Answering Text-Dependent Questions: Pages 4–5 of One Well: The Story of Water on Earth | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G3:M4:U1:L3

Answering Text-Dependent Questions: Pages 4–5 of One Well: The Story of Water on Earth

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RI.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
  • RI.3.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
  • RI.3.7: Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
  • L.3.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
  • L.3.1a: Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.
  • L.3.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
  • L.3.4a: Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
  • L.3.4b: Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/uncomfortable, care/careless,heat/preheat).
  • L.3.4c: Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion).
  • L.3.4d: Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can explain the function of nouns. (L.3.1a)
  • I can use the text to answer questions about pages 4-5 of One Well. (RI.3.1, RI.3.4, RI.3.7, L.3.4)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Text-Dependent Questions: Pages 4-5 of One Well (RI.3.1, RI.3.4, RI.3.7. L.3.4)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engaging the Reader: Rereading One Well, Pages 4-5 (5 minutes)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Language Dive: The Function of Nouns (15 minutes)

B. Answering Text-Dependent Questions: One Well, Pages 4-5 (25 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. KWEL Chart: Freshwater Around the World (10 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Complete the Language Dive Practice: Nouns in your Unit 1 homework.

B. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards: 

  • In Work Time A, students participate in a Language Dive that guides them through the meaning of a sentence from One Well. The focus of this Language Dive is on the function of nouns (L.3.1a). Students then apply their understanding of the meaning and structure of this sentence when determining the main idea of the text and when determining the function of nouns in One Well and during the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment. Refer to the Tools page for additional information regarding a consistent Language Dive routine.
  • In Work Time B, students reread One Well to answer text-dependent questions, including questions about vocabulary (RI.3.1, RI.3.4, L.3.4).This is meant to help students gain a deeper understanding of the first two pages of the text and to use information gained from the illustrations to demonstrate understanding of the words (RI.3.7). Pay careful attention to this routine in order to apply it in subsequent lessons.
  • To increase student independence with reading and analyzing texts in Module 4, students dig in deeper to determine the main ideas and supporting details of pages of One Well in triads and pairs throughout the remainder of the unit, rather than through teacher-led close reads.
  • In the Closing, students contribute to the class KWEL chart--repeating the routine from Lesson 1. Refer to this lesson for more detail as necessary.
  • In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners with a characteristic of their choice.
  • Students practice their fluency by following along and reading silently as the teacher reads One Well aloud in Opening A.
  • The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to water. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In Lesson 2, students listened to pages 4-5 of One Well read aloud and determined the main idea(s) and supporting details.
  • Continue to use Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation.

Areas in which students may need additional support: 

  • Students may need additional support reading and answering the questions. Invite those students to sit together for teacher support.

Assessment guidance:

  • Review students' answers as they work to identify common issues for use as whole group teaching points.

Down the road:

  • In the next lesson, students will hear and read pages 6-7 of One Well to determine the main idea(s) and answer text-dependent questions.

In Advance

  • Strategically group students in triads, with at least one strong reader in each.
  • Review the Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart as needed (begun in Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 7).
  • Preview the Language Dive Guide and consider how to invite conversation among students to address the questions and goals suggested under each sentence strip chunk (see supporting materials). Select from the questions and goals provided to best meet your students' needs.
  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list)

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 3.I.A.1, 3.I.B.6, 3.I.B.7, 3.I.B.8, 3.II.B.4, 3.II.C.6

Important points in the lesson itself 

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs by focusing on the same text from Lesson 2, explicitly reviewing nouns, and allowing students to participate in a whole-class Language Dive focused on the function of nouns in a sentence. This is particularly supportive of ELLs as they work to make sense of the grammatical system of English.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to keep pace with the class as they answer text-dependent questions in Work Time B. Consider encouraging students to discuss responses in their home language before writing. Also consider providing additional time for students to complete this work as needed.

Levels of support
For lighter support:

  • As students share supporting details in the Opening, consider writing and displaying them in the form of a list. Then, include a detail from the text that is less supportive of the main idea and ask students to evaluate it against the others. (Example: "Without water, nothing can survive." Ask: "Does that detail support the main idea as well as the others listed? Why or why not?")

