Level C/3 Winter Weather Fun Science Teacher s Guide Skills & Strategies Anchor Comprehension Strategy Identify Sequence of Events Phonemic Awareness Recognize words with the same middle sound Phonics Identify long i Identify initial w Concepts About Print Where to go at the end of the line (return sweep) High-Frequency Words go, our, ride Content Vocabulary Days of the week Science Big Idea The weather can change during a week. It is important to know the different kinds of weather. Small Group Reading Lesson Skills Bank Reproducible Activity B e n c h m a r k E d u c a t i o n C o m p a n y
Small-Group Reading Lesson freezing ell cold windy Winter Weather 2 Winter Weather Fun snowy sunny cool Support Tips for English-Language Learners Build Vocabulary and Language Patterns Take students on a picture walk to discover how familiar they are with words for days of the week, weather, and winter activities. As students describe what they see, write the words they use on self-stick notes. Model sentences using the vocabulary students will encounter in the book: sledding You can go sledding in the snow; Saturday We do not go to school on Saturday. Have students repeat each sentence to reinforce sentence structure and intonation. CUES FOR STRATEGIC READING Visual Cues Look at the beginning letter or letters (s in sun; w in windy). Look for familiar chunks within the word (day in Monday). Structure Cues Ask whether the sentence sounds right. Look for language patterns: It is... ; We see...; We can... Meaning Cues Think about what makes sense in the sentence. Look at the pictures to confirm the meaning of the word. Before Reading Activate Prior Knowledge Ask students to describe what different winter days can be like. Make a word web like the one on the left to help students describe winter weather: cold, snowy, cool, sunny, windy, and freezing. Model Asking Questions As students look at the cover, say: I can ask myself questions as I read a book to help me understand what I am reading. For example, I ask questions about the pictures. When I look at these children playing outdoors, I wonder what the weather is like. Record What is the Weather Like for Playing Outdoors? on a chart labeled I Wonder. Ask students what the cover picture makes them wonder. Record their questions on the chart. Preview the Book Have students turn to pages 2 3 and look at the picture and chart. Ask: What is the family doing? What are they wearing? What do you think the chart at the bottom of page 2 is for? Preview the book with students. Talk about what they see in the photographs and calendar charts. Ask students what these pictures make them wonder. Add any new student questions to the I Wonder chart. Encourage students to describe the weather and activities they see in the photographs. Use student responses to introduce and reinforce the language in the book. For example, say: The calendar says it is Wednesday. What do the children do in the snow? What do they do with the sleds on Tuesday? Set a Purpose for Reading Have students turn to page 2 and whisper-read the book. Say: I want you to read the book to look for kinds of winter weather and activities. Monitor students reading and provide support when necessary. Review Reading Strategies Use the cues provided to remind students that they can apply different strategies to identify unfamiliar words. Copyright 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible page for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN: 978-1-4108-2659-6
During Reading Observe and Prompt Reading Strategies Observe students as they read the book. Take note of how they problem-solve on text. Guide, or prompt, individual students who cannot problem-solve independently. After Reading Reflect on Reading Strategies After students have completed their reading, encourage them to share the reading strategies they used. Reinforce the good reading behaviors you noticed by saying: I noticed, [student s name], that when you came to a word you didn t know, you went back and reread the sentence. Did this help you figure out the word? [Student s name], I saw that you tried to sound out the word clouds. You looked at the beginning letters; then you checked the picture. That was good reading. Build Comprehension: Discuss Concepts Identify sequence of events: How does the winter weather change during the week? (It was sunny, cloudy, snowy, cloudy again, rainy, and then windy.) What happens in the story after it snows? (They go sledding and build a snowman. Then they make snow angels. When it rains, they make cookies. They fly kites on a windy Saturday.) Let s write this in the third column of our Sequence of Events chart. Locate facts: Which of your I Wonder questions does the book answer? (Answers will vary.) Let s write these answers on our chart. Draw conclusions: Why do the mother and child make cookies when it rains? (The rain is cold. The child can t play outside.) Personal response: Which kind of winter day would you like best? What would you do? (Answers will vary.) Use the Comprehension Assessment Tips on page 4 to evaluate how students