Name: Marina Santos ECD 243: The Gruffalo

Story Time Plan

Characters:
Gruffalo
Mouse
Fox
Owl
Snake
Theme:
Real vs.
imagination,
problem solving,
fears
Ideas:
Using creativity
and imagination,
protective
instincts, problem
solving, food
chains,
patterns/repetitio
n, truth vs. lying
Plot:
A mouse goes for
a walk in the
woods because he
is hungry and
outsmarts other
hungry animals by
imagining up a
Gruffalo.
Conflict/Problem:
Problem 1
The mouse
is hungry.

Title:

The Gruffalo
Author:
Julia
Donaldson
Illustrator:
Axel
Scheffler
Summary:
A hungry
mouse goes
for a walk in
the deep dark
woods. He
encounters
many others
animals who
try to eat him
and thinks
up a Gruffalo
in order to
scare the
animals away.
The mouse
ultimately
encounters a
real Gruffalo
and has to
convince him
not to eat
him.

Day One

Day Two

Introduction of Book:
I will tell the children I have a story to
read to them. I will say that it is called.
The Gruffalo, and that it is by Julia
Donaldson and point to the title as I
read. Lets take a look at this book
here. Look at this cover. What do you
see? (Wait for the childrens response.)
I will anticipate that they will say a
Monster because he is the most
prominent on the page. We will discuss
that he is a special creature but I will
not say who he is. I will point to the
mouse and say this this is Mouse.

Book Introduction:
We read a book yesterday about our
new friends in The Gruffalo!
Introduce flannel board and props to
reinforce comprehension. I will tell
the children that we are going to use
the pieces to represent the story as
we read it. State the title, author,
and illustrator; point to and trace the
words. I will talk about meeting this
guy Gruffalo again and all the other
creatures. Then I will begin reading.

Set Purpose for Listening/First

Reading:
We are going to read to meet some new
friends, like Mouse, and see some
places, and all of the creatures in the
deep dark woods. We are going to read
to find out some details about all of
them.
Discussion During Reading:
(Think-alouds and rhetorical
questions)
Say I wonder if its a good idea
to go into the woods alone when
mouse starts to walk into the
woods
Say oh no this cant be good
each time the Mouse
encounters the hungry animal
Yell showing fear when the
Mouse meets the real Gruffalo.

Set Purpose for Second Reading:

We are going to read to see if we can
remember what we read yesterday.
We will use the flannel board and
pieces to help us out. (Adult
placement/guidance). We want to be
able to answer the question: Why
does the Mouse tell everyone he is
meeting the Gruffalo?
Reconstruct Narrative and
Reinforce Knowledge:
Who did Mouse meet in the
woods?
Tell me about The Gruffalo,
describe?
What happened after Mouse
met snack and he slithered
off?
Why did the Mouse say his
favorite food was (insert
animal food here) to each
animal?

Day Three
Book Introduction:
More fluent read to really assure
comprehension has been mastered. I
will read the title and
author/illustrator, pointing to the
words, and begin reading.
Set Purpose for Third Reading:
We are going to read to see if we can
remember what we read yesterday.
We will use the flannel board and
pieces to help us out. (Child
placement/guidance). We want to be
able to answer the question: Why do
all the animals act scared when the
mouse walks by the second time? And
Why does the Gruffalo run away from
the mouse?
Reinforce Comprehension With
Guided Reconstruction of Story:
Walk through the sequence of
events, discussing what
happened, why, and thoughts
and feelings
Guide connections between
the Mouse claiming food
favorites to be different
depending on who he was
talking to.
How do you think Mouse feels
when he is walking through
the woods? When he meets
each creature? When he
meets the Gruffalo?
How do you think the animals
feel when they see the

Problem 2
The
animals
Mouse
meets in
the woods
all want to
eat him.
Problem 3 The
Gruffalo
wants to
eat the
mouse.

Say it makes you happy that no

living thing go eaten at the end
Point out the animals facial
expressions and label them
Make comments about each of
the Gruffalos characteristics
(eyes are bright and scary;
tongue is scary

Clarification of Vocabulary:
Gruffalo-the fishes name, because he
swims really fast
Gruffalo Crumble- a food like pie
Terrible- not nice, formed strange,
scary
Tusks- teeth on the outside
Prickles- pointy spikes
Jaws- mouth part; where teeth and
tusks are
Stream- a small body of water
Lake- a big body of water
Roasted-a way of cooking
Scrambled-all mashed up like eggs
Discussion After Reading:
Who did Mouse meet in the
woods? (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th)
Where did all of these
creatures live?
Who is the mouse describing?
Tell me about who the mouse is
describing? What are some of
his characteristics?
Where does each animal live?
Flip to the front cover to
identify the creature as the
Gruffalo.

