GUIDeD reading RePORT 1210L america s Forests and Woodlands Written by Frank Staub KeY IDeA This nonfiction book describes the various forests and woodlands native to North america, including an overview of the tree and animal life in different climates, how forests change over time, the impact of forest fires, and why trees and wood are important resources. LITeRACY standards ADDResseD In THIs PLAn RI.4.1 MAIn FOCUs Key Ideas & Details Sessions 1, 2, 3 refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. RI.4.4 MAIn FOCUs Craft & structure Sessions 2, 3 determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area. RI.4.8 MAIn FOCUs Integration of Knowledge & Ideas Sessions 2, 3 explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text. L.4.4a RF.4.3a RF.4.4a Vocabulary Acquisition & Use Session 1, additional Instruction Use context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. Phonics & Word Recognition additional Instruction Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context. Fluency Session 2 read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. ISBN 978-1-62889-195-9 RI.4.10 sl.4.1c Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4 5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. Comprehension & Collaboration Sessions 1, 2, 3 Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information, and make comments that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others. L.4.4 Vocabulary Acquisition & Use Sessions 2, 3 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. W.4.1 Text Types & Purposes Writing Task Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information. W.4.8* Research to Build & Present Knowledge Sessions 1, 2, 3 recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. *standard adapted from another grade W.4.10 Range of Writing Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of disciplinespecific tasks, purposes, and audiences. MoNDo BookShoP GraDe 4 1
Session 1 Text Selection: pp. 4 9 Learning Focus RI.4.1 Students read closely to find key ideas, specific examples, and details about forests, woodlands, and how trees grow, and make inferences about information that is not explicitly stated. Key Idea: Text Selection This section introduces different types of trees and the environments in which they are found. Previewing the Text 5 minutes Look at the picture on the cover and read the title and author credit with students. Then have them read the back cover. Encourage students to look at the chapter titles and scan the images. Who can say what they think about the comparison of forests in the natural world to cities in the human world written on the back cover? I think it s a good comparison. Just as there are thousands of people in cities, there can be thousands of trees in a forest. Let s look at the table of contents. What do you think we ll be learning in a book about forests and woodlands? where different kinds of forests are and what kinds of trees grow in each kind VOCABULARY RI.4.4 Introduce the meanings of content-specific words such as coniferous and deciduous. Encourage students to use these words when they write and speak about the text. Corrective Feedback Have students closely reread pages 1 to 5 to find key details. Encourage them to silently reread, stopping at key points to think and talk together about their understandings. Reading the Text closely 10 minutes Set a purpose for reading and explain the learning focus. Have students read pages 5 7. Check their application of the focus and provide support if needed. Then have them read to page 9. Our purpose in reading today is to find out as much information as possible about America s forests and woodlands. Sometimes authors state facts and details exactly as they mean them, or explicitly. Sometimes it s up to us to put pieces of information together to make inferences. As we read closely today, we re going to look for explicit details. Who can share something you learned in the Introduction? There is an amazing variety of forests in North America. Does the text state that piece of information explicitly or did you have to make an inference to figure it out? The author stated it in the first paragraph. Who else can share something they learned? There are hundreds of different plants and animals that live in America s forests. Is this something the author stated or did you put pieces of information together to make an inference? The author didn t state it in those exact words, but I made an inference. If you are satisfied that students can apply the focus, set the reading assignment for the session. If you are not, prompt students to return to page 5 to read closely to find something explicit the author says and to make an inference. Students may not read the entire selection during this session. As we read today, we are going to try to learn as much as we can about the forests and woodlands in America. So, as you re thinking about the information, ask yourself questions to make sure you understand. Look for answers that are explicitly stated in the text, and if you can t find an answer, put pieces of information together to make an inference. I wonder what kinds of forests are in America and what kinds of trees grow in them? Read through page 9 to find out. 2 america s forests and woodlands
