Whose Story?

Overview

Students explore how Jon Scieszka’s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs retells a familiar fairy tale from the wolf’s point of view. They practise reading aloud with expression and intonation that suit a first-person narrative, then use text clues to identify and justify the author’s purpose.

Learning intentions

• WALT read a narrative aloud fluently, using phrasing, pace, volume, expression, and intonation.
• WALT notice how punctuation and word choices guide fluent reading.
• WALT consider the author’s purpose by examining the story’s content, structure, and form.
• WALT support an interpretation with evidence from the text.

Success criteria

• I can read a short passage smoothly and with expression.
• I can change my voice to show a character’s attitude or emotion.
• I can identify a likely purpose, such as entertaining, persuading, or challenging the reader.
• I can explain my thinking using a specific word, phrase, or event from the story.

Curriculum links

• Reading Enrichment: Fluency — adjusting expression and intonation according to the purpose and nature of a text.
• Reading Enrichment: Fluency — using expression and intonation that suit narrative texts and enhance audience comprehension.
• Critical Analysis: Context and purpose — examining content, structure, and form to consider the author’s purpose.
• Critical Analysis: Context and purpose — recognising that deliberate text choices serve purposes such as entertaining, persuading, provoking, or challenging.

Lesson structure (20 minutes)

1. 0–3 min · Hook: Who should we believe? Teacher displays the familiar image or opening prompt in the hook slide and says, “Today, the wolf claims he is not the villain. What might make us believe him?” Students silently choose a response, then share one prediction with a partner. Explain that the class will read as investigators, listening for clues about the narrator and the author’s purpose.

2. 3–6 min · Model fluent reading. Teacher introduces the wolf as the first-person narrator and reads a short selected passage from the opening, first in a flat, rushed voice and then with purposeful phrasing, pauses, and expression, using the fluency comparison slide. Students identify which reading helped them understand the wolf’s attitude and name one change they noticed, such as pace, volume, emphasis, or intonation. Briefly model how commas, full stops, dialogue punctuation, and words such as “unfortunately” guide the reader.

3. 6–11 min · Echo and partner reading. Teacher distributes the fluency and author-purpose worksheet with a short, school-approved extract from the book and marks where students should pause or emphasise. Read the first sentence aloud; students echo it, matching phrasing and intonation. Students then read the extract in pairs: Partner A reads the wolf’s account while Partner B follows with a finger or reading guide and gives one specific strength and one suggestion. Swap roles halfway through. Students who prefer may rehearse quietly before reading to a partner.

4. 11–15 min · Purpose detectives. Teacher directs attention to the purpose detective slide and introduces three possible purposes: entertain, persuade, and challenge the reader to reconsider a familiar story. Students reread one or two sentences from the extract and highlight or underline a clue on the worksheet, such as the wolf’s polite language, excuses, exaggeration, or description of the pigs. In pairs, students complete: “The author may want to ___ because ___.” Invite two pairs to share evidence, reminding the class that a text can have more than one purpose.

5. 15–18 min · Active voice choice. Teacher displays three short lines from the extract in the expression challenge slides and assigns each pair one line. Pairs decide how the wolf should sound—polite, frustrated, innocent, dramatic, or suspicious—and rehearse it twice, changing one feature of delivery. Several pairs perform. The audience identifies the intended attitude and explains which vocal choice created it. Emphasise that fluent reading is not “acting loudly”; it is making meaning clear for listeners.

6. 18–20 min · Exit response and recap. Teacher displays the final reflection slide and asks students to complete the final box on the worksheet: “The author’s purpose is mainly to ___, and my best evidence is ___.” Students hold their worksheets open for a quick teacher scan, then share one fluency move that helped the audience understand the wolf. Reinforce that understanding the narrator and purpose helps readers decide how a text should sound when read aloud.

Resources

• Class copy or teacher read-aloud copy of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
• Teacher-selected, copyright-compliant short extract from the book
• the complete fluency and purpose slide deck
• the fluency and author-purpose worksheet
• Highlighters or coloured pencils
• Reading guides or strips of card
• Projector or interactive whiteboard
• Timer

Assessment

• During modelling, listen for students identifying how pace, pauses, volume, and intonation affect meaning.
• During partner reading, use a quick checklist: accurate phrasing, appropriate pace, audible volume, expression, and response to punctuation.
• Collect or scan the final worksheet response. Check whether each student names a plausible author’s purpose and links it to a relevant text clue.

Differentiation

• Provide dyslexia-friendly formatting: a clear sans-serif font, generous spacing, short lines, left alignment, and no requirement to read unseen text aloud. Allow students to use a reading guide, rehearse privately, or record their reading instead of performing.
• For students with APD, face the class when speaking, reduce background noise, give one instruction at a time, display all key instructions, and check understanding privately before pair work.
• For students with ADHD, use the visible timer, brief varied tasks, purposeful movement during the expression challenge, and clearly defined partner roles. Seat students where the text and teacher are easy to see and hear.
• Support analysis with the sentence frame “The author wants readers to ___ because the wolf says/does ___.” Extend confident readers by asking whether the story entertains and challenges readers at the same time, using two pieces of evidence.