BOX 6: ORAL RETELLING OF WILFRED GORDON McDONALD PARTRIDGE
WHO This is a story about a boy who had a very long name - Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge. Wilfred liked to visit the people at the home for Seniors. His favourite person was Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper because her name was long too.
WHERE Wilfred lived next door to the place where the old people lived.
WHEN One day
WHAT
(the problem is)
Wilfred had heard that MISS Nancy had lost her memory. Wilfred didn't know what a memory was so he asked each of the old people what a memory was. One person said it was something warm. Another person told him it was something from long ago. Another person told him it was something that makes you cry. Another person told him it was something that makes you laugh. The last person told him it was as precious as gold.
WHY Because William liked Miss Nancy, he tried to find her memory.
HOW
(the problem
is resolved)
He took something warm - a hen's egg. He took something from long ago shells from the beach. He took something that made him cry - grandfather's medal. He took something that made him laugh - a puppet and he took something that was as precious as gold - a football. He took all of these things and gave them to Miss Nancy. One by one she picked them up. Each thing reminded her of things in her own life:
something warm, egg - blue bird's egg.
something long ago, shell - beach.
something that makes you cry, medal - brother who died.
something that makes you laugh, puppet - sister laughing.
something precious, football - the day Wilfred and she met.
Wilfred was happy that he had helped Miss Nancy find her memory.

III. Group Practice

The instructor:
  1. Introduces a new story, Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney, Viking Press (1982):

    A. Walks participants through the pre-reading activity (see Box 7, Before Reading).

    B. Guides participants in using the Directed Inquiry question strategy while reading the first two pages of the story (see Box 7, During Reading, for a model of how this might be done) and then

    C. Directs participants and volunteers to continue reading in their small groups, applying the Directed Inquiry strategy on their own (see Box 7, During Reading), reinforcing the reading purpose as follows:

    Read to identify what the goal or problem is. Then continue to read the rest of the story to see how the problem is resolved. Always keep in mind that the questions tell you what is important to remember. Use the chart to direct your thinking When you're finished, we will share the story, using the 5 w's and h questions to help us remember what happened.

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