Guided Reading Lesson Plan Observation 5

Lindsey McLean
5th Grade
Dumbarton Elementary Brittany Fennell
December 1st, 2015
Topic: Guided Reading Mufaros Beautiful Daughters
Essential Questions: (What question(s) will students grapple with as they learn through this
lesson?)
From text:
- How does the author develop the characters of the two daughters?
- What is beauty?
- What is the theme of this fiction text?
- What is the resolution of this story?
Reading EQ:
- What characteristics of a folktale does this story have?
- How can I use the text to help me determine the meaning of words I do not know?
Primary Content Objectives:
Students will know: (facts/information)
-

That folktales have the following characteristics:

Folktale Characteristics
The characters are all good or all bad
There are magic or make-believe parts
There is a lesson or moral
The story takes place in a long-ago setting

That theme is the moral or message of the story.

Students will understand: (big ideas)

1

That authors use conflict (the problem in the story) to develop their characters.

Students will be able to do: (skills and behaviors)

-

Use context clues and word analysis to determine the meaning of unknown words.
After reading, the students will be able to draw/discuss a diagram of the plot
including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.

Related state or national standards:

Reading 5.5 b- c: Given a story, the students will describe character development and
explain resolution of conflict with 70% accuracy.
Secondary standard: Reading 5.4c Given a word the student will be able to identify and
understand the roots (script = to write, struct, and port) with 70% accuracy.

Assessment:

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Theme When introducing the characteristics of a

folktale, I will show that all folktales have a moral or a message. Then I will ask, what is
another word for a morale or message of a story? Theme. With only two students in this
reading group, I can identify whether or not they know the meaning of theme.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Use of prefixes/suffixes/word parts Can the students
accurately use chunking or word parts to determine the meaning of unknown words?
Ex. Displeased, bountiful (use index cards to help students look at that word in isolation)
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Comprehension Not all students will have the
opportunity to answer questions accurately, but this formative assessment will show me
which students provide answers/parts of answers to these comprehension-based
questions. Accuracy of comprehension will help determine if we should move up a level
or not. (Goal: 80% accuracy. 95% accuracy in both fluency and comprehension would
warrant moving up a level.)
Who answered questions accurately? (Check if correct. X if incorrect. Blank if no answer.)
Question
Why do you think one
daughter is named mercy and
one daughter is named
ashamed?
If we know that a folktales
character is either all good or
all bad do you think
Nyasha and Manyara are
good or bad?
How is this action in the

Answer
Answers vary.

Nyasha good
Manyara bad
Can use the meaning of
name to gather this
information.
She is being rude/mean to
2

story helping you understand

Manyaras character?

others and not listening to

advice given to her. So she is
continuing to be the bad/evil
daughter. She is also trying
to get to the king before
Nyasha.
Why does Manyara see a big, Manyara has been so mean
terrifying snake with 5 heads, to others so the snake shows
and Nyasha sees her tiny,
up and is mean to her.
friendly garden snake?
Nyasha has been kind so the
snake is friendly. She helped
that snake.
What do you think the theme Kindness always wins over
is in this book? What is the
evil/selfishness.
author trying to tell us about Beauty is not just on the
outside.
beauty?
Materials and Resources:
-

Student fluency folders.

Mufaros Beautiful Daughters, by
John Steptoe
Index cards

Sticky notes
Premade notes for folktale
characteristics, plot diagram

Key Vocabulary and Definitions:

-

Words from text:

Garments clothing
Bountiful full of something, a large quantity of something (USE SUFFIX)
Considerate- careful of others feelings
Proclaimed- announce officially, declare
Commotion- loud, confusing, noisy disturbance
Plumed- feather arrangement
Grove- a small group of trees
Transfixed- motionless because of horror or wonder
Descended- move downward
Displeased not pleased, annoyed, dissatisfied (USE PREFIX)

