Use an Irish Folk Tale to Teach Characterization
Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka Elementary Reading Lesson Plan
Feb 17, 2009
Elementary teachers can use Tomie dePaola's Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka [G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2000] first as a St. Patrick's Day read-aloud book and then to teach students how to examine the way an author creates a character, and how to use one's understanding of a character's personality and his or her behavior to make predictions about what will happen next in a story.
How to Introduce the Book
Explain that this is one author's version of a traditional Irish folk tale, or a simple story that people have told each other for many years. Note that folktales often contain magic or magical creatures, such as a pooka. Have students use picture clues from the cover to make a prediction about what kind of creature the pooka will be and what kind of relationship it might have with Jamie.
Begin a Character Study of the Main Character
Start a character map on the board with headings such as What the Narrator Says About Jamie, What Jamie Says, What Jamie Thinks, What Jamie Does, and What Jamie Feels. Check to see if students have any prior knowledge about Jamie's character from having read Tomie dePaola's other book about Jamie, Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato [Putnam Juvenile, 1997]. When reading, pause after each page or so and ask students to add information from the book to the character map. Help students think about what each piece of information tells them about Jamie. For example, what does it say about Jamie's personality that he thinks it is a good idea to stay in bed during the day so as not to get the house dirty?
Share the Book and Have Students Make Predictions
Read the book aloud, pausing from time to time to have students use their prior knowledge, the information in their character map, and their current understanding of Jamie's character to make predictions about what will happen next in the book's plot. Following are some ideas for where to stop:
- After Eileen leaves for Kathleen's, have students predict how well Jamie will take care of the cottage.
- After Jamie's friends mess up the cottage for the first time, have students predict what Jamie will do about the mess.
- After Jamie's friends mess up the cottage the second time, have students predict what Jamie will do this time.
- After the pooka leaves, have students predict what Jamie will do about the final mess.
In each case, after reading on, pause and allow students time to check predictions. At the end of the book, assess students' understanding of Jamie's character by having them describe what kind of person Jamie is and what he will most likely do in any situation when he is expected to work.
Examine Author's Craft and Characterization
After reading the book once, examine the text and illustrations with students as part of a discussion about Tomie dePaola's use of characterization, or how he provides information about Jamie to help the reader understand Jamie's character. Elements to examine might include:
- dialogue, or the way Jamie speaks and the sayings he uses
- illustrations, such as the expressions on Jamie's face in different pictures
- actions, or how well the things Jamie says match up with the actual things he does or is doing
- descriptions, or detailed information the narrator tells the reader about Jamie
For assessment, have students identify one example of how the author uses each of the strategies discussed by the class.
Make a Text-to-Text Connection
As an extension activity, have students recall if they have read any similar stories about people giving items of clothing to magical creatures. For example, the shoemaker in the folktale "The Elves and the Shoemaker" gives tiny clothes to the elves to thank them, and Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is tricked by Harry into giving the Malfoy house-elf, Dobby, a sock so as to set Dobby free. Work with students to make a text-to-text connection and compare and contrast these or other similar texts with the scene in this book where Jamie gives the pooka the coat.
This elementary reading lesson plan can be used as part of a unit on folktales or as a standalone St. Patrick's Day reading lesson plan. At any time, studying how an author forms a character and how a reader can gain a deeper understanding of a text by examining the characters in the text will help students become better readers.
Elementary teachers can use the other Jamie book, Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato, to teach students how to identify cause and effect, and use other Irish folktales for teaching other reading comprehension skills or practicing writing skills.
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