LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Is Mr. Wolf really a bad guy?

This lesson is intended to show children the importance of evaluating information as they read. The author's point of view is limited in that it only truly shows one side of the story. There is always another perspective. How the author views a subject colors everything that he or she writes about.

A lesson plan for grades 6–8 English Language Arts

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Learning outcomes

  • Heighten reader’s awareness of point of view
  • Better understand author’s point of view
  • Work cooperatively within groups
  • Improve writing skills

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 hours

Materials/resources

Pre-activities

  • Students will need to be familiar with the concept of graphic organizers and how to use them.
  • Students must be aware of basic story plot, or sequence of events.

Activities

Day 1: Modeling

  1. Review the idea of story mapping with the students.
  2. Ask the students how many are familiar with the story of The Three Little Pigs. Allow them to respond by brainstorming, remembering, and reminding the other students.
  3. Place students in cooperative groups of no more than 3 or 4. Instruct students to map the events as they remember them happening in The Three Little Pigs.
  4. Have groups share ideas and come to a general consensus. Create a class story map so that all can view.
  5. Announce to the students that they are in fact WRONG! This is NOT the way the story happened. They will argue and may even become angry, insisting that they are correct.
  6. Discuss perspective and author’s point of view. Explain that all stories have more than one interpretation, although they are confident that they have told the correct version. You know for a FACT that they are incorrect and that the story of the Three Little pigs was really quite different.
  7. Read aloud to them the story.
  8. Ask for reactions. Have students return to their groups and map the events as they happened in Mr. Wolf’s version.
  9. Come together again and map as a whole group.
  10. Compare the two maps and discuss that they are both correct depending on what point of view the story is being told.

Day 2: Guided Practice

  1. Review Day One’s activity, reminding students of author’s point of view.
  2. Have students brainstorm, making a list of all the children’s stories they can possibly think of. List these on the overhead for all to see.
  3. Once again, put the students in groups and have them write a narrative. This narrative will be written in a perspective other than the original story.
  4. Share these in class, giving each group the opportunity to share.

Assessment

  • Visible production of story map in each group setting
  • Final Product - Student’s narrative told from another perspective, not the original telling.
  • Teacher analysis of classroom discussion and closing.

Supplemental information

Other possible stories:

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 7

  • Goal 4: The learner will refine critical thinking skills and create criteria to evaluate text and multimedia.
    • Objective 4.01: Analyze the purpose of the author or creator by:
      • monitoring comprehension for understanding of what is read, heard and/or viewed.
      • examining any bias, apparent or hidden messages, emotional factors, or propaganda techniques.
      • exploring and evaluating the underlying assumptions of the author/creator.
      • understanding the effect of the author's craft on the reader/viewer/listener.
    • Objective 4.02: Develop (with assistance) and apply appropriate criteria to evaluate the quality of the communication by:
      • using knowledge of language structure and literary or media techniques.
      • drawing conclusions based on evidence, reasons, or relevant information.
      • considering the implications, consequences, or impact of those conclusions.

  • Common Core State Standards

    • English Language Arts (2010)

      • Reading: Literature

        • Grade 6
          • 6.RL.6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
        • Grade 7
          • 7.RL.6 Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.
        • Grade 8
          • 8.RL.6 Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.