LESSON 13 TEACHER S GUIDE by Kate Pershing Fountas-Pinnell Level D Informational Text Selection Summary You can see different plants and animals in the hot desert, including a lizard, an owl, a cactus plant, and a rabbit. Number of Words: 109 Characteristics of the Text Genre Informational Text Text Structure Content Themes and Ideas Language and Literary Features Sentence Complexity Vocabulary Words Illustrations Book and Print Features Third-person narrative Focuses on a single topic Descriptive text answers question: What can you see in the desert? Desert habitat Desert plants and animals It s important to learn more about the natural world. Desert life is very colorful, despite the heat. You can learn about nature by observing it. Setting unfamiliar to most children s experience Meaning provided through integration of the photographs with text. More complex repeating language patterns Questions and exclamatory sentences Implied subject (Look at the big ears!) Sentences with prepositional phrases and adjectives Names of desert animals (lizard, owl, rabbit) Names of colors (yellow, green, brown, white) Vocabulary supported by photos Some more challenging multisyllable words (animals, yellow, desert, rabbits) Some words with -s Photos support and extend text. Nine pages of text with a color photo on each page Some sentences turn a line. 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. Copyright by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Permission is hereby granted to individual teachers using the corresponding (discipline) Leveled Readers to photocopy student worksheets from this publication in classroom quantities for instructional use and not for resale. Requests for information on other matters regarding duplication of this work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Attn: Contracts, Copyrights, and Licensing, 9400 SouthPark Center Loop, Orlando, Florida 32819. Printed in the U.S.A. 978-0-547-29970-9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0940 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format. K_299808_AL_LRTG_L13_InTheDesert.indd 1 11/3/09 6:18:39 PM
by Kate Pershing Build Background Read the title to children and talk with them about the photo on the cover. Ask them what they think they will learn about the desert in this book. Then ask: What are some things that you might see in a desert? What would you like to find out about the plants and animals in a desert? Introduce the Text Guide children through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary. Explain important text features such as color photographs and the repetition of the phrases What can you see? Here are some suggestions: Page 2: Explain that this book is about different colorful things you can see in the desert. Suggested language: Turn to page 2. Here is a photo of a very hot, dry place called a desert. What can you see in this desert? Say desert. What letter sound do you hear fi rst in the word desert? Find the word desert and put your fi nger under it. Page 3: Remind children that they can use information in the photos to help them read. Turn to page 3. The author says: The sun is hot in the desert! When you look at the photo, what do you see? How do you think you would feel if you walked in this desert? What kinds of things could live in such a hot place? Page 4: Turn to page 4. What do you see? This animal is a lizard. Lizards like to sit in the sun. What letter would you expect to see fi rst in lizard? Find the word lizard and put your fi nger under it. What color is this lizard? Do you see any other green things in the desert? Now turn back to the beginning and read to fi nd out about plants and animals that make the desert their home. Learn More Words desert lizard 2 Lesson 13: K_299709_AL_LRTG_L13_InTheDesert.indd 2 7/27/09 8:18:50 AM
Read As the children read, observe them carefully. Guide them as needed, using language that supports their problem solving ability. Respond to the Text Personal Response Ask children to share their personal responses to the story. Begin by asking what they liked best about the story, or what they found interesting. Suggested language: Do you think you would like to visit a desert like the one shown in the book? Why or why not? Ways of Thinking As you discuss the text, make sure children understand these teaching points: Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text You can see the yellow sun in the hot desert. You can see a green lizard, a brown owl, and a brown rabbit in the desert. You can see a big green plant with white flowers in the desert. It s fun to learn about desert plants and animals. You can learn a lot about nature by looking carefully. Even though the desert is so hot, some living things can live there. The photos help readers better understand the book. The author uses details to make the book interesting to read. The author asks a question about the desert and then answers it in the book. 