What He Wants

Ready-to-teach lesson

ELA SKILL LESSON · GRADE 2

Enemy Pie

TIME: 30 minutes full · 15 minutes short

PRIMARY SKILL: Infer motivation from actions and track a changing goal
OBJECTIVE: Connect three of the narrator's actions to what he wants, then use those changes to explain the final line.
STUDENT: Three action-to-want links and a final-line explanation.
EVIDENCE
ESSENTIAL: How do the boy's actions reveal what he wants?
QUESTION

Before teaching

Read or play the complete book before the timed lesson. Ask for wants rather than feelings; the pages show goals more directly than emotions.

Materials:: The book; marked passages; Student Evidence page; pencil.

Mark these moments: makes the enemy list · removes the list · stops Jeremy’s fork · final line

Lesson sequence

TIME: TEACHING MOVE
4 min: Want, not feeling Use making the enemy list to ask what the action shows the boy wants.
6 min: Model action to want Model: makes a list -> wants the enemy removed. Keep the link anchored in the action.
10 min: Link three actions to wants Students infer a goal from making the list, removing it, and stopping the fork.
10 min: Interpret the last line Use the changing goals to explain “I just lost my best enemy.”

ELA SKILL LESSON · TEACHER SUPPORT

Enemy Pie

What He Wants

Access routes

SOLO: Use the marked pages to complete all three action-to-want links, then explain the last line.
SUPPORTED: Use action cards and a repeated frame: “When he ___, he wants ___.” Rehearse each orally before writing.
LISTENING: Replay each action in sequence. After every one ask, “What does this show he wants now?” Dictate the three wants and final explanation.
EXTEND: Explain why the final line sounds like a loss even though it describes a gain.

page 1

Teacher guidance

The repeated question “What does this action show he wants?” keeps the inference anchored in evidence. The changing goal appears in the actions before the narrator can explain it.

Accuracy note: Keep motivation separate from emotion. Feelings may be inferred, but the scored evidence should identify a goal or want.

Assessment

Links making the list to wanting an enemy removed.

Links removing the list to protecting the new friendship.

Links stopping the fork to protecting Jeremy from perceived danger.

Explains how the wants change.

Uses the changes to interpret the final line.

Short route · 15 minutes 3 min - model the first action. 7 min - infer the next two wants. 5 min - explain the final line.

STUDENT EVIDENCE · GRADE 2

Enemy Pie

Actions Reveal Wants

Name ______________________________________ Date __________________ For each action, explain the want it reveals. Then use the three wants to explain the last line.

MAKES A LIST

What does this action show he wants?

REMOVES THE LIST

What does this action show he wants now?

STOPS THE FORK

What does this action show he wants now?

LAST LINE

Use the changed wants: what does 'lost my best enemy' mean?

EXIT CHECK

His goal changes from ____________________ to ____________________.

TEACHER KEY · GRADE 2

Enemy Pie

What He Wants

Strong response

Making the list shows that the narrator wants an enemy removed. Removing the list shows that he now wants to protect the new friendship. Stopping Jeremy’s fork shows that he wants to protect Jeremy from what he believes is dangerous. “I just lost my best enemy” means Jeremy is no longer an enemy because he has become a friend.

Expected evidence

Action 1 -> remove the enemy.

Action 2 -> keep/protect the friendship.

Action 3 -> protect Jeremy from danger.

page 2

Watch for

Naming a feeling without linking it to a goal.

Treating all three actions as evidence of the same unchanged want.

Independent success

The student makes three evidence-based action->want links and uses the changes to explain the final line.

page 3