Marven of the
Great North
Woods
Compiled by Terry Sams PES
& Latonia Wolfe DES
Author: Kathryn Lasky
Illustrated by: Kevin Hawkes
Study Skills
Genre: Biography
 Comprehension Skill: Fact and
Opinion
 Comprehension Strategy: Monitor
and Fix up
 Comprehension Review Skill:
Main Idea
 Vocabulary: Dictionary/Glossary
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Genre: Biography
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A biography is a story of a real person’s
life, written by another person.
It is written in the third-person. The
author writes, “He was free! He found a
job with a printer.”
A biography can cover a person’s whole
life or part of it.
An autobiography is also a story of a
real person’s life, but it is written by the
person.
Summary
Marven was only ten years old
when his great-aunt died of influenza. To
protect him from the disease, his family sent
him far away from the city, up to the Great
North Woods. There he kept the books at a
logging camp. Marven was scared of the
big, grouchy lumberjacks, especially Jean
Louis, a “jack” whose feet were as big
as skillets. But he was even more scared
when he skied into the woods-and
thought he saw a grizzly bear.
Comprehension Skill
Main Idea
 Main
idea is an important point
about the story’s topic
 Supporting details give more
information about a main idea.
Comprehension Review Skill
Fact and Opinion
A statement of a fact can be proved true or
false by looking in a reference book, asking
an expert, or using your own knowledge and
experience.
A statement of opinion cannot be proved
true or false. It is a belief or judgment.
An opinion often contains words such as
best, should, or beautiful. It may begin with
words “In my opinion” or “I believe”.
Research/Study Skill –
Graphs
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A graph shows data, or information,
in visual form. The title and labels tell
what information the graph shows
and compares.
A bar graph uses vertical or
horizontal bars to compare data.
A circle graph is a circle that shows
how a whole is divided into parts.
Research/Study Skill –
Graphs
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A line graph contains lines that
connect a series of points. Line
graphs often show changes over
time.
A picture graph, or pictograph, uses
pictures to represent amounts.
Let’s use practice book pages 89/90
to better understand graphs.
Question of the Week
 What
is the value of
a job well done?
Vocabulary Skill –
Dictionary/Glossary
* Some words have more than one
meaning.
* Sometimes readers need to
check a dictionary or glossary to
find the meaning that makes
sense for the sentence.
Let’s Practice
Dictionary/Glossary Skills
te231
Please describe the steps you use to find
the meaning of a word in a dictionary.
Remember that some words have multiple
meanings, and you must choose the
meaning that makes sense for the context in
which the word appears.
Use a dictionary to determine the meaning
for drifting as it is used on page 213.
Day 2 - Question of the Day
 What
were working
conditions like for
Marven at the
logging camp?
Comprehension Strategy
Practice Monitor and Fix up
If you don’t understand or remember what
you have read, you may need to reread
part of the selection more carefully or
scan it to locate specific information.
You may need to look for judgment words to
help better identify facts and opinion.
Let’s practice by rereading p. 227 paragraph
1 and distinguish between statements of
fact and opinion.
Vocabulary - Say It
cord
immense
dismay
payroll
grizzly (bear)
More Words to
Know
lumberjack
silhouettes
Day 3 - Question of the Day
How
do Marven and
the lumberjacks
make sure their jobs
are well done?
Day 4 - Question of the Day
How
can you use
e-mail to get
information for
school projects?
Weekly Fluency Check Volume of Voice TE 239a
● You will need to match your
voice volume to the size of the
room or group you are reading
to.
● Go to page 231 and let’s read
paragraphs 1-3. Be sure to raise
and lower your voice when you
see clue words such as
whispered and gasped.
Review Pages
216 -224
1. Which job do you think would be more
difficult for a ten-year old: keeping a
payroll or waking the lumberjacks?
Explain
2. What causes Jean Louis to open one
eye?
3. What facts have you learned about
lumberjacks and Marven’s work in the
lumber camp?
Review
Pages 226-233
1. Describe the steps Marven took to
organize the chits? What are
chits?
2. If Marven gave you his word that he
would do something, would you
trust him? Why or Why not?
3. How is this selection like other
biographies you have read? How
is it different?
More Review
Pages 226-233
4. Marvin has a problem about what
to eat at breakfast. (p. 224) What
would you do to understand why
he has this problem?
5. The author describes the
lumberjacks as “biggest and
wildest” (p. 218). What else does
she tell you about them to prove
her point.
Fun Stuff
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More on Marven of
the Great North
Woods
Web Quest
Spelling Hangman
Spelling Words in ABC
Order
On Line Reading Test
On Line Spelling Test
Cord
A unit of measurement for
measuring wood.
payroll
List of persons to be
paid and the amount
that each one is to
receive.
dismay
Sudden helpless fear of
what is about to happen
or what has happened.
grizzly (bear)
A large gray or
brownish bear of
western North
America.
immense
Very large; huge;
vast
Lumberjack
Person whose
work is cutting
down trees and
sending the logs
to the sawmill.
silhouettes
Dark images;
outlines against
a lighter
background.
The lumberjack cut
a cord of wood.
The lumberjack cut
a cord of wood.
A good boss will
never forget the
payroll for his/her
employees.
A good boss will
never forget the
payroll for his/her
employees.
When I saw the car
accident I was in
great dismay .
When I saw the car
accident I was in
great dismay.
The teacher was in
immense pain when he
hit his foot.
The teacher was in
immense pain when he
hit his foot.
The grizzly bear scared
the campers in the
woods.
The grizzly bear
scared the
campers in the
woods.
The lumberjack wanted
to cut down the trees.
The lumberjack
wanted to cut down
the trees.
The silhouettes of
the girls’ profiles
looked beautiful
against the dark
background.
The silhouettes of the
girls’ profiles looked
beautiful against the dark
background.
Describe a Job TE 239g
Use with Writing Transparency 9a
Let’s look at an example of a job
description.
 What writing traits do you see?
 What important details do you see?
 What do you notice about each
separate task?
 What time order words do you see?
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Writing Assignment te239g
 After
looking at the job
description for “Taking Care of
Fifi” transparency, lets write our
own job description.
 Remember the writer of a job
description must make sure to tell
facts and not to express opinions.
This Week’s Word Wall Words
Click and type your own
words for this week:
Spelling Words
Digraphs ng, nk, ph, wh
 among
 wheel
 think
 nephew
 blank
 belong
 graph
 whiskers
 young
 whisper
 Thanksgiving
Digraphs ng, nk, ph, wh
elephant
white
 shrink
 wharf
 trunk


strong
blink
 chunk
 skunk
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CHALLENGE
 strengthen
 bankrupt
 phantom
 whimsical
 whatever
Let’s review our Spelling words.
Watch carefully because they will
flash on the screen for just a
moment.
We can clap as we spell the
word, or we might just practice
reading the words.
Thanksgiving
among
think
blank
graph
young
wheel
nephew
belong
whiskers
whisper
elephant
white
shrink
wharf
trunk
strong
blink
chunk
skunk
GREAT JOB
Lumberjacks!!!