Illustration introducing main characters of comic, Theo, Sara & Malik, Ribbit, & Ms. Perez
Art by Shannon Wright
Mini Graphic Novel,

Pine School Pals: The Missing Lunch

Meet the Pine School second-grade class. Today Theo has a problem. Find out what happens in The Missing Lunch.

By Laine Falk
From the May / June 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will practice finding the problem and solution in a fiction story.

Lexile® measure: 370L
Featured Skill: Use Visuals, Main Idea,
Topic: Social-emotional learning,
Common Core Standards
  • Social and Life Skills
    Generosity
  • Common Core Standards
    RL.2.1 Key details RL.2.3 Describe how characters respond to events RL.2.5 Story structure RL.2.7 Use information from illustrations to understand characters, setting, and plot RL.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate stories SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts
TEKS Standards
  • Health
    (3) Mental health and wellness--social and emotional health. The student identifies and applies strategies to develop socio-emotional health, self-regulation, and healthy relationships. The student is expected to: (F) describe and demonstrate respectful ways to communicate with family members, peers, teachers, and others (4) Mental health and wellness--developing a healthy self-concept. The student develops the capacity for self-assessment and evaluation, goal setting, and decision making in order to develop a healthy self-concept. The student is expected to: (A) discuss ways to be kind to self and others

Magazine View
See Student View

Pine School Pals:
The Missing Lunch

Front row: Niki, Sara, Ben, Ava, Riley, Tate
Back row: Ms. Perez, Nora, Theo, Jack, Jun, Zoey, Malik
 

By Laine Falk

video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (2)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (2) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

  • Small group; whole group; independent reading

Pairings and Text Connections

  • This comic is part of a series. Students can look at past print issues or go online to read about the Pine School Pals’ other adventures!

Before-Reading Resources

  • Text Preview Bookmarks
    (5 minutes) Students can cut out the fiction bookmark and use it to preview the text.

Suggested Reading Focus

Reading fluency, performance (30 minutes)

  • Have students read the mini graphic novel aloud in small groups. You can assign different students different roles. The characters are all listed on the first page to make this easy. 
  • After students have practiced with their small groups, they can perform their “play” for the rest of the class (while reading from the magazine—they don’t have to memorize their parts).
  • Then you can discuss the story. What was the problem in the story? What was the solution?

After-Reading Skills Practice

(15 minutes for each activity)

  • Problem and Solution: This activity helps students reflect on the structure of the comic they have just read. 
  • Video: Show students the video “What’s in a Comic?” to help them understand features of comics, like speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and more.

Text-to-Speech