answer different types of questions. To practice text-dependent reading strategies, use the Comprehension Through Deductive Reasoning card for Winter Weather Fun. ell Support Tips for English-Language Learners Help students learn the days of the week and weather vocabulary. Point to each day on the calendar and have students say the days with you in order. Focus on each day separately. Have students tell something they do each day. Read the We see... sentences from the text and pantomime the activity people do in this weather. Have students pantomime these actions as they repeat the sentences. Use the Skills Bank Based on your observations of students reading behaviors, you may wish to select activities from the Skills Bank (pages 6 7) that will develop students reading strategies. Assessment Skills Support tips Tip Check a student s reading strategies by asking the student to read a page of the text aloud to you while other students whisper-read. Note whether the student is using visual, structure, and/or meaning cues to self-correct and to make sense of the text. Make Fiction-to-Fact Concept Connections If students have read Up and Down the Hill, ask: Could Up and Down the Hill really happen? Why? (No, animals don t sled, ski, and snowboard.) How do the activities shown in both books depend on the weather? (Both books are written about winter weather and activities that people enjoy when it is snowy, rainy, windy, and cold.) 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Winter Weather Fun 3
Small-Group Reading Lesson Comprehension Assessment tips Monitor Comprehension Are students able to locate specific answers to text-dependent questions in the text? If they are having difficulty, show them how to match the wording of the question to the the text. Are students able to find answers to questions that require a search of the text? If they are having difficulty, model how you would search for the answer. Can students combine their background knowledge with information from the text to draw conclusions? You may wish to model how you would answer the question. Are students answers to creative questions logical and relevant to the topic? Do students completed graphic organizers reflect an ability to identify the sequence of events in a story? If necessary, provide more modeling. Build Comprehension: Identify Sequence of Events Model Create an overhead transparency of the graphic organizer Sequence of Events or copy the chart on the board. Help students recall each day s weather and what the children do on that day. Model how to complete the chart. Use the following think-aloud. Days of the week occur in a certain order, and each day has its own weather. I can use a graphic organizer like this one to show the weather for each day and what the children do on that day. I ask myself, What is the weather like on Sunday? On page 2 it says the weather is sunny. Because there is snow and the people are wearing warm clothes, I know it is also cold. I will write sunny and cold in the second column for number 1. What do the children do? They skate on the ice. I will write this in the third column for number 1. Now let s see what happens on Monday. Practice and Apply Guide students as they name each day of the week and identify the weather and activity that goes with it. Write these in the appropriate columns. If you think students can complete the chart independently, distribute copies of the graphic organizer (page 8) and monitor their work. Allow students time to share their recorded information. Sequence of Events Day What Is the What Do Weather? They Do? 1. Sunday sunny and cold skate 2. Monday cloudy and cold ride bikes 3. Tuesday snowy and cold go sledding 4. Wednesday snowy and cold make a snowman 5. Thursday cloudy and cold make snow angels 6. Friday rainy and cold make cookies 7. Saturday windy and cold f ly kites 4 Winter Weather Fun 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Interactive Writing Have students use information from the graphic organizer to write sentences about story events. Say: Let s look at our chart. It is a good summary of what happens in the story. Let s think of a sentence we can write that tells about something that happens in the book. (Possible sentences: It rains on Friday and They fly kites on Saturday. ) Repeat the sentence aloud several times with students so they can internalize the language pattern. Collaborate with them to write the sentence on chart paper or on the board, one word at a time. Start by saying the first word slowly. Ask: What sound do you hear at the beginning of this word? What other sounds do you hear? Let students write the known sounds in each word; then fill in the remaining letters for them. Continue until the sentence is completed. Write Independently Have students write their own sentences based on the story. Encourage them to articulate words slowly, use spaces between words, and write known words fluently. Talk with students about their sentences. Validate their knowledge of known words and letter/sound correspondences by placing a light check mark above students contributions. Praise students as you write the message conventionally for students to see. Reread for Fluency Ask students to reread Winter Weather Fun independently. Then have them retell the story to a partner, using the pictures to help them. Connect to Home Have students read the take-home version of Winter Weather Fun to family members. Have them talk to family members about what they like to do outside in the winter. it rand in sateda. It rained on Saturday. FLUENCY SUPPORT TIPS Model Fluency Read sections of the book aloud to students to model fluent reading of the text. Model using appropriate phrasing, intonation, volume, expression, and rate. Have students listen to you read a portion of the text and then have them read it back to you. 