Magpie's Tail, The 6-pack Author: Valery Carrick ISBN: 9780478120479 Lesson Plan Blackline Master Grade Level: 2 Reading Level: L Strategy/Skill: Analyzing themes, Comparing and contrasting, Forming opinions, making judgements, Text structure Genre: Folk Tale/Traditional Story Theme/Topic: Animals, Birds, and Insects, Character Education Classification: Fiction Fluency: Early-Fluent

Book Summary

A magpie loses his tail while arguing over milk and must satisfy the demands of various characters before he can get it back.

Features of the Book

• The cumulative nature of the story line.
• The major and minor characters in the text.
• The frequent use of direct speech.
• The text in the illustrations.
• The storybook language – “Please, Hen, give me an egg.”
• The contractions – “I’ll” and “she’ll.”
• The use of possessive apostrophes – “magpie’s” and “water carrier’s.”

Purpose

The Magpie’s Tail can be used in a guided reading setting to introduce and reinforce the following skills and strategies:

• identifying the plot and characters within the story
• identifying the themes of the book
• comparing the opinions of the author with those of the reader
• writing a conclusion

For more information please see our Lesson Plan