The first part of the Mercy Watson Unit introduces students to Mercy Watson and teaches students about story structure.
These activities could be done as a whole class in a computer lab, or set up as a learning center independent activity.
There are three main parts : Reading Aloud, Story Elements Interactive, and Connecting Back to Mercy.
Read Aloud
Begin this unit by reading and sharing Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo.
Interactive
Following reading and discussing the book, students will learn about the elements of story through the use of an online interactive.
This site takes a child through the story of Cinderella. Students see animated pictures, see the text, and hear the text read aloud as they go through this familiar story. The interactive then goes through all the basic elements of story structure and teaches the child the elements of story.
Students can learn about different literary "ingredients" that make up a story. After watching and listening to an interactive version of "Cinderella," students will learn about various elements that are common to all stories: setting, characters, plot, exposition, conflict, climax, and resolution.
This site features an interactive explanation of each literary element, which is then followed by a series of activities to enhance students' understanding. Students will be asked to put plot developments into the correct order, select appropriate settings and characters, and sort events and exposition.
Here is a link to a task card that you can laminate and provide for students to guide them through the use of the interactive. It could also be made into an overhead or a poster.
For a tutorial on using the interactive site, visit
For tips on using the interactive, visit
Connecting Back to Mercy
After completing the interactive, we need to bring students back to our featured book, Mercy Watson to the Rescue. This part of the activity involves a different online interactive tool, Read Write Think.
ReadWriteThink, established in April of 2002, is a partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Verizon Foundation.
NCTE and IRA are working together to provide educators and students with access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction through free, Internet-based content.
Students will go to Read Write Think and will work on two features of the student materials :
Students will use what they have learned about the elements of story to complete these graphic organizers about the characters, setting, conflict, resolution, and sequencing of Mercy Watson to the Rescue.
Again, Here is a link to two task cards that you can laminate and provide for students to guide them through the use of the Read Wtrite Think interactive.
Mercy Watson Story Map Task Card Two
Mercy Watson Plot Diagram Task Card Three
Examples
Here are some examples of the Mercy Watson to the Rescue Story Maps and Plot Diagrams completed by Olivia.
