Grade:
Grade 3 Subject: English Language Arts Created by: Kayleigh Bower Lesson Length:
45 minutes Keywords/Tags:
main idea Lesson Description:
This lesson can be used to help strengthen a learner\'s ability to identify the main idea of a passage.
Common Core Standards Covered with This Lesson
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.6: Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2: Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4a: Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4a: Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
Lesson Content: Reading
Instructions: Please read the following reading passage as many times as needed (aloud and silent) before starting to go through other lesson pages. Understanding the content of this passage is very important since the lesson activities will be all about this content. Feel free to print the passage if needed.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf!
There was once a boy who lived in a village up in the mountains. His family owned many sheep. The boy had a job, and that job was to watch the sheep. If a wolf came near, he needed to call for help. His sheep stayed on a hill near the village where he watched them every day.
One day, he thought of a trick he could play on the people who lived in the village. He was bored, so he thought this would be a way to have fun. He ran toward the village crying out loudly for help.
He shouted, "Wolf! Wolf! Come and help! The wolves are at my lambs! The wolves are trying to eat them!"
There were many villagers in the town. They heard him crying and thought that they had to help. So, the kind villagers left their work and ran to the field to help him. They would try to help him chase away the wolves and protect his lambs. However, when the villagers got there, the boy laughed at them. There was no wolf there. He just wanted to watch them come running! He thought it was funny.
Then another day the boy tried the same trick. Once again, the villagers came running to help him out, and once again the boy laughed at them.
Then, one day, a wolf really did come and it started chasing the lambs. In great fright, the boy ran for help. "Wolf! Wolf!" he screamed. "There is a wolf! Help! Please! Help! Please!”
All the villagers heard him, but this time they did not come. They thought he was pulling another mean trick. They had learned their lesson and did not need to be laughed at again. So, no one paid attention to him and the shepherd-boy lost all his sheep –they all ran away.
When people in the village found out what had happened, they were sorry, but they told the boy it was his fault. That is the kind of thing that happens to people who lie. Even when they tell the truth, no one believes them. People are just so used to their lies.
Task 1: Vocabulary Activity (40 points)
Instructions: Please complete the following vocabulary activity by choosing the correct meaning of each word selected from the passage and use of each word correctly in a sentence.
Vocabulary Questions
Word/Phrase: great | Tier: 2 | Points: 10
Q1
In the passage, the author wrote, "In great fright, the boy ran for help."
What does "great" mean in this sentence?
A. a large amount, intense *
B. not a lot of something
C. awesome, cool
D. dull and boring
The author wrote in the passage, "In great fright, the boy ran for help."
In which of these sentences is "great" used in the same way as above?
A. I had a great sandwich for lunch, it was delicious!
B. He stepped over the sewer great on the sidewalk.
C. This shirt is great expensive.
D. She looked at the birthday gift with great joy! *
Word/Phrase: trick | Tier: 2 | Points: 10
Q2
The author wrote, "One day, he thought of a trick he could play on the people who lived in the village."
What does the word "trick" mean in this sentence?
A. A cool skill or stunt
B. A misleading joke or prank *
C. A favor done to help someone
D. A fun game
Which of these sentences uses the word "trick" in the same way as the following sentence from the passage?
"One day, he thought of a trick he could play on the people who lived in the village."
A. Tom learned how to do a cool trick on his skateboard yesterday.
B. I thought I saw something, but it was just a trick of the light.
C. She did a trick for her grandma to help her in the garden.
D. On April Fool's Day, I played a funny trick on my mom. *
Word/Phrase: shepherd | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q3
Read the following sentence from the passage:
"So, no one paid attention to him and the shepherd-boy lost all his sheep –they all ran away."
What is a "shepherd"?
A. A mean person who likes to lie
B. A young person who likes to tell jokes
C. A person whose job it is to take care of sheep *
D. Someone who lives in a small town or village
Which of these sentences has the best use of the word "shepherd"?
A. The shepherd needed to feed his sheep before he could go to market. *
B. At school, my shepherd teaches me lots about math and reading.
C. I need to shepherd my way home before it gets dark.
D. Today, the shepherd needs to be cleaned and hung up to dry.
Word/Phrase: villager | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q4
In the passage it said, "There were many villagers in the town. They heard him crying and thought that they had to help. So, the kind villagers left their work and ran to the field to help him."
What does the word "villager" mean in this sentence?
A. A person who grows fruits and vegetables to eat
B. Someone who takes care of children
C. A character from a video game
D. A person who lives in a village *
Which of these sentences uses the word "villager" correctly?
A. My villager made me breakfast this morning.
B. The villager was tired of living in such a small town. *
C. She will villager the crops in the field.
D. At the daycare, the villager made sure all of the children were safe.
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.4a,
Task 2: Discussion Activity (30 points)
Instructions: This discussion forum will have questions for students to respond. Read the posted questions, and respond to each. Students are responsible for posting one initial and and two peer responses for each topic.
Topic Title
Replies
Would you have done the same?
What would you have done differently if you were the little boy from the story? Would you have done the same? How would you have felt by the end of the story when the villagers would not come and help?
Sent on: Feb 24, 2025 by: Kayleigh Bower
0
Why don't the villagers help the little boy by the end of the story?
At the end of the story, the villagers will no longer come to help the boy when he cries for help. Why don't the villagers come? Do you think they should have believed the boy? Why or why not? Write your answer in complete sentences.
Sent on: Feb 24, 2025 by: Kayleigh Bower
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.6, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.1,
Task 3: Writing Activity (30 points)
Instructions: A "moral" is a lesson told through a story, especially one that teaches us right from wrong. What is the moral of the story? What can we learn from what happens to the little boy? Do you think what happened to him at the end of the story was fair? Use details from the passages and complete sentences to write your answer.
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4a,
