Georgia Student Booklet Grade 4 Narrative Task: Animal Adventure Stories
Thornton Burgess Animal Adventure Stories The writer, Thornton Burgess, wrote many adventure stories in his lifetime. Some people say he began writing stories to tell his son at bedtime. Burgess was also someone who cared greatly for nature. He spent many hours outside in nature watching the many creatures in it. Many of the animals he saw in nature became characters in his stories. Many characters show up over and over in Burgess stories. For example, Jimmy Skunk, Old Mr. Toad, and Danny Meadow Mouse are found in many stories. Buster Bear, Reddy Fox, and Jerry Muskrat are also in stories over and over again. One or more of the characters has an adventure in each story. Characters often find themselves in danger. Sometimes they learn a lesson from their adventures. In The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse, Danny is caught by an owl. He isn t harmed on his wild ride above the treetops in the owl s claws. He is very scared, though. He learns to pay attention so he doesn t get caught by an owl again. In the Adventures of Buster Bear, Buster becomes a hero for scaring away the farmer s son. The animals don t think they have anything to worry about with the farmer s son gone. They soon learn that they should always be careful. Old Mr. Toad and Buster Bear In one of the Jimmy Skunk stories, Jimmy gets into trouble when he and Uncle Possum try to steal eggs from the hen house. Jimmy ends up with a bump on his head and no eggs whatsoever. He gets into a fight with Uncle Possum and learns a lesson about controlling one s temper. These adventure stories are often parts of longer books. Danger is found in each short story as the characters live and play in the wild. With each story being set in nature, one never knows what kind of trouble Jerry Muskrat or Old Mr. Toad might get into. One thing is for sure, though. It will be an adventure! Understanding the Narrative Writing Task: Students will closely read and analyze the texts, in this case paying particular attention to animal characters. Students will then complete the Selected Response and Constructed Response questions. Based on the text, students will write a culminating narrative essay using conventions of Standard English. 1
Granny Shows Reddy a Trick from The Adventures of Reddy Fox Thornton W. Burgess Reddy Fox lived with Granny Fox. You see, Reddy was one of a large family of foxes, so large that Mother Fox had to work really hard to feed so many hungry little mouths, so she let Reddy go to live with old Granny Fox. Granny Fox was the wisest, slyest, smartest fox in all the country, and now that Reddy had grown so big, she thought it was about time that he began to learn the things that every fox should know. Not far from where they lived was a river with a long bridge that went across. The bridge was for trains and was called a railroad bridge. Every day Granny Fox led Reddy Fox over to the long railroad bridge and made him run back and forth across it until he had no fear of heights whatsoever. At first, it had made him dizzy, but now he could run across as fast as his legs would carry him and not mind it in the least. "I don't see what good it does to be able to run across a bridge; anyone This texts can are gauged do that!" as suitably exclaimed complex Reddy one day. text* for grade 4 and was selected using Granny Fox smiled. "Do you remember the first time you tried to do it?" she asked. Reddy hung his head. Of course he remembered he remembered specific information that Granny followed had by had to trick him into crossing that first time. opportunities to apply understanding of Suddenly Granny Fox lifted her head. "Listen!" she exclaimed. qualitative and quantitative features, as well as Appendix B as guides. The text includes academic language* encompassed by complex text and rewards careful, close reading to elicit the reading. * indicates an instructional shift Reddy pricked up his sharp, pointed ears. Way off, in the direction from which they had come, they heard the barking of a dog. It wasn't the voice of Bowser the Hound, who they knew very well, but of a younger dog. Granny listened for a few minutes. The voice of the dog grew louder as it drew nearer. "He certainly is following us," said Granny Fox. "Now, Reddy, you run across the bridge and watch from the top of the little hill over there. Perhaps I can show you a trick that will teach you why I have made you learn to run across the bridge." Reddy trotted across the long bridge and up to the top of the hill, as Granny had told him to. Then he sat down to watch. Granny trotted out in the middle of a field and sat down. Pretty soon a young dog broke out of the bushes, following Granny's tracks. Then he looked up and saw her, and his voice grew more fierce and loud. Granny Fox started to run as soon as she was sure that the dog had seen her, but she did not run very fast. Reddy did not know what to make of it, because Granny seemed to be playing with the dog and not really trying to get away from him at all. Pretty soon Reddy heard another sound. It was a long, low rumble. Then there was a distant whistle. It was a train. 2
Granny heard it, too. As she ran, she began to head back toward the long bridge. The train was in sight now. Suddenly, Granny Fox started across the bridge so fast that she looked like a little red streak. The dog was close at her heels when she started, and he was so eager to catch her that he didn't see either the bridge or the train. But he couldn't begin to run as fast as Granny Fox. When she had reached the other side, he wasn't halfway across, and right behind him, whistling for him to get out of the way, was the train. The hound gave one frightened yelp, and then he did the only thing he could do; he leaped down, down into the swift water below, and the last Reddy saw of him he was wildly trying to swim ashore. "Now you know why I wanted you to learn to cross a bridge; it's a very nice way of getting rid of dogs," said Granny Fox, as she climbed up beside Reddy. 3
NARRATIVE TASK DIRECTIONS ANIMAL ADVENTURE STORIES Read the texts Thornton Burgess Animal Adventure Stories and Granny Constructed Shows Response Reddy Questions a Trick. Answer the questions that follow using your answer sheet. Plan and write an animal adventure story. When you finish, revise and edit your narrative. PART 1: QUESTIONS You will receive scores for each question, and the questions will help you prepare for your essay. Use your answer sheet to write your responses. 1. Which one of the following additional sources would be most helpful to someone who wanted to learn more about animal adventure stories? A) A list of animal adventure story titles B) Additional information about the life of Thornton Burgess C) Additional stories written by Thornton Burgess D) Pictures of the characters from animal adventure stories 2. Based on the information in the article and adventure story you read, what traits should you include if you wanted to write your own animal adventure story? Use details from the sources to support your answer. 3. Explain why each source is helpful to someone who wants to learn how to write an animal adventure story. Use details from the sources to support your answer. PART 2: ESSAY 4. You learned about animal adventure stories from two different sources. Your assignment is to write your own animal adventure story involving a character who is an animal and has an adventure. Remember to include narrative strategies like dialogue, description, characters, plot, setting, and closure. Remember, strong narratives: Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters Create a clear sequence of events that unfolds naturally Include dialogue Use descriptions of actions, thoughts, and/or feelings Include good word choices Provide an ending with a sense of closure 4 Selected Response Question and help students gather information and details for use in the essay; it requires close analytical reading to answer questions correctly. Responses elicit evidence that students understand the texts they have read and can communicate effectively through narrative elaboration and knowledge of language and conventions. Writing Performance Task: Students are asked to write an original narrative after reading texts. Students will write a well-organized narrative using a variety of elaborative techniques and Standard conventions of English.
Manage your time carefully so that you can: plan your narrative write your narrative revise and edit for a final draft HOW YOUR NARRATIVE WILL BE SCORED Narrative Focus and Organization maintaining your focus; establishing a setting, narrator and/or characters; ensuring the logical flow of events from beginning to end; using effective transitions; staying on topic throughout Elaboration of Narrative elaborating with details, dialogue, and descriptions to advance or illustrate the story; expressing experiences or events using sensory, concrete, and figurative language Conventions following the rules of usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling 5