Reading Street View 4 Grade Week 9 October 22 – 26, 2012

Reading Street View 4 th Grade Week 9 October 22 – 26, 2012Arc 9: Review/Assess all GenresUnit 1: Structural Patterns and Features of GenresRecommendations for Read Aloud (RA), Shared Reading (SR), Guided Reading (GR), and Independent Reading (IR)RA /SR:GR:Teacher selects texts for read aloud and shared reading to review the genres studied duringthe first grading period.Select texts from your campus leveled library or have students reread familiar text with thepurpose of identifying different organizational structures within expository texts (cause-effect,compare-contrast, sequential order, classifying information).For students having difficulty with decoding and fluency, small group instruction should includeexplicit word study and decoding work. Many students who do not read fluently struggle withdecoding. See the Florida Center for Reading Research for phonics activities. Scroll down thepage to locate information and activities for the five components of reading.Additional Resources for Read Aloud:Teachers select read alouds from previous weeks’ AdditionalResources Section or reread some class favorites with aspecific focus on this week’s TEKS:4.11 Reading/Comprehension of Informational Text/ExpositoryText. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions aboutexpository text and provide evidence from the text to support theirunderstanding. 11(C) describe explicit and implicit relationshipsamong ideas in texts organized by cause-and-effect, sequence,comparison, problem/solution, or description RC3IR:Consider setting-up a system or schedule for when individual students or small groups of students will visit the classroom library to “check-out” new books for their independentreading time. This will eliminate the possibility of students spending the entire independent reading time looking for something to read. You might want to think about assigningthe first 10 minutes of each independent reading time to one group of students. Monday – Group A, Tuesday – Group B, Wednesday – Group C, and so on. Once the 10minutes are up, everyone is expected to be in their reading spots actively engaged in reading.Discussing Genre:Students review both literary andinformational text patterns and featuresfrom prior weeks.Ask students to do a quick write eachday this week about characteristics ofdifferent genres, one genre each day.Tell students that they have 5 minutesto write everything they know about aspecified genre and to list any mentorexemplar texts for that genre.Have students share their quick writeswith a partner and make any changesor additions they learn from theirdiscussion with their partner. Thenpartners share their quick writes withanother set of partners and makechanges or additions. Finally have onemember of each group share theirideas with the whole class. Address allquestions and misconceptions.Word Study:Reteach word study lessons based oncommon errors you are seeing instudent writing and in errors you hearwhen listening to students read aloud.Fluency:You may want to use this week to revisitfluency with students and the importanceof reading fluency to comprehension.Remember that if students are spendinga great amount of cognitive effortdecoding or “sounding out” words, theircomprehension is often compromised.Fluency instruction should includeinstruction at the letter level (for studentssignificantly below grade level), at theword level (high frequency words andphrases), and at the passage level or incontinuous text. Fluency should bepracticed in students’ independent leveltexts or through repeated sharedreadings of texts above students’independent reading level.Vocabulary:Review both academic and tier 2vocabulary learned during the firstgrading period. Challenge students(and yourself) to refer often to thevocabulary anchors of support to usethese words in both speaking andwriting this week. You may want toengage in some kind of game such as abell ring or a point given every time youhear a target vocabulary word.Let students lead some of thevocabulary routines that you havepracticed during the year.

Building Comprehension:Take this week to refer back to literary texts read during the first 9 weeks to allowstudents to make connections about the elements of story, character traits, commonproblems and themes in stories. Also refer back to informational texts that werepreviously read to help students see the differences between the structures andfeatures of literary and informational texts.To review the structures and features of all genres:Divide students into groups of 3 or 4. Each group draws a slip of paper with the nameof a genre studied during the first grading period. Each group plans a presentation forthe class to explain the characteristics and features of the genre and present 2-3mentor texts (and a short written summary of each text).*For more review activities, see 4 th grade CRM Week 9 Performance Tasksection.*To teach the organizational structures of expository texts:Explain to students how authors often determine the structure of the text they arewriting based on the message they want to convey. If an author wants to giveinformation, he/she thinks about how to organize the information into categories thatreaders will most easily understand. If an author wants to explain how to perform atask, he/she will explain the details of how to do the task from beginning to end. Theauthor might also include reasons why performing the task correctly is important.Have students read a text and sketch their own graphic structure to represent theway they visualize the author organized the information in the text. Allow time forstudents to explain their thinking and their graphic displays. As students share, usethese beginning discussions to introduce the common organizational structures ofsequence, description, cause-effect, problem-solution, and compare-contrast. Besure to clarify that authors often use more than one organizational strategy in a singlepiece of writing.21 st Century Learning:COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION: Communicate Clearly - Articulatethoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written and nonverbal communicationskills in a variety of forms and contexts; Listen effectively to decipher meaning,including knowledge, values, attitudes and intentions.As a class, use Inspiration® to discuss making a web about the genresthey have explored. Assign groups of 2-4 students, and have each groupcreate a detailed web showing the characteristics of each genre.Technology Application 10 Chttp://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/home for teacher tutorialsComprehension/ Discussion Questions:Informational: What does the title tell you about the topic? What information is provided through illustrations, photos, captions, and othertext features? What do you already know about this topic? What part of the topic has the author chosen to present in the selection? What details support the idea that __? Where in the text can you findinformation/facts/details about __? What events caused other events to happen in the text?Literary: How does the author begin the story and engage the reader? What is the story problem? How do you think it will be solved? What challenges do the characters encounter? How do they deal with thechallenges? What choices do the characters have? How do a character’s actions affect other characters in the story? What are the important events in the story? What caused __(event) to happen?Organizational Structures: How does the author organize the information in this text? Why did the author choose to structure the text in this particular way? What key words in the text give me clues that tell me how the author organizedthe information? Which sentences in the text indicate a problem and solution structure? Acompare-contrast structure? A cause-effect structure? A chronologicalsequence? Does the text include more than one structure?Anchors of Support for Independent Student Work:Review and update or add to anchors of support that were used during this gradingperiod. Determine with students which anchors need to stay posted and which can befiled in an anchor chart portfolio.It will be important to have a chart for each genre that students can refer to for the restof the year that shows:GenreMentor Text – (A story I read that reminds me of this genre)Distinctive Features – (How I know I’m reading thisparticular genre)Definition – (How can I describe this genre? What is it?)Reading and Thinking – (The thinking I do when I read thisgenre)Author’s Craft – (Looking at text through a writer’s eye)Teacher Tips: The National Institute for Literacy states that children learn much of their vocabulary through daily exposure in the form of reading, being read to and conversation.Learning Tier II vocabulary requires active engagement with the words in the form of instruction and activities. Be sure to keep Word Wonder alive in your classroom by consistentlyengaging students in conversation and delight in words.

Reading Street View 4 th Grade Week 10 October 29 – November 2, 2012Arc 1: Reading Literary/Fiction Texts [Theme, Inference, Summary] Unit 2: The Power of WordsRecommendations for Read Aloud (RA), Shared Reading (SR), Guided Reading (GR), and Independent Reading (IR)RA /SR:GR:IR:Name that Reptile (Treasures TE Unit 3, p. 270) to introduce vocabularyWhen I Went to the Library (Treasures TE Unit 3, p. 272)Another connecting text: Reading for Mr. Paredo (Treasures TE Unit 2, p. 258)Approaching Level: Snakes in North AmericaOn Level: Snakes in North AmericaBeyond Level: Snakes in North AmericaELL: North American SnakesTip: Remember that Guided Reading is an example of flexible grouping. Your groups will changeperiodically based on student needs and growth. This may be a good time to adjust your groupsas a result of your observations and assessment data.Additional Resources for Read Aloud:Other selections with The Power of Words as a big idea:Dear Ichiro by Jean OkimotoDiary of a Worm by Doreen CroninClick, Clack, Moo by Doreen CroninEats, Shoots, and Leaves (children's ed) by Lynne TrussClementine's Letter by Sara PennypackerChapter Books:Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal by Jeff KinneyThe Phantom Tollbooth by Norton JusterOther Treasures texts:What Symbols Say, Treasures Time For Kids, pp 48 -51Stop the Spartina!, Treasures Time For Kids, pp.78-79I Have a Dream, A Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., Read-AloudAnthology, p. 51Reading and Riding (Historical Fiction), Read-Aloud Anthology, p. 86Did you know you can print any leveled reader from McGraw-Hill from the ConnectED website? Using the Leveled Reader Database, you can print any one ofover 6,000 titles in English and Spanish. That way, students can have stories at their independent reading level to take home for practice and fun.Discussing Genre:All fiction texts make some general demands onreaders. Readers are required to suspend realityand enter the story, gathering important informationabout the characters, setting, and events.Readers also employ a range of thinking beyondand about the text. They learn to interpretcharacters’ motivations, and understand andempathize with them. Fiction texts require thatreaders identify the conflict of the story andfollow the plot to the resolution. Looking acrossevents, readers of fiction derive the primarymessage or theme of the text. Readers of fictionsort out the events of the story, deciding whichare important and have causal effects.It would seem that reading is a series ofthousands of decisions—what to attend to, whatto remember, what to puzzle over. Thesedecisions are largely unconscious, althoughsometimes readers can reflect on them afterreading.~ From Fountas & Pinnell,Teaching for Comprehension and FluencyWord Study:Resources:Treasures TE 5-Day Spelling Routine andthe Phonics/Spelling Practice Book(Treasures CD).Note also that the “Prepare” section of theTE provides additional suggestions forteaching the Phonics/Word Studypatterns.Another Word Study Tip:This week, make certain your studentsknow that the words on the word wallare “no excuse” words – that is theyhave no excuse for ever spelling thosewords wrong. Explicitly model for themhow you refer to the word wall as youare writing. For example, “Hmm, I needto write the word because, and I knowthat’s on our word wall so I have noexcuse for not spelling it correctly. I’mgoing to look for it under the B andremind myself how it’s spelled. There itis, b – e – c – a – u – s – e, because.”Fluency:Use the Treasures ApproachingReproducibles, Beyond Reproducibles,and Practice Book (Treasures CD) toselect the appropriate fluency passagefor your students. Teach yourstudents to help each other determinetheir fluency rate and answer thecomprehension questions.Another Fluency Tip:Paired reading is a form of supportedreading that involves 2 readers—onethat needs more fluency support andone that is a good model of fluentreading. The peer “model” and thestruggling reader sit side-by-side witha text chosen by the latter. Together,the students choral read the text. The“model” matches the rate of thestruggling reader. If the strugglingreader reaches an unfamiliar word, the“model” quickly gives the correctpronunciation to avoid disruptingfluency.Vocabulary:Resources:Introduce the vocabulary for each selectionusing the Vocabulary/Comprehension passagepreceding each main selection in the TreasuresTE.See the 5-Day Vocabulary Routine in the pagesfollowing each main selection. The routineincludes student friendly definitions, questions toprompt students’ oral practice with the newwords, and activities for student engagementand practice with the vocabulary words.Another Vocabulary Tip:By using word webs, you can help your studentsfind alternatives for specific words. For example,create a web with the word unfair placed in themiddle and branch out all the words you canthink of to use instead— dishonest, cheating,unjust, wrong, etc. You may want to model withthe first word and ask for student contributionswith the rest of the words. This will not only helpyour students understand what importantvocabulary words mean, it will expand theirrepertoire of additional words.

