Picture BookGrades 1-4Perspective & Empathy
The Whale's Tale and the Otter's Side of the Story
by Kate Messner
Pacing MaterialTwo animals tell the same story from opposite sides — and the reader discovers there's always more than one truth.
Big Idea
Every story has more than one side, and listening to another perspective deepens our understanding.
Discussion Questions
- 1.How do the whale and otter's versions differ?
- 2.Why do they see the same event differently?
- 3.When have you and someone else remembered something differently?
- 4.How can hearing another side change your mind?
Lesson Plan
⏱ 50–60 minutes📦 A copy of the book, chart paper or whiteboard, markers, two-column planning sheets, writing paper, pencils, crayons or colored pencils
Learning Goals
- Identify the whale and the otter as two storytellers who describe the same event from different perspectives.
- Compare what each animal notices, thinks, and feels, using details from the text and illustrations.
- Write or dictate two accounts of one shared event, giving each character a distinct voice.
- Explain how listening to another perspective can deepen understanding without requiring everyone to agree.
Activity Steps
- 1.Read the book aloud, pausing during the whale’s and otter’s accounts. Ask: “Who is telling this part? What does this animal notice or feel?” Record students’ observations in a two-column chart labeled “Whale’s Tale” and “Otter’s Side.”
- 2.Choose one shared event from the book. Identify facts that stay the same in both accounts, then compare how the animals interpret those facts. Ask students to support their ideas with words or illustrations from the book.
- 3.Model two short first-person accounts of an invented encounter: a whale swims past an otter, making a wave that rocks the otter. Begin each account with “I.” Keep the event consistent, but change what each animal notices, wants, and feels. Clearly distinguish this invented example from the book’s plot.
- 4.Have students choose a shared event from the book or invent a new whale-and-otter encounter. Use a planning sheet with two sections: “What the whale thinks happened” and “What the otter thinks happened.” Include the same event, each animal’s feelings, and a detail each animal might notice.
- 5.Students write and illustrate both accounts. For grades 1–2, offer dictation or sentence frames such as “I saw…,” “I felt…,” and “I thought….” For grades 3–4, ask for a short paragraph per character, with dialogue or descriptive details that make the voices distinct.
- 6.Partners read their accounts aloud and identify one shared fact and one difference in perspective. Close with: “What did you understand better after hearing both sides?” Check that each student’s accounts describe the same event while showing different viewpoints.
Standards Connections
- ELA: CCSS RL.1.3–RL.2.3 — Describe characters and events, including how characters respond to events and challenges.
- ELA: CCSS RL.1.6–RL.3.6 — Identify who tells a story, recognize differences in characters’ points of view, and distinguish a reader’s perspective from that of characters or narrators.
- ELA: CCSS W.1.3–W.4.3 — Write narratives with sequenced events, relevant details, and development appropriate to grade level.
- ELA: CCSS SL.1.1–SL.4.1 — Participate in collaborative discussions, listen to others, and build on their ideas.
- SEL: Social awareness — Practice perspective-taking and empathy by considering how the whale and otter experience the same event differently.
Pace-Write-Read Study with Pace-Write It!
Focus question: How does hearing both sides of a story help us read and write with more empathy? In The Whale's Tale and the Otter's Side of the Story by Kate Messner, the same event is told from two different animal perspectives, showing readers that truth can feel different depending on who is speaking. The pacing slows down to let each character explain feelings and speeds up at moments of disagreement and discovery, helping readers compare viewpoints and stay engaged.
