houghtful ooks - tc2

Series Editor Mary AbbottAuthor Kirsten Lintott

houghtful

ooksGRADES

2+

Social

Responsibility

Literacy

The Story

of FerdinandA Teacher’s Guide to

The Story

of Ferdinand

by Munro Leaf

Madison Moffatt

Note to parents and teachersThe Thoughtful Books Series makes use of exemplary children’s literature to help young readers learn to read critically and to thoughtfully consider ethical matters. Critical thinkers rely on inquisitive attitudes, utilize thinking strategies, access background knowledge, understand thinking vocabulary, and apply relevant criteria when making thoughtful decisions. We refer to these attributes as intellectual tools. Each resource in this series features specific intellectual tools supporting literacy development and ethical deliberation. Teachers and parents can introduce the tools using the suggested activities in this resource, and then support learners in applying the tools in various situations overtime, until children use them independently, selectively, and naturally.

Reading as thinking

Reading is more than decoding words. It is the active process of constructing meaning. Good readers understand this process as engagement in critical thinking. They employ specific literacy competencies as they engage with text, create meaning from text, and extend their thinking beyond text. The activities in this booklet help develop the following literacy competencies:

• Accessing background knowledge: Good readers draw on what they already know to establish a foun-dation for approaching new texts. In this case, the initial context of the story is bullfighting. Students discuss what they know about bullfighting in preparation for reading.

• Reading with a purpose: Good readers are clear about why they are reading a text, either by bringing a specific objective to their reading or by anticipating the author’s objectives. In this case, students read or listen to identify the mistakes the five men made.

• Inferring: Good readers generate conclusions and hypotheses based on textual clues and evidence. In this case, students use the information in the text to identify Ferdinand’s true qualities.

• Synthesizing ideas: Good readers thoughtfully apply key ideas and issues raised in text to their own lives and in broader global and community contexts. In this case, students consider jumping to con-clusions or judging without evidence and generate questions to avoid this mistake when encountering new people and situations.

Ethical considerations

A second focus of the activities in this booklet helps learners develop the intellectual tools necessary to think critically about ethical considerations. It is important to teach the tools, often through modelling and illustrating with examples, and continue to apply the tools in a variety of situations over time, until learners internalize them. The following ethical consideration is addressed in this resource:

• Jumping to conclusions: Critical thinkers gather information before reaching a conclusion. In this case, students examine ways to avoid leaping to conclusions or making judgments without evidence. This is particularly important when meeting new people.

Thoughtful Book Series – The Story of Ferdinand 1 The Critical Thinking Consortium

Grades 2+

3 sessions

Story

Main focus

teacher’s guide for:The Story of Ferdinandby Munro Leaf

A. Whatisthebestadviceforthefivemensotheywillnotmakethesamemistakeagain?

B. Whatactioncouldyou take toavoid jumping toconclusions ineachsituationprovided?

The Story of Ferdinand byMunroLeaf,illustratedbyRobertLawson,Puffin(1977).

Inthisfamiliarclassic,fivemenmisinterprettheactionsofFerdinandthebullandselecthimasanidealcandidatetotakepartinthebullfightsofMadrid.Studentsexaminethestory,identifythemistakesmadebythefivemen,andprovideadvicetohelpthemavoidmakingthesamemistakesinthefuture.Finally,studentsexaminereal-lifesituations,andbrainstormwaystoavoidjumpingtoconclusions.

Literacy competencies

• accessingbackgroundknowledge• readingwithapurpose• inferring• synthesizingideas

Ethical considerations

• jumpingtoconclusions(judgments)

Levels of involvement

Consider students’ interest and their level ofmaturity to determinewhetherornotallthreelevelsofafter-readingactivitiesareappropri-ate.

• Exposure: IdentifyFerdinand’squalitiesandcomparehimtotheidealbull.

• Investigation:Identifythemistakesthefivemenmadeandprovideadvicetohelpthemavoidmakingthemistakesagain.

• Application:Developquestionsyoucouldasktohelpyouavoidjumpingtoconclusionsaboutthescenariosshowninthepicturesprovided.

Summary

Critical questions


ActivitiesSession One

Before reading

➤ Useoneofthefollowingoptionstoaccessanypriorknowledgestudentsmayhaveaboutbullfighting:

• Optionone:Showstudentsapictureofamatador,eitherfromthestoryoranotherresource,andaskstudentswhothepersonmightbeandwhathe/sheisdoing.