Building Comprehension:Refer back to the anchor chart you created in Weeks 1-2 to remind students of the features ofa literary (fiction) piece, the definition you created as a class, and the kind of thinking readersdo when reading this type of text.Inferences: Before reading “When I Went to the Library” with your students, remind them ofwhat an inference is and how readers use clues from the text to support the ideas they thinkthe author wants them to know without specifically telling them. Plan ahead the places whereyou will stop to ask questions that lead to inferential thinking. (Use the ComprehensionQuestions to the right to guide your questions.) Also plan the inferences you want yourstudents to make. For example, at the end of pg. 275, readers can infer that the maincharacter is not really sorry, but she is apologizing because her parents told her she had toand because she wants to be able to watch her favorite TV show. The clues that tell us thisare the first paragraph on p. 273 and the first sentence on p. 275. Continue reading together,stopping to make quick inferences, pointing out the clues in the text, and moving on. This ishow readers infer while reading.(Be sure to ask students what they think the young girl is trying to do on p. 282, par. 1—maybeshe’s not so innocent afterall!)Summary: After you complete the story, work together with your students to write a summary.When writing a narrative summary, readers can use a story arc to help them think about theimportant parts of the story. Although the story begins with the young girl writing her letter ofapology for the events that are revealed through her letter, readers will need to infer the logicalsequence of events. The letter is actually the falling action that makes us wonder whether thelibrarian will actually receive this letter and accept her apology. (It appears from the picture atthe end of the story that he will recover from this incident—the resolution.) The sequencing ofthis story is not as straight forward as students may be used to, and this is an excellentexample of a summary that you should think aloud and model for your students.Now let’s talk about theme: What is the overall message of this story? What lesson does theauthor want us to learn? Several themes may emerge from this humorous story: Don’t take asnake (or other animal) into the library. Think about how other people might feel aboutsnakes. Make sure you are really sorry when you write a letter of apology, or people will beable to figure out (infer) when you don’t mean it.21 st Century Learning:COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION: Collaborate with Others- Exercise flexibilityand willingness to be helpful in making necessary compromises to accomplish acommon goal.As a class, use Inspiration® to discuss making a web about the theme of“The Power of Words.” Focusing on the plot and characters from one of thebooks (shared whole class), discuss how the story relates to the concept ofwords having power. Assign groups of 2-4 students, and have each group create adetailed web on the theme.[Advanced students might also complete a similar theme-based web with their ownindependent reading.]Technology Application 10 CComprehension/ Discussion Questions:Theme:• What is a theme? What are some examples of themes you might find in stories?• What important themes can you identify in this story?• What other stories have we read that have the same themes?• What is the moral of this story? What lesson does the author want us to learn?Summary:• What has happened so far in this story?• Who can summarize what we’ve learned?• What is the basic plot of this story?• What are the most important things that happened?• How would you retell this story in 3-4 sentences?Inference• What do you think the author is really trying to tell us here?• What does the author want us to think about ______?• What clues has the author given us?• What evidence in the text makes us think ______?• What can you tell about ______?• Based on the information in the story, the reader can conclude that _____.Fountas and Pinnell suggest the following ways to help students learn to summarize :‣ Write a summary yourself of a text that students know or have read and ask students toanalyze what makes it a summary.‣ Begin the process with short texts that do not have too many details and are easier tosummarize.‣ Work together to create a group summary, selecting and deleting details.‣ Record a retelling of a text on chart paper and turn it into a summary.‣ Ask students to summarize a text in their response journal and respond to this summary inthe letter you write back.‣ Encourage students to practice summarizing by making book talks to recommend books totheir friends.Anchors of Support for Independent Student Work:(Guiding Readers and Writers: Grades 3-6 pg. 362)Provide students with a tool they can use to show the text clues that lead to aninference. The TE shows an example of a web beginning on pg. 274 as one waythat students may write the clues as they are reading and inferring. You can alsouse a T-chart with the titles ‘What I infer’ and ‘Clues that tell me this’.Strategy for Narrative Summary:-Somebody (identify the character(s)-Wanted (describe the character’s goal)-But (describe a conflict that hinders thecharacter)-So (describe how the character reacts to theconflict)-Then (describe the resolution of the conflict)*Remember to focus on information that is mostsignificant.http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/home for teacher tutorials.Teacher Tips: Building inference skills is actually building critical thinking skills. At its essence, inference is more than just choosing the most logical answer; it is honing our naturalanalytical skills to form our own rightful ideas and opinions. Use questioning to encourage your students to think deeply and even debate about texts and other issues.Characters /SettingRisingActionClimaxFallingActionResolution

Reading Street View 4 th Grade Week 11 November 5 – 9, 2012Arc 2: Reading Informational Texts [Inference, Summary] Unit 2: The Power of WordsRecommendations for Read Aloud (RA), Shared Reading (SR), Guided Reading (GR), and Independent Reading (IR)RA /SR:GR:IR:Renaissance in Harlem (Treasures TE Unit 3, p. 328)Words Add Up to Success (Treasures TE Unit 3, p. 330)Approaching Level: Symbols of AmericaOn Level: Symbols of AmericaBeyond Level: Symbols of AmericaELL: Symbols of AmericaOther Treasures texts:Getting Out the Vote (Informational) Leveled Reader, Gr. 3Storytellers of the World (Informational) Leveled Reader, Gr.3Teacher Tip: As you plan for your GR groups, keep in mind that you will want to plan explicitly for eachcomponent of guided reading: Repeated readings of familiar texts, Introduction of new text, Studentsindependently reading text while you observe and record reading behaviors, Comprehension check,and Word work.Additional Resources for Read Aloud:Other selections with The Power of Words as a big idea:Dear Ichiro by Jean OkimotoDiary of a Worm by Doreen CroninClick, Clack, Moo by Doreen CroninEats, Shoots, and Leaves (children's ed) by Lynne TrussClementine's Letter by Sara PennypackerChapter Books:Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal by Jeff KinneyThe Phantom Tollbooth by Norton JusterOther Treasures texts:What Symbols Say, Treasures Time For Kids, pp 48 -51Stop the Spartina!, Treasures Time For Kids, pp.78-79I Have a Dream, A Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., Read-AloudAnthology, p. 51Reading and Riding (Historical Fiction), Read-Aloud Anthology, p. 86Sharing is an important part of Reading Workshop. During sharing time, your students can share what books they are currently reading or a reading response from their journal.You can have them share in small groups or with the entire class. Sharing can be built into your reading workshop block as it doesn’t need to take more than 5 minutes perworkshop period. If time is a concern, you can have sharing every other day or even once a week. Don’t forget to share your own reading choices during this time- your studentswill love to hear about what you are reading and your enthusiasm for reading will be evident!Discussing Genre:Informational texts differ from fiction in anumber of very important ways: Rather than using the narrative structure,informational texts are often organizedinto sections or categories, indicated byheadings and subheadings. Factual texts do not have characters andsettings, although they may focus onparticular people, topics, or places. Factual texts often include graphics suchas maps, charts, and diagrams that addmeaning. Writers of informational texts use a rangeof organizational patterns to provideinformation to readers. It is very important for factual text to beaccurate, or scientifically true, which is notalways the case for fiction.Word Study:Resources:Treasures TE 5-Day Spelling Routine and thePhonics/Spelling Practice Book (Treasures CD).Note also that the “Prepare” section of the TEprovides additional suggestions for teaching thePhonics/Word Study patterns.Another Word Study tip:Keep your Word Wall an active part of yourword study instruction. Choose 10-15 wordsfrom your Word Wall and have your studentswrite each word on a separate small slip ofpaper. Have the students sort the words intodifferent categories depending on somefeatures the words share. You can have yourstudents sort and determine the categories, oryou might have them sort by features such asthe number of syllables, silent –e words, longvowel sounds, words with prefixes or suffixesor both, etc. Words can also be sorted intosemantic features, such as nouns, verbs,adjectives, words that describe people, etc.Fluency:Use the Treasures Approaching Reproducibles,Beyond Reproducibles, and Practice Book (TreasuresCD) to select the appropriate fluency passage for yourstudents. Teach your students to help each otherdetermine their fluency rate and answer thecomprehension questions.Another Fluency Tip:Model reading the first paragraphs from themain selection, Words Add Up to Success. Tellstudents to pay close attention to your phrasingand expression, or the way your voice rises andfalls to express ideas and feelings, as you read.Then read one sentence at a time, and havestudents echo-read the sentences, copying yourphrasing and expression.During independent reading time, have studentswork with a partner using the fluency passage.One student reads aloud, while the otherrepeats each sentence back.Vocabulary:Resources:Introduce the vocabulary for each selectionusing the Vocabulary/Comprehensionpassage preceding each main selection inthe Treasures TE.See the 5-Day Vocabulary Routine inthe pages following each mainselection. The routine includesstudent friendly definitions, questionsto prompt students’ oral practice withthe new words, and activities forstudent engagement and practice withthe vocabulary words.Another Vocabulary Tip:Use the suggested text to pre-teachimportant vocabulary by using theVocabulary Routine outlined in the TE.The 5-Day Building Robust Vocabularysuggestions will provide additionalideas for daily practice with the newvocabulary.

