Catherine Harris

September 15, 2013

Reading Lesson: Ballad of Mulan Character Flow Chart
Benchmarks
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their
actions contribute to the sequence of events. (Reading standards for Literature, grade three, item
three on key ideas and details.)
Objectives
Students will be able to:
Describe the main characters feelings in the beginning, the middle, and the end of the
story
Describe how the characters feelings change and how they contribute to the sequence of
events
Materials
Reading book for each student
Red heart shape for each table to write the feelings on
Blue square shape for each table to write evidence on
Markers for each table
Tape
Reading board
Dry erase markers
Pencil for each student
Exit slip for each student
Anticipatory Set
Students will go over the objectives for the lesson. The teacher will ask for student volunteers to
provide a short summary of The Ballad of Mulan to refresh their memory.
Direct instruction
The teacher will direct students in describing Mulans feelings throughout the story. The class as
a whole will come up with ways to describe her feelings and the teacher will write them on the
board. At the end of the lesson, the group will discuss how her feelings changed and how her
feelings impacted the events of the story.
Guided practice
Each table will be given one feeling that was discussed together with a class. They must write the
feeling on a note card, then, the group must find evidence in the story of her feelings and write it
on another note card of a different color. The group will then tell the class the evidence they
found and post their note cards on the chart in the correct place.
Independent Practice
At the end of the lesson, students will describe how her feelings changed from the beginning, to
the middle, to the end of the story on their exit slip. They must also provide one example of how
her feelings changed the events of the story.
Procedures
1. The teacher will give the quiet signal to the class. When the class is quiet, the teacher will
ask the students to put their materials from the previous activity away. The teacher will
do a call-and-response activity. The students repeat what the teacher says. SWBAT
Students will be able to describe how Mulans feeling change.
2. The teacher will ask the class, Can I have a few volunteers to please give the class a
summary of what happens in The Ballad of Mulan? The teacher will then call on a few
students to summarize the story they already read. The teacher will add in details if
necessary.
3. The teacher will say, Today we are going to discuss how Mulan felt at each section of
the story. The teacher will write the page numbers on the board for the beginning of the
story, the middle of the story, and the end of the story. At the beginning of the story,
Mulans mother was trying to figure out what was wrong with Mulan. What was wrong
with her? How was she feeling? Why? The teacher will call on different students to tell
the class that Mulan was feeling nervous or scared because her father had to go to war,
but he was old and frail. The teacher will write these feelings on the board.
4. In the middle of the story, Mulan was at war. She had a couple of different feelings
while at war because it lasted ten years! What are some of the things she was feeling?
How do you know? The teacher will call on new students to tell the class that Mulan
was feeling brave or courageous at war. She also felt lonely and sad because she missed
her parents. The teacher will write these feelings on the board.
5. At the end of the story, the emperor sends Mulan home after a job well done. How was
she feeling then? What about when she got home? Why? Student volunteers will share
that Mulan was happy and excited to come home. She was also proud when she got there.
The teacher will write these feelings on the board. If students cannot think of her feelings,
the teacher will prod the students in the right direction.
6. The teacher will explain to the students that each table will get two pieces of paper. One
is shaped like a heart because the group will have to write one of the feelings we
discussed on it. The other is shaped like a square. Each group must look back at the story
and write evidence to prove how Mulan was feeling. On the square, they must write a
sentence from the story and the page number they found it on. I suggest that two friends
write on the cards neatly and that everyone looks for the evidence together. Another
friend will be the group speaker. As a group, you should discuss the evidence. The other
friends that do not have a job should pick the best sentence from the story and tell the
recorders the page number. The teacher will then assign a feeling to each table and will
pass out the materials, as well as markers for them to write it on.
7. The teacher will walk to each group and listen to their conversation. She will then read
what they have written so far. If they need help, the teacher will help them to think about
their feeling and find some examples about it. The teacher will also make sure that every
student is involved in the process of discussing the evidence and finding it in the story.
8. The teacher will give the quiet signal to the class. She will ask each table, one at a time,
to grab a white board and sit at the carpet with their group.
9. The teacher will ask the first group to come up to the reading board and tape their heart
and square in the appropriate place. Then, the speaker for the group will read their feeling
and evidence to the class. Each group will come up to the board.
10. The teacher will then ask for volunteers to describe how her feelings changed from the
beginning of the story to the end. They might say that she started out scared but got
braver throughout the story. They might say that the actions in the story made her start
out sad, and get happy at the end.
11. The class will then look at each feeling that the groups posted. The teacher will ask how
this feeling changed the events in the story. If Mulan was not scared for her dad at the
beginning of the story, would she have gone to war? If Mulan did not miss her family,
would she have fought as hard to get home? If Mulan was not courageous, would she
have received the honors that she did? If Mulan was not proud of her actions, would she
have revealed that she was a woman?
12. The teacher will then pass out the exit slips to each student. They must record their
answers at the carpet. When they have finished their exit slip, they must hand it in to the
teacher and return to their desks quietly.
Closure
The group will gather at the carpet in front of the reading board. Each group will tell the class
their evidence and place them on the chart. The group will then have a discussion about how her
feelings changed throughout the story. Students will also be asked to think of examples of how
her feelings changed the events of the story.
Assessment
Informal: While the students are working in their groups, the teacher will walk around and
informally assess each groups progress by listening to their conversation and reading what they
have written so far.
Formal: Each student will write an exit slip at the end of the lesson about what they have learned
from the flow chart. The teacher will read the exit slips to determine what they learned from the
lesson.















Name: ___________________________
1. How did Mulans feelings change during the story?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2. Give one example of how Mulans feelings changed the events of the story.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Name: ___________________________
1. How did Mulans feelings change during the story?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2. Give one example of how Mulans feelings changed the events of the story.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________