• Optiontwo:Drapealargepieceofredclothoveryourshouldersasacape.Thenholdthecapeoutstretchedatyoursideasamatadormightdo.Askstudentswhomightuseacapeinthiswayandwhatmightbethepurposeofthecape.

• Optionthree:Printthewordmatadorontheboardandaskstudentsiftheyhaveeverheardthetermbefore.

➤ Establishthatamatadorisabullfighter,probablyfromSpain(oranotherSpanish-speakingcountry),andthathis/herjobistoentertainpeoplebyfightingbullsinabigarenacalledabullfightingring.Abullfighterexcitesandangersabullbyflashingaredcapeinitsface,andthenfightsthebullwithasword.Explainthatthecrowdishappyandexcitedwhenthebullisfierceandangry.Theywanttoseeanentertainingbullfightwhereaskilledmatadorfightsthebull.

➤ Ask students: “What kind of bull would be ideal for these bull-fights?”

➤ Liststudentresponsesontheboardundertheheading,“TheIdealBull”asindicatedinthechartbelow.

The Ideal Bull (possible responses)

–big–fierce,tough–likesfighting–strong–snorts–likescrowdsandnoise

During reading: exposure level

➤ IntroducethestorybyshowingstudentsthepictureofFerdinandasanadultbull,locatednearthecentreofthebook.

➤ TellthestudentsthatthisstoryisaboutabullnamedFerdinandwhoischosentofightinthebullfights.AskstudentswhytheythinkFerdinandwaschosentofight.

➤ Asyoureadthestory,invitestudentstoidentifycluesthattellthemaboutFerdinand.Provideanexampleofaclue,suchas:Ifyouread

Introduce bullfighting

Accessingbackgroundknowledge

Compare Ferdinand to the ideal bull


“Ferdinandsmiledasthelittlegirlstrokedhisnose,”youmightdecidethatFerdinandisgentleorhappy.

➤ Createasecondcolumnwiththeheading“Ferdinand”besidethelistofcharacteristicsfor“TheIdealBull.”

The Ideal Bull Ferdinand (possible responses)

– big– fierce, tough– likes fighting– strong– snorts– likes crowds and noise

➤ Readthestoryandstopreadingeachtimeaclueisprovidedthatidenti-fiesFerdinand’squalities.Forexample:“likedtositquietlyandsmelltheflowers”(quiet and gentle);“Hismotherwasafraidhewouldbelonesomeallbyhimself”(liked to be alone).

➤ RecorddescriptorsofFerdinandonthechart.

➤ Stopreadingatthepagewhenthefivemenarrive.Usingthedescriptorsfromthechart,createaVenndiagramcomparingFerdinandtotheidealbull.

The Ideal Bull Ferdinand

– big – big– fierce, tough – gentle– likes fighting – peaceful– strong – strong– snorts – quiet– likes crowds and noise – likes to be alone

➤ Continue reading the story and add anynew ideas to theVenndia-gram.

Begin new session

After reading: investigation level

➤ ReviewtheVenndiagramcreatedinthepreviouslesson.AskstudentswhatthefivemenwererightaboutintheirassessmentofFerdinandandwhytheywererightaboutthesethings(it is easy to tell Ferdinand is big and strong by looking at him).

➤ Invitestudentstodiscussthefollowingquestionswithapartnerandthensharetheirthinkingwiththeclass:

• Whydoyouthinkthemenchosethewrongbull?

Inferring

Read the story in chunks

Identify the mistakes the five men made and provide advice


• Whomightbeupsetwiththedecisionofthefivemen?(the people who hired them, the people who came to watch the bullfight)

➤ Presentthefollowingscenariotostudents:Supposethefivemencametoyouandsaid:“Wemadeaterriblemistake.Wechosethewrongbullandweareafraidwemightdothesamethingagainandthenwewillloseourjobs.Pleasehelpus.Whatshouldwedosowewillnotmakethesamemistakeagain?”

➤ Suggesttostudentsthattheyneedtolookatthemistakesthefivemenmadeinordertogivethemsomeadvice.

