Pearson Reading Street - 2010 Grade 3

Unit 1/Week 2
Title: What About Me?
Suggested Time: 5 days (45 minutes per day)
Common Core ELA Standards: RL.3.1, RL.3.2, RL.3.4, RL.3.5; RF.3.3, RF.3.4; W.3.2; SL.3.1, SL.3.6;
L.3.1, L.3.2, L.3.4

Teacher Instructions
Before Teaching
1. Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for
teachers, about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task.
Big Ideas and Key Understandings
With determination and perseverance, you can achieve your goal. Acts if kindness benefit both the giver and the receiver.
Synopsis
This fable is about a boy’s search for knowledge. His journey begins the moment he asks the Grand Master for a bit of his
knowledge; the boy did not expect the wise man to want something in return. The story spirals into a series of negotiations
and self-serving demands. To achieve his goal, the boy barters with characters ranging from a carpetmaker to a merchant. At
the end of the fable, the Grand Master offers two moral lessons and helps the young man realize that he already has
knowledge.
2. Read entire main selection text, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings.
 Pearson Reading Street - 2010 Grade 3

3. Re-read the main selection text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Vocabulary.
During Teaching
1. Students read the entire main selection text independently.
2. Teacher reads the main selection text aloud with students following along.
(Depending on how complex the text is and the amount of support needed by students, the teacher may choose to reverse the
order of steps 1 and 2.)
3. Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions and returning to the text. A variety
of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e.: whole class discussion, think-pair-share, independent
written response, group work, etc.)

Text Dependent Questions

Text Dependent Questions Answers

Page 64 The boy is searching for knowledge and thought that the Grand
Why did the boy go to the Grand Master? Master would be willing to give him some.
Page 65 The carpetmaker is upset because the boy is telling him about the
The speaker tells us that the carpetmaker barked when he said, Grand Master’s need as if he were merely going to give the wise man
“He has needs! What about me?” What does this tell us about a small rug for free. The carpetmaker feels that if the boy fulfills his
how the carpetmaker is feeling? need then he will meet the Grand Master’s need.

Follow-up question: Who is the he that the carpetmaker is The pronoun “he” refers to the Grand Master.
talking about?
Page 68-69 Buzzed means to be excited or confused. In this context, the boy is
Reread the first paragraph on page 69. What does the it mean confused by the needs and demands of those he encounters. The boy
when the author states “The boy’s head buzzed”? What does is telling us that he is angry or upset with the Grand Master,
this paragraph tell us about the boy? carpetmaker, spinner woman, goatkeeper, and goat seller. His head
is buzzing from all of the demands placed upon him
 Pearson Reading Street - 2010 Grade 3

Page 69. As he hurried off to find a carpenter, he mumbled to himself

How do we know that the boy is selfish and only interested in “Everyone has needs,” “And what about my need for knowledge”.
achieving his own goal. Cite evidence from page 69. The boy felt that no one was thinking about his need for knowledge.
The speaker used the word “Finally”, which implies that the search
Page 70 reread the first paragraph on page 70. for the matchmaker took an enormous amount of time. The word
What clue word does the speaker use to show sequence and finally also tells us that this is the last event/item in a series and a
the passing of time? change is about to happen.

Ways the boy and matchmaker are alike

They both want knowledge. They both have a need (boy – He had to
TURN AND TALK: Talk about how the boy and the matchmaker find a bride for the carpenter and knowledge for himself.)
are alike? How are they different? Ways the boy and matchmaker are different
The boy is more determined to achieve his goal than the
Optional: The teacher may use a Venn Diagram to organize matchmaker. Even when the task was difficult, the boy continued to
student responses. work hard as at trying to fulfill each demand.
Page 71 “And so he began to wander farther and farther from his village”,
What phrases and word choices does the author use to “Until one day”
indicate the passing of time in the story? The author began to call the boy a “young man”. This change tells us
that many years went by before the young man met the merchant.
Page 72 The young man had a difficult time getting both big and small things
What does the young man mean when he says, “I could not for people who promised to help him buy knowledge. However, he
even get a piece of thread when I wanted it” “But perhaps I can did offer to do what he could to help the merchant. The young man
help”? had changed during his journey. He no longer helped others for
something in return. He helped the merchant because it was the
right thing to do.
Moral 1 – At the beginning, the boy focused solely on achieving his
Page 75 goal. He assured the Grand Master that he would give him a small rug
in payment for knowledge. This arrangement led to the carpetmaker
TURN AND TALK: Divide students into two groups. Each and a promise to deliver thread in exchange for a rug, but then it was
student will have a Turn and Talk partner. Group A will no thread without hair, no hair without a goat, no goat without a a
explain/discuss the teaching of the first moral and group B will pen, no pen without a wife (75). The boy focused only on achieving
 Pearson Reading Street - 2010 Grade 3