Lesson Procedures:
1. Introduction and goal orientation:
Today we are going to start a new book called Mufaros Beautiful Daughters. Take a look
at this book, do you think it is fiction or non-fiction? Fiction. Why? Looks like
characters, not about a true situation, there is dialogue in the story.
Right. This is a special type of fictional book called a folktale. Have any of you ever
heard about a folktale before?
A folktale is a story that has been handed down generation after generation. Even before
people could write down stories they passed down folktales by word of mouth. The
folktales taught people lessons. Every culture had folktales that were passed down, and
then one day when people could write they wrote the story.
This week we are going to read Mufaros Beautiful Daughters. We are going to see how a
folktale is shared. We are also going to use what we know in the story to help us talk
about the characters of the story. You have learned so many skills so far this year that we
can combine them to help us read really interesting stories like this one.
Guide students to understanding:
2. Connecting to prior knowledge and experiences:
Do you have any stories that have been passed down by your family members?
I want to show you something special about folktales. These are the characteristics of
folktales (have the chart below written on a piece of paper). What are characteristics? The
things that make up a folktale. All folktales have these in common.

Folktale Characteristics
The characters are all good or all bad
There are magic or make-believe parts
There is a lesson or moral
The story takes place in a long-ago setting

[Discuss each characteristic.]

Take a look at this characteristic again there is a lesson or a moral. We have discussed
another word for a lesson or a moral of a fictional text. Put your finger on your nose if
you can remember the other word we talked about for lesson or moral. What is it?
Theme.
Thats right all folktales have a theme. It is our job to figure out the theme of the story
remember folktales have been passed down from generation to generation. So they are
probably telling us super important about life, right?
I have a question that I want to ask you kind of related to theme What is beauty?
(Have this written on a sheet of paper. Lead students to share ideas of what beauty is/is
not. What are characteristics of a beautiful person. Once they are done sharing:)
I want you to consider this idea of what beauty is while we are reading this book.
3. Tasks and activities: (What challenging tasks and activities will students engage in
as they construct knowledge, learn new skills or behaviors and develop
understandings?)
DAY 1:
BEFORE:

Introduction (above).
BUILDING THEIR SCHEMA:
-

Before we start the book, I want to take a look at a few things. First,
I want to do a book walk. Lets start with the cover. What do you
see? Who do you think this girl is? One of Mufaros daughters.
What is she doing? Look at herself in a mirror. What do you think
she is thinking? That she is beautiful.
Dedication page This page tells us some important background
information about the story.
o Read page aloud for students.
o Discuss setting This story takes place in Zimbabwe, a
country in Africa. Do you think it takes place currently or a

long time ago? I think it takes place a long time ago too! A
long time ago in Zimbabwe, there were kings and queens
and people believed in magic. Remember, our folktales
often have magic in them so it makes sense that it would
take place in a place like Africa where the people believed
in magic.
o It also includes some of the Shona language. Look at the
meaning of the girls names: Nyasha mercy. Manyara
ashamed. What does mercy mean? What does it mean to
have mercy on people? What about ashamed? What does
that mean?
o If one character has to be good and one has to be evil, which
daughter do you think is good? Nyasha. Which one do you
think is evil? Manyara. Thats right, and the author tells us
that just by their names!
DURING:

AFTER:

o Now I want you to do a short picture walk through the picture of the
daughter talking to the little boy (page 10). When youre looking at the
pages, notice if there are any words that you think you might not know.
Bountiful What suffix do you know from
bountiful? Ful. Full means full of. What is the root
word? Bount = bounty. Bounty means plenty, a lot
of. Full of a lot. If crops are bountiful they are full of
a lot of crops.
Considerate careful of others feelings.
Next time, we will start reading this book!

DAY 2:
BEFORE:

DURING:

Remember, what type of fiction text is this book? Folktale.

What are the characteristics of a folktale? [Review chart.]
Remember, we asked what beauty is all about. Lets keep that in mind
when we are reading.
Which daughter is good? Nyasha. Her name means mercy.
Which daughter is evil? Manyara. Her name means ashamed.
Remember we noticed two words- bountiful and considerate. [Review
definitions.]
o Read page 1 aloud.
o Students mumble read page 2 and 3. Discuss character development.
What does the author tell us about Nyasha and Manyara here?

AFTER:

o Review the word bountiful in the text. Does our idea of the meaning of
bountiful fit here?
o Students mumble read page 4. Discuss character development.
o Read aloud page 5.
STOP AFTER PAGE 5.
o What do you think is going to happen? Do you think they will go to the
castle? What does this have to do with beauty.
o Make a prediction.

