something is moving around inside.”
He wasn’t mistaken. A human being was on top of the whale’s
tongue. It was a child, a baby girl with striking blue hair, who
was crawling around, very much alive. Braving the fierce smell,
the man reached in. He grabbed the girl and pulled her out.
A crowd quickly gathered. They leaned over to inspect the
child. People wondered aloud, “Where did she come from?”
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/101 ×
100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 4
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1413831
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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