Building Comprehension:Refer back to the anchor chart you created in Week 5 to remind students of the features of aninformational article, the definition you created as a class, and the kind of thinking readers do whenreading this type of text.Inferences: Point out to students that inferring while reading informational texts is much like inferringwhile reading literary texts—except that we are working with facts and information, rather than charactersmoving through a sequence of events. Plan ahead the places where you will stop to ask questions thatlead to inferential thinking. (Use the Comprehension Questions to the right.) Plan the inferences youwant your students to make. For example, in “Words Add Up to Success”, at the end of p. 331, ‘Whatcan we tell about Jaime Escalante from this section of the text?’ (He cared about his students andwanted them to be successful. Clues: p. 331, par.1; p. 331, par.4.)Summary: A good summary gives a very brief overview of a piece of text. Students must learn that thesummaries of narrative and expository text are different. While narrative summaries touch upon theimportant literary elements and events in a story, expository summaries are much more formal, includingthe answers to the “reporter’s questions”: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and sometimes How. Thisreporting strategy is used to help students understand summarization of nonfiction text, and can be usedboth during and after reading.After modeling how to write a good summary for the Read Aloud text, ask students to create a criteriachart for writing a good summary. Guide the students’ responses to include:A Good Nonfiction Summary: Is different from a narrative summary. Gives a very brief overview of the passage of text. Includes only important details and not too many details! Includes only information found in the passage. Ends with a concluding statement about how the information in the article was applied, what waslearned, or the result of the situation described. It gives the summary a sense of completeness.Read “Words Add Up to Success” with your students in a shared reading and use the criteria to guideyour work as you write and revise a summary of this article together.Now, have students work with a partner and use the above criteria to write a summary of a differentexpository article. Display all the student summaries and have the class use the criteria again to judgethe student summaries and determine which one (or combination) makes the best summary.21 st Century Learning:COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION: Collaborate with Others- Assume sharedresponsibility for collaborative work, and value the individual contributions made byeach team member.Students should continue the practice of analyzing text features andauthor’s purpose throughout the year. We know, also, that learning how touse a particular technological tool is of little benefit if we do not follow thelearning with practical application.Review the discussions you’ve had about text features and author’s purpose.Group students in pairs or trios. Each group creates a spreadsheet to use as they readboth fiction and non-fiction selections for the rest of the semester. See sample at thislink: Thinking About my ReadingWhen the groups finish their spreadsheet, have them save it to the campus share drive (eachstudent should share a copy with the title and the student’s name added. This way each childcan continue adding to his or her chart as they read throughout the year. TechnologyApplications: 1B, 7B, 10CComprehension/ Discussion Questions:Summary:• What has happened so far in this story?• Who can summarize what we’ve learned?• What is the basic plot of this story?• What are the most important things that happened?• How would you retell this story in 3-4 sentences?Inference• What do you think the author is really trying to tell us here?• What does the author want us to think about ______?• What clues has the author given us?• What evidence in the text makes us think ______?• What can you tell about ______?• The reader can tell that ______.• Based on the information in the story, the reader can conclude that _____.Good readers understand how to use the graphic features of informational texts to findand build knowledge about a topic. The importance of these features lies in theinformation they provide the reader. Too often we fall into the trap of having our studentslabel the features rather than teaching how to use them as a useful tool for locatinginformation.The following link provides an alternative way to write an expository summary:NF Summary – Combining Main Ideas. If you choose to use this graphic organizer, besure students understand the difference between main idea and summary.** Don’t underestimate the power of modeling for your students. The more you modelgood reading habits, the more your students will take on those behaviors.Anchors of Support for Independent Student Work:Anchors of support should:• Remind students of terminology used with summarizing.• Help students understand what constitutes a good summary.• Provide students with a graphic visual of a summary (e.g. Who, What, When, Where, and How)• Remind students that summary of narrative text is different than summary of expository text.• Make a distinction between explicit information and implied information in text (what does theauthor say -- what does the author mean?)• Remind students to use evidence from the text to support conclusions about the author’sintended messageLA Inference ORS ModuleText Features Anchor, from Sanchez Elem.Be sure to ask students, “What do we learnfrom this text feature?” and “How does thisinformation help us to understand the overallmessage of this text?”Strategy for Expository Summary:-Who/What is the passage mostly about?(topic or subject)-What is important about the topic orsubject?-When does this take place?-Where does this take place?-Why is the topic or subject important?-How does this occur?Teacher Tips: Continue to ask students to summarize during (and after) reading for the rest of the school year. Successful summarization of the relevant ideas in text is oneof the most effective ways to ensure good comprehension and recall of major ideas.

Reading Street View 4 th Grade Week 12 November 13 – 16, 2012Arc 3: Reading Biography (Literary Nonfiction)Unit 2: The Power of Words[Theme, Idioms, First/Third Person, Compare Fiction and Bio/Autobio]Recommendations for Read Aloud (RA), Shared Reading (SR), Guided Reading (GR), and Independent Reading (IR)RA /SR:GR:IR:Barbara Jordan, A Powerful Speaker (Treasures Unit 2, p. 156)Silent Spring No Longer: Rachel Carson (Treasures Unit 3, p. 398)Visit your campus Literacy Library to select literary nonfiction texts (or biographies) that are onyour students’ instructional reading levels. You may also want to look at the leveled readers thatare available on www.connected.mcgraw-hill.com to find biographies your students will beinterested in reading.Tips for Guided Reading: Before reading- Set the purpose for reading, introduce important vocabulary, make predictions, review strategiesreaders use. During reading- Guide students as they read. If a student does not know a word, give the student wait time andprompts/clues such as “Look at how the word begins. Do you see any smaller words in that big word?" If astudent makes an error, try to not interrupt the reading flow. Allow the student to finish the paragraph or pageand then say, "Let’s go back and read that sentence again. Does that make sense?” After reading- Strengthen comprehension by asking students questions related to the week’s comprehensionskill. Facilitate the oral discussion during guided reading. Then you might have students show theirunderstanding of the skill in writing after they leave the GR group, in a graphic organizer or by explaining whatthey learned in their reading journals.Additional Resources for Read Aloud:Other biographies with literary features:My Brother Martin, Treasures Unit 2, p. 141My Brother’s Flying Machine, Treasures Unit 4, p. 509Snowflake Bentley, Treasures Unit 6, p. 747How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning, Treasures Unit 6, p. 779Students love to give each other recommendations for books to read. Maintain an ever-growing list of recommendations where students can both give recommendations andlook for recommendations for their next read. Every now and then, revisit and discuss these recommendations with the class, and encourage students to entice others to readthe books they’ve recommended. Also, ask students who have followed a peer’s recommendation to then share their thoughts on what they’ve read. Thinking and talking aboutbooks can happen in so many ways and it can help foster a love of books and reading.Discussing Genre:A biography is a text written by one ormore writers to tell the story of anotherperson’s life. The subject of abiography is usually someone ofaccomplishment, whether famous orlittle known. The point of a biography isthat the person has lived a life that willbe interesting or informative to others.Students can talk about why the subjectwas important and about the events anddecisions that shaped the author’s life.Deep discussions of the content ofbiography will help students understandthat accomplishments are related tocritical decisions, and that many of themare difficult. They can also help oneanother understand the subject withinthe attitudes and culture of the particulartime or setting.~ Fountas and PinnellWord Study:Treasures TE 5-Day Spelling Routine and thePhonics/Spelling Practice Book (TreasuresCD).Note also that the “Prepare” section of the TEprovides additional suggestions for teachingthe Phonics/Word Study patterns.Another Word Study tip:Write the word play on the board. Tellstudents that a little word like play canbecome a big word when parts are added tothe beginning and ending of the word. Writewords that have play in them. Have studentspronounce the word and talk about how themeaning of the word changes. Here aresome words to get started: plays, playful,playhouse, played, playfully, ballplayer,playoff, playing, playable, player, replay,overplay, playfulness, playground, playpen,players.Fluency:Use the Treasures ApproachingReproducibles, Beyond Reproducibles, andPractice Book (Treasures CD) to select theappropriate fluency passage for yourstudents. Teach your students to help eachother determine their fluency rate andanswer the comprehension questions.An excerpt from each passage can be foundon the Treasures CD, FluencyTransparencies, for teaching fluencytechniques.Another Fluency Tip:Jokes are a great way to get kids to engagein fluency practice. The short text and theabsolute need for appropriate phrasing andintonation provide an enjoyable and effectiveplatform for developing fluency. Studentsare motivated to read the joke just right inorder to get the biggest laugh.Vocabulary:See the 5-Day Vocabulary Routine in the pagesfollowing each main selection. The routine includesstudent friendly definitions, questions to promptstudents’ oral practice with the new words, andactivities for student engagement and practice withthe vocabulary words.Another Vocabulary Tip:By now, your collection of vocabulary wordsshould have many new and interesting wordsstudents have learned from their reading.Periodically remind them that, in order for us toretain the knowledge of new vocabulary andbe able to use it effectively, we have to use itrepeatedly in both our written and oralcommunication. Actively model for them howyou incorporate these words into your ownpersonal vocabulary. Set expectations fortheir continued use of the vocabulary words.Perhaps they could be expected to use at least3 words from the vocabulary list in their weeklyreading response journal entry.