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. Choices for Support Concepts of Print Practice early reading behaviors such as reading from left to right and matching one spoken to one written word while reading and pointing. Phonemic Awareness and Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and sounds, using one of the following activities: Make Plurals Materials: index cards, box. Write the following words from the book on index cards: desert, sun, lizard, owl, plant, fl ower, ear, rabbit. Put the index cards in a box. Ask children to choose a card and read the word. Then guide children to add an s to the word. Write the plural on the board and have children read the new word. Clapping Syllables Have children hear and say syllables in words from the book: yellow; sun; lizard; animals; catch; brown; fl owers; rabbit; many. Have children clap on each syllable: yel-low; sun; liz-ard; an-i-mals; catch; brown; fl ow-ers; rab-bit; man-y. 3 Lesson 13: K_299808_AL_LRTG_L13_InTheDesert.indd 3 11/3/09 6:23:16 PM
Writing About Reading Critical Thinking Read the directions for children on BLM 13.4 and guide them in answering the questions. Responding Read aloud the question at the back of the book and help children complete the activities. Target Comprehension Skill Author s Purpose Tell children that the author writes a book for a reason or purpose. Sometimes an author writes to tell us facts or information about a topic. Sometimes the author writes to tell us how to do something. Sometimes the author writes to tell us a made up story. Model how to identify author s purpose: Think Aloud What is the author s purpose for writing this book? The book says: What can you see in the desert? Then the author writes about all the different things you can see in the desert: the sun, sand, plants, and animals. The author s purpose for writing this book was to tell us what you can see in the desert. Practice the Skill Have children think of another book they have read. Guide them in identifying the author s purpose for writing the book. Writing Prompt Read aloud the following prompt. Have children draw and write their response, using the writing prompt on page 6. Imagine you could visit the desert. Draw a picture of one thing from the desert that you would like to see. What do you want to see in the desert? 4 Lesson 13: K_299808_AL_LRTG_L13_InTheDesert.indd 4 11/3/09 6:23:25 PM
English Language Learners Cultural Support Point to the desert areas in the southwestern United States on a classroom map. Explain that the animals and plants described in this book live in these deserts. Oral Language Development Check the children s comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches their English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the child. Beginning/ Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced Speaker 1: Point to the big, big plant. Speaker 2: [Points to plant] Speaker 1: Point to the brown owl. Speaker 2: [Points to the brown owl] Speaker 1: Where are the big plant and the brown owl? Speaker 2: in the desert Speaker 1: What color is the lizard? Speaker 2: green Speaker 1: What is one animal that lives in the desert? Speaker 2: The owl (or rabbit, or lizard) lives in the desert. Speaker 1: What is the desert sun like? Speaker 2: The desert sun is yellow and hot. Speaker 1: Why do desert rabbits run fast? Speaker 2: The sand is hot. Name Date Lesson 13 BLACKLINE MASTER 13.4 Children look at the pictures and circle the one that answers the question. 1. What is the weather like in the desert? Children draw a picture of something that they think lives in the desert and label it. 2. Read directions to children.. All rights reserved. 6, Unit 3: Outside My Door 5 Lesson 13: K_299709_AL_LRTG_L13_InTheDesert.indd 5 7/27/09 8:18:52 AM
Name Date Imagine you could visit the desert. Draw a picture of one thing from the desert that you would like to see. What do you want to see in the desert? 6 Lesson 13: K_299709_AL_LRTG_L13_InTheDesert.indd 6 7/27/09 8:18:53 AM
Name Date Children look at the pictures and circle the one that answers the question. 1. What is the weather like in the desert? Lesson 13 BLACKLINE MASTER 13.4 Children draw a picture of something that they think lives in the desert and label it. 2. 7 Lesson 13: K_299808_AL_LRTG_L13_InTheDesert.indd 7 11/3/09 6:25:39 PM
Student LEVEL D Date Lesson 13 BLACKLINE MASTER 13.8 Running Record Form page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections 2 What can you see in the desert? 3 You can see the yellow sun. The sun is hot in the desert! 4 You can see a green lizard. Lizards like to sit in the sun. 5 You can see a brown owl. Comments: Accuracy Rate (# words read correctly/39 x 100) % Self-Correction Rate (# errors + # Self-Corrections/ Self-Corrections) 1: Behavior Code Error Read word correctly cat 0 Repeated word, sentence, or phrase Omission cat 0 cat 1 Behavior Code Error Substitution cut cat 1 Self-corrects cut sc cat Insertion the ˆcat 1 Word told T 1 cat 0 1413281 8 Lesson 13: K_299808_AL_LRTG_L13_InTheDesert.indd 8 12/4/09 11:01:50 PM