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Winter Weather Fun 5
Skills Bank Phonemic Awareness: Words with the Same Middle Sound Say skate and rain. Ask: What is the same in these two words? That s right. Skate and rain have a long /a _ / sound in the middle. If students have trouble hearing /a _ / in the middle, break the words down into their individual sounds: /sk/ /a _ / /t/; /r/ /a _ / /n/. Tell students they will play a game. Have them listen as you say three words: make, ball, and date. They are to pick the words with the same middle sound: Say the following sets of words and have students pick the two words that have the same middle sound: can/mitt/laugh, ride/sit/bikes, wind/ mix/hat, clouds/sled/shout, ball/have/walk, sun/snow/bus. Phonics: Long i i_e hide nice size i climb find child y cry sky my Say the following words aloud with students as you write them on the board: ride, bikes, Friday, fly, and kites. Ask students what vowel sound they hear in the words. (/i _ /) Ask them what letters make /i _ / in each word. (i-consonant-e in ride, bikes, and kites; i in Friday; and y in fly) Circle the /i _ / patterns in the words. Then have students brainstorm other words with /i _ /. Write them on the board as students name them. Possible words: hide, cry, climb, sky, nice, find, my, size, and child. Make a chart using /i _ / patterns as headings. Have students find words to match each pattern and write them under the correct heading. w e w inter w eather W ednesday w indy Phonics: Initial w Say we. Write it on the board and ask: What beginning sound do you hear? Circle the w and say: This is the letter w. The letter w makes the sound /w/. Read the title and reread the story aloud, having students point out each word that begins with w. Write these words on the board: winter, weather, Wednesday, and windy. Read through the list, emphasizing the /w/ sounds and circling the initial w in each word. Then have students read the words with you. Challenge students to make up a sentence using these words. 6 Winter Weather Fun 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Concepts About Print: Sweep Left Turn to page 2 of the book. Have a volunteer point to the place where you should begin reading. As you read the first sentence, underline each word with your finger, left to right. Stop at the end of the line. Ask: Where should my eyes go now? That s right. I go down to the next line on the page and begin on the left. With your finger, draw a diagonal line from the end of Sunday to the beginning of the second line. Begin reading the second line, using the same method. With each new line of text, sweep down and left with your finger to show students how to find the beginning of the next line. High-Frequency Word Vocabulary Say and spell the high-frequency words go, our, and ride with students as you write the words on the board. Provide each student with letter cards g, o, u, r, i, d, and e. (Note: Students will need two o s and two r s.) Choose one high-frequency word and have students build it using their letter cards. If necessary, have them refer to the word on the board for help. After they spell the word with their cards, encourage volunteers to use it in an original sentence. Possible sentence: Let s go outside. Content Vocabulary: Days of the Week Have students point out a calendar in the classroom. Say the days of the week aloud with them: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Write those words in a column on the board. Block the board list from students view and erase one of the days. When students tell which day is missing, rewrite it in the list, saying each letter aloud as you write it. Write each day on a word card in large, bold letters. Have students work in a small group to sort and place the days of the week in order on the board ledge. Discuss with students special activities that occur on each day. Invite students to make up sentences describing what they do on each day of the week. It is Sunday. We see the sun. go our ride On Monday we play soccer. On Friday we watch a movie. 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Winter Weather Fun 7
Name Date Sequence of Events Day 1. Sunday What Is the Weather? What Do They Do? 2. Monday 3. Tuesday 4. Wednesday 5. Thursday 6. Friday 7. Saturday 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC