1. Lesson 5: Summarize “The Other Animals”
About this lesson
Students read an excerpt from Jack London’s “The Other Animals” and determine the author’s point of view and purpose in writing the text. They work collaboratively to summarize paragraphs from the text and create a class summary that explains how London acknowledges and responds to conflicting viewpoints.
An audio recording of “The Other Animals” is available at This recording includes the entire essay; the excerpt that students read begins at 1:35.

2. We finished reading Chapter 1 of The Call of the Wild and analyzed what the incidents revealed about characters in the text.
Let’s Review!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute
Directions:
Briefly review the previous learning.

3. Read and summarize an excerpt from Jack London’s “The Other Animals.”
Today we will:
Read and summarize an excerpt from Jack London’s “The Other Animals.”
Discuss London’s purpose and perspective in the text, citing text evidence.
Let’s Prepare!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute
Directions:
Read the slide.
Briefly explain how this lesson prepares students for another lesson and/or the end-of-unit assessments.
Throughout the lesson, compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors. Determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts. During this lesson or before the next lesson, support those students individually or in a small group using the Additional Supports for Diverse Learners.

4. “The Other Animals” by Jack London
You will need:
“The Other Animals” by Jack London
“The Other Animals” handout
Let’s Prepare!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 3 minutes
Directions:
Distribute the text.
Access and distribute “The Other Animals” handout.
Ask students to locate their conversation stems learning tool.
This lesson includes summarizing complex texts. Access the strategy one-pager to learn more about different strategies for summarizing.

5. How? Why? Discuss with your small group:
After reading Chapter 1 of Call of the Wild, in what ways might readers conflate - or mistake - Buck for a human character? Why? Cite evidence from the text.
Given this, why might London have been criticized for his portrayal of Buck?
How?
Why?
Let’s Discuss!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 5 minutes
Directions:
Divide the class into groups of 3-4 using an established classroom routine.
Establish norms for the group work and explain that students will be held accountable for their learning by using the conversation stems learning tool or relevant evidence during the discussion.
Direct students to discuss the two questions on the slide as a way to preview the ideas of today’s lesson, and remind students to use textual evidence to support their thinking and discussion.
As students work together, prompt them to use the conversation stems learning tool.
Conclude the group work by conducting a whole-class discussion in response to the questions on the slide.
Use teacher talk moves so students [clearly express their ideas (Goal One), listen carefully to understand others’ ideas (Goal Two), provide evidence to support their claims (Goal Three), establish new ways of thinking (Goal Four)].
Possible Supports During the Lesson:
If students are not providing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors:
Ask: “Where in the text is Buck described as having human-like perceptions and emotions?”
Ask: “Is it fair or accurate for authors to portray animals as if they are human? How can we know?”
Ask: “What are the consequences of readers viewing Buck - and dogs like him - as having human-like emotions and reasoning?”
Student Look-Fors:
Students should discuss the questions with their small groups, drawing upon evidence from the text in chapter 1.
In response to the first question, students should note that Buck is often described as having emotions and judgments that seem to go beyond the realm of what we might expect from a dog. For example, he is described as feeling “oppressed” by the cage and accepting a rope “with dignity” as though he is controlling his emotional response. In addition, his reflection on Francois’ punishment of Spitz for stealing food suggests that he is able to reason about what is/isn’t fair in nuanced ways (Spitz gets hit with the whip for stealing food, which Buck suggests is appropriate and makes up for him losing his food).
For the second question, students should suggest possibilities for why this may be problematic. Students may suggest ideas like:
The portrayal of Buck is misleading to readers and may give them a fall sense of what animals are/are not capable of.
The portrayal may lead humans to change their actions/reactions to animals in ways that could be harmful or problematic because they are based on a false understanding.
Accept any relevant ideas.
Additional Notes:
The second question is meant to spark students’ thinking about the “nature faker” controversy, which they will read about in “The Other Animals.”

