HMH
2009 Storytown
Grade 1
Theme 3/Lesson 5
Title: Read Aloud: Wild Horse Winter
Suggested Time: 4 days (30 minutes per day)
Common Core ELA Standards
RL.1.1, RL.1.2, RL.1.3, RL.1.4, RL.1.7, RL.1.10, W.1.3, W.1.7, SL.1.2, SL.1.4, SL.1.5
Teacher Instructions
Refer to the Introduction for further details.
Before Teaching
1. Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for teachers, about
the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task.
Big Ideas and Key Understandings
A young, wild, colt survives the winter with the help if its mother.
Synopsis
This is narrative nonfiction that follows the first year of a wild colt’s life with special emphasis on the first winter, including a blizzard.
2. Read entire main selection text, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings.
3. Re-read the main selection text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Vocabulary.
During Teaching
1. Students read the entire main selection text independently.
2. Teacher reads the main selection text aloud with students following along.
(Depending on how complex the text is and the amount of support needed by students, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2.)
HMH
2009 Storytown
Grade 1
3. Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions and returning to the text. A variety of methods can be used to
structure the reading and discussion (i.e.: whole class discussion, think-pair-share, independent written response, group work, etc.)
Text Dependent Questions
Text Dependent Questions
Answers
In the first sentence, we learn that a “wild colt” was born. Look
at the picture on page 44 and decide what a “colt” is.
A colt is a baby horse.
What is the “white stillness” that buried the colt’s favorite
grasses under deep drifts? Listen as I read (p 45 para 2)
The white stillness is snow.
On page 45, the horses are described as “desperate”, which
means they had no hope. What made the horses desperate?
Because they were desperate, what did the herd do?
Display the sentence starting with “Desperate” and the
sentence prior. Scaffold reading and understanding.
The snow covered the grass they ate so they left looking for
food.
The drifts grew deeper. The colt had to struggle to keep is head
above the snow. The drifts became so deep the horses couldn’t
move. The horses were almost completely buried.
On page 46, the author tells us the snowstorm became a
“raging blizzard”, which is a very heavy snowstorm. Listen while
I read and find the clues in the story that lets you know the
snowstorm has become a blizzard?
Anxious means the colt is worried. Why is the colt anxious,
worried?
1.On page 46, paragraph 5, the horses were “nowhere to be
seen”. Why could the horses not be seen?
2. What did the horses do when the night turned to morning.
Listen as I read the last paragraphs on page 46.
Show the sentence on page 46 with the word anxious. The colt
is anxious because he is struggling to keep his head above the
snow.
1.The horses were buried in the snow drifts because of the
blizzard.
2. They burst through the drifts shook snow from their mane,
and whinnied in the bright morning light.
HMH
2009 Storytown
Grade 1
The picture on the bottom of page 47 shows a “herd” of horses. Herd means group. A herd of wild horses means a group of
From looking at the picture what do you think “herd” means?
wild horses.
As I reread each of the following sentences, listen for and list 4
things the author tells us the horses ate:
Students write as they hear the answers read.
Tender grass p.44
Bare branches p.45
tree bark p.45
kelp p. 47
A journey is to travel a long way.
Track the wild colt’s journey. Answer the following sentences.
The Herd’s journey
The colt lived on the _____________________ at the beginning
of the story (pg 45). Then the herd wandered through the
____________ (pg 45). After crossing the river, the herd
crossed a ______________________________ (pg 47) and
arrived at the __________.
In the last paragraph on page 47 it says “He had survived his
first winter.” Listen while I read part of the story again. What
happened during the story that made it hard for the colt to
survive?
Note: Could work with a partner or small group.
How did the colt’s mother help him survive in the story?
Note:
Could be culminating activity or last question, or paired activity.
Prairie, forest, great salt marsh, sea
Show pictures or short video clips to demonstrate each setting.
P 45, they searched for food, but there was none to be found.
The wind was so strong that the colt could barely move.
p. 46 The anxious colt struggled to keep his head above the
snow.
He followed in his mother’s footprints. He huddled against her.
She nuzzled him during the blizzard. He swam close to his
mother as they crossed the river.
HMH
2009 Storytown
Grade 1
Vocabulary
STUDENTS FIGURE OUT THE MEANING
sufficient context clues are provided in
the text
TEACHER PROVIDES DEFINITION
not enough contextual clues
provided in the text
KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING
Words addressed with a question or task
Page 44 wild
Page 45 prairie
Deep drifts
Forest
desperate
Page 46 Raging blizzard
Journey
Page 47 great salt marsh
Page 44colt
Page 46 anxious
Page 47 current
Sea
Kelp
Survived
herd
WORDS WORTH KNOWING
General teaching suggestions are provided in the
Introduction
Page 44 dusted with snow
Page 45 bare branches
White stillness
Page 47 squawking gulls
Page44 nibbled
Page 45 Fiercely
peak
Page 46 huddled
Nuzzled
Mane
Whinnied
Eagerly
Page 47 feast
galloped
HMH
2009 Storytown
Grade 1
Culminating Task

Re-Read, Think, Discuss, Write
Divide the class into 6 groups. Assign each group a section of the story. The task is to create a visual representation of the story. Each group, on a
large piece of paper, will illustrate the section of the story assigned to them. After illustrating, they write a few details from the story that
describes their portion. Remind them to use complete sentences. The teacher models how to link each section to create a cohesive summary of
the story. Be sure to include temporal words to signal order (W 1.3)
The story can be divided into the following 6 sections:
Spring, birth on the prairie
Winter arrives and the land changes
There is a blizzard in the forest
The herd crosses the river
The herd travels through a great salt marsh
The herd arrives at the sea
Additional Tasks

Show short video clips or pictures of a prairie, forest, salt marsh, and sea. Use a graphic organizer to compare the 4 settings.

For deeper understanding relate wild to domestic:
When the colt is referred to as “wild” it means he does not live on a farm or around humans. How do you think being a “wild” colt would be
different from being a colt living on a farm?
Answer: [brainstorm with a “T” chart starting with a farm colt.] For ELL, read a story about animals living on a farm before doing this activity.
HMH

2009 Storytown
Grade 1
Act out the journey. Have the students wrap a towel around their shoulders to represent the “thick coat”. Have them pretend to struggle
through the “deep drifts” and “wander through the forest”. When the blizzard begins, the students “follow in each other’s footprints”. Have
them “huddle together” then stand still as the drifts become so deep the horses couldn’t move. The horses “burst through the drifts” and
shake the snow from their “mane” as they “whinny”. They pretend to swim in the strong “current”, cross the great salt marsh, and arrive at the
sea. They pretend to eat kelp, chase squawking gulls, and then gallop along the beach.
Note to Teacher

For ELL students, create a page showing the 4 settings in the order they occur.

This story was written by a Japanese author. Draw attention to the fact that the story was “translated”. Explain that this means it was originally
written in Japanese by Tetsuya Honda then translated into English by Susan Matsui.