➤ Re-readthesectionofthestorythatbeginswiththearrivalofthefivemen,stoppingwhenFerdinandis takenaway.Aseachpageisread,askstudentstolistenforwhatthemendidthatledthemtomisjudgeFerdinand.They:

• ignored the other bulls; • watched for a short time;

• judged Ferdinand quickly; • didn’t watch Ferdinand in the cart.

➤ Brainstormalistofthingsthemenshouldhavedonedifferentlytoavoidmakingthesamemistakes.Recordideasinalist,forexample:

• asked Ferdinand questions; • watched Ferdinand longer;

• asked others about • observed more carefully; Ferdinand;

• taken more time;

• found out more information.

➤ Introducethetermadviceanddiscusswhysome-onewouldwantorneedadvice.Askstudentsforexamplesofwhentheymightneedadvice.

➤ Developcriteriaforidentifyinggoodadvice(forexample,recommendationsaredo-able,likelytosolvetheproblem).

➤ InvitestudentstowriteadviceforthefivemenusingtheformatshownonAdvice for the five men(BlacklineMaster#1).

Reading witha purpose

Thoughtful Book Series – The Story of Ferdinand

6

The Critical Thinking Consortium

Name: ____________________________________________________

Blackline Master #1

Advice for the fi ve men

The next time the fi ve men are looking for a bull, they should

This is good advice because


Begin new session

After reading: application level

➤ Summarizethemistakesthemenmade,andintroducethephrase“jump-ingtoaconclusion.”Discussthemeaningoftheexpression(judging without evidence). Suggest that sometimeswe jump to conclusionsandinvitestudents toprovideexamples.Ifnecessary,provideafewexamples,suchas:

• Someoneisskinny,sotheymustbeathletic.

• Iseeyoueatingchips,soIthinkyoueatlotsofjunkfood.

• Ican’tfindmypencil,soIthinksomeonestoleit.

➤ ShowstudentsoneofthepicturesprovidedonBlacklineMaster#2,andaskthemwhatsomeonewhowasjumpingtoconclusionsmightsayorthinkaboutthispicture.Providetimeforstudentstotalkwithapartnerbeforesharingtheirideaswiththewholeclass.

➤ Askstudentshowwemightavoidjumpingtoconclusions.Ifnecessary,referbacktotheadvicetheygavethefivemen,andsuggestthatweneedtogetmoreinformation.

➤ Usingthepictureexample,modelwaystogetmoreinformation.Invitestudentstobrainstormpossiblequestionsandideasthatmayneedtobeconsideredfurther.

➤ Generatequestions thatwouldbegoodquestionsandquestions thatwouldnotbegoodquestions.Establishcriteriaforjudgingwhetheraquestionisagoodquestion(getsinformationandisnotsimplyayes/noquestion,helpsusunderstandthepersonbetter).

➤ Usingtheotherpicturesprovidedoraccessingthepicturesavailableathttp://tc2.ca/topnav/electronic-sourcebook-2/colour-images/,givepairsofstudentsapicturescenario and invite them togenerategoodquestionsthatwouldletthemavoidjump-ingtoconclusionsaboutthepersoninthepicture.

Assessment

➤ UsetherubricAssessing advice and conclusions (Blacklinemaster#3)to assess studentsabilitytodrawinferences,offeradviceandavoidjumpingtoconclusions.

Tho

ug

htf

ul B

oo

k Se

ries

– T

he

Sto

ry o

f Fe

rdin

and

8

The

Cri

tica

l Th

inki

ng

Co

nso

rtiu

m

Assessing advice and conclusions

Sophisticated

Exended

Basic

Partial

Pre-recognition

understanding

understanding

understanding

understanding

Avoids leaping Purposefully uses given and Effectively uses given infor- Uses given information in Does not consistently use

Is unable to arrive at a

to conclusions implied information in the mation in the picture and

the picture and asks general given information in the sound, logical conclusion.

picture and asks thoughtful asks thoughtful questions to questions to arrive at simple picture or ask good quest-

questions to arrive at sound, arrive at simple, logical conclusions.

ions to arrive at sound,

logical conclusions. conclusions.

logical conclusions. Often

leaps to conclusions.

Offers good Offers good advice that

Offers good advice that Offers general advice that Offers advice that may not Cannot offer sound advice.

advice

meets all of the criteria. meets all of the criteria.

meets most of the criteria. meet all of the criteria.

Provides very specifi c, highly Provides a specifi c, relevant Provides a relevant reason Advice or reason for the

relevant reasons for the reason for the recommen- for the recommendation.

recommendation may be

recommendations. dation.

irrelevant or vague.

Draws a Effectively uses clues to

Uses clues to draw plausible Uses clues to draw obvious Has diffi culty consistently Is unable to draw inferences

plausible draw subtle, plausible

inferences about Ferdinand inferences about Ferdinand identifying even obvious about Ferdinand or the

inference inferences about Ferdinand and the mistakes made by or the mistakes made by the inferences about Ferdinand mistakes made by the fi ve

and the mistakes made by the fi ve men.

fi ve men. May require or the mistakes made by the men.

the fi ve men.

occasional support. fi ve men; needs support.

Comments:

Nam

e: _

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

_

Bla

cklin

e M

aste

r #3

Avoid jumping to conclusions about the

scenarios provided

Synthesizing ideas


Name: ____________________________________________________ Blackline Master #1

Advice for the five men

The next time the five men are looking for a bull, they should

This is good advice because

Thoughtful Book Series –The Story of Ferdinand 7 The Critical Thinking Consortium

Name: ____________________________________________________ Blackline Master #2


Assessin

g ad

vice and

con

clusio

ns

So

ph

isticated

Exend

ed

Basic

Partial Pre-reco

gn

ition

u

nd

erstand

ing

u

nd

erstand

ing

u

nd

erstand

ing

u

nd

erstand

ing

Avo

ids leap

ing

Purposefully uses given and

Effectively uses given infor- U

ses given information in

Does not consistently use

Is unable to arrive at ato

con

clusio

ns

implied inform

ation in the m

ation in the picture and the picture and asks general

given information in the

sound, logical conclusion.

picture and asks thoughtful asks thoughtful questions to

questions to arrive at simple

picture or ask good quest-

questions to arrive at sound, arrive at sim

ple, logical conclusions.

ions to arrive at sound,

logical conclusions. conclusions.

logical conclusions. O

ften

leaps to conclusions.

Offers g

oo

d

Offers good advice that

Offers good advice that

Offers general advice that

Offers advice that m

ay not Cannot offer sound advice.

advice

meets all of the criteria.

meets all of the criteria.

meets m

ost of the criteria. m

eet all of the criteria.

Provides very specific, highly

Provides a specific, relevant

Provides a relevant reason A

dvice or reason for the

relevant reasons for the reason for the recom

men-

for the recomm

endation. recom

mendation m

ay be

recomm

endations. dation.

irrelevant or vague.

Draw

s a Effectively uses clues to

Uses clues to draw

plausible U

ses clues to draw obvious

Has diffi

culty consistently Is unable to draw

inferencesp

lausib

le draw

subtle, plausible inferences about Ferdinand

inferences about Ferdinand identifying even obvious

about Ferdinand or thein

ference

inferences about Ferdinand and the m

istakes made by

or the mistakes m

ade by the inferences about Ferdinand

mistakes m

ade by the five

and the m

istakes made by

the five m

en. fi

ve men. M

ay require or the m

istakes made by the

men.

the fi

ve men.

occasional support.

five m

en; needs support.

Comm

ents:

Name: ______________________________________________________ Blackline Master #3

Acknowledgements

Cover Design: Merry MeredithArtwork: Madison Moffatt, age 9Interior Design: M. Kathie WraightProduction: M. Kathie WraightCopy editor: Catherine EdwardsReviewers: Sharon Niddrie, Alice Currie, Colleen Sen

© 2008 The Critical Thinking Consortium

Teachers have permission to duplicate the blackline masters for use in their own classrooms. Broader distribution of this resource, either electronic or in print, require the prior written permission of the publisher.

Series published by

The Critical Thinking Consortium Faculty of Education University of British Columbia 6365 Biological Sciences Road Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4Tel: 604.822.9297 Fax: 604.822.6603 E-mail: [email protected] www.tc2.ca

For more information about TC2

The Critical Thinking ConsortiumUniversity of British Columbia6365 Biological Sciences RoadVancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4Tel 604-822-9297 • fax 604-822-6603e-mail [email protected] www.tc2.ca

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