| Element | How to notice or teach it in the novel |
|---|---|
| Pace | Read: Notice how Kate Messner moves the story at a steady pace by giving the whale and the otter turns to tell what happened, then quickens the feeling when their versions clash. Classroom Activity: Write 4-6 sentences about one playground problem, first from one child's view and then from another child's view, changing the speed of the moment when they disagree. |
| Plot | Read: Track the plot by noticing that the whale and the otter describe the same conflict but arrange details to make themselves seem more reasonable. Classroom Activity: Create a beginning-middle-end chart for a small conflict, then add a second column showing how another character would retell the same plot. |
| Prosody | Read: Listen to how the voices of the whale and the otter sound different when read aloud, with changes in expression that match each character's feelings. Classroom Activity: Choose one line for Whale and one line for Otter, practice reading them with different expression, then write two new lines that match each character's speaking style. |
| Word pause | Read: Notice places where a pause after an important word or phrase helps the reader think about whether Whale or Otter is telling the whole story. Classroom Activity: Write three short sentences from one character's point of view and underline one word in each sentence where a reader should pause for effect. |
| Concept | Read: The big concept in this book is that perspective shapes truth, and empathy grows when readers listen to both Whale and Otter. Classroom Activity: Write a two-sentence big idea statement explaining what Whale learns, what Otter learns, or what readers learn about seeing more than one truth. |
| Voice & World View | Read: Notice how Whale's voice and Otter's voice reveal how each one sees the problem, the other character, and themselves. Classroom Activity: Write a short monologue from a third animal who watched the event and has a different world view from both Whale and Otter. |
| Setting & Place | Read: Pay attention to how the watery animal setting helps shape the action and how each narrator may notice different parts of that place. Classroom Activity: Describe the same setting twice—once the way Whale would notice it and once the way Otter would notice it—using at least three different details in each version. |
| Point of View | Read: Notice that the story depends on point of view because the whale and the otter each tell the same event in a different way. Classroom Activity: Rewrite one moment from the book-inspired conflict in first person as Whale, then rewrite it in first person as Otter. |
| Original Characters | Read: Notice how Whale and Otter feel fresh and memorable because each has clear reactions, feelings, and reasons for telling the story their way. Classroom Activity: Invent two animal characters who disagree about the same event and list three traits for each character that would shape their retelling. |
| Dialogue | Read: Watch how any spoken words or implied conversation between Whale and Otter help reveal misunderstanding, blame, and emotion. Classroom Activity: Write a 6-line dialogue between two characters who both say, 'That's not what happened,' and show how their disagreement grows. |
| Details | Read: Notice that the details each animal chooses are not the same, because Whale and Otter highlight facts that support their own side. Classroom Activity: Make two detail lists about one lost-lunchbox story—details Character A would include and details Character B would include. |
| Descriptions | Read: Pay attention to how descriptions of actions, faces, and surroundings help readers picture the same event from two emotional angles. Classroom Activity: Describe one splash, bump, or surprise twice, once with calm words and once with upset words. |
| Strong First Lines | Read: Notice how an opening line in a perspective story must quickly signal who is speaking and how they feel about what happened. Classroom Activity: Write two strong first lines for a story argument, one from Whale's side and one from Otter's side, making their feelings clear immediately. |
| Immediacy & Engagement | Read: Notice how the book keeps readers close to the action by making the conflict feel personal and by inviting us to decide what we think as each side speaks. Classroom Activity: Write the opening of a story that starts in the middle of a disagreement so readers feel pulled in right away. |
| Story Scenes & Summaries & Unique Structures | Read: Notice the unique structure of the book: one shared event becomes two side-by-side tellings, mixing scenes with each character's quick summary of what they think really happened. Classroom Activity: Fold a paper into two columns labeled 'My Side' and 'Your Side' and write the same event in both columns. |
| Flashback & Flash Forward & Cliffhangers | Read: Notice whether the whale or otter refers back to what happened earlier to explain blame, and how a page may end before readers know the other side. Classroom Activity: Write a short scene that ends with 'But that's not what she said happened...' to create a cliffhanger before the second perspective begins. |
| Tension & Suspense & Surprise | Read: Feel the tension as Whale and Otter disagree, and notice the surprise that comes when readers realize both versions contain part of the truth. Classroom Activity: Write 5-7 sentences about a misunderstanding and save one surprising new fact for the last sentence. |
| Page Turns and Chapter Breaks | Read: In a picture book like this one, page turns help pace the reveal of Otter's side after Whale's side, making readers pause and reconsider. Classroom Activity: Plan a 4-page mini picture book and mark one page turn where the second character's version changes what the reader first believed. |
| Performance | Read: This story invites performance because Whale and Otter each sound like they want an audience to believe them. Classroom Activity: With a partner, perform the same short event twice, once as Whale and once as Otter, then write one sentence about how performance changed meaning. |