DAY 3:
BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

DAY 4:

We are going to keep reading this folktale. Remember, we are thinking

about the meaning of beauty, because both of Mufaros daughters are
beautiful.
How are they different? Nyasha is kind. Manyara is selfish.
Remember that all folktales have a theme. What is a theme? Morale or
message.
Keep considering what the theme might be as we read today.
o There are a few words that you are going to see that might be new to
you.
o Introduce STOLE and GROVE.
o Students mumble read page 6.
What is Manyaras problem at this point in the story? She wants to be
queen. She doesnt want her sister to be queen. Nyasha is more kind so she
probably would make a better queen.
o Introduce the word GROVE. Students read page 7 and 8.
What does this part of the story tell you about Manyaras character? She is
selfish, rude, evil.
o Introduce GARMENTS, COMMOTION.
o Read aloud page 9 (first section.)
o Use context clues to determine the meaning of PLUMED.
o Stop before the second part of page 9.
- What has happened in the pages we read today?
- Does this change your prediction? Who do you think will get to the
castle first? Who do you think will be queen? [Write it down on
index cards.]

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

Today we are going to finish the book Mufaros Beautiful Daughters.

Can someone summarize what has happened in the book so far?
[Review predictions.]
o Students mumble read the rest of page 9.
o Nyasha is going through the same path that Manyara went through.
How does this part of the story show you more about Nyashas
character? Nyasha is kind and considerate. She helps the little boy. She
listens to the directions of the older woman.
o There are a few words that you will see on the next page that are
probably new: Introduce TRANSFIXED and DESCENDED.
o Students mumble read page 10.
o Read aloud page 11.
o DISPLEASED- I dont know the meaning of this word. [Show
on index card.] Displeased has a prefix dis. Dis means not. Can
you figure out the root word? Please. Can you figure out the
meaning of the word by looking at the word parts? Not pleased.
o Students mumble read page 12 and 13.
o Review The king said Nyasha was the most beautiful and the most
worthy.
o Read aloud the final page.
So, the snake was really? The king.
Why do you think the snake showed up as a three headed snake to Manyara
and a small garden snake to Nyasha? Because Manyara is rude and cruel
to others, so the king knew all her flaws. But Nyasha was kind, so the king
showed up as her friend.

4. Closure:
Before we read the story, we talked about beauty. We said that beauty was appearances, what
you wore, etc..
What could this book be telling us about beauty? It is more than just how you look. Kind
people are more beautiful because they are good to others.
That is something that I feel like I can apply to my life. Can you? How can you apply that
lesson to your life?
What other themes can we gather from this book? Good wins over evil.

EXTENSION If time, students can draw/label a plot diagram. If not, we can simply discuss the
action in the story.
-

This story, like many fiction texts, follows the same typical plot line as many other fiction
texts. Weve been showing those with this type of diagram [show diagram.]
Discuss:
Exposition Introduction of characters. Who were the characters in the
story? What do we know about them? Setting. Where did this take place?
Rising Action King wants daughters to come, he will chose one to be his
wife. Manyara sneaks away. She yells at the people she meets on the trail.
Nyasha and her father go the next day. She is kind to everyone on the trail.
CLIMAX Manyara meets a scary 3-headed snake at the castle who
frightens her.
Falling Action Nyasha meets the small garden snake. The snake turns
into the King.
What was the resolution of the story? What happens to Nyasha? Why?
She becomes queen, because she is so kind and the most worthy. She is the
most beautiful. What happens to Manyara? She is a servant in the king
and queens castle. She learned her lesson.

Accommodations for individual differences: How will you modify the content (what is
learned), the process (how the content is mastered) or product (how the learning is observed and
evaluated) to support diverse learners? Describe additional supports that can be used for reteaching if needed, and a challenging extension for students for demonstrate mastery quickly or
show evidence of a lot of prior knowledge.
This is a leveled reading group, so this is part of the whole class differentiation.
-

One student uses a ruler to track the lines correctly while reading.
If group as a whole demonstrates mastery (per the assessments above) we can move up a
level, or move onto reinforcing main idea in fiction texts.
If the whole group does not demonstrate mastery with nonfiction texts or Level O books,
we will remain at this level.