Ava, in purple glasses, is on the left. Riley, in a yellow shirt, is on the right.
Shannon Wright
Mini Graphic Novel,

Pine School Pals #1: Am I Losing My BFF?

By Laine Falk
From the September 2022 Issue
Lexiles: 370L
Guided Reading Level: H
DRA Level: 14
Featured Skill: Key Details, Use Visuals,
Topic: Social-emotional learning,
Common Core Standards
  • RL.2.1 Key details RL.2.3 Describe how characters respond to events RL.2.7 Use information from illustrations to understand characters, setting, and plot RL.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate stories SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts L.2.4.a Use sentence-level context as a clue to a word’s meaning
TEKS Standards
  • Health
    (10) Personal/interpersonal skills. The student understands healthy and appropriate ways to communicate consideration and respect for self, family, friends, and others. The student is expected to: (A)describe how to effectively communicate; (B) express needs, wants, and emotions in healthy ways; (E) explain the benefits of treating friends, teachers, family members, and peers with respect.

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Think and Read

As you read, think: How could they solve the problem? When you’re done reading, you’ll finish the story!

Pine School Pals #1: Am I Losing My BFF?

By Laine Falk

video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (4)
Skills Activities
Quizzes (2)
Quizzes (2)
Answer Key (1)
video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (4) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Quizzes (2)
Quizzes (2)
Answer Key (1)

About the Story

CASEL Social and Emotional Learning Focus

Relationship skills: Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem solving

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

1. BEFORE READING

Watch the Video “What’s in a Comic?” (10 minutes)

  • This video teaches kids about the features of a comic.
  • Before watching, tell kids to look out for four features they might find in a comic.
  • After watching, ask for kids’ help 7to fill out a list of comic features on chart paper. The features mentioned in the video are panels, speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and onomatopoeia.
  • Tell kids to look for those features in the mini graphic novel. They can fill in our “Comic Features Hunt” skills sheet after reading.

Set a Purpose for Reading (5 minutes)

  • Open your magazines to “Am I Losing My BFF?” Ask kids: What kind of story is this? (a comic, or a mini graphic novel)

Text Preview Bookmarks (5-10 minutes)

  • Our skills page has both fiction and nonfiction options for kids to cut out to help them preview the text. They can use the fiction bookmark for this story.

2. READ THE STORY (10-15 MINUTES)

  • Kids can read this story individually, in small groups, or as a class.
  • These stories are also great to read as short plays that kids can perform for others in the class!

3. AFTER READING

Extend the Story With an Activity (20 minutes)

  • Kids can finish the story with the “Finish the Story” printable.

ELA Focus: Comic Features Hunt (10 minutes)

  • Pass out the “Comic Features Hunt” printable.
  • Kids can use the mini graphic novel to fill it out and learn about the different features of comics/ graphic novels.

Assessment: Quiz (10 minutes)

  • Pass out the quiz to assess comprehension of the story.
  • We also offer a lower-level quiz.
  • Both quizzes are now available in multiple- choice and written-answer formats.

Independent Learning: 

Whole Issue Scavenger Hunt (30 minutes)

  • We created a scavenger hunt for several stories in this month’s Storyworks 2, including the mini graphic novel. The scavenger hunt can be done by students independently at home or during class time.
  • This is a self-contained group of slides that guide your students on a scavenger hunt through the whole issue. It’s not only fun, it also helps them make text-to-text connections.
  • To find it, look in your Resources section. Scroll down to Activities. You will see it there.

Text-to-Speech