discussing The TexT 10 minutes Invite students to talk about explicit information they learned and to make inferences about trees. encourage them to provide text evidence to support their learning. As we talk together, let s look at things the author tells us explicitly and put pieces of information together to make inferences. Who can tell us something the author explicitly states about trees in Chapter One? trees are nature s largest plants. Yes, the first sentence in the chapter gives us this information. Who can make an inference? i learned that for trees to live together, they must live in the same kind of climate. so i made the inference that coniferous and deciduous trees can grow together in the same forest if the climate is what both kinds of trees need. Focus on the word precipitation at the bottom of page 9. Let s read the last paragraph on page 9 together. Take a look at the word precipitation. What do you think this word means? it says in parentheses right next to the word, rain, snow. so that is what i think precipitation means. confirm students good use of the focus and encourage them to keep it in mind whenever they read to learn information. You did a great job reading closely to learn about trees. You figured out if answers to your questions were explicit or if you needed to put pieces of information together to make inferences. You can do this whenever you read information. E-RESOURCE Formative Assessment: Comprehension using the Quick Start Planner, note this session s learning focus. observe each student s articulation and use of text evidence to evaluate effective use of the learning focus. CHOICE comprehension: MaKIng InFerenceS E-RESOURCE Formative Assessment have students use the blackline master on page 10 to make inferences using evidence from the text. review students answers as you evaluate their mastery of the learning focus. CHOICE constructed response: collect TexT evidence E-RESOURCE Formative/summative Assessment have students use the blackline master on page 11 as they read. Students will collect details from the text to answer the question: How does the author feel about the importance of protecting forests and woodlands? review students collected evidence as you evaluate their mastery of the learning focus. sl.4.1c DIsCUssIOn Collaborative COMPReHensIOn share If you are not clear about what is happening in the text, make a self-stick note so you can ask questions about that part of the text. L.4.4a VOCABULARY Words in Context ell support RI.4.1 Discussing the Text Ask questions at students language proficiency levels and provide the following sentence frames for student responses: The author says. The text says. RI.4.1 COMPReHensIOn Making Inferences W.4.8*, RI.4.1 WRITIng gather Information MoNDo BookShoP GraDe 4 3
Session 2 Text Selection: pp. 4 9 LEARNING FOCUSES RI.4.1, RI.4.4, RI.4.8 Students return to the text to read closely and continue finding explicit statements and making inferences. They will also determine word meanings and think about why the author used certain words. At the same time, they will make decisions about how the author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in the text. Returning to the Text 5 minutes Ask students to reflect on the text read previously. Guide them to recall how they applied the learning focus to their reading. Let s quickly review our discussion from the last session. We talked about reading for the purpose of learning all we can about America s forests and woodlands. We said that authors sometimes write information explicitly, and sometimes a reader has to put information together to make inferences. Yes, several of you found explicit information to answer questions you had, and you also used the information to make good inferences. Reading the Text closely 10 minutes Explain the learning focuses. Invite students to reread the sidebar on page 9. Check in to see how well they have understood the focuses. If you are satisfied that students can apply them, set the reading assignment for the session. If not, provide corrective feedback as suggested on page 2 of this lesson plan. Let s look at the sidebar on page 9. We re still looking for ideas about trees that are explicitly stated as well as pieces of information we can put together to make inferences. This time, we re also going to look at some of the words the author uses to make sure we understand the meanings and to figure out why the author made the word choices he did. As we read information about trees, we re going to look at how the author gives reasons and evidence to support his points. What would you say are the main ideas in the sidebar? to explain why some trees have leaves that change color in the fall Tell me one reason the author gives for why leaves change color. Some leaves have a yellow pigment in them. Why do you think the author used the word pigment? maybe because it s a more scientific word than color And what evidence does the author give for why leaves with yellow pigment aren t yellow all the time? In the spring and summer, the leaves are making chlorophyll, which is green, and when autumn comes, the leaves stop making chlorophyll and the yellow shows. Yes, now reread pages 4 through 9, asking yourself questions to learn more about forests and woodlands. Also notice the words the author uses to explain and support the ideas presented. Formative Assessment: Fluency Listen to each student read a portion of the text. Observe students fluency. If students need additional practice with fluency, provide the necessary support at the end of the session. Ask students to note words or phrases they find challenging for discussion after the reading. 4 america s forests and woodlands
