1. Author’s Purpose: Entertain Comprehension Skill: Compare & Contrast
Blame it on the Wolf
Genre: Drama
Author’s Purpose: Entertain
Comprehension Skill: Compare & Contrast
By: Douglas Love
Compiled by Terry Sams, Piedmont

2. Summary   
This play lets the wolf tell his side of the story.  What really happened with the three little pigs?  Did the wolf threaten them as some say?  And did the wolf really go after Little Red Riding Hood's grandma?  Could it be that the Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood have misunderstood him?  In this play, a jury hears testimony from the three pigs, Little Red, and others, and learns that there are always two sides to a story!.

3. Genre - Drama
A drama is a play that has a cast of characters. The author of a play is called a playwright. It is usually performed on a stage in a theater before an audience. It will have a setting. The dialogue tells what the actors say. A drama has stage directions that tell the actors how to interpret the speeches or move around the stage.

4. Comprehension Skill: Compare and Contrast
Compare is to tell how two things are alike.
Contrast is to tell how two things are different.
Use their comparisons to look for meaning and author’s purpose
Clue words such as like or as show comparisons.
Clue words such as but, instead, and unlike show contrasts.

5. Compare and Contrast “The Three Little Pigs”
Pig’s Version
Wolf’s Version
Characters: Wolf, 3 pigs
Characters:
Setting: brick house
Setting:
How it starts: Wolf at door, yelling to come in.
How it starts:
What happens next:
How it ends:

6. Comprehension Skill Review: Theme
The theme of a story is what the author wants us to learn from the story.
It is the story’s “big idea”.
Most stories do not tell what the “big idea” is.
Readers need to find it themselves.
A good way to find the theme is to ask: What does the author want me to learn from this story?

7. Practice Theme There are always two sides to a story.
Pigs don’t listen very well.
Wolves are nice.
Which sentence is the theme for Blame it on the Wolf?
Why do you think this theme makes sense?

8. Vocabulary Strategies – Unfamiliar Words
When you read, you may come across a word you do not know.
To figure out the meaning of the unfamiliar word, look for clues in the sentences or paragraph around it.
A clue might be found in specific details or examples given near the unknown word.
You can also use a dictionary to clarify word meanings.

9. Research Skill – Evaluate Reference Sources pg. 383j
There are many sources you can use to find information. You can use books, magazines, encyclopedias, videotapes, audiotapes, CD-ROMs, and even the Internet.
When you evaluate references sources, you decide which sources are reliable and up-to-date, and which are most useful for your purposes.

10. Types of Reference Materials
Encyclopedias
Videos
Newspapers
How to Books
Internet
Dictionaries
Biography Books

11. Weekly Fluency Check - Read with Expression
Model or review ways to read with expression, for example, reading play dialogue with attention to how the characters should speak.
When reading a play with others, each reader should think about how their character might speak his or her lines.
Dialogue should sound like conversation rather than words being read from a page.
Each character should react to what the other characters are saying.

12. Rhythm and Cadence
Read aloud the bird’s dialogue on page 377, starting with “It’s falling! It’s falling!”
This should sound like a poem because the words have rhythm and rhyme. They flow from one line to the next.
Rhythm creates a beat, as in music, for the words. Fast rhythm can make the words sound light and happy. Slow rhythm can make it sad and serious.

13. What is the setting of the first scene?
Read to Find Out - Pg
What is the setting of the first scene?
What is the wolf trying to do in this story?
Who decides the wolf is innocent or guilty?
How are the pigs’ and wolf’s stories different?

14. What did the animals do that effected the outcome of the story?
Read to Find Out – Pg
What did the animals do that effected the outcome of the story?
Which character in the story is most different from the others?
How are Auntie Pot Pie and Big Red related?
What proves that the wolf is not guilty?
What is a moral that can be learned from this story?

15. Writing Assignment Choose one of the following and write as directed.
Create a wanted poster for Wolf. Be sure to include a description of the criminal as well as the list of crimes and possible rewards for his capture.
What happens to Auntie Pot Pie after Wolf’ trial? Is she charged with a crime? Write a story telling what happens to her after the trial is over.

16. Good Stuff ABC Spelling words Compare Contrast Tips
Compare and Contrast Quizzes
Graphic Organizers
Reader’s Theater Scripts
More Reader’s Theater
Spelling Concentration
What Really Happens in a Court of Law?
Scholastic – Wolves
Reading Test
Spelling Test

17. Words to Know
character
courtroom
guilty
evidence
rescued

18. More Words to Know
appalling
defendant
verdict
witness
wolflike

19. character
a person or animal in a book, play, film, story, or poem

20. courtroom
the room in which courts of law meet

21. evidence
facts; proof

22. guilty
having done wrong

23. rescued
saved

24. appalling
filling with horror or fear

25. defendant
a person against whom a charge is brought in court

26. verdict
the decision of a jury

27. witness
a person who takes an oath of truth in a court of law

28. wolflike
similar to a wolf

29. The trial took place in the courtroom.

30. The trial took place in the courtroom.

31. The wolf is my favorite character.

32. The wolf is my favorite character.

33. The defendant was found guilty of the crime.

34. The defendant was found guilty of the crime.

35. The dog let out a wolflike cry.

36. The dog let out a wolflike cry.

37. The lawyer presented the evidence to the jury.

38. The lawyer presented the evidence to the jury.

39. The verdict of the jury was not guilty.

40. The verdict of the jury was not guilty.

41. She pled guilty to the crime.

42. She pled guilty to the crime.

43. Each pig was called to be a witness against the wolf.

44. Each pig was called to be a witness against the wolf.

45. Charlie was rescued by the fireman.

46. Charlie was rescued by the fireman.

47. Chicken Little said he was so frightened, it was appalling!

48. Chicken Little said he was so frightened, it was appalling!

49. Spelling Words Contractions
we’ll
what’s
would’ve
I’m
doesn’t
could’ve
I’d
he’ll
wouldn’t
I’ll

50. Spelling Words Contractions
she’ll
shouldn’t
we’ve
they’ll
let’s
it’s
they’d
that’s
he’d
you’d
Click on Contractions for a Concentration Game

51. This Week’s Word Wall Words
Click and type your own words for this week:

52. Let’s review our spelling words
Let’s review our spelling words. Watch carefully because they will flash on the screen for just a moment. We will clap as we spell the word.

53. let’s

54. shouldn’t

55. wouldn’t

56. could’ve

57. he’d

58. they’d

59. they’ll

60. she’ll

61. he’ll

62. doesn’t

63. what’s

64. that’s

65. it’s

66. we’ve

67. I’ll

68. you’d

69. I’d

70. I’m

71. we’ll

72. would’ve

73. GREAT JOB!