Lessons & Units :: Setting 4th Grade Unit

Lesson 2: Using Setting to Make Predictions about Characters

Lesson Plan

Even More Short and Shivery: Thirty Spine-tingling Tales | 910L

Even More Short and Shivery: Thirty Spine-tingling Tales
Learning Goal
Use the setting to make predictions about the characters.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: Independent Practice Worksheet
Not Provided: Even More Short and Shivery retold by Robert D. San Souci

  • Teacher Modeling

    will explain that the setting of a story affects the characters’ actions. For example: If you think about the story of the three little pigs, the setting affects the actions of the first two pigs. They live in a place where hay and sticks are easy materials to get for building homes. If they lived in a desert, it would change the story because they would not be able to find hay or sticks to build their home. They would have to find different material. We can make predictions about characters’ actions based on the setting of a story. I will read page 113 of “Forest Ghosts” in Even More Short and Shivery retold by Robert D. San Souci and model making predictions about characters’ actions based on setting. I will predict what Heloise will do (after stopping at the top of page 114), since she does not like the forest. I predict that Heloise will not honor her promise and will not respect the forest because she does not like it.

  • Think Check

    Ask: How did I make a prediction about the characters in the story? Students should respond that you first identified where and when the story was taking place. Then you thought about how that might affect the characters in the story and made a prediction based on that information.

  • Guided Practice

    will continue reading “Forest Ghosts” in Even More Short and Shivery retold by Robert D. San Souci and make predictions about characters’ actions based on setting. Stopping at the bottom of page 115, we will predict what has happened to Henri, based on the forest setting.

  • Independent Practice

    will read the next page of the story and stop at the bottom of page 116. You will predict what will happen to Henri based on his past experiences with the forest. Will the old woman in green forgive him and return him to his human form? How has the setting affected your prediction? (Student Independent Practice provided below in Teacher and Student Materials.)

    TIP: You may want to provide students with page 116 to read independently for the Independent Practice and then read the ending out loud after students have shared their predictions with the class.

Build Student Vocabulary foreboding

Tier 2 Word: foreboding
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story “That autumn, when mother and son were alone in the château, Henri suddenly announced that he was riding out by himself. Filled with foreboding, the countess waited anxiously for her son’s return.”
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) Foreboding means a feeling that something bad is going to happen. When the countess was filled with foreboding, she was filled with a strong feeling that something bad was going to happen to her son.
Students repeat the word Say the word foreboding with me: foreboding.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts The clouds gave me a foreboding feeling that a terrible storm was coming. When she got sick, I had a foreboding feeling that she would die.
Students provide examples What gives you a foreboding feeling? Start by saying “____________ gives me a foreboding feeling.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? foreboding
Additional Vocabulary Words transparent, stag

Build Student Background Knowledge

Explain that you are about to read a story that takes place in 17th century France. Explain that this means it took place around 400 years ago in the country of France. There are several details specific to this time period and place in the text. Chateau is the French word for castle or mansion. The characters include a "count" and "countess," who are wealthy and distinguished men and women in French society. They have been granted their titles by royalty or leadership of the society. These details tell what France might have been like for some people in the 17th century.

Texts & Materials

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