Big Race, The 6-pack Author: Trevor Pye ISBN: 9780478122961 Copyright Date: 1999 Lesson Plan Blackline Master Grade Level: 3 Reading Level: N Strategy/Skill: Analyzing themes, Figurative language, Making predictions, Using graphic sources Genre: Tall Tale Theme/Topic: Challenge, Humor Classification: Fiction

Book Summary

Duck Lake Elementary has only eleven students, so it’s a problem choosing the best runner to represent the school in The Big Race. Trevor is picked because he has the longest legs in the school – but can he run?

Features of the Book

• Tall tale genre – an unlikely story
• Speech and thought bubbles
• Changes in typeface in the illustrations
• The map of the race
• The humor in the text and illustrations
• Similes – as strong as an ox; legs like an antelope; a body like a beanpole
• The information in the illustrations
• The growing sense of exaggeration
• The use of descriptive language – a fate worse than death; butterflies in my stomach

Purpose

The Big Race can be used to introduce and reinforce the following skills:

• recognizing the first person point of view
• using graphic sources of information
• predicting probable outcomes
• identifying the use of figurative language, such as similes
• comparing texts on similar themes in different genres

For more information please see our Lesson Plan