A Share of the Pear

Learning Intention:

I am learning how to make personal connections with the events that occur in a text so that I can share my opinions with my peers.

Success Criteria:

• I can consider my opinion about moral issues prior to reading a text
• I can make connections between events in a text and events in my own life
• I can participate in a structured small group discussion.

Prior to reading the story, explain to students that good readers make connections between themselves and the text before, during and after reading. The first step of this process is to ask personal questions before reading. Students should answer the following questions in their books, through interactive software such as Google Jamboard or through discussion:

• Have you ever had a really hard task to do? Did you work hard to complete the task, or did you give up?
• Have you ever worked with a group of people to complete a task?
• Have you ever discouraged someone from completing a task?

Explain to students that they are going to read a story about teamwork, perseverance and feeling satisfied. You may wish to define these key terms for students. Ask students to write a simple recount of a time in their life that includes these three words. Students should split the stages of the event into the first column of a table, such as the example below:

Personal Event	A Share of the Pear	Connection
I really wanted a new Nintendo Switch game
I asked my mum to buy it for me
She said I needed to raise the money myself
I came up with a list of chores I could complete for money
I persevered and emptied the dishwasher and washed up every day
I showed teamwork and washed the family car with the help of my dad
I cleaned all the windows with the help of my brother
I helped mum with weeding the garden on the weekend
I earned enough money to buy the Switch game
Feeling satisfied, I let my brother play the game too, to thank him for helping me

 

Read the story as a class. Write a simple recount of the story in the second column of the table. Break the story into stages, mimicking the personal anecdote. For example:

 

Personal Event	A Share of the Pear	Connection
I really wanted a new Nintendo Switch game	Cocoa the Donkey really wanted a pear from the pear tree
I asked my mum to buy it for me	The pear was just out of reach
She said I needed to raise the money myself	Ruby the Sheepdog said that she couldn’t reach it either, even if she stood on Cocoa’s back

 

To conclude the activity, explain that, as good readers, students are now going to make specific, detailed connections between their personal experience and the events in the story. These are recorded in the third column. (Students may not find a connection to fit every box, nor do the columns necessarily need to be read in a left to right fashion.) For example:

 

Personal Event	A Share of the Pear	Connection
I really wanted a new Nintendo Switch game	Cocoa the Donkey really wanted a pear from the pear tree	It is a common feeling to see something and then want it
I asked my mum to buy it for me	The pear was just out of reach	We cannot instantly get everything we want
She said I needed to raise the money myself	Ruby the Sheepdog said that she couldn’t reach it either, even if she stood on Cocoa’s back	I needed to think creatively and so did Cocoa

Students use their tables to structure their personal responses to the story, based on their own life experiences.