6. Follow along in your copy of “The Other Animals” while I read aloud.
Let’s Read!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~7 minutes
Directions:
Say: “I’m going to read the text aloud. As I read, think about the gist of the text.
Read aloud the excerpt from “The Other Animals” in its entirety while students follow along.
Students will have an opportunity to reread and paraphrase parts of the text with their small groups following this initial reading.
After reading, direct students to jot down 1-2 sentences that give their first idea of the gist of the text.
Possible Supports During the Lesson:
As needed, play the audio recording instead of reading aloud the text.
During the read aloud, provide a synonym or student-friendly definition for difficult words. Possible words for this text/section:
protest: disagree
humanizing: improving
instinct: urge
stimuli: inspiration
duplicated: reproduced
To keep students actively involved during the read aloud and to practice their reading fluency, engage students in choral reading or echo reading.
Student Look-Fors:
Students should follow along silently as you read aloud.

7. Reread your assigned paragraph(s) with your group.
Answer the questions provided for your assigned paragraph(s).
Summarize the key ideas of your paragraph, capturing the author’s subclaim in 1-2 sentences.
Have one person from your group write this on chart paper.
Let’s Read!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~10 minutes
Directions:
Students may remain in groups of 3-4.
Assign each group a specific paragraph to reread from the text, discuss, and summarize.Read the directions on the slide.
Give each group a marker and piece of chart paper to write a summary of their assigned paragraph, which will be used during the discussion to build a whole-class summary.
Monitor student work time.
Possible Supports During the Lesson:
Support groups with less reading proficiency in reading/rereading the text. Read aloud the text or provide students with access to the audio recording.
Student Look-Fors:
Students should work within their groups to read, discuss, and summarize their assigned paragraph.
The text-dependent questions for each paragraph are meant as a scaffold to support students in summarizing their assigned paragraph.
Additional Notes:
Paragraphs 3 and 4 are combined given the short length of paragraph 3. If necessary, assign the same paragraph to more than one group.
Ensure students understand that they are only responsible for completing the text-dependent questions and summary for their group’s assigned paragraph. If they complete their task early, they can continue to another paragraph.

8. What are the central ideas of
“The Other Animals?”
Let’s Discuss!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 1 minute.
Directions:
Conduct a whole-class discussion where each group presents their summaries that capture the key ideas and meaning of their assigned paragraphs over the next 5 slides.
As each group shares, students should write down the summary for each paragraph on their handout. Tell students that they will use this in the following lesson when they more carefully examine how London crafts his argument.
Start the discussion by asking the group that summarized paragraph 1 to share before moving onto the next slide, as it contains a sample summary.
Use teacher talk moves so students [clearly express their ideas (Goal One), listen carefully to understand others’ ideas (Goal Two), provide evidence to support their claims (Goal Three), establish new ways of thinking (Goal Four)].
Prompt students to use the conversation stems learning tool during the discussion.
Student Look-Fors:
Students should be prepared to share their summaries with the class and to write the summaries of each paragraph as other groups present.
Access a completed “The Other Animals” handout.
Additional Notes:
The next five slides contain paraphrased statements for each paragraph which will gradually build a cohesive summary of the text. Alternatively, you may choose to skip the next five slides and write a summary using sentences from your student groups on chart paper or via computer/overhead.

9. In the opening paragraph of “The Other
Animals,” London gives evidence to
show he should not be considered a
“nature faker.” He claims that he based
his two nature books on scientific facts
and sought to create characters who
acted according to their “instinct,
sensation, and emotion.”
Let’s Discuss!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 2 minutes
Directions:
Students should write the key meaning from paragraph 1 on their handout before the next group shares.
Ask the group that summarized paragraph 2 to share before moving onto the next slide, as it contains a sample summary statement.
Student Look-Fors:
Students should be prepared to share their summarized meaning with the class and/or to write the meaning of each paragraph as other groups present.
As needed, support students in the discussion to ensure the ideas that they share about each paragraph are accurate.
Use the summarized meaning to support students in writing the first sentence of their summary, which is on the slide.
Have students write the summary on their individual handouts as you move through the discussion in the space indicated on the slide.

