Poemas de la naturaleza (Nature Poems) - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Unit Guide forPoemas de la naturaleza(Nature Poems)OVERVIEWFocus on:• Instructional Terms: Genre Study – Poetry• Instructional Terms: Academic Language – sufijo, rima• Lesson with scripting in Spanish for poetry• List of thematically-related books in Spanish• ¡Ojo! – Things to keep in mind when teaching Spanish• Exploring language through the richness of nature words• Exploring language through cognates: curiosa, flor, otoño, evaporar, plantarPREPARE TO TEACHUna manzana nace (An Apple Happens)Luciérnaga (Firefly)Niebla (Fog)Synopsis: Three poems that tell about different things that happen in nature. Findout all the things that happen to an apple before it is ready to eat. Read aboutfireflies – little insects that light up our night. Feel the gloominess of a fog as it sitsclose to the ground before the sun comes and makes it disappear.Instructional TermsGenre Study: PoetryPoetry is a type of literature in which the sound and meaning of language arecombined to create ideas and feelings through imagery and the rhyme and rhythm oflanguage. The words in a poem are often chosen for their sound and beauty as wellas their meaning. Many poems are to be read aloud so you can hear the rhythm andrhyme in the words.There are three main forms of poetry: lyrical, narrative, and dramatic. Lyricalpoetry is any short poem. Narrative poems tell stories, as in the form of an epic orballad. Dramatic poetry also tells a story, acted out by the poem’s characters.Children begin to learn nursery rhymes, poems, and songs in preschool becausethere are many benefits to learning these at an early age.1. They provide children with opportunities to develop an appreciation for rhymeand rhythm.2. Research in the field of early childhood development and reading has shown thatthose children who struggle to recognize words that rhyme often have difficultyin learning to read.3. The rhythm of songs, poems and rhymes helps to develop auditory memory skills.4. Poems and verse use words to paint word pictures, helping to activateimagination.Copyright © 2010 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Scope and Sequenceat a GlanceGenre• PoetryWord Study• Words ending in -sión and -ción• Words with the suffixes -oso, -itoGrammar• Recognizing and selecting theverb, adjective, or adverb tocomplete a sentenceComprehension Skills• Recognizing the distinguishingfeatures of poetry includingdescriptive language, rhythm,rhyme, and pattern• Visualizing what is beingdescribed in a poemWriting• Completing sentences withdescriptive words• Writing a poem that follows aprescribed formatDestinationReadingCourse II –Spanish1

Unit 5: Poemas de la naturalezaBook ListThis is a list of books of poetryin Spanish. Children will enjoyreading or listening to thesebooks.Confeti: Poemas para niñosby Pat MoraPoems by Pat Mora.Mandaderos de la lluvia yotros poemas de AméricaLatinaCompiled by Claudia M. LeeA collection of traditional poemsfrom Latin America, includingBrazil.Zoológico de poemasby Margarita MontalvoA collection of short poems. Eachpoem is about an animal, bird, fish,or insect.Música y poesía para niñoscompiled by Ángel Barja andAlfonso GarcíaMusic and poetry for children.DestinationReadingCourse II –Spanish2Academic Language: sufijo, rimaEnsure children are familiar with “school” words used in this unit.Explain that a sufijo (suffix) is a group of letters added to the end of a word. Whena suffix is added, the meaning of the word changes. Sometimes the word changes itspart of speech – from an adjective to an adverb, for example, as in rápido/rápidamente.Sometimes the word remains the same part of speech, but the meaning is changed –for example, pequeño/pequeñito, where something that is pequeñito is even smaller thansomething that is pequeño.Explain that rima (rhyme) happens when the end of a word sounds the same as theend of another word. Ask children to give examples of words that rhyme with... mapa,cartón, fortísimo, caldito, etc. Then ask children to give examples of paired rhyming words,where they provide the first word, too.If appropriate for your classroom, teach children the English version of the words.• sufijo suffix• rima rhymeBEFORE READINGVocabulary: Use context sentences to pre-teach words in the poemsluciérnaga, farol, niebla, tenebrosa, sombría, yacer, anhelarRead the following sentences to children twice. Then ask them for the meaning of thetarget word. Write the vocabulary word on the board.1. En el verano puedes ver las luciérnagas en el jardín de mi casa.(In the summer you can see fireflies in the garden near my house.)2. En la noche se puede ver la luz del farol al otro lado de la calle.(At night you can see the light from the lantern from across the street.)3. Algunas veces la niebla dificulta ver lo que tienes delante.(Sometimes the fog makes it difficult to see what’s ahead of you!)4. Durante la noche el castillo se ve tenebroso y oscuro.(The castle is gloomy and dark at night.)5. La selva era tupida y sombría.(The forest was dense and dark.)6. El bebé yacía durmiendo en su cuna.