Building Comprehension:Explain and discuss the narrator’s point of view in Autobiography and Biography:Explain to your students that the narrator in a story is the person who tells the story.When the narrator uses the words I, me or my to tell a story, it is told from the firstpersonpoint of view. Ask students to identify the narrator of an autobiography. Askstudents: How do you know who the narrator is? Can you prove your answer? Showme where in the story you see the use of I, me, or my? What sentences exactly?Biography vs. Autobiography: Point out that a biography of a real person’s life is told byanother person and is told from a third-person point of view (he, she, they). Havestudents look at a biography and compare it with the autobiography, discussing how thebiography and autobiography are alike and different. Ask students how the informationin an autobiography might be different from the information a reader would learn in abiography about the same person. (An autobiography may be more personal becausethe person is telling his/her own story. However, he/she may choose to leave out certaininformation that a biographer includes to create a complete picture of the person’s life.)Because the Treasures textbook does not contain a biography or autobiography and afictional account of the same person’s life to compare these two genres, you may try tolook for these texts in your school library. You may be able to find fictional accounts ofevents in Texas history and the biographies written about Sam Houston, William Travis,Davey Crockett, etc. Also, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin,Thomas Edison, and Booker T. Washington often have fictionalized stories written aboutthem. These types of texts may be difficult to find. If that is the case, initiate a discussionwith your class about the differences between a biography and a fictional story on arelated topic. Perhaps Silent Spring No Longer can be (loosely) compared to The GreatKapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. Ask students to identify the differences between thegeneral characteristics of the two texts, the type of information, the style of writing, theway the main character is portrayed, the author’s message, etc.Themes in biography will often include the personality traits of the subject, such as:You must be determined to achieve your goals. Don’t let physical limitations keep youfrom being a winner. Hard work and perseverance will pay off in the end. Fighting forwhat you believe inspires others to continue your work.21 st Century Learning:It’s hard to predict in what texts idioms will be found, so we suggest introducingidioms through the following internet sites so children can learn about idioms ina fun way. Then, students can look for idioms in their reading from this pointforward and add the idioms they find to the class collection.A fun site of illustrated idioms (drawn by kids):Idioms by KidsSee this site for ppts, lesson ideas, and games all devoted to idioms:Idiom ResourcesComprehension/ Discussion Questions:Point-of-View Who is telling the story? How do you know? Does this story tell us the thoughts of all the subjects or characters or just the maincharacter (subject)? What words show you that this selection is an autobiography/biography? Is the author of this story writing about a personal experience? Did _____ write this story from his/her experiences or someone else’s experiences?How do you know? Is the narrator in this story speaking from personal experiences? How does knowing the author’s point-of-view help the reader understand the story?Theme:• What is a theme? What are some examples of themes you might find in stories?• What important themes can you identify in this story?• What other stories have we read that have the same themes?• What is the moral of this story? What lesson does the author want us to learn?Biography: How did the author organize the telling of the events of the person’s life(chronological, under topics, etc.)? How did the use dialogue, flashbacks, foreshadowing, and other ways of organizingtext to make this person’s life interesting? What was the author trying to say by writing about this person?Anchors of Support for Independent Student Work:You may want to use Venn Diagrams to compare subjectsin biographies or autobiographies.Texts wehave ReadExample of a Literature Chart for The Power of Words UnitHow did theCharacters/Peoplein the text use the‘Power of Words’?The Power of WordsWays that Iconnect to thecharacters/people:Ways that I can useThe Power of Wordslike the charactersin the text:How arethese textsconnected?Teacher Tips: In 4 th grade, we expect our students to take on good reading habits including focusing on several skills at once while reading. Good readers can do many things at onceincluding: thinking about the point of view of a text while inferring, summarizing what has been read, and identifying the meaning behind figurative language. It becomes our job asteachers to teach in a way that brings all these skills to the forefront. We do this through the use of modeling, anchor and literature charts, and our pre-planned stopping points withquestions that focus on all the skills being taught.

Reading Street View 4 th Grade Week 13 November 19 – 20, 2012Arc 4: Reading Poetry [Theme, Similes & Metaphors, Analogies] Unit 2: The Power of WordsRecommendations for Read Aloud (RA), Shared Reading (SR), Guided Reading (GR), and Independent Reading (IR)RA /SR:GR:IR:I Love the Look of Words (Treasures Unit 1, p. 122)Other poems found in suggested resources ---- AISD Poetry Study ModuleUse poetry books from your campus library that support the focus TEKS for this week.Teacher Tip: Poetry folders where your students can store the poems that they collect all year are agreat way to help students build their fluency. This ensures that all your students have texts that theyare able to read. Find poems that you think your students will enthusiastically embrace, type them upand add them to their poetry folders. If you provide your students with opportunities to practice theirpoems, you will see an increase in fluency, and by the end of the year, your students should have manyof the poems memorized.Additional Resources for Read Aloud:Other selections with The Power of Words as a big idea:Dear Ichiro by Jean OkimotoDiary of a Worm by Doreen CroninClick, Clack, Moo by Doreen CroninEats, Shoots, and Leaves (children's ed) by Lynne TrussClementine's Letter by Sara PennypackerChapter Books:Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal by Jeff KinneyThe Phantom Tollbooth by Norton JusterOther Treasures texts:What Symbols Say, Treasures Time For Kids, pp 48 -51Stop the Spartina!, Treasures Time For Kids, pp.78-79I Have a Dream, A Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., Read-AloudAnthology, p. 51Reading and Riding (Historical Fiction), Read-Aloud Anthology, p. 86Gather information about your students as readers by creating a system that allows you to keep notes every time you confer with a student. A recipe card holderwith an index card devoted to each student, a spiral notebook, or another type of organizational tool are useful for gathering valuable information. These tools will allow you tokeep track of short running records, students’ book choices, and the notes you take while students tell you about and read to you from their books during your conference.Showing genuine interest in your conversations with students about their reading will help keep your students’ spirits high during independent reading time, and keep themlooking forward to their one-on-one conferences with you.Discussing Genre:Poetry is language that imbues a few words,phrases, and sentences with intense meaning.Poetry provides special opportunities forchildren as they build their processing systemsover time. Poetry: Supports the engagement of emotions—animportant way to respond to both prose andpoetry—while reading. Evokes sensory images, allowing forcommunication of deeper meanings. Lends itself to reading aloud and to readingover and over because of the inherentpleasure the reader or listener takes in theform. Incorporates rhythm and sometimes rhyme. Captures deep meanings in very sparelanguage from which the reader must makeinferences. Offers opportunities for many interpretations.Word StudyTreasures TE 5-Day Spelling Routineand the Phonics/Spelling Practice Book(Treasures CD). Note also that the“Prepare” section of the TE providesadditional suggestions for teaching thePhonics/Word Study patterns.Another Word Study tip:Send students hunting, in their reading,for ‘big words’ related to a topic youchoose (e.g., occupations, big words forsaid, big words describing people, bigwords that end in /shun/.) Label thechart and help students list a few wordsto get started. Then have students addto this chart as they find words fromtheir reading. You may want to specifya minimum number of letters, perhapsseven or eight letters. After the chartbegins to fill, draw attention to thewords, looking for patterns, looking forword parts, etc.Fluency:Use the Treasures ApproachingReproducibles, Beyond Reproducibles, andPractice Book (Treasures CD) to select theappropriate fluency passage for yourstudents. Teach your students to help eachother determine their fluency rate andanswer the comprehension questions.Another Fluency Tip:Sing a silly song: Singing familiar songs withunfamiliar lyrics gives kids anotheropportunity to practice repeated reading forfluency. First, you can teach your studentswell-known songs like "Row Row Row YourBoat," and then, when they can sing thatwithout looking at the lyrics, give them newlyrics to sing to the same tune. This will,once again, encourage students to attend tothe text and build automaticity and rate witha new set of words. http://bussongs.comand http://www.make4fun.com have avariety of both traditional and parody songs.Vocabulary:Introduce the vocabulary for each selectionusing the Vocabulary/Comprehensionpassage preceding each main selection in theTreasures TE.See the 5-Day Vocabulary Routine in thepages following each main selection. Theroutine includes student friendly definitions,questions to prompt students’ oral practicewith the new words, and activities for studentengagement and practice with the vocabularywords.Another Vocabulary Tip:Consider establishing a weekly vocab.challenge to actively engage students with tierII vocabulary found in their reading. Newwords can be posted by students who will beexpected to explain the word and activelymodel use of the new word throughout theweek. The student with the most words eachweek has the honor of facilitating the followingweek’s challenge.

