Who's Got Game? The Lion or the Mouse?

This graphic novel is an interpretation of The Lion and the Mouse, one of the most famous Aesop fables.  The lion claims to be the baddest in the land until he steps on a thorn.  None of the other animals want to help lion except the mouse.  The mouse helps lion and then quickly feels like he is the baddest in the land.  It's at this point that lion can see how he was acting.  The last line sends the message as lion says, "Is he who wants to be a bully just scared to be himself?"

Reading Level:
     Lexile: 490

Genre/Theme:
     Graphic Novel
     Aesop's Fables
     Bullying

Subject:
     English Language Arts

Teaching ideas for a 3rd Grade Classroom:
     Web Resources:
http://authors.simonandschuster.net/tagged_assets/ak01_0743222490_648.pdf gives teaching ideas for before, during , and after reading.

http://www.hbavenues.com/highpoint/library/LevLib.asp?CollectionID=1- offers teaching strategies for cause and effect, making inferences, summarizing, and paraphrasing.

Suggested Delivery:  Paired Reading

Before Reading:
     Vocabulary to introduce:  strutting, savannah, bounded, sauntered, contraption, pestering
Have students make predictions based on the title and cover of the book.  Ask students what is meant by "got game".  Explain that it means "who's better".  Ask students what makes someone a bully.  Have them pair-share a time when they themselves were being bullied or they know someone that was being bullied.  Explain that throughout this story the characters change.  The purpose of this reading is to see if students can identify the various cause and effect relationships. 

During Reading:
Have students use a cause and effect graphic organizer.  After reading each section, students should work with their partner to identify any cause and effect relationships and fill in their chart. 

After Reading:
Have students check their predictions.  Since this story is a graphic novel, students can work in pairs to create a comic strip that explains what happened next to mouse or to lion.  Have the students share their completed comic strips with the class. http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/games-tools/comic-creator-a-30237.html offers a way for students to use technology and create their own comics.

Morrison, T., Morrison, S., & Lemaître, P. (2003). Who's got game?: the lion or the mouse?. New York: Scribner.