(The baby lay in her crib, sleeping.)7. Él anhelaba tanto ese juguete nuevo que quería intercambiarlo por su bicicleta.(He wants the new toy so badly that he would trade his bike for it.)Have children draw a picture of a firefly.If appropriate for your classroom, teach children the English versions of the words.• luciérnaga firefly• farol lantern, lamp• niebla fog• tenebrosa gloomy, dark, sinister• sombría dark, somber• yacer to lie down• anhelar to want something very badlyCopyright © 2010 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Unit 5: Poemas de la naturalezaComprehension Strategy/Skill: VisualizeVisualizing is a skill readers use to help them understand what an author wants themto “see” as they read a story or a poem. Many authors and poets use descriptivewords to help readers visualize, or picture in their minds, the people, places, or thingshe or she is writing about. As a reader, you use the author’s words and then addwhat you already know about the topic to form a picture in your mind and to helpyou understand what you are reading.Build BackgroundStart a conversation with children about clouds to build background knowledge. Say:Las palabras descriptivas les ayudan a visualizar cómo las cosas se ven,se sienten, huelen, saben o suenan. (Descriptive words help you visualize howthings look, feel, smell, taste, or sound.) Hold up pictures of clouds, or look outsideand have children describe the clouds. Then ask: ¿Alguna vez vieron niebla? ¿Laatravesaron? ¿Era seca o húmeda? ¿Podían ver a través de ella? (Have youever seen a fog? Did you go through it? Was it dry or wet? Could you see through it?)Explain that fog is a cloud made of tiny water droplets that hovers near the ground.Spray a mist of water above the heads of children to let them feel the droplets asthey fall.Set Purpose for ReadingTell children: Van a leer un poema acerca de la niebla. Escuchen las palabrasque la poetisa usa para describir la niebla. Intenten visualizar, o crear en susmentes una imagen de cómo es la niebla. (Now you are going to read a poemabout fog. Listen to the words the poet uses to describe the fog. Try to visualize, ormake a picture in your mind, of what the fog looks like.) Encourage children to addwhat they already know about fog as they read the poem.¡OJO! (Watch out for . . .)Very often words that end in -ciónand -sión in Spanish are Englishcognates. These endings usuallyturn a verb into a noun.DURING READINGWhen reading poetry, tell children to:• Read the title.• Read the poem slowly the first time.• Observe where sentences begin and end.• Read the poem aloud the second time.• Ask about any words you don’t understand.• Listen to the sound, rhythm, and rhyme of the words.• Let the poem paint pictures in your mind so you can visualize what the poet iswriting about.Differentiated InstructionSpecial Needs Children: Have children use their imaginations to draw the settingof the poem.Extra Support/Advanced Spanish Students: Have advanced children work withchildren having difficulty in understanding unfamiliar words.Dual Language: Challenge students who dominate both English and Spanish to sayor write the poem in both languages.Copyright © 2010 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.DestinationReadingCourse II –Spanish3

Unit 5: Poemas de la naturalezaAFTER READINGAsk children the question under the light bulb icon in the reading as an informal way of checking theircomprehension. Say: ¿Por qué creen que la autora del poema le pide varias veces a la niebla que sevaya? (Why do you think the author of the poem keeps asking the fog to go away?)EXPLORING LANGUAGEY tú, ¿cómo dices...?Many ways to say...This story affords many opportunities for exploring the richness of the Spanish language when it comes tonature words. Tap into children’s diverse language backgrounds by commenting on the different word choicesthat are possible for words presented in this unit.Show images of the items listed below and say: Y en tu casa, ¿cómo dicen (o cómo le llaman a)…?(What is ... called in your home?)• fireflyKnown as: luciérnaga, cocuyo, noctiluca• ladybugKnown as: mariquita, catarina, petaca, chinita, vaca de San Antón• bugKnown as: bichito, chinche, bicho• rainKnown as: lluvia, aguacero, chaparrón, precipitación, diluvioLa misma raízCognatesCognates, or words in English and Spanish that share the same origin, offer a natural scaffolding that childrencan use to “grow” their vocabulary in both languages. Help children see these links between the two languagesby commenting on the words presented in this unit that are examples of cognates.Display the words below and say to children: Hay palabras en esta unidad que son muy parecidas eninglés y en español. Vamos a estudiar algunas de ellas. (There are words in this unit that are verysimilar in English and in Spanish. Let’s study some of them now.)• curiosa curious• flor flower• otoño Autumn• evaporar evaporate• plantar to plantPoint out that the words brillante and brilliant are not cognates. They are false cognates, or false friends.Brillante means bright, whereas brilliant means very smart.DestinationReadingCourse II –Spanish4Copyright © 2010 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.