Ballad of Mulan

Theme 1: Off to Adventure!        Selection II - Genre: Folktale 

The Ballad of Mulan by Song Nan Zhang

When Mulan disguises herself to take her father’s place in the Emperor’s army, she becomes a great general. The Emperor offers her anything her heart desires. Mulan chooses only one thing – a swift camel to return her to the family she has heroically fought to protect.

              

         Our Standards:  Remember: Reading is Thinking!

Reading Strategy: Monitor & Clarify

This strategy helps us when we are confused about something we read. We use this strategy to check, or monitor ourselves as we read. We want to make sure that each sentence we read makes sense. If it doesn’t, we need to stop and look for ways to make it clear, or to clarify what the text is really saying. This helps improve our reading comprehension and better understand the text. Ways to help clarify our reading when it doesn’t make sense include going back and re-reading, looking at the illustrations, or reading ahead to see if that helps.

 

Comprehension Skill: Making Inferences

Authors do not always tell readers everything we need to know. Sometimes we have to use story clues plus our own personal background knowledge and experiences to figure out, or infer what the author wants us to know.

Remember: To make an inference, we use clues from the story + our own background knowledge to read between the lines and figure out what things the author doesn’t say directly. We have to read between the lines!

 

Ballad of Mulan Vocabulary Words:

Study these words, know their meanings, and how to use them correctly in sentences.

Key Vocabulary:

 armor – body covering, often of metal, worn for protection in a battle

comrades – companions who share one’s activities
endured – put up with or lasted through
farewell – good-bye
triumphant – successful
troops – soldiers
victorious – having won by defeating another

 Additional Vocabulary from the text:

sorrowful – very sad
draft – selection of people to serve the army
scrolls – rolls of paper with writing
frail – weak
bridle – straps, bit, and reins placed on a horse’s head and used for control while riding
bank – ground along the edge of a river or lake
astonished – very surprised; amaze