A Beginning, Middle, and End With "The Three Billy Goats Gruff"

To get ready for this lesson you will need to prep the book "The Three Billy Goats Gruff".  This was a book I found online so you could copy one for each of your students if you want.  My principal wants us to "go green" so I just displayed the book on my Activboard. 

You will also want to copy the mini book I have made for you.  Make a double sided copy.  This book is one of Dinah Zyke's 3/4 book.  I have a video of one of my students making the book.  You can see how she folds it and cuts one of the rectangles off to make the book.  Everything you will need is here in the resource section.

     I started the lesson off with my story projected on the Activboard.  I said to my students, "There are 3 important parts to learning how to read. These parts are phonics, learning vocabulary, including sight word vocabulary, and comprehension, or understanding what we read.  Today we are going to work on the comprehension part.  One skill that will really help with our understanding is to see how the structure of a fiction story is laid out.  When we read a fiction story we talk the events that happen in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.  Today we are going to read "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and talk about the events that happen in each part of the story. 

     The Common Core standards state that our students need to participate in collaborative conversations.  I am really trying to get my students to participate in structured talk, or accountable talk throughout the day.  Partners are sitting next to each other on the floor so they can discuss the different parts of the story with their partner.

     I began reading and stopped after I had read page 8 in the story.  I looked at my students and said, "Person 1. Tell your partner what has happened in the story so far.  Go."  Then we had a group conversation about what has happened in the story.  I have a video of my class using accountable talk that you can view in this section. 

     I continued reading to page 12.  I said, "Person 2.  Tell your partner what has happened in the middle of the story.  Go." Again, partners had time to talk and then we had a group discussion where students could talk and listen to other's ideas about the middle of the story. 

     I finished reading the story.  Then I said, "Person 1.  It's your turn again.  Tell your partner what has happened at the end of the story.  Go."  Partners had time to talk and once again we discussed the story as a class and students were able to express their opinion about the story.

I gave my students about 20 minutes to complete the project.  I circulated around the room and asked students some questions so I could check for their understanding.  I have a video of one of my students responding to these questions.  I have some student work samples in the reflection section that I would like to share with you.