Comic introducing main characters, Riley, Theo, Ms. Perez, and Ribbit (class pet)
Shannon Wright
Mini Graphic Novel,

Pine School Pals: Rescuing Ribbit!

By Meg Richardson and Laine Falk
From the September 2023 Issue

Learning Objective: Children will practice finding the problem and solution in a fiction story.

Lexiles: 350L
Guided Reading Level: K
DRA Level: 16-18
Featured Skill: Use Visuals, Main Idea,
Topic: Social-emotional learning,
Common Core Standards
  • RL.2.1 Key details RL.2.3 Describe how characters respond to events RL.2.5 Story structure 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
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: (A) communicate needs, wants, and emotions in healthy ways; (F) describe and demonstrate respectful ways to communicate with family members, peers, teachers, and others; and (H) identify ways to prevent and repair broken friendships. (4) Mental health and wellness—developing a healthy self-concept. The student develops the capacity for self- assessment and evaluation, goal setting, and decision making in order to develop a healthy self-concept. The student is expected to: (A) discuss ways to be kind to self and others

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Think and Read

As you read, think about what Max and Daniel could have done differently. 

Pine School Pals: Rescuing Ribbit!

By Meg Richardson and Laine Falk

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

About the Story

Implementation

Small group; whole group; independent reading

Social and Life Skills

Resolving conflicts constructively

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Pairings and Text Connections

In this issue, these texts all go with the helper theme.

  • “Wag Your Tails for Helper Dogs,” p. 4
  • “Will a Dog Change My Life?,” p. 6
  • “Pine School Pals: Rescuing Ribbit!,” p. 13
  • “Lost in the Hallway,” p. 24
  • “I Hope You Can Help Me,” p. 32

Before-Reading Resources

Text Preview Bookmarks (10 minutes)

  • Kids can cut out the fiction bookmark and use it to preview the text.

Suggested Reading Focus

Problem/solution, text navigation (30 minutes)
  • Read the first page with your students. You can assign different students different roles if you want to read this mini graphic novel aloud like a short play! The characters are all called out on the first page.

After-Reading Skills Practice (15 minutes for each activity)

  • Problem and Solution: This activity helps students reflect on the structure of the comic they have just read.

After-Reading Text Comparisons (15 minutes for each activity)

  • Helper Chart: Students can compare and contrast all of the helper-themed texts with this chart.

Text-to-Speech