explain/discuss the second moral. his goal of getting knowledge until he came to a merchant in need of
help and he selflessly decided to help him (72). By doing this selfless
act and giving feely to others, he was able to accomplish his goal and
received the precious gift of knowledge..

Moral 2 – Throughout the boy’s journey, he focused solely on

achieving his goal. He asked the Grand Master to give him knowledge
and he agreed but not without payment for his work. The boy
traveled to find a carpetmaker who demanded thread in exchange
for his services. In an attempt to fulfill the demand of the
carpetmaker, he came upon a spinner woman who, as expected,
required goat hair to make the thread that the carpetmaker would
need to weave the small rug that will, in the end, pay the Grand
Master for knowledge. Considering many years of travel, moving
further and further away from his village, the boy changed into a
young man. No one knows exactly when it happened, but once he
agreed to help the merchant without anything in return, the young
man learned something about humanity and the rewards from
showing acts of kindness.
 Pearson Reading Street - 2010 Grade 3

Vocabulary

KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING WORDS WORTH KNOWING

Words addressed with a question or task
not enough contextual clues provided in
TEACHER PROVIDES DEFINITION

Page 66 - wheeze
the text

Page 75 - moral Page 70 – stun, matchmaker

Page 75 - precious Page 71 - wring, mad, gentle
STUDENTS FIGURE OUT THE MEANING
sufficient context clues are provided in

Page 68 - stray, pen

Page 64 - wise Page 69 - carpenter
the text

Page 71 - merchant
Page 71 - wander, wanderer
 Pearson Reading Street - 2010 Grade 3

Culminating Task
 The boy in this fable traveled for a long time and had many experiences. Along the way, he learned new things and discovered
that he had the knowledge he was in search of. Reread the morals on page 75 and pick one to explain. Using specific details from
the text, explain how the boy’s quest for knowledge taught him regarding this moral.
Sample Answer:
Moral 1: Some of the most precious gifts that we receive are those we receive when we are giving.
The title of this story is What About Me, and in the beginning the boy only thought about himself. He wanted knowledge. He went
to the Grand Master because the Grand Master had plenty and the boy thought he would give him some (p.64). The Grand Master
wouldn’t give him knowledge without payment of a small carpet. This sent the boy of on a quest to get what was needed for a small
carpet. The boy stayed focused only on achieving his goal of getting knowledge but when he came to a merchant in need of help, he
selflessly decided to help him (72). He no longer helped others for something in return. He helped the merchant because it was the
right thing to do. By doing this selfless act, he was able to accomplish his goal and received the precious gift of knowledge.

Additional Tasks
 Students can read more about the concept of trading with others.
o Paying Without Money by Patricia Armentrout
o Medieval Towns, Trade and Travel by Lynne Elliott and Ellen Rodgers
Pearson Reading Street - 2010 Grade 3

Name _____________________________________________ Date ______________

“What About Me?”

1. Why did the boy go to the Grand Master? (Pg. 64)

2. The speaker tells us that the carpetmaker barked when he said, “He has needs! What about
me?” What does this tell us about how the carpetmaker is feeling? Who is the he that the
carpetmaker is talking about? (Pg. 65)

3. Reread the first paragraph on page 69. What does it mean when the author states “The
boy’s head buzzed”? What does this paragraph tell us about the boy? (Pgs. 68-69)

4. Page 69. How do we know that the boy is selfish and only interested in achieving his own
goal. Cite evidence from page 69.
Pearson Reading Street - 2010 Grade 3

5. Talk about how the boy and the matchmaker are alike? How are they different?

6. What phrases and word choices does the author use to indicate the passing of time in the
story? (Pg. 71)

7. What does the young man mean when he says, “I could not even get a piece of thread when
I wanted it” “But perhaps I can help”? (Pg. 72)