discussing The TexT 10 minutes Facilitate a discussion in which students look at the words the author uses and whether there are enough reasons and evidence to support whether a tree s leaves can tell you the kind of tree it is. What information does the author give to support the idea that leaves can tell you what type of tree it is? on page 8, the author talks about the two types of trees coniferous and deciduous and what kind of leaves each type has. then the author talks about what the different types of leaves are on each type of tree. So, can you tell specifically what type of tree it is by looking at the leaves? i think that you can probably tell if a tree is coniferous or deciduous from the information the author gives. i don t think you can tell if it is a maple tree or an oak tree from this information. That s very good thinking about the evidence the author gives for the information in the text. Focus on the word scalelike in the first paragraph on page 8. Let s go to page 8 and look for the word scalelike, in the first paragraph. Who can name a base word in this word? scale Who can name some of the meanings of scale? something to weigh things, something a fish has, to climb Which meaning of the word scale works best to figure out the meaning of scalelike? i think that in this text, the meaning is that the leaves look like fish scales. encourage students to think about the author s choice of words, namely when using hyphenated compound adjectives. In Chapter One, the author uses several hyphenated compound words. Who can name one? there s one on page 8, broad-leaved. there s another one on page 9, chlorophyll-making. Yes, and what do you think of the author s choice of words in each of these cases? i think these words are descriptive and help me to better understand the information. i agree, because i think it makes the text easier to read and helps me picture what the author is talking about. E-RESOURCE Formative Assessment: Comprehension using the Quick Start Planner, note this session s learning focus. observe each student s articulation and use of text evidence to evaluate effective use of the learning focus. sl.4.1c DIsCUssIOn Collaborative L.4.4 VOCABULARY Multiple-Meaning Words TeACHIng TIP You can help students improve comprehension by modeling for them how to pause in their reading to ask themselves a question. MoNDo BookShoP GraDe 4 5
RF.4.4a FLUenCY Purpose and Understanding W.4.8*, RI.4.1 WRITIng gather Information CHOICE FLuency FoLLow-uP Fluency Practice Model using an appropriate reading rate to read texts that give a lot of information. Follow this procedure: (1) read aloud a passage that has a lot of facts and descriptive information about a topic. read quickly, glossing over difficult words and phrases. (2) reread the passage slowly and thoughtfully at a pace at which you can pronounce long or difficult words correctly. (3) Students read aloud the passage. CHOICE constructed response: collect TexT evidence E-RESOURCE Formative/summative Assessment have students continue to use the blackline master on page 11 for collecting evidence as they read. Students will continue to collect details from the text to answer the question: How does the author feel about the importance of protecting forests and woodlands? review students collected evidence as you evaluate their mastery of the learning focus. 6 america s forests and woodlands
Session 3 Text Selection: pp. 10 15 Key Idea: Text Selection chapter Two describes conditions at different levels of the forest, while chapter Three discusses conifer forests of the western united States. returning To The TexT 5 minutes review what students have learned so far about america s forests and woodlands and the learning focuses. Who can review what we learned in the last session? the introduction explained that there are different kinds of forests in different parts of the United states. Who can add to that? we read about the difference between a forest and a woodland and between coniferous and deciduous trees. we also learned why some trees have leaves that turn colors in the fall. Based on what we ve done so far, what are some good strategies to use when reading a book like America s Forests and Woodlands? we can ask ourselves questions as we read and look for answers that are explicitly stated in the text. if we still can t find an answer, we can use pieces of information to make inferences. Yes, anything else? we can make sure the author provides enough reasons and evidence to support the points being made. LeARnIng FOCUses RI.4.1, RI.4.4, RI.4.8 Students return to the text to read closely and continue finding explicit statements and making inferences. They will also determine word meanings and think about why the author used particular words. At the same time, they will make decisions about the reasons and evidence the author gives to support the points being made in the text. TeACHIng TIP You can help students improve comprehension by modeling for them how to pause in their reading to ask themselves a question. reading The TexT closely 10 minutes explain the learning focuses and invite students to read page 11. check to see how they are doing with application of the focuses. Then have students read to page 21, focusing on explicit statements, places to make inferences, language the author uses, and whether there are enough reasons and evidence to support the author s points. Today as we read, we re going to continue to pay attention to explicit statements the author makes and use pieces of information in the text to make inferences. We ll also continue to look at language the author uses and whether there is enough information to support points the author makes. Let s take a look at page 11. What familiar comparison does the author make between the natural world and the human world? the author says that if forests were cities, the trees would be the buildings. How does the comparison help you understand the information? i understand what a city is very well, and it helps me better understand the different parts of a forest by comparing them. Let s read through page 21 to find out more about forests and woodlands. VOCABULARY L.4.4 Preview domainspecific words in the sections of the book that students are reading today, such as, canopy, understory, and midstory. Tell them to look for clues in the words and phrases around those words to find their meanings. discussing The TexT 10 minutes Facilitate a discussion that links three learning focuses. ask students to look for reasons and evidence the author uses to support points in the texts and whether information is explicitly stated or if inferences should be made. sl.4.1c DIsCUssIOn Collaborative MoNDo BookShoP GraDe 4 7
