- Story
- Orbit, Year 5
- Issue 6, 2019
I Am Wolf
Learning resource
Outcomes
Worksheet: Studying a character epiphany
Understanding EN3-3A
Character: Complete a character development worksheet to illustrate how Alys Jackson reveals clues to help students get to know Max the sheepdog. This Character Development worksheet helps students focus and analyse four ways in which an author develops characters: physical description of the character, character’s words and actions, what others say about the character, direct commentary by the narrator. Explore further the English Textual Concept ‘Character’.
Complete a Three Facts and a Fib thinking routine to ascertain student understanding. This thinking routine gives students the chance to develop their skills in narrowing choices.
Engaging personally EN3-2A, EN3-5B & EN3-8D
Representation is the depiction of a thing, person or idea in written, visual, digital, performance or spoken language and conventions.
Discuss: How has Max the sheepdog been represented? How are students influenced by the images? How are students responding to the language used to describe Max? How does the representation of Max make students feel? Ask for examples from the text to support student understanding. Encourage students to move beyond making meaningless statements (such as, good or bad) by providing a list of words depicting positive and negative emotions. Students could use one of these Think Pair Share worksheets to record their ideas and scaffold discussion.
Students justify their responses by using a stem such as:
- The representation of Max made me feel … because …
- Alys Jackson has used … to represent …
- Positive: interested, satisfied, pleased, surprised, reassured, comforted, optimistic, curious.
- Negative: irritated, incensed, disappointed, discouraged, upset, perplexed, unsure, frustrated.
Explore further the English Textual Concept ‘Representation’.
‘I am Wolf’ explores Max’s desire for freedom, his identity and his longing for a different exciting life with pack animals he feels he identifies with, as well as love, safety, courage, honour and friendship.
‘We are free’ they call and Max feels his skin ‘tingle’. Discuss how this representation of Max ultimately leads readers to an understanding of the theme/moral or underlying message in the story. For example, ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’, There’s no place like home’. As a class, brainstorm as many appropriate sayings/morals as possible and discuss which one is the most fitting. Students could also complete a Thinking in Themes worksheet to record their ideas about the story.
Connecting EN3-8D
Text-to-self connections occur when we make connections between personal experiences and the text.
Text-to-Self: Have a class discussion on how do the ideas in this text relate to students’ own lives, ideas and experiences. Ask students to consider:
- What I just read reminds me of the time when I …
- I agree with/understand what I just read because in my own life …
- I don’t agree with what I just read because in my own life …
Students complete a Text-to-Self Connections worksheet and discuss as a class.
Teaching Strategy explained: Text-to-Text, Text-to-Self, Text-to-World Rationale.
Create a wordle to outline the various traits or characteristics of a true friend. What kind of was Max? How did he change? What kind of friend are they?
Engaging critically EN3-7B
Compare how domesticated and wild animals survive, using this Venn diagram worksheet. Use evidence from the text to support students.
Conduct a Question Starts visible thinking routine to generate creative questions about what the story could be about. Brainstorm a list of at least twelve questions about the story. Use these question-starts to help students think of interesting questions:
- Why ...?
- How would it be different if ...?
- What are the reasons ...?
- Suppose that ...?
- What if ...?
- What if we knew ...?
- What is the purpose of ...?
- What would change if ...?
Review the brainstormed list and highlight the questions that seem most interesting. Then, select one or more of the highlighted questions to discuss. Students could use this Question Starts Thinking Routine worksheet.
Experimenting EN3-6B, EN3-8D & EN3-7C
Create a found poem from ‘I am Wolf’ using interesting words from pages 18 and 19. For instructions on how to write a found poem watch this Creating Found Poems YouTube video.
Animate ‘I am Wolf’ using the Comic Life or create a film strip, using this Story Board worksheet.
Write a diamante poem titled, ‘Max’. Brainstorm appropriate antonyms about Max’s self-discovery journey, to generate student ideas. For example, freedom to farm. Students could use this Diamante Poem worksheet to record their ideas.
Reflecting EN3-9E
Conduct an I used to think ... But now I think … routine. This routine helps students to reflect on their thinking about a topic or issue and explore how and why that thinking has changed. It can be useful in consolidating new learning as students identify their new understandings, opinions, and beliefs. Record responses on this I Used to Think … Now I Think … worksheet.
Exit Slips are a formative assessment that can be used to quickly check for understanding. The teacher poses one or two questions in the last couple minutes of class and asks student to fill out an ‘exit slip’ (e.g. on an index card) to ascertain student thinking and understanding. Here are Instructions on filling out an Exit Slip and two Exit Slip worksheets.