Three Gold Pieces, by Aliki

 

Author and Illustrator: Aliki

Grade Level:  3-5 grades

Lexile Measure:  635 L

ISBN:  978-0394917375

Genre: Folk Tales, Greek

Summary:  A man leaves his house for a better job. He finds a servant job and works for his master for ten years, getting food and shelter. The master kept his money until the man was ready to go home. Than the master traded the three gold pieces for three pieces of advice that he decided to give his servant. The man was coming home with no money, but the three pieces of advice helped him to bring home a fortune.

Activity: I will do a read aloud of the story, after which the students will have time to write their own story, incorporating some moments from the folktale.

Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Goal: Students will use imagination and writing skills to write an imaginative story, having the folktale as a base.

Objective: Given the Three Gold Pieces folktale, the students will write their own version of this story, incorporating the three pieces of advice found in the folktale.

Outcome: Students will practice writing for a purpose and learn how to interpret text read.

Selling Tool:  Book talk

I love this book! When I started reading it, I wasn’t expecting wisdom drops but that’s exactly what I found. It talked about a man who went to a far country to get a good job and bring some money back to his family. After he was done with his work, the good master gave him three gold coins. The man was surprised he earned so little but didn’t say anything. His master then said if he would like to give the coins away for a piece of advice, which the man agreed to. He was left with no money at the end but with three pieces of advice. How is he going to return home with no money after ten years? Read to find out what happened to the man on his way home.

Works Cited: 

Aliki. Three Gold Pieces. New York: Pantheon Books. 1967. Print.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2120712.Three_Gold_Pieces