The Stranger - Unit 3 - Week 1 - Text Dependent Questions

Oct 16, 2026

Unit 3, Week 1 provides a structured 5-day (45 minutes per day) teacher plan for the Common Core ELA reading selection “The Stranger.” It outlines Big Ideas and Key Understandings about the stranger’s identity and its connection to the seasonal shift from summer to fall, emphasizing evidence-based inference from pictures and text. The guide includes before-/during-teaching steps and text dependent questions with model answer ideas for setting, character actions, symbolism, and vocabulary use such as “fearing the worst,” “peculiar,” and “etched.”

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatDOCX

Pages11

Reading Time17 min

AccessFree to download

The Stranger

Teacher Instructions

Big Ideas and Key Understandings

Synopsis

Text Dependent Questions and Answers

Unit 3/Week 1 Title: The Stranger Suggested Time: 5 days (45 minutes per day) Common Core ELA Standards RL 4.1, RL4.2, RL 4.3, RL 4.7, RF4.4, SL 4.1, SL 4.3, SL 4.4, W4.1, W4.9, L4.4, L4.5 Teacher Instructions Refer to the Introduction for further details. Before Teaching Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for teachers, about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task. Big Ideas and Key Understandings What is the identity of the stranger and how is it related to the natural occurrence of the seasonal change from summer to fall? The author has intended for the readers to come to their own conclusion as to the identity of the stranger. The pictures play an important part in telling the story and making inferences about the characters. Synopsis: This story uses a mixture of pictures and words to explore the idea of the changes of the seasons and the expected natural events that occur with it; colder weather, leaves changing color, Jack Frost and migration. Chris Van Allsburg walks a fine line between reality and fantasy to create a mystery about the identity of the stranger who will represent the seasonal change from summer to fall. The Houghton Mifflin authors identify the story’s theme as an allegory for autumn and the use of personification to make the association. Read entire main selection text, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings. Re-read the main selection text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Vocabulary. During Teaching Students read the entire main selection text independently. Teacher reads the main selection text aloud with students following along. (Depending on how complex the text is and the amount of support needed by students, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2.) 3. Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions and returning to the text. A variety of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e.: whole class discussion, think-pair-share, independent written response, group work, etc.) Text Dependent Questions Text Dependent Questions Answers PG 302 Describe the setting of the story in your own words. Farmer Bailey is driving along with “a cool breeze” blowing across his face as he drives his truck. Summer is turning to fall. PG 304: Reread page 304. What does it mean when it says Farmer Brown was “fearing the worst”? Use evidence from the text to describe the stranger's actions after being hit by the car. Farmer Bailey fears that he has killed the man but when the stranger opens his eyes, he looks up in terror and jumps to his feet. He tries to run off but loses his balance and falls again. PG 306: Reread p. 306. Why does the doctor say the thermometer is broken? Could there be another reason why the mercury is at the bottom of the thermometer? The mercury is the liquid inside the thermometer that measures temperature. The mercury is at the bottom because the stranger has a very low temperature. It is not broken; the doctor does not realize his temperature could be so low. PG 306: What does it mean to lose your memory? What details make you think the stranger is mysterious or odd? You don’t know who you are. He dresses in odd rough clothing, he does not talk, he has a very low temperature PG 308-310: Reread the next 4 paragraphs. Many clues are given about the strange behavior of “The Stranger”. List the clues that could help solve the identity of the stranger. The author uses the word fascinated, “The steam that rose from the hot food fascinated him.” Why is this choice of words important to figuring out who the stranger is? Confused by buttons and button holes, fascinated by steam, when he blew on the soup there is a cold draft, rabbits run toward him and let him stroke them and then expect him to

FAQs

How is the stranger’s identity connected to the change from summer to fall?

The lesson frames the stranger’s identity as a representation of the seasonal transition from summer into fall. Readers are encouraged to infer the identity using clues from both pictures and words.

What does the question about “fearing the worst” suggest about the stranger’s actions after the car hit him?

Farmer Bailey fears he killed the man. The stranger responds with terror—opening his eyes, looking up, jumping to his feet, and trying to run before losing his balance and falling again.

Why does the doctor say the thermometer is broken, and what might explain the mercury position?

The doctor says the thermometer is broken because the mercury is at the bottom. The lesson’s reasoning is that it is not broken; the stranger’s temperature is extremely low.

Oct 16, 2026

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