10. He blames President Roosevelt for
Paragraph 2
He blames President Roosevelt for
bringing him into the controversy, and
accuses him of misreading and
misunderstanding the details of his
books that he criticized.
Let’s Discuss!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 2 minutes
Directions:
Students should write the key meaning from paragraph 2 on their handout before the next group shares.
Ask the group that summarized paragraphs 3 & 4 to share before moving onto the next slide, as it contains a sample summary statement.
Student Look-Fors:
Students should be prepared to share their summarized meaning with the class and/or to write the meaning of each paragraph as other groups present.
As needed, support students in the discussion to ensure the ideas that they share about each paragraph are accurate.
Use the summarized meaning to support students in writing the first sentence of their summary, which is on the slide.
Have students write the summary on their individual handouts as you move through the discussion in the space indicated on the slide.

11. He goes on to say that a man named
Paragraphs 3 & 4
He goes on to say that a man named
John Burroughs supported Roosevelt’s
critique by saying that people should
not portray animals as capable of
reasoning given they are governed by
instincts.
Let’s Discuss!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 2 minutes
Directions:
Students should write the key meaning from paragraphs 3 & 4 on their handout before the next group shares.
Ask the group that summarized paragraph 5 to share before moving onto the next slide, as it contains a sample summary statement.
Student Look-Fors:
Students should be prepared to share their summarized meaning with the class and/or to write the meaning of each paragraph as other groups present.
As needed, support students in the discussion to ensure the ideas that they share about each paragraph are accurate.
Use the summarized meaning to support students in writing the first sentence of their summary, which is on the slide.
Have students write the summary on their individual handouts as you move through the discussion in the space indicated on the slide.

12. Paragraph 5 Then, London shares an example of a game
he played during his childhood with his
dog, Rollo, in which the dog would playfully
act as though his feelings were hurt before
jumping on London as if to say,”gotcha,”,
thus demonstrating his ability to reason.
Let’s Discuss!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~2 minutes
Directions:
Students should write the key meaning from paragraph 5 on their handout before the next group shares.
Ask the group that summarized paragraph 6 to share before moving onto the next slide, as it contains a sample summary statement.
Student Look-Fors:
Students should be prepared to share their summarized meaning with the class and/or to write the meaning of each paragraph as other groups present.
As needed, support students in the discussion to ensure the ideas that they share about each paragraph are accurate.
Use the summarized meaning to support students in writing the first sentence of their summary, which is on the slide.
Have students write the summary on their individual handouts as you move through the discussion in the space indicated on the slide.

13. Paragraph 6 Finally, London states that man and dog -
or animal - are closely linked. He believes
that if Burroughs is willing to argue that
dogs act according to instinct only and not
reason, that same logic could be attributed
to humans given that we, too, are animals.
Let’s Discuss!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 2 minutes
Directions:
Students should write the key meaning from paragraph 6 on their handout.
Student Look-Fors:
At this point, students should have a written summary statement or statements for each paragraph and thus have a summary of the text.

14. Write a paragraph on your “The Other Animals” handout.
What is Jack London’s opinion of being called a nature faker?
Support your answer with two pieces of evidence from “The Other Animals.”
Let’s Express Our Understanding!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~ 7 minutes
Directions:
Read the directions on the slide for students.
Share the qualities of a strong response (e.g., restates the question, demonstrates understanding of the text, includes relevant evidence to support the ideas, written in complete sentences, etc.).
Monitor student work time.
Possible Supports During the Lesson:
If students are not writing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors:
Prompt students to return to their notes on their handout to support them in determining London’s opinion or perspective on the issue.
Ask: “Why did London write ‘The Other Animals’?”
Ask: “What does London’s purpose for writing the essay suggests about his feelings regarding being called a nature faker?”
Student Look-Fors:
Access a completed “The Other Animals” handout.

15. In this lesson, you began to examine the nature faker debate that London became involved in during the early 20th century.
You also summarized “The Other Animals” and determined London’s perspective in the text.
Let’s Close!
Teaching Notes
Suggested Pacing: ~1 minute
Directions:
Read the slide.