For heavier support:

  • Consider creating index cards with pictures of various nouns and a sentence written on the top. For example, on one index card, draw a picture of children building a sandcastle on the seashore. On the top of this index card, write, "The children are building a sandcastle on the seashore." Students can talk in pairs, explaining the function of the underlined word. (Example: Partner A: "What is the function of the noun sandcastle in this sentence?" Partner B: "Sandcastle tells us the thing the children are building.") Allow students to practice with these familiar examples during the Opening in preparation for explaining the function of nouns in the Language Dive, as well as on the mid-unit assessment.

Universal Design for Learning

Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): To facilitate effective learning during this lesson, ensure that all students have access to the directions in each activity and feel comfortable with the expectations. Vary the ways in which you convey expectations for each activity or task. Consider engaging in a clarifying discussion about the directions or creating an outline of the steps for each activity.

Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): Continue to support a range of fine motor abilities and writing needs by offering students options for writing utensils. Alternatively, consider supporting students' expressive skills by offering partial dictation of their responses.

Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Throughout this lesson, students have opportunities to share ideas and thinking with classmates. Some may need support for engagement during these activities. Encourage self-regulatory skills and help them anticipate and manage frustration by modeling what to do if they need help from their partners. (Example: ?I can remember when I'm sharing that if I forget my idea or need help, I can ask my partner to help me. My partner could give me prompts that would help me share my thinking.?) Consider offering sentence frames to strategically selected peer models. Offering these supports for engagement promotes a safe learning space for all students.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

  • function, nouns (L)
  • one well, global, glaciers, faucet (T)

Materials

  • One Well (from Lesson 2; one per student)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Academic Word Wall (begun in Module 1; added to during Opening A)
  • Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Parts of Speech anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Language Dive Guide: One Well: Nouns (for teacher reference)
    • Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart (begun in Module 3)
    • Language Dive Chunk Chart: One Well: Nouns (for teacher reference)
    • Language Dive Note-catcher: One Well: Nouns (one per student and one to display)
    • Language Dive Sentence Strip Chunks: One Well: Nouns (one to display)
    • Colored pencil (blue; used by the teacher to underline nouns)
  • Text-Dependent Questions: Pages 4-5 of One Well (one per student)
  • Text-Dependent Questions: Pages 4-5 of One Well (answers, for teacher reference)
  • KWEL Chart: Freshwater Around the World (begun in Lesson 1; added to during the Closing; see supporting materials)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Assessment

Each unit in the 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Engaging the Reader: Rereading One Well, Pages 4-5 (5 minutes) 

  • Move students into pre-determined triads and invite them to label themselves A, B, and C.
  • Invite students to retrieve their copies of One Well and turn to pages 4-5.
  • Remind students that they heard these pages read aloud in the previous lesson, and they determined the main idea and supporting details.
  • Invite a volunteer to read the pages aloud for the group.
  • Think-Triad-Share:

"What is the main idea of these pages?" (All water is connected, so we need to take care of it.)
"How do you know? What are the supporting details? Read them from the text." ("There really is just one source of water--one global well,""... every bit of ice in glaciers and polar icecaps is part of this global well,""... it is all the same water")
Conversation Cue: "Who can add on to what your classmate said?" (Responses will vary.)
  • For students who may need additional support with working memory: Invite students to underline the supporting details they hear as the volunteer reads aloud. They can refer back to the underlined phrases for sharing in Think-Triad-Share. (MMAE)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes) 

  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and select a volunteer to read them aloud:

"I can explain the function of nouns."
"I can use the text to answer questions about pages 4-5 of One Well."

