Lesson Component
and Time
Allocation
Do Now
2-5 Minutes
(Post a quick task
about last night’s
reading)
Main Idea
(Artifact of adult
understanding)
Opening Statement
1 Minute
(Introduce skill,
connect it to
yesterday’s skill)
DATE Tuesday, 12/3
TITLE: Abel’s Island
PORTION OF TEXT: Chapter 1
Take a few minutes to think about the chapters
you have read. Write a summary.
EVERYBODY WRITES: Using a Post It, write 2
details from the text that support you answers.
DATE 12/4
TITLE: Abel’s Island
PORTION OF TEXT: Chapter 2
Take a few minutes to think about the chapters
you have read. Write a summary.
EVERYBODY WRITES: Using a Post It, write 2
details from the text that support you answers.
Pages 1-7
 Abel and Amanda (mice) who are
going on a picnic.
 A rainstorm occurs.
 They head to a cave for protection
from the storm.
Pages 7-13
Today we will start a new book called Abel’s Island.
It is about a mouse that becomes stranded on an
island. We will look at the front and back cover and
do our pre-reading to determine that genre and the
thinking job will be looking back on daily. Today
will be introduced to some characters and events
that happen.
In Yesterday’s reading we were left wondering what
would happen to Able
Objectives
Objectives
Vocabulary: The word nigger is used several times
throughout the book.




SWBAT make predictions about the text by
reviewing the front cover and back cover and
making informed guesses about what the book may
be about and figuring out the genre.


SWBAT identify the main characters in the story by
determining which characters appear to be most
significant thus far.
SWBAT analyze Abel and Amanda’s relationship by
charting what they do and how they speak to each
other to determine how they feel about each other.
SKILLS
Predictions are educated guesses about what may
happen in the future or about the likelihood of
different outcomes.
To analyze is to think critically about an idea, event,
or character and evaluating their connection to the
rest of the text.
Amanda’s scarf blows away.
Abel leaves the cave to retrieve Amanda’s
scarf.
Abel clings to a board with a nail and uses
it for a boat. He eventually stops drifting
in a river.
Vocabulary: The word nigger is used several times
throughout the book.
Objectives
DATE: 11/5
TITLE: Abel’s Island
PORTION OF TEXT: Chapter 3
Take a few minutes to think about the chapters
you have read. Write a summary.
EVERYBODY WRITES: Using a Post It, write 2
details from the text that support you answers.
gratitude (pg. 45)- thankfulness,
appreciation
obliged (pg. 45)- grateful, thankful
satisfaction (pg. 48)- contentment
SWBAT articulate the main problem in this portion of the
story by determining what caused the biggest issue for Abel
and Amanda in Chapter 2.
SKILLS
Identifying and describing specific elements within
a text can be done through an analysis of author’s
craft elements. Readers can figure out information
about a given topic by examining how an author
writes about it within a text.
Characterizing, or describing characters, can be
done in isolation or in conjunction with other
characters. Readers often need to compare
characters to one another in order to get a true
sense for what they are like.
Determining a character’s motivation, or reason for
doing something, can be done through a comparison
of their actions and their described actions. Figuring
out the difference between two stories can help a
reader understand why a character lies.
The readers can describe the characters in the
text. Pages 3-7

Model of Objective
4 Minutes
(State and model
the transferrable
takeaway or a
prerequisite skill to
mastering the
objective.)
Students will read the first chapter.
Charts
Anchor
Chart/Materials:
(Visual artifacts of
preparation to aide
Scholars’
understanding.)
make predictions about the text by
reviewing the front cover and back cover
and making informed guesses about what
the book may be about and figuring out
the genre.
Readers can interpret, analyze and think critically
about an idea, event, or character and evaluating
their connection to the rest of the text.

Readers can interpret, analyze and think critically
about an idea, event, or character and evaluating
their connection to the rest of the text.
characterize the sheriff by using a Venn
diagram to compare and contrast him with
other white characters we have seen so
far.
Last night you read about the sheriff’s interaction
with Mama (Caroline). We will compare and
contrast the sheriff with other white characters in
the book.
Cold Call: What are some difference you noticed
about the sheriff from other white characters?
ASR: The sheriff is polite to Mama.
Cold Call: What are some similarities you noticed
about the sheriff from other white characters
ASR: The sheriff still thinks that blacks are second
class and should be punished for hitting a white
person. He believes a whit person every time
over a black person.
We will fill out our graphic organizer.
Charts
Charts
Racial Tension and Divisiveness
Element of Craft
What that Shows Us
“The was lookin’ mighty serious,
Where the story takes place
When the story takes place
and ya know we ain’t had no mind
to go messin’ in white folks’
business.” Pg. 36-7
“Naw, child, they still gonna come
Abel and Amanda
all right. Your brother done hit
himself a white boy.” Pg. 37
What they do
How they speak to
How they feel about
“Best no full-grown men folks be
each other
each other
standin’ up here whens they get
here! That’ll jus’ mean more
trouble.” Pg. 38
“That what he done told ya, then
ya got no call t’ believe what my
boys done told me…You gonna
take my boys’ words over them
Simmses?” pg. 41
Sheriff and Other White Characters
Objective check in questions:
 What skill are we working on if we’re
describing the events and the most
important details? Analyzing the events
that contribute to that move the plot
along.
 What types of details are we looking for?
 What can we skim for to train our focus?
Goal check in questions:

Time-in-Text
6 Minutes
(Scholars reread
targeted sections
of the previous
night’s text with an
objective-aligned
focus.)
analyze Abel and Amanda’s relationship
by charting what they do and how they
speak to each other to determine how they
feel about each other.
Today we will analyze the characters Abel and
Amanda. We will record our finding on a graphic
organizer.
Turn and talk: What type of mouse is Abel and
Amanda?
ASR: They are fancy and probably rich, by the
foods they eat and clothes they wear.
Cold Call: How can we characterize them?
ASR: Abel cares about his wife. He spends time
with her. He is also thoughtful because he picks a
daisy for her?
Cold Call: What are they doing at the beginning of
the chapter?
ASR: They are having a picnic, playing croquet,
and reading.
Objective check in questions:
 What skill are we working on if we’re
describing the events with the cloudmen by charting the most important
details? Analyzing the events that
contribute to that move the plot along.
 What types of details are we looking for?
 What can we skim for to train our focus?
Goal check in questions:
 How can we make inferences to identify
and describe the influence of racial tension
and divisiveness by analyzing specific
elements of author’s craft? Fill out graphic
organizer?
Objective check in questions:
 What skill are we working on if we’re
summarizing James’ arrival to the Big
City by charting the most important
details? Analyzing the events that
contribute to that move the plot along.
 What types of details are we looking for?
 What can we skim for to train our focus?
Goal check in questions:

Questions to
Unpack Time-inText
5 Minutes
(Objective-aligned
questions aimed at
understanding and
interpreting the
targeted
rereading.)
Before we can analyze, we need to interpret the
text details:
 How does the author use foreshadowing at
Discussion
Questions
7 Minutes
(Objective-aligned
questions aimed at
synthesizing,
analyzing, and
evaluating the
portion of text
read for the
lesson.)
Closing/Application
2 Minutes
(Restate
Transferable
Takeaway)
We will evaluate and discuss main points in the
text.
 What is Abel’s mood as he picnics with
his wife?
 How do we know that Abel and his wife
are rich and well off?
 How do they react to the storm?
We will evaluate and discuss main points in the
text.
 Why does Able venture out of the
shelter of the cave?
 What does this say about him?
Today we looked at the genre and made
predictions about the text. We also looked at how
the characters are introduced to and how the
author describes them.
Today we compared and contrasted the
characters actions and what is said.
Read Chapter 2.
Read Chapter 3
Homework
(Print for scholars.)

the end of chapter 1?
What events lead you to think something
is going to happen?
Partner task: Using the sentence frame “I can
infer from the text when it says…that it means…”
Before we can analyze, we need to interpret the
text details:
 What is Charlie’s reason for lying by
comparing and contrasting his version of
the story with what actually happened.
Partner task: Using the sentence frame “I think
that…is unfair…because…infer from the text
when it says…that it means…”
Before we can analyze, we need to interpret the
text details:
Partner task: Using the sentence frame “I can
infer from the text when it says…that it means…”