Explore 1. Page back through Musical Mac, and at the whiteboard, ask students to help you make a list of the main plot points that happen during the story, such as: a. Mac is a millipede with lots of arms and legs and wants to play music with a group. (introduction/background) b. He was too shy to enter the Soggy Bog Talent Show alone, but Mac realized if he joined a band, he could be in the talent show in a group. (introduction/background) c. Mac was too big for the orchestra, and it was full. Also, they had no spare jackets. (story plot point #1) (filled in on Go-Along Page 1) 2. Using Go-Along Page 1, ask students to fill in the rising action plot points, the climax, what happens after the climax (falling action), and the resolution in their own words. Then ask them to match up the letters for each part of the story on the plot graphic. 3. Share their results and discuss the importance of problem and solution in narrative writing. d. He found a band of cats and began to play along, but they didn’t want him because there weren’t any trumpet parts and he was too small. (story plot point #2) e. He tried playing with frogs, dogs, bears, and hares. None of them wanted him, even though everyone said he was very talented. (story plot point #3) f. Mac tried one last time with a choir of birds but ran off when he realized he was bird food. (story plot point #4) g. After he escaped the birds, he realized he had landed on the stage, by himself, on the stage at the Soggy Bog Talent Show. (climax) h. Everyone in the audience knew how talented he was and urged him to play and sing. (what happens after the climax) i. He became a very popular one-man band and realized he wasn’t that scared after all. (resolution)
One-Man Band 1. As your teacher pages back through the story, Musical Mac , fill in events as they happen. The first two are introduction/background points. Then the first plot point (c.) is identified for you. Go-Along Page 1
Literature and Lessons for Narrative , Informational , and Opinion Writing
a. Mac is a millipede with lots of arms and legs and wants to play music with a group. (introduction/background)
b. He was too shy to enter the Soggy Bog Talent Show alone, but Mac realized that if he joined a band, he could be in the talent show in a group. (introduction/background)
c. Mac was too big for the bug orchestra, and it was full. Also, they had no spare jackets. (story plot point #1)
d. Story plot point #2
e. Story plot point #3
f. Story plot point #4
g. Climax
h. What happens after the climax
i. Resolution
2. Write in the letters for each part of the story on the plot line graphic.
g
f
e
h
d
c
a b
i
Modes in Focus • Grade 3 • Teaching Narrative Writing With Musical Mac • Ruth Culham and Libby Jachles
MIF_GO_G3_GoAlong1_MusicalMac.indd 1
06/10/20 9:23 AM
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