  • Focus students on the first learning target and underline the word function. Draw their attention to the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart and invite students to work in triads and use a strategy to determine the meaning of the word.
  • Use a total participation technique to select a student to share out the definition of function (the purpose or reason for use).
  • Add function to the Academic Word Wall with translations in home languages.
  • Underline the word nouns. Focus students on the Parts of Speech anchor chart.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What is a noun?" (the name of something)

  • Focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart and invite them to read the habits of character on the chart to themselves. Tell students to choose a habit they would like to focus on as they work with their classmates today. Cold call students to share with the whole group and select one as a class.
  • For ELLs: (Gestures for Reinforcement) Consider using gestures to reinforce the concept of a noun. Example: For a person, invite students to point to themselves; for a place, invite students to make a circular motion pointing to places around the room; for a thing, invite students to lightly pull at their clothing; and for an idea, invite students to point to their head to show thinking. Refer to concrete examples of nouns listed on the Parts of Speech anchor chart that correspond with each function, adding additional examples as needed.
  • For ELLs: (Parts of Speech Practice: Nouns) Invite students to play "What's My Function?" with the cards from "For heavier support." Put all index cards in a bag and invite a volunteer to pull one out and ask about the function of the underlined noun. Invite that student to call on another student to explain. The student who explained the function then repeats this process. Add the nouns as examples on the Parts of Speech anchor chart

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Language Dive: The Function of Nouns (15 minutes) 

  • Tell students they will now participate in a Language Dive using the same format from Module 3.
  • Focus students' attention on the Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart and remind them that they thought of their own questions to ask during a Language Dive.
  • Think-Pair-Share:

"What is one question you can ask during a Language Dive?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Reread Paragraph 3 on page 4 of One Well.
  • Focus on the sentence:
    • "And because it is all connected, how we treat the water in the well will affect every species on the planet, including us, now and for years to come."
  • Use the Language Dive Guide: One Well: Nouns and Language Dive Chunk Chart: One Well: Nouns to guide students through a Language Dive of the sentence. Distribute and display the Language Dive Note-catcher: One Well: Nouns and Language Dive Sentence Strip Chunks: One Well: Nouns.
  • After the Language Dive:
    • Underline the word noun in the table in the Parts of Speech anchor chart using a blue colored pencil.
    • Write the Language Dive sentence under the table and underline the nouns well,species, planet,and years using the colored pencil.
  • Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the first learning target. Select one or two students showing they feel they have met the learning target to provide evidence.
  • For students who need additional support with oral language and processing: Allow ample wait time after questions during the Language Dive. (MME, MMAE)

B. Answering Text-Dependent Questions: One Well, Pages 4-5 (25 minutes) 

  • Distribute the Text-Dependent Questions: Pages 4-5 of One Well.
  • Remind students that answering text-dependent questions requires them to dig deeper into the text, which will help them build a greater understanding of the text.
  • Tell students that they are going to work in triads, using the text, to answer the questions. Suggest that triads appoint a facilitator to read the questions aloud for the group.
  • Invite students to begin.
  • Circulate to support students as they work. Remind them to refer back to the text to answer the questions. Ask questions to guide student thinking:

"Where can you find this answer in the text? Point to it for me."

  • When 5 minutes remain, refocus whole group. Use total participation techniques to select students to share their responses to each question. Clarify any misconceptions and invite students to revise their answers accordingly. Refer to Text-Dependent Questions: Pages 4-5 of One Well (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the second learning target. Select one or two students showing they feel they have met the learning target to provide evidence.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with strategy development: (Modeling and Thinking Aloud: Answering Text-Dependent Questions) Before inviting students to work in triads, consider modeling and thinking aloud in answering the first text-dependent question. (Example: "I noticed there are two questions included in Question 1; it is first asking what I think one well means, and then asking why I think that. Do you see context I can use to determine the meaning of one well? What linking word can I use to provide a reason?") (MMAE)
  • For students who may need additional support with working memory: Invite students to first verbally share their answer to the question, then draw a line for each word they intend to write as they state their answer a second time. Remind students that this helps us organize our ideas for written expression. (MMAE)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. KWEL Chart: Freshwater Around the World (10 minutes) 

  • Focus students on the KWEL Chart: Freshwater Around the World and use the same routine from the Closing in Lesson 1 to guide them through the process of updating the chart:
    • For each column, do a Think-Triad-Share and use total participation techniques to select two or three students to share out.
    • As students share out, record their responses on the KWEL Chart: Freshwater Around the World. Refer to the KWEL Chart: Freshwater Around the World (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
    • Give students specific, positive feedback on their learning.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Activating Prior Knowledge) To activate prior knowledge, invite students to review the responses recorded on the KWEL chart in Lesson 2. