Nadia Bennett

ELED 481
Dr. Desiree Cueto
Interactive Read Aloud

Text choice:

Kahiu, W. & Adreani, M. (2017). The Wooden Camel. London, UK: Lantana Publishing Ltd.

Description: The Wooden Camel is a complex story about a boy Etabo’s dream of racing camels
like his older brother. In a series of events, Etabo and his family need to sell their camels to buy
water for their family. Etabo becomes frustrated because now, how will he achieve his dreams?
He speaks to Akui, who whispers, “your dreams are enough” This book is about Etabo’s journey
to discover, that his dreams about racing camels and his day dreaming when he plays with his
camel figures, is enough to transform him into his own imagination.

Interactive Read Aloud

Context: This lesson is designed for a 3rd grade read aloud in small groups or whole class
interactive read aloud. This might fit into the context of the exploration of different cultures, or
the importance of creativity in reference to telling a good story. This story could even be
adapted and tailored to a social emotional lesson about changes in life.

CCSS Reading Literature 3.2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from divers
cultures; determine the central message, lesson or moral and explain how it is conveyed
through key details in the text.

Opening:

Welcome back 3rd graders, Lets gather into our circle corner for read aloud. We have been
comparing cultures during our social studies time, and today while I was reading in the library, I
found this book The Wooden Camel, and this book takes place, or is set in north-west Kenya,
which is one country we have been learning about the past few days. This boy on the front
cover his name is Etabo and he has a dream that we will read about a little later. This makes me
think about the time when I dreamed of being an astronaut when I was younger, turn and talk
with your partner, and answer this question, did you ever have a dream before? Or maybe you
have a dream right now, go ahead and tell your partner. Ask for a few share outs. We can see
that so many of us in the class have had a dream before that they are really passionate about.
This is great! Today while we are reading, I want you to pay close attention to Etabo’s dream
and the turn of events that leads him through his journey, and what might be the moral of the
story.
 Rationale: Adding the book into context connects to not only a social emotional lesson, but
in the context of places they have already been learning about. This hopefully encourages
them to become more engaged into the text. Similarly, making a real life connection adds
to the level of engagement and attachment they feel with Etabo, even some commonalities
between this character and themselves. This is the root of great learning!

Stopping Points:

Pg. 4: starting to build connection of Etabo’s dreams and how important they are. “All his
brothers and sisters make fun of Etabo. He’s too small to race camels. But Etabo doesn’t care.
He knows he will be the best camel racer ever.”

What is one word we could use to describe Etabo? How do you know?

Pg. 7: Digging deeper into the meaning and moral of the story, setting up for the key phrase.
“When Etabo asks Akui the sky God for help, Akui says” ‘Your dreams are enough.’”

Wow, what do you think Akui might mean by your dreams are enough? Go ahead and
make a prediction with your partner.

Pg. 14: “Etabo sits in a small acacia tree daydreaming about racing camels. In his dreams he can
fly, somersault and even catapult himself onto soft sand dunes. But his dreams are not
enough.”

What is Etabo dreaming about now?

What do you think Etabo is feeling right now, how do you know?

Pg. 25-26: No text, reflecting on what students see with Etabo riding the camel.

Describe to your partner, what is going on in this picture and how do you know?

Ask for answers:

Also considering:
Are these real camels? What does it look like in the picture? Is he racing?

Discussion:

What was Etabo’s dream? Possible answer- riding camels

What do we think now that we have read the whole story about when Akui says “your dreams
are enough”?
Did he get to ride the camels in real life? Possible answer: no
Did he seem happy at the end of the book? Why do you think so?
Now that we have read the book, we are going to fill our sheet and fill in our order of events,
and the moral of the story to you, given explanation and also reasoning for how you know.

Self-Evaluation Questions:

Did you cite at least one reasoning for why you chose the moral of the story?

Rationale: This gives students the expectations of why we need to include examples and
include reasoning

Did you contribute during whole group or turn and talk discussions? Were you supportive of
others ideas?
Rational: This questions makes students accountable for how much they are contributing to
externalizing their ideas and holds them accountable to their own standard of contributing.

Record of Reading:

I would include this book in a section of “books on the spot” that we read either as a whole
class or pertaining to our specific lessons for the month. This would be included in this books on
the spot stage or cubby so students could refer back to it, use it to compare other cultures or
themes and even read during independent reading time.

Artistic Response:

Students could draw out the scenes they chose that were important to the moral of the
story.

This could also include drawing parts of the book that signaled that this book was set in
Kenya, or do a compare and contrast set of images of how this culture was the same and
different from other research they have done on Kenya.

Rationale: This would tie into either or parts of the social studies lesson or the moral of the
story standard we wanted students to reach. Comparing and contrasting is part of a CCSS for
social studies and for science concepts, they should be familiar in this classroom.