We talked about a comparison the author uses to explain information about the levels of a forest. Do you think the author gives enough reasons and evidence to support the information about how animals live at different levels of the forest? Why or why not? Yes, i think the author gives examples and explains why some animals live at each level in a forest; from these examples readers can figure out what other animals live at each level. If you were going to figure out another animal that lives at a certain level of the forest, could you find the information explicitly stated in the text or would you have to make an inference? Why? the author only tells about certain animals, and if you wanted to know about other animals, you d have to make an inference. offer students ways to continue discussing the text collaboratively by having them read the rest of the book and discussing it in pairs or small groups. You ll read the rest of this book on your own. Take notes and put markers on the text of places where you made inferences because information wasn t stated explicitly. Also, put reminders of places where the author did or did not give reasons to support his ideas. W.4.8*, RI.4.1 WRITIng Respond to Question CHOICE constructed response: write To Source E-RESOURCE Formative/summative Assessment have students continue to use the blackline master on page 11 as they finish reading. Then ask them to write a response on a separate sheet of paper that answers the question: How does the author feel about the importance of protecting forests and woodlands? have students use the text evidence they collected to support their writing. CHOICE close reading options CHOICE writing Task: opinion E-RESOURCE summative Assessment Print the online blackline master for independent close reading. ask students to read the selection indicated on the page independently and respond to the prompts (summarize author s message, identify critical vocabulary, respond to constructed response questions) before returning for a small-group discussion. alternatively, you can use the completed blackline master for summative assessment. W.4.1 WRITIng Opinion E-RESOURCE summative Assessment review with students the features of a letter addressed to the editor of a newspaper. Invite students to write their own opinions of whether or not it is important to protect america s forests and woodlands. guide them to use the planning organizer on page 12 as they organize information for their constructed responses. consider having students publish their letters. In this selection, we learned a lot of information about forests and woodlands. You read a chapter about how the author feels about protecting these areas. Think about how you feel about this issue. Write a letter that explains your opinion to the editor of a newspaper. Begin by stating your opinion. Then provide reasons and information to support your opinion. Include a closing that restates your opinion and wraps up the letter. 8 america s forests and woodlands
CHOICE additional Instruction word STudy suffixes er, est, Students can use what they know about comparative and superlative adjectives to help them understand words or phrases that may be unfamiliar. Adjectives that compare two or more things often follow certain rules. When you see words ending in -er or -est, or you see an adjective after the words more or most, you can assume that the writer is making a comparison. For example, the oldest trees in the world are in North America trees in all other continents are younger. Let s look for other comparison words with these suffixes in the selection. vocabulary Words in Context help students develop vocabulary by first using a new word in the context in which it appeared and then using it in a different context. using words in new contexts will extend students understandings. We can build our understanding of new vocabulary by using those words in sentences. How can we form a sentence that uses the word variety from page 27 to discuss trees? leaves turn a variety of colors in the fall. Who would like to use the word variety in a completely different context? this restaurant has a variety of foods. word recognition syllabication Focus on breaking words into syllables. use the words coniferous, porcupine, organisms, nutrients, and diameters. Let s look at the word coniferous on page 8. How many syllables do you hear? four Let s break it down into the individual syllables: con i fer ous. Sometimes breaking a multi-syllable word into its parts makes it easier to read. How many syllables does this word have: porcupine? three Who would like to try breaking this word into syllables? por cu pine Now let s try this with some other words from the selection. RF.4.3a WORD ReCOgnITIOn suffixes er, est L.4.4a VOCABULARY Words in Context RF.4.3a WORD ReCOgnITIOn syllabication MoNDo BookShoP GraDe 4 9
Name Date Comprehension: Making Inferences Write an inference you made while reading America s Forests and Woodlands. Then identify details that support your inference. My Inference Detail Detail Detail Mondo Publishing Page Number: Page Number: Page Number: 10 america s forests and woodlands Score:
Name Date Collecting Text Evidence How does the author feel about the importance of protecting forests and woodlands? Use this chart to collect evidence that indicates how the author feels about protecting forests and woodlands. Be sure to include page references. You may use more than one copy. Page Number Evidence of the Author s Opinion Mondo Publishing Score: Mondo Bookshop Grade 4 11
Name Date Writing Task: Your First Draft What is your opinion about whether America s forests and woodlands should be protected? Write a letter to the editor of a nature magazine or newspaper stating your opinion. Follow the guide below to organize your writing. REMEMBER: A well-written letter to the editor includes: a salutation to the editor the reason for writing your letter a statement of your opinion reasons and information to support your opinion a closing Mondo Publishing Score: 12 america s forests and woodlands