Illustration of a student asking teacher a question
Art By Elio
Mini Graphic,

Teacher, Teacher!

By Katie Mach
From the February 2024 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will discuss a story’s problem and solution and identify appropriate times to “tell.”

Lexile: 280L
Featured Skill: Main Idea,
Topic: SEL,
Common Core Standards
  • RF.1.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text RL.1.2 Retell stories RL.1.3 Describe character and setting using key details SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with peers and adults
TEKS Standards
  • Health (3) Mental health and wellness—social and emotional health. The student identifies and applies strategies to develop socio-emotional health, self-regulation, and healthy relationships. The student is expected to: (B) discuss and explain how emotions can interrupt thinking and the self-management process; (E) describe ways to build and maintain friendships; (G) identify feelings and emotions expressed by others; and (H) identify and practice ways to solve conflicts with friends and peers.

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Teacher, Teacher!

By Katie Mach

video (1)
Activities (2)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
video (1)
Activities (2) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)

About the Story

Social and Life Skills Focus

Self-regulation/social awareness

English Language Arts Focus

Genres of Literature

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

  •  Morning Meeting: If you use your morning meeting to build classroom community, this mini graphic about tattling is a great discussion prompt.
  • Whole Group Activity: Once you’ve read and discussed the story together, have children act out the different parts.

Pairings and Text Connections

  • From the Storyworks archive: “Sticky Situation: My Way,” May/ June 2023; “Sticky Situation: When Is It My Turn?,” October/ November 2022
  • Suggested books: A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue by Julia Cook; Miles McHale, Tattletale by Christianne Jones

Before-Reading Resources

Video: What's In a Comic? (7 minutes)

  • Explore how comics use pictures, thoughts, and dialogue to show what’s happening in the story

Suggested Reading Focus

Self-regulation and social awareness (20 minutes)
  • Ask children what tattling is. (It is telling on someone to get them in trouble.) Ask them to remember a time they tattled or someone tattled on them. How did it make them feel? Then ask how tattling is different from reporting. (Tattling gets someone in trouble, but reporting can help someone who is in trouble.) How are those two actions different?
  • Read the article aloud, giving children time to discuss what each picture tells them.
  • Discuss the Talk It Out questions. Close out the discussion by asking children to share examples from their own lives as they make connections to how the characters are feeling.

After-Reading Skills Practice

  • Skills: Self-regulation/problem solving (15 minutes)

Extension Literacy Activity

Skill: Problem solving/social awareness (15 minutes)

Create a T-Chart, labeling one side “tattling” and the other side “reporting.” As a class, sort the following sentences to determine which is characteristic of tattling or reporting:

  • You want to get someone in trouble.
  • You need help from an adult to solve the problem.
  • Someone is hurt or in real trouble.
  • You can solve the problem on your own.
  • You can ignore the problem.

Text-to-Speech