| Personality | Read: Notice how each animal's personality affects pacing—one may linger on hurt feelings while the other rushes to defend actions. Classroom Activity: Choose two personality traits for each of two characters and write a disagreement scene that shows those traits through what they emphasize. |
| Humor | Read: Notice the humor that can grow from hearing two very different versions of the same story, especially when each narrator thinks they are clearly right. Classroom Activity: Write a funny two-voice retelling of a tiny classroom problem, such as who started a paper-airplane mess. |
| Pause | Read: Notice the moments when readers naturally pause to think, 'Do I believe Whale? Do I believe Otter?,' which deepens empathy. Classroom Activity: Add a pause line such as 'Wait...' or 'Maybe there was more to it.' into your own perspective piece to slow the reading. |
| Poetry and Poetic Devices | Read: Listen for repeated sounds, vivid images, or playful phrasing that make the animal voices memorable even in a narrative story. Classroom Activity: Write three poetic lines about the same event using imagery from water, waves, splashes, or shore to echo the style of Whale and Otter. |
| Repetition | Read: Notice how repeating an idea, complaint, or key phrase can emphasize how strongly Whale or Otter believes their side. Classroom Activity: Write a short paragraph that repeats one sentence starter—such as 'From my side...'—three times for emphasis. |
| Rhythm | Read: Hear how sentence rhythm may change between calmer explanation and excited defense as the whale and the otter tell their versions. Classroom Activity: Write one slow, long sentence and two short, quick sentences to show changing rhythm in a conflict scene. |
| Punctuation | Read: Notice how punctuation such as question marks, exclamation marks, commas, and ellipses can shape the emotion in a two-sided story. Classroom Activity: Write three lines from a disagreement and revise the punctuation to show surprise, frustration, and thinking. |
| Questions | Read: Notice the questions readers ask while reading: Who is right? What is missing? How would the other character explain this moment? Classroom Activity: Write four reader questions that could be asked after hearing only Whale's side, then answer them from Otter's perspective. |
| Compare-Contrast | Read: This book is built on compare-contrast because readers must notice what stays the same in Whale's and Otter's stories and what changes. Classroom Activity: Use a Venn diagram to compare Whale's version and Otter's version, then write a paragraph about one important difference. |
| Objects | Read: Notice whether certain objects, actions, or bits of evidence matter differently depending on who tells the story. Classroom Activity: Pick one object—like a shell, a stick, or a toy—and write how two characters use that object as proof in their own retellings. |
| Threes | Read: Notice if events, reasons, or examples can be grouped in threes to make each side sound convincing and easy to follow. Classroom Activity: Give your character three reasons why they think they were right, then give the other character three different reasons. |
| Whitespace & Negative Space | Read: In a picture book, blank space around text and illustrations can create a pause that lets readers think about Whale's side, Otter's side, and the truth in between. Classroom Activity: Make a storyboard for one page with very few words and explain how the blank space helps show a pause or big feeling. |
| Art & Graphics | Read: Notice how illustrations would help readers read facial expressions, body position, and visual clues that might support or challenge what Whale and Otter say. Classroom Activity: Draw one scene twice—first to support Whale's version and second to support Otter's version—then add one caption to each. |
| Interactives & Gamification | Read: This story naturally invites interactive thinking because readers can collect clues from Whale and Otter and decide what happened. Classroom Activity: Create a simple 'Whose Side?' clue game with 4 clues from one event and have classmates guess how each of two characters would explain them. |
Pace-Write It!
20-Minute Classroom Flow\nRead (5 min): Read aloud two key sections of The Whale's Tale and the Otter's Side of the Story by Kate Messner that show Whale's version and Otter's version of the same event. Ask students to listen for places where the story slows down to explain feelings and speeds up during disagreement.\nNotice (5 min): On chart paper, make two columns: 'Whale's Side' and 'Otter's Side.' Students name details each character includes, then discuss: What stayed the same? What changed? How did the pacing help us understand each point of view?\nWrite (7 min): Students write their own two-sided mini story about one small conflict. Writing frame: 'I thought ______ because ______. From my side, ______. But on the other side, ______ thought ______ because ______. When we listened to each other, we learned ______.' Encourage students to add one repeated phrase, one question, and one place where the reader should pause.\nShare (3 min): Partners read their two-sided stories aloud, using different voices for each character. Listeners name one detail that showed perspective and one place where pacing helped the story.\nExit ticket: Write one sentence answering: 'Why is it important to hear more than one side of a story?'
Pace-Write-Read Connection
Teach this book using the Pace-Write-Read method — Tool 7: Point of View.
Open the Mastery ManualClassroom Activity
Two Sides of the Story
Write the same event from two different characters' points of view. Show how each sees it differently.
Two Sides of the Story
Write the same event from two different characters' points of view. Show how each sees it differently.
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