Building Comprehension:Explain to your students that when we compare two things and say they are “like” eachother it is called a simile. (“The rain fell like tears.”) In a metaphor, dissimilar things arecompared without the word “like.” (“The moon was a beckoning lantern.”)Make a list of common items and ask your students to help you write a simile or metaphorfor each item. Explain to students that the items being compared do not need to be closelyrelated as long as they have characteristics that can be compared. Have students orallyexplain how they think the two items compare: A storm is like a lion because….It really is: It could be called: Use this poem to teach metaphor in poetry.storm lion (from Teaching For Comprehending andmy bed bird’s nest Fluency by Fountas & Pinnell)my bedmy puppyhomeworkrainlaughterice creamUsing “I Love the Look of Words” from Treasures,p. 122, ask students: What items is the authorcomparing in this poem? Have them highlight inone color the words in the poem that are wordsthat refer to popcorn. (Popcorn leaps, popping,leap, snapping, gobbles, etc.) Now have thechildren circle in a different color the words that refer to reading. (Black words, leap, whitepage, into my eyes, etc.) Which words are both highlighted and circled? Not many—perhaps only the words leap, gobbles, stuck, and popped. This should draw the students’attention to the words the author chose to compare these two dissimilar ideas. Ask whatthey think the deeper meaning of this poem might be. (The words of a book pop into ourminds as quickly as popcorn pops into our mouths. OR The ideas from a book stay in ourminds like the smell of butter stays on our fingers. OR Reading is fun, like eatingpopcorn.) What feelings does this poem evoke? How does the poet use language tocreate this emotion? How does this poem connect to the unit theme of ‘The Power ofWords”?For an additional poetry lesson and definitions of the Elements of Poetry, see this website:Elements of Poetry21 st Century Learning:December Leaves, by Kaye StarbirdThe fallen leaves are cornflakesThat fill the lawn’s wide dish,And night and noonThe wind’s a spoonThat stirs them with a swishThe sky’s a silver sifterA-sifting white and slow,That gently shakesOn crisp brown flakesThe sugar known as snow.Part of 21 st Century Learning is to be able to communicate and collaborate with others.Use this week to utilize technology with your students as they collaborate to celebrate ThePower of Words. Allow students to work in pairs or groups to come up with a presentationfor the class centered on ways that they can use The Power of Words in their everydaylives. Have students connect their presentations to the characters/people that they havebeen reading about. What traits do the students share with the characters?A focus this week is on analogies: http://www.spellingcity.com/analogies.htmlComprehension/ Discussion Questions:Poetry: What are the characteristics of this poem? What type of poem is it? Were there any words or phrases you especially liked? What images come to mind as you read this poem? What is the main message in the poem? What makes you think that? Why does the poet include this line ___? Why were lines __ through __ included in the poem? Which word best describes the feeling that the poet creates in this poem? Who’s talking in the poem? What is the speaker doing (thinking) in thepoem? Why do you think the poet titled the poem __? Does the poem remind you of anything in your life? What do you think the poet wants the reader to think? What poetic techniques did the author use when writing this poem?Theme: What is a theme? What are some examples of themes you might find instories? What important themes can you identify in this story? What other stories have we read that have the same themes? What is the moral of this story? What lesson does the author want us tolearn?Similes and Metaphors: What words did the author use to describe or compare two things? What did the author say a person or object was like? Why was the author comparing the [character, object, action] to somethingelse?This lesson http://betterlesson.com/lesson/7944/sensory-image provides another instructionalroutine for teaching sensory images. It includes suggestion for read aloud, alternate poems,graphic organizers and a power point presentation.Anchors of Support for Independent Student Work:See this Poetry Anchor and Figurative Language Anchor (from Sanchez Elem.)Post an anchor chart on the Elements of Poetry that includes examples of figurative languagesuch as metaphor, simile, and personification.A literature chart for a collection of poems:TITLE of PoemAnd AuthorSpecialCHARACTERISTICSTHEME or BiggerMeaningCONNECTION to OtherTexts in this UnitTeacher Tips: Students can share their poetry selections or poetry anthologies in many different ways. For example, groups of five or six can select poems by the same poet, readthem aloud, and share research about the poet’s writing style and life. Students can also find poems on the same topic or in the same form and read them aloud to one another. You canalso integrate poetry with all content areas of the curriculum. You will want to have a special place to display the anthologies and engage students in working on them throughout the year.

Reading Street View 4 th Grade Week 14 *MOY WEEK* November 26 – 30, 2012Arc 5: MOY Testing/Review and Assess Previous SkillsUnit 2: The Power of WordsRecommendations for Read Aloud (RA), Shared Reading (SR), Guided Reading (GR), and Independent Reading (IR)RA /SR:GR:IR:Use this week to revisit any fiction or non-fiction text selections and re-read tostrengthen vocabulary and content knowledge.Students have been reading many texts since the beginning of the year in both their guided readinggroups and during their independent reading time. Use this week to have students write reviews forsome of their favorite books and present them to the class.In, The Art of Teaching Reading, Lucy Calkins says:Of course, when we go to the library or the bookstore, our selections are guided by the reviews we haveread or heard. Children are less apt to have other people’s reviews in mind when they look over acollection of books. One way teachers can provide some of this supportive context for book choice is toencourage children to share their opinions about books they’ve read… Promotional book talks are aformal means of supporting what happens informally all the time. Books take on social currency. Theyare the talk of the town. Children tell each other, “You gotta read my book. It’s so cool.”Additional Resources for Read Aloud:Other selections with The Power of Words as a big idea:Dear Ichiro by Jean OkimotoDiary of a Worm by Doreen CroninClick, Clack, Moo by Doreen CroninEats, Shoots, and Leaves (children's ed) by Lynne TrussClementine's Letter by Sara PennypackerChapter Books:Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal by Jeff KinneyThe Phantom Tollbooth by Norton JusterOther Treasures texts:What Symbols Say, Treasures Time For Kids, pp 48 -51Stop the Spartina!, Treasures Time For Kids, pp.78-79I Have a Dream, A Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., Read-AloudAnthology, p. 51Reading and Riding (Historical Fiction), Read-Aloud Anthology, p. 86As adult readers, most of us probably have a running list of books that we want to read. We participate in book clubs or book chats, and we tend to perk up and pay attentionwhen we hear someone else talk about their favorite books. Children who are developing their skills and interest in reading are really no different. Teachers should encouragestudents to have book talks where they share with the class what they have been reading and why they think that other students should read it, keep lists on the wall wherestudents can recommend books to each other, and a list in their journal where they keep “Books to Read.”Discussing Genre:A primary focus this year is on teachingour students how to move seamlesslyfrom one genre to another in theirreading. At this point in the year, youhave looked at fiction and nonfictiontexts through numerous lenses. TheMOY week offers a perfect opportunityto review the structures, features andpurposes of different types of fictionand nonfiction texts.Are students grasping and ableto verbalize the differencesbetween genres?Are students adjusting theways they read the variousgenres?Word Study: Review skills and words fromprevious weeks.This is a good week to play a spelling game withwords from the AISD non-negotiable word listor Word Wall words. The game, ‘Sparkle’, is aquiet game where students line up next to eachother. You say a word aloud and one person at atime (in sequence) says one letter of the word tospell the word correctly. The person who is nextin line after the last letter of the word says theword “Sparkle!” to indicate the end of the word. Ifone person says the wrong letter, the teacherindicates that the letter is wrong and that studentsits down. They are out of this round of thegame. The next student in line has the chance tosay the correct letter. If that person gets it wrong,they sit down and you continue to give the nextstudent in line the chance to say the next correctletter. Once you’ve completed a word with“Sparkle!” at the end, begin with a new wordgiven to the next student in line. Continue playuntil only one person remains standing and isable to finish spelling the entire last wordcorrectly. This person is the winner for that round.All students stand and begin a new round.Fluency:Readers can help each other assess fluency. At thebeginning of independent reading time, partners sittogether with a book at their independent orinstructional reading level. (Some teachers havestudents use the books they read during guided readingto practice fluency.) One partner reads aloud, while theother partner watches the clock and tells him when oneminute has passed. The reading partner makes a ‘stopmark’ in his book at the last word he read and countsthe number of words read in one minute. He recordshis number of words on a personal fluency chart.Partners switch roles so the other partner can record hisfluency. What about the errors? In this type ofassessment, the number of errors is not so important.When an error is made, often the listening partnercorrects the reading partner, and this correction upsetsthe flow of reading just enough to affect the totalnumber of words read with the same effect assubtracting the number of errors. It is not a perfectfluency test. However, it is a fun way for students topractice and monitor their own fluency. Note: Theteacher can decide whether she will allow readers topractice the text they will read to assess fluencybeforehand.Vocabulary:This is a great week to play avocabulary game with your students toreview the words from the past fewweeks. For example, VocabularyBingo is an easy game that studentslove. Prepare cards with a 5x5 arrayof vocabulary words. Each cardshould be unique, so it requires a littlepreparation on the part of the teacher.Following the regular Bingo rules, theteacher calls out definitions ofvocabulary words -- the students mustcheck off the word on their card if itmatches the definition.

