[bright electronic music]
[electronic beeping]
- Norbert: Got him!
Hey, Jason, watch this!
- Jason: All right!
[electronic beeping]
Watch out for the spaceship, Norby!
Norby, watch out for the spaceship!
["Game Over" video game sound]
I told you.
- Should've watched out for the spaceship.
How many points did I get?
Great, I win!
Wanna play again?
- I think I'm gonna play that new game, Wizard of Wor, first.
- We'll have to wait 'til Darth Vader over there is finished.
Let's play this one again.
- No, you always win.
Anyways, Dad says that we'll be leaving in a few minutes.
- Yeah, but we don't know how to play Wizard of Wor.
- So?
Parts of it are probably like other games we play.
Just use what we already know and figure out the rest.
- You sound like Mrs. Framish.
She was saying the same thing yesterday.
- She was talking about video games?
I don't remember that.
- You know, when she was talking about reading,
how you connect what you already know with what's on the page
to help understand it better?
- Jason: Huh? - Well, something like that.
Look, Darth Vader's done.
- Shoot, I'm out of quarters.
I'll go get some more from Dad.
You go save the game.
[electronic video game sound effects]
[electronic boops]
- Storylords?
I thought it was Wizard of Wor.
Lexor!
What are you doing here?
- I should ask the same of you, my child.
Even an apprentice Storylord must remember his duty
at all times.
- What do you mean? - The ring.
Where is the ring?
- Uh, it's in my pocket, I think, somewhere.
Here it is.
It's glowing!
It's glowing.
- And has been for two hours.
You are needed, my child, hurry.
Thorzuul must be stopped, or both our planets will be lost.
- Hey, come back for a sec!
- Who are you talking to?
- Uh, just myself.
- Well, guess what?
Dad says that we have to go.
He says that we can play this next time.
- That's okay.
I just remembered something I've gotta do right away.
Let's go!
[groovy electronic music]
[eerie music]
Now, read the magic poem and pedal as fast as I can.
Thunder and lightning, trumpets and drums.
Readers rejoice!
A Storylord comes!
[Bike-O-Tron clatters]
[shimmer]
Hi!
Marko?
My name is Norbert.
I've come to help you.
I know you may find this hard to believe, but it's true.
I'm an apprentice Storylord sent here to the land of Mojuste
to combat the wicked Storylord Thorzuul.
It's true, really!
Cross my heart and hope to die.
Now, what seems to be the trouble here?
Thorzuul, that's not hard to figure out.
Gave you the scroll.
Wanted you perform what was written on the scroll.
You couldn't understand it?
Thorzuul...
Said he would turn you to stone
if you didn't perform as he wished.
That's Thorzuul for you.
A real Mr. Nice Guy.
How long 'til he comes back?
Twenty-four hours, one day.
Hmm.
Let's take a look at the scroll.
It floats on the wind.
You stand on the ground.
If you pull its tail, it won't make a sound.
Don't worry, Marko.
I know someone who can help.
Meet you back here tomorrow after school.
Home. [shimmer]
- Mrs. Framish: The reading today
is found on page 103 of your reading books.
So, open your books to page 103.
But before we talk about this story,
does anyone remember what we talked about yesterday?
Simon?
- Simon: About connecting what's in our head
with what's on the page when we read something.
- Good.
Do you all remember that?
Norbert, how about you?
Something wrong?
- No, I was just thinking of a friend
who needs help understanding something
he has to read right away.
- Well, maybe you can help him after this class.
- I sure hope so.
- Usually, a book uses many pictures and words
to tell a story.
But there's a special kind of book
that tells a story only with pictures, no words at all.
That's the kind of book we're going to look at today.
Amy?
- How will we know what the story is?
- We'll be able to tell the story by looking for clues
in the picture and thinking about what we see.
About what the characters are doing.
About what they might be thinking.
Or saying.
Where they are.
All those things.
I think you'll be surprised
at how much of the story you can figure out
just by looking at the picture.
Now, let's look at the title page.
What do you see?
Jason?
- Jason: A kite flying over a town.
- Mrs. Framish: Good.
Now, if I tell you that this story is called
"The Kite's Adventure,"
can you guess what it's going to be about?
- It looks like someone let go of their kite.
- And now it flies all over the place by itself.
- Very good.
You both looked at the pictures
and used your imaginations to figure out the story.
Now, let's look at the first page of the story,
and we're going to do just the same thing.
We're going to use our imaginations
to connect the clues we see in the pictures
with what's in our head.
What we already know.
- Just like you connect two pieces of a puzzle.
- That's right.
I think you'll be amazed
at how much information you can get
from just one simple picture.
- Do we just look at it? - Yes and no.
Some of the information is on the page.
But a lot of it is in your head.
Let's take a look at the first picture
and I think you'll see what I mean.
Now, here's the sun.
That's one clue in this story.
What does that tell us?
- Students in unison: It's daytime.
- Mrs. Framish: Good.
What are some other clues you might see
and what do they tell us?
- It's warm out.
He's wearing a t-shirt and shorts.
- It's summer.
The leaves are green. - And the flowers are out.
- Good.
So, it's a warm summer day, and the boy is flying his kite.
Now, what do you think is going to happen next?
Norbert?
- I think the kite string will break
and the kite will fly away.
- What clues made you think that?
- Because you can tell it's a windy day.
His hair's blowing in his eyes and the trees are bent,
and on the title page,
it shows a kite flying by itself.
- Mrs. Framish: Let's find out if you're right.
Very good!
You got clues from the picture,
you put them together with what's in your head,
and you figured out the story.
You made connections between what you saw in the picture
and what's in your head.
- [thinking] Holy camoley!
That's how Marko can solve his riddle.
You have to connect what's on the page
with what's in your head.
Listen, it floats on the wind.
What things float on the wind?
A bird?
An airplane?
A cloud?
You stand on the ground.
That's pretty obvious.
If you pull its tail, it won't make a sound.
Couldn't be a bird, could it?
It can't be an airplane because you can't pull its tail.
It'd pull you!
What else floats and has a tail you can pull
while you stand on the ground?
I think you've got it!
And just in time.
[electronic music]
- Milkbreath. - His Royal Badness, Thorzuul!
- Thank you.
Well, well, well.
If it isn't our half-pint friend from the land of the mortals.
Interfering again, ey?
- Not interfering.
Helping.
- You're about as helpful as an ant colony at a picnic.
Milkbreath?
Our collection shall soon have two new statues.
Or should I say one and a half? [evil laughter]
Well, Marko, enough of this idle chit-chat.
I'm ready for your performance.
Begin or be stone.
But-- You can't!
It's impossible!
You figured out my riddle.
- He just connected what he read on the page
with what was already in his head, like any good reader does.
You... I'll get you!
- You'll have to catch me first!
Home! [shimmer]
- [exclaims in frustration]
[electronic music]
What are you waiting for?
Get me out of here!
[electronic music]