Flipping to Specific Pages for

Clarification:

Why did Mouses description

of the Gruffalos favorite
food change with each animal
he met?
Why did the Mouse tell the
animals so they wouldnt eat
him?

Build Off Knowledge to Engage in

Higher Level Thinking:
What is a lie? The truth?
What is the difference
between real and imaginary?
What would have done if you
were alone in the deep dark
woods?
Why do you think the Mouse
told the Gruffalo everyone
was afraid of him?
What do you think the Mouse
did and his new friends did
after he scared away the
Gruffalo?
How would you feel if you saw
a Gruffalo/other animals in
the woods who were all tying
to eat you?
How would you get the animals
to not eat you? What would
you say/do?
Would you have gone into the
woods to look for food if you
were Mouse? Why or why not?
Why do you think the Mouse
lied to the animals? Did he
lie? What would you have
done?
Was Mouses description of
the Gruffalo correct? How
did he know what he looked

mouse? The Gruffalo and the

mouse?
Discussion After Reading:
Discuss problem and solutions 1, 2, &
3.
Why didnt any of the animals
eat Mouse?
Why did the Gruffalo decide
not to eat Mouse?
Why did the Gruffalo follow
Mouse back into the woods?
Why did the animals run when
Mouse said hi to them when
the Gruffalo was following
him?
Do you think the animals were
really afraid of the Mouse?
Why?
What do you think the animals
saw and felt when they saw
the mouse and Gruffalo?
What do you think they
heard?
Where do you think The
Gruffalo ran off to when the
Mouse tried to eat him?
What do you think the animals
did when they ran away from
Mouse? Why?
If Mouse ultimately wanted a
nut to eat because it is his
favorite food, why did the tell
Gruffalo his favorite food was
Gruffalo crumble.
Tell me about what you think
Mouse did after he finished
his nut.
Is the Gruffalo real or
imaginary?

Title inner cover page-Mouse lives here.

1&2-Fox lives here and the Mouse says
he is meeting the Gruffalo by the rocks.
3,7,11-Gruffalo characteristics
5&6-Owl lives here and Mouse says to
him that he is meeting Gruffalo by the
stream.
9&10-Snake lives here and that the
Mouse is meeting Gruffalo by the lake.
13-Point to the Mouses expression
when he meets the Gruffalo. Ask if he
is surprised to see him. Real/imaginary
discussion?
22-Discuss the Gruffalos face and why
he is running away

like if the Gruffalo was

imaginary?
Discussion After Reading:
After reading this time we will walk
through the sequence of events and
discuss the problems and solutions
(1&2). We will, and can as needed, flip
back through the pages to reinforce
comprehension. Day one questions will
be utilized and then the following will
be added:
Why did Mouse go into the
woods in the first place?
Who did Mouse meet?
What did all these animals try
and do to Mouse?
How did Mouse get the
animals to leave him alone?
Why is everyone in the woods
so hungry? How do they try
and solve their problem?

Based on the response to the

question above: So was the
mouse lying or telling the
truth when he said he was
going to meet the Gruffalo?
Even though he said it before
he knew he was real.

Use as a Jumping Off Point to Build

Knowledge and/or Enhance Skills:
Language/Literacy- using flannel/felt
pieces and puppets as retelling props;
Drama-acting out the story
Music and Movement- singing the
Gruffalo song with rhythm sticks or
bell bracelets to match the beat and
rhythms and tempos
Science- matching animals to their
homes and food sources
Math- sorting Gruffalo characters by
size; roll a Gruffalo with dice and
drawing adding the characteristics
that are rolled; Gruffalo and friend
characteristic graph sort;
Art- using open-ended materials like
paint, paper, clay/doh, and loose parts
to create animal homes; using openended materials to create protector
creatures like the Gruffalo
Social Studies: map making of areas
in the woods and other places in
nature and the community; home
sorting
Dramatic Play: setting up the area as
the deep dark woods with each
characters home; adding props so the
children can dress up as each
character; make labels for the home
and maps of the woods to add print

Other Books: The Gruffalos Child,

Who Lives Here?
*All questions and comments are merely suggestions, questions may be added or taken away to aid
comprehension based upon the needs of the group and each individual. Things that have been
understood may be omitted and things that still need clarification, or extra clarification, may be
added.