Building Comprehension:Conferring with our students about their independent reading provides an opportunity forimmediate feedback. In The Art of Teaching Reading, Lucy Calkins calls the type ofconferences that she holds with her readers and writers the Research-Decide-Teachconference.This is a perfect week to catch-up on reading conferences with your students; visit and setreading goals. Calkins suggests looking for the following “clues” when researching how achild is reading.Is the reader: Figuring out who is talking, especially if the text doesn’t regularly spell this out bysaying, for example, “said Bill.” Dealing with sections of the text that contain more exposition? These tend to be inlarge, chunky paragraphs, which are harder to read than the more airy sections ofdialogue. Keeping the characters straight, especially if there are many? Following the plot, especially if there are many? Determining who is the narrator of the story? Pointing at the text or subvocalizing [moving lips while reading]? (In which case Itell them it is time for them to graduate from using these strategies.) Recalling the earlier chapters as he or she reads a later one. Can the readeraccumulate the text?Other “clues” that you may look for when conferring with your students:Is the reader: Reading a variety of genres? (Take a quick look at their reading log.) Making inferences? Adding to the background knowledge that he/she has about a particular subject? Transferring new learning from mini-lessons to independent use?*This is only a sample of strategies that readers use and not a complete list.*21 st Century Learning:For additional information on independent reading conference including promptsand organizers for reading response journals, additional assessment tools, andreading strategies, see this website: E-Workshop Independent Reading ModuleThe following pages are particularly useful:Sample Reading Strategies – pg. 6Guidelines for Assessing a Student’s Comprehension – pg. 12How to Use Written Responses – pg. 20(Continued from previous column)After researching how the student is reading and deciding what he/she needs instructionon, Calkins moves into the teaching portion of the conference:I begin my conferences with “the connection,” in which I tell the child what I want to talkabout, why it seems important, and how it fits into the things we’ve been doing together.Next I teach. I give information. I offer a bit of advice. I demonstrate what I hope the childwill do. I suggest a strategy other readers use. It is tempting to end the conference here…Instead, I often try to get the reader to start using the new strategy right then and there, andI coach the reader toward this.Reading goals provide good information for teachers, students, and parents. If goals aresent home, parents can also help the students work towards meeting them. Goals alsoprovide a structure for future conferences and give students purpose during theirindependent reading time.Calkins gives the following examples of goals that students set during conferences withtheir teachers: Give myself a retelling test often so I make sure I’m understanding the book. UsePost-its to mark the major new parts of the story. Reread last year’s read-alouds and try to see things I didn’t see before, and thatway try to be a deeper reader. I want to read to know more stuff (like learning about cell structure, because I thinkit’s cool). I am trying to read so I do something. First I’ll read a chess book so I can beready for a tournament. I am trying to find the “big stuff” in books, not just what happens. I am trying to talk about my books and grow intellectually.The examples provided above are ones that students set for themselves, however, bothstudents AND teachers should have an active role in setting goals. Goals that will help thereader strengthen his/her reading habits and push the reader to choose different genres ofbooks should be set during conferences.Whatever goals you set, it is a good idea for both you and your students to keep a record ofthem for future reference.Teacher Tips for the MOY week:As students take the MOY Assessment, use the opportunity to observe them. This is agreat way for you to see what strategies they apply and what strategies you don’t see themusing, but that might help them to be successful. Watch for signs of text anxiety so that youcan help those students with ways to relax.Towards the end of the week, you might find it useful to review the Reading MOY tests withyour students. Celebrate the skills that were mastered, but also focus on skills that needmore practice. What skills did individual students show mastery? What skills are individual students still struggling with? What skills did the class as a whole show mastery? What skills is the class as a whole still struggling with? How does this help to inform future lessons? Independent reading conferences?Teacher Tips: “What proponents of test practice sometimes fail to recognize is one unavoidable fact: if students cannot read the texts that are expected, then noamount of test practice will help them.” ~ Fountas and Pinnell in Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency

Reading Street View 4 th Grade Week 15 December 3 – 7, 2012Arc 1: Reading Connected Texts , Topic: ChangeUnit 3: Connecting Texts[Make Connections, Dictionary Use, Inference, Summary]Recommendations for Read Aloud (RA), Shared Reading (SR), Guided Reading (GR), and Independent Reading (IR)RA /SR:GR:The Country Mouse and the City Mouse (Treasures Unit 4, p. 408) to introduce vocabularyThe Cricket in Times Square (Treasures Unit 4, p. 410)Connect to:Westward and Southward Bound! (Treasures Time For Kids, p. 8) ORWhen the Floods Come (Treasures Time For Kids, p. 16)Approaching Level: In the Land of the GiantsOn Level: The Tiger-Stripe PotionBeyond Level: The Wood SpriteELL: Jani and the LeopardAdditional Resources for Read Aloud:Other books with a “Change” theme:The Big Orange Splot by Daniel PinkwaterHow Many Days to America? by Eve BuntingSmoky Night by Eve BuntingMiss Rumphius by Barbara CooneyLog Cabin Quilt by Ellen HowardLetting Swift River Go by Jane YolenThe Gardener by Sarah StewartIR:For many intermediate grade students, the primary focus of the guided reading lesson is developingstrategies to increase comprehension. Be sure to segment or chunk the text prior to the lesson anddevelop stopping point questions that assess students’ comprehension as they are reading. If studentsstruggle to answer the stopping point question, ask them: What can you do to help you answer thatquestion? You’ll be looking for them to respond by saying something like: I can go back and rereadthat part of the text with the question in mind. This will help them understand that rereading is astrategy readers use to maintain or regain comprehension when understanding breaks down.Chapter Books:Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlanDear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly ClearyTuck Everlasting by Natalie BabbittEncourage students to read from a variety of texts in both fiction and non-fiction. Challenge them to try a book from a genre they haven’t read before. Use students’ readinglogs to find out what genres they tend to read and which they haven’t tried yet. Provide recommendations for other texts in different genres they may enjoy. You may want tocreate a set of “genre bags” with a small sampling of the exemplar text for a particular genre.Discussing Genre:Connecting texts is the source of muchof the pleasure of reading. We aredrawn to texts that help us rememberand better understand our ownexperiences and emotions, creatinglinks between our own lives and thoseof other human beings who may be fardistant in terms of culture, geography, ortime. These connections arise fromboth fiction and nonfiction, andconnections among texts enrichunderstanding in every genre.These connections may take any form—the setting, the time in history, thetheme or problem, a character, the styleof writing, the genre, and so on.Word Study:Treasures TE 5-Day Spelling Routine and thePhonics/Spelling Practice Book (Treasures CD).Note also that the “Prepare” section of the TEprovides additional suggestions for teaching thePhonics/Word Study patterns.Another Word Study tip:Write the word work on the board. Tell studentsthat a little word like work can become a big wordwhen parts are added to the beginning andending of the word. Write words that have workin them. Have students pronounce the word andtalk about how the meaning of the word changes.Here are some words to get started: worked,working, worker, teamwork, rework, legwork,unworkable, overworked, hardworking, workable,groundwork, housework, paperwork, workshop,homework, network, schoolwork, workshop,workoutFluency:Resources:Use the Treasures Approaching Reproducibles,Beyond Reproducibles, and Practice Book(Treasures CD) to select the appropriate fluencypassage for your students. Teach your students tohelp each other determine their fluency rate andanswer the comprehension questions.An excerpt from each passage can be found on theTreasures CD, Fluency Transparencies, forteaching fluency techniques.Another Fluency Tip:This week’s main selection, from The Cricketin Times Square, will give you an opportunityto practice reading dialogue fluently. Be sureto point out to students that it is important tothink about what each character is trying toconvey when you are reading dialogue. Thishelps readers know what type of intonation isneeded.Vocabulary:Resources:Introduce the vocabulary for each selectionusing the Vocabulary/Comprehension passagepreceding each main selection in the TreasuresTE.See the 5-Day Vocabulary Routine in the pagesfollowing each main selection. The routineincludes student friendly definitions, questionsto prompt students’ oral practice with the newwords, and activities for student engagementand practice with the vocabulary words.Another Vocabulary Tip:Use a graphic organizer like the FrayerModel to encourage students to thinkmore deeply about new vocabulary andanalyze words. Students use 4 squaresto explore the meaning of a word: Box 1:Define the term (student friendly terms);Box 2: Identify characteristics/ facts aboutthe word; Box 3: Give examples; Box 4:Non-examples.

Building Comprehension:Inference: Plan ahead for the stopping points where you will model making inferences whilereading aloud or during shared reading. For example, in “The Cricket in Times Square”, afterp. 415, you can talk about what you have learned so far about the personality of TuckerMouse. Share the evidence in the text that shows that Tucker is friendly and generous.Making Connections: Rather that introducing the themes that connect the text selectionsabove, allow readers to make their own discoveries. When comparing “The Cricket in TimesSquare” to “Westward and Southward Bound!”, begin by reviewing the differences betweena literary text and an informational text. There are obviously plenty of differences. But whatare the similarities? Students may suggest that both selections are about moving from onegeographical place to another. Both texts provide different answers to questions such as:Why do people move? How do people decide where to live? Why do people stay in a newplace? (You can also refer to “The Country Mouse and the City Mouse” for additional ideas.)These two texts are also about change. Some people choose to make changes in theirlives; others are forced to change. Either way, they learn to adjust to new environments andnew ways of living. In time, they begin to appreciate the changes in their lives. Thisconcept can also be explored through “When the Floods Come”. How do people learn toadjust to change? What sorts of things do they learn to appreciate after these changes?After exploring and discussing these concepts throughout the above selections, ask yourstudents to develop the author’s theme for each selection. The themes should be slightlydifferent for each selection, to capture the essence of each author’s message.Summary: After the above discussion about the connections and themes of the texts, yourstudents will have had enough guided support to write a summary of the texts with a partner.They can write their summary and meet with another set of partners to compare and revise theirsummaries while you go on to meet with a guided reading group.Dictionary Use: Students must learn to use dictionaries to find words and their definitions. Thebest way to teach dictionary skills is to authentically model for your students how YOU would usethe dictionary. Use your document camera to show students how you would find the word and itsmeaning. Don’t forget to point out how dictionaries provide us with pronunciation, parts ofspeech, syllabication, and more than one meaning. Show students how to use the part ofspeech, examples, and process of elimination to determine which dictionary meaning applies tothe context of the reading, where the word was originally found. See the explanation of dictionaryconcepts in the 4 th Grade CRM, Unit 3 Arc 1.21 st Century Learning:Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to communicateand work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to thelearning of others: b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using avariety of media and formats.Teaching your students dictionary skills is a wonderful way for students to work in partners orgroups. Provide groups of students with a list of sentences that use multiple meaning words anda dictionary. Have students find the definition that best matches how the word was used in thesentence. Each group should have different sentences. Groups or partners should present their“findings” to the class and be able to explain why the chosen definition was the best.Comprehension/ Discussion Questions:Connecting Across Texts: What is a major idea found in both selections/stories? The story and the article both present ideas about _____ Why was __ mentioned in both (one genre) and (another genre)? What is the theme in both selections? What do the lessons in __ and __ have in common? A theme found in both stories is __. In comparing __ and __, what was the difference in the moral lessons in the twoselections?Strategy for Narrative Summary:-Somebody (identify the character(s)-Wanted (describe the character’s goal)-But (describe a conflict that hindersthe character)-So (describe how the character reactsto the conflict)-Then (describe the resolution of theconflict)*Remember to focus on information thatis most significant.For creative lesson ideas on dictionary use, see this website: Dictionary Skills Weparticularly like the “Dictionary Treasure Hunt” and “Stump the Teacher” sections for waysto make learning dictionary skills fun.*We strongly caution against asking students to copy words and their definitions.Instead, model how to authentically use a dictionary and/or thesaurus. When planning forthis week, keep in mind how you use dictionaries in your everyday life. How can youtransfer that knowledge to your students?Anchors of Support for Independent Student Work:See ORS Module on Connecting Across TextsBoth T-Charts, I-Charts and Venn Diagrams work well to compare texts.Text 1 Text 2 Text 1: Text 2:Strategy for Expository Summary:-Who/What is the passage mostlyabout? (topic or subject)-What is important about the topic orsubject?-When does this take place?-Where does this take place?-Why is the topic or subject important?-How does this occur?For PowerPoint presentations to introduce multiple-meaning words, lesson ideas, andgames on multiple-meaning words and dictionary use, see this website: MultipleMeaning Word ActivitiesAssign www.learning.com lesson, “Creating a Portfolio.” Students will create a portfolio for savingdocuments for the rest of the year. {In campus S Drive}Connections:Teacher Tips: Developing comparing and contrasting skills should not be limited to reading! Students can integrate these skills throughout their learning, comparing historical events, animalgroups and adaptations, planets, important people, systems of the body, types of clouds, etc. Comparing and contrasting should become a habit of mind for all students.

Reading Street View 4 th Grade Week 16 December 10 – 14, 2012Arc 2: Reading Connected Texts, Topic: Save The EnvironmentUnit 3: Connecting Texts[Making Connections, Word Meaning–Roots/Affixes, Inference, Summary]Recommendations for Read Aloud (RA), Shared Reading (SR), Guided Reading (GR), and Independent Reading (IR)RA /SR:GR:IR:Take Me to Your Litter (Treasures 3 rd grade Read Aloud Anthology pg. 132) ORAdditional Resources for Read Aloud:Into the Depth of the Sea (Treasures Leveled Reader, Grade 5) available at:Other books with a “Save the Environment” theme:Connect to:www.connected.mcgraw-hill.comThe Lorax by Dr. SeussProtect Our Valuable Oceans (Treasures Unit 2, p. 260) ORThe Great Kapok Tree by Lynne CherryCoral Reef Rescue (Treasures Time for Kids, p. 72)A River Ran Wild by Lynne CherryVisit your school Literacy Library to find texts that will connect well to the ‘Save the Environment’theme, as well as texts at your students’ instructional reading levels.Letting Swift River Go by Jane YolenAlejandro’s Gift by Richard AlbertTeacher Tip: Choosing books that connect to the theme will enable you to focus on the skill of makingconnections between literary and informational texts. Your GR groups will be able to make connectionsbetween their GR text and the Read Aloud and Shared Reading texts you read with the class.Chapter Book: Hoot by Carl HiaasenFrom National Geographic Reach:Water, The Blue Gold, pgs. 239-243 (Persuasive)Nature Inside Us, pg. 271 (Poem)The Sun in Me, pg. 272-273 (Poem)At the end of independent reading, have students take time to share/discuss their reading with a partner or small group. As you walk around and listen to these conversations,make notes about students’ reading behaviors and responses. Use your notes to guide future independent reading conferences and discussions.Discussing Genre:One of the wonderful things about reading is thatreaders constantly make connections betweenand among the texts they read. The more theyread, the easier it is to understand how texts areorganized and how writers use language to createcharacters, plot, and meaning. Engaging with atext may involve making connections to:Content: I’ve read another book on this topic.Genre: This is a mystery like…Author: This author always…Setting: ____ took place in this same location.Characters: She reminds me of ___ in anotherbook I read.Illustrations: These illustrations remind me of theones in ____.Plot: This story is like___.Structure: This story has a [literary device, suchas flashback] just like____.Theme: I’m learning the same lesson in this bookas in ____.Language: This writer’s language reminds me of_____’s.Tone: This book is [funny, sad, angry] just like___.Word Study:The “Prepare” section of the TE providesadditional suggestions for teaching thePhonics/Word Study patterns.Another Word Study tip:(Taken from Words Their Way, pg. 248)Word Tree: Words that Grow from Base Wordsand Roots1. Decide on a base word or aword root to highlight.2. Write the base word or rootword at the bottom of the tree,and think of as many forms aspossible.3. Write the different forms onindividual branches.4. Display and encouragestudents to think of, find, andrecord more derived words.Fluency:Use the Treasures ApproachingReproducibles, Beyond Reproducibles,and Practice Book (Treasures CD) toselect the appropriate fluency passagefor your students. Teach your studentsto help each other determine theirfluency rate and answer thecomprehension questions.Another Fluency Tip:To model reading fluently withexpression, choose an exciting passagefrom a story. You might say, “Listen tothe rise and fall of my voice as I read thispassage. I will speak in a louder voiceon the exciting parts and a normal voiceto tell explanations. I will try to use theexpression that a character might usewhen speaking. I try to match myexpression to the content and the moodof the passage.” (Scott Foresman, Guideon the Side)Vocabulary:Introduce the vocabulary for eachselection using the Vocabulary/Comprehension passage precedingeach main selection in the TreasuresTE.See the 5-Day Vocabulary Routine inthe pages following each mainselection. The routine includesstudent friendly definitions, questionsto prompt students’ oral practice withthe new words, and activities forstudent engagement and practicewith the vocabulary words.Another Vocabulary Tip:Break the class into teams of 4 to 6students and challenge them to findas many words as they can that arederived a specific root such as inter(between), geo (earth), dict (speak),and cycl (round).

Building Comprehension:Inference: Plan ahead for the stopping points where you will model making inferences while readingaloud or during shared reading. For example, in “Take Me to Your Litter”, after p. 137, you can talkabout what you have learned so far about how Marcos and Amanda feel about the visitors to Earth.Share the evidence in the drama that shows that they are comfortable with these visitors, possiblyeven intrigued.Making Connections: Rather that introducing the themes that connect the text selections above,allow readers to make their own discoveries. When comparing “Take Me to Your Litter” to “ProtectOur Valuable Oceans”, review the differences between a drama and an informational text, based onthe details of these selections. There are obviously plenty of differences. But what are thesimilarities? Students may suggest that both selections are about the Earth and pollution in theoceans. Ask students to find exactly what they learn about water pollution in each of the texts. Whatis causing the pollution? What are the effects? And what solutions are we, earthlings, working on toprevent the further deterioration of our oceans? How does each author communicate these causes,effects, and solutions to this problem? Which is more effective? How does each author emphasizethe importance of conserving our environment and oceans?After exploring and discussing these concepts throughout the above selections, ask your students todevelop the author’s theme for each selection. The themes should be slightly different for eachselection, to capture the essence of each author’s message.Summary: After the above discussion about the connections and themes of the texts, your studentswill have had enough guided support to write a summary of the texts with a partner. They can writetheir summary and meet with another set of partners to compare and revise their summaries whileyou go on to meet with a guided reading group.Roots Words and Affixes: This week you will also want to spend some time explicitly looking ataffixes such as prefixes and suffixes. Highlight words with prefixes and suffixes and their meaningsas you read aloud to students – this week and every week. For an explanation of how affixes changethe meaning of root word, see the 4 th Grade CRM, Unit 3 Arc 2.Have students begin keeping a vocabulary bank of word parts. This will be a place for them to collectroots, prefixes and suffixes, along with their definitions for later reference.Comprehension/ Discussion Questions:Connecting Across Texts: What is a major idea found in both selections/stories? The story and the article both present ideas about _____ Why was __ mentioned in both (one genre) and (another genre)? What is the theme in both selections? What do the lessons in __ and __ have in common? A theme found in both stories is __. In comparing __ and __, what was the difference in the moral lessons in thetwo selections?Word Meaning based on roots and affixes: Do you recognize any part of this word? Is there a prefix or a suffix that helps you figure out what it might mean? Are there parts of this word that are similar to other words you know? A synonym/antonym for ________ is ________. The word ___________ means ____________. The word ___________ is related to ____________.Strategy for Narrative Summary:-Somebody (identify the character(s)-Wanted (describe the character’sgoal)-But (describe a conflict that hindersthe character)-So (describe how the characterreacts to the conflict)-Then (describe the resolution of theconflict)*Remember to focus on informationthat is most significant.Strategy for Expository Summary:-Who/What is the passage mostlyabout? (topic or subject)-What is important about the topic orsubject?-When does this take place?-Where does this take place?-Why is the topic or subjectimportant?-How does this occur?21 st Century Learning:A quick- write is a tool you can use prior to reading that will make a difference in the comprehensionof a text. Prior to reading about a topic, students can list the related words and terms they know,write a paragraph discussing what they know about the topic, or make notes about it. These actionshelp them activate and summarize their knowledge and anticipate what they will read about. Afterreading, they can go back and add to this information, crossing out ideas that are not correct or donot apply to the topic and writing another paragraph that reflects the integration of their existing andnew knowledge. Encourage your students to use technology for their quick-writes and to creategraphic organizers, so they will be technologically prepared for success in the new global economy.Anchors of Support for Independent Student Work:See ORS Module on Connecting Across TextsBoth T-Charts, I-Charts and Venn Diagrams work well to compare texts.Text 1: Text 2:Text 1 Text 2Connections:Teacher Tips: When planning for read aloud and shared reading lessons, be sure to plan your vocabulary and stopping points ahead of time. Include a variety of questions, but do besure to address the comprehension focus. By planning ahead you’ll be sure that you’re instruction is rigorous enough to challenge all of your students appropriately.

Reading Street View 4 th Grade Week 17 December 17-20 2012Arc 3: Reading Connected Texts (Poetry), Topic: Change & Save the EnvironmentUnit 3: Connecting Texts[Making Connections, Inference, Theme]Recommendations for Read Aloud (RA), Shared Reading (SR), Guided Reading (GR), and Independent Reading (IR)RA /SR:GR:IR:Breaks Free (Treasures Time for Kids, pg. 84) –Topic: ChangeWater Dance (Treasures Read Aloud Anthology pgs. 63-64) – Topic: ChangeThe New Kid (Treasures Unit 2, p. 184) – Topic: ChangeSome Rivers (Treasures Read Aloud Anthology pg. 18) – Topic: Save the EnvironmentWalk Lightly (AISD Poetry Study Module pg. 41) – Topic: Save the EnvironmentContinue to select leveled books, poetry, and high interest chapter books from your school’sLiteracy Library for guided reading.Teacher Tip: After the lesson, take a moment to note observations, reflect, and take anecdotal recordsabout specific students and their reading behaviors in order to plan mini-lessons and small group wordstudy.Other books with a “Change” theme:The Big Orange Splot by Daniel PinkwaterHow Many Days to America? by Eve BuntingSmoky Night by Eve BuntingMiss Rumphius by Barbara CooneyLog Cabin Quilt by Ellen HowardThe Gardener by Sarah StewartAdditional Resources for Read Aloud:Recommended poets whose works are available online include:Roald DahlRobert FrostWilliam BlakeShel SilversteinEmily DickinsonAISD Poetry Study ModuleOther books with a “Save the Environment” theme:The Lorax by Dr. SeussThe Great Kapok Tree by Lynne CherryA River Ran Wild by Lynne CherryLetting Swift River Go by Jane YolenAlejandro’s Gift by Richard AlbertFrom National Geographic Reach:Water, The Blue Gold, pgs. 239-243 (Persuasive)Nature Inside Us, pg. 271 (Poem)The Sun in Me, pg. 272-273 (Poem)Independent reading is a necessary component of balanced literacy to allow students the opportunity to apply what they have learned as readers in an independent setting. It isimportant for teachers to take time to interact with students through the Independent Reading Conference to make sure they are applying new skills, choosing just-right books,and setting goals to improve their reading ability.Discussing Genre:Poetry is a genre that lends itself toanalytical thinking, but we should becautious about asking children to takethat stance too quickly. If they aregoing to learn to love poetry, theyneed to feel it and enjoy its languagefirst. Many of us remember learningto hate poetry or a particular poembecause of endless analyses inEnglish class.For people who read poetry forpleasure, the important thing is toenjoy the language and the imagesand emotions that these words evoke.Many people read poems again andagain, often aloud, because of thefeelings they generate. They enjoythe response itself.Word Study:Treasures TE 5-Day Spelling Routine and thePhonics/Spelling Practice Book.Note also that the “Prepare” section of the TEprovides additional suggestions for teaching thePhonics/Word Study patterns.Another Word Study tip:Begin a chart of words that contain the ou vowelpattern, such as could, touch, through, boughtthough. Point out to students that each word ispronounced differently. Challenge students tofind other words spelled with ou that have thesame sound as the first word in each category.As they find words, have them add the newwords to the correct category. Review these listsperiodically to make sure students are spellingthe words correctly and hearing the soundscorrectly to write them into the correct category.Fluency:Have students reread a portion of any selectionthey read in previous weeks. Allow them tochoose the selection and two to fourparagraphs of their favorite pages from theselection. Work with students on reading thepages with the appropriate expression.Provide time for students to read their sectionsof text to you. Comment on their expression,and provide corrective feedback by modelingproper fluency.Ask a general comprehension question aboutthe paragraphs they chose to read, such as:What was this part about? What washappening in this part of the story? Why is thispart important to the story? We want studentsto know that it is always important tounderstand what they are reading, even whenthey are practicing their fluency.Vocabulary:Vocabulary Tip:Play the synonym game with yourstudents. Divide the class into two teams.With each round, the teacher introduces aword with many synonyms (e.g. "happy"),and each team must come up with asmany synonyms as they can in 3 minutes(e.g. glad, cheerful, delighted, elated,etc.). The teacher keeps score, awarding1 point for each word a team thought ofthat the other team did not think of. (e.g.,If both teams think of "thrilled," thenneither team gets a point, but if only oneteam thinks of that word, they get a pointfor it.) Don't forget to encourage studentsto use words from the word banks in theclassroom.

Building Comprehension:Some of the poems suggested for this week’s lessons are linked to the previousconnecting theme of ‘Change’ and others to the topic of ‘Save the Environment’. Withouttelling this to your students, ask them what connections they can make to the previoustexts they have read.Other poetic elements to highlight in these poems:“Breaks Free” – rhyme and rhythm, meaning of the title, contrasting imagery, author’smessage, type of poem - lyrical“Water Dance” – define the words cascade, wind, palisades, and drench prior to readingthe poem (see p.62), each stanza is a riddle, repetition, personification, descriptive wordchoices, meaning of the title, theme, type of poem – free verse“The New Kid” – rhyme and rhythm, rhyme scheme, surprise ending, feelings evoked,who is the speaker, author’s message, type of poem – lyrical“Some Rivers” – rhyme and rhythm, word choice affects rhythm and tone, personification,author’s message, type of poem – lyrical?“Walk Lightly” – personification, repetition, the meaning of each sentence (Why should theRiver remind us that everything will pass?), capitalization of Earth, Sky, Sea, etc.,meaning of the title, author’s message, type of poem – free verseHave students work with a partner to read one poem and mark the structural elementsthey notice in this poem. Instruct them to write the type of poem and theme or author’smessage at the end of each poem. Allow 10-15 minutes for this initial analysis,encouraging them to read and re-read the poem, focusing on different elements with eachreading. Then, have each set of partners meet with another set of partners who analyzedthe same poem. Each group shares their findings with the other members. Finally,conduct a whole class discussion of the poem and the process of analysis. What did theylearn from their partners or their groups that they did not notice on their own? Do theyprefer to read poetry with someone else or alone? Aloud or silently?21 st Century Learning:This lesson http://betterlesson.com/lesson/7944/sensory-image provides aninstructional routine for teaching sensory images. It includes suggestion for readaloud, alternate poems, graphic organizers and a power point presentation.Select a graphic organizer that you will use for sensory imagery throughout theweek. Create an anchor chart with this graphic organizer for students to refer toand have copies of the graphic organizer available as an instructional aide.Comprehension/ Discussion Questions:Poetry: What are the characteristics of this poem? What type of poem is it? Were there any words or phrases you especially liked? What images come to mind as you read this poem? What is the main message in the poem? What makes you think that? Why does the poet include this line ___? Why were lines __ through __ included in the poem? Which word best describes the feeling that the poet creates in this poem? Who’s talking in the poem? What is the speaker doing (thinking) in thepoem? Why do you think the poet titled the poem __? Does the poem remind you of anything in your life? What do you think the poet wants the reader to think? What poetic techniques did the author use when writing this poem?Theme: What is a theme? What are some examples of themes you might find inpoems? What important themes can you identify in this poem? What other stories have we read that have the same themes? What lesson does the author want us to learn?Anchors of Support for Independent Student Work:Post poems in the classroom (or in a poetry notebook) labeling the forms of poem andexplaining its characteristics. Provide students with many copies of poems so they can readand reread during independent reading.Post an anchor chart on the Elements of Poetry that includes examples of figurativelanguage such as metaphor, simile, and personification.Texts wehave readExample of a Literature Chart for the Connecting Texts Unit(Either Change or Save the Environment)Connecting Texts - ChangeHow did thecharacters/people in the textembrace change?Ways that Iconnect to thecharacters orpeople:Ways that I canbe like thecharacters inthe text:How are thesetexts connected?Teacher Tips: Being a word detective is something that should be practiced everyday by students and teachers. Debbie Miller says, “Readers determine meanings of unknown wordsby using their schema, paying attention to textual and picture clues, rereading, and engaging in conversations with others.” It’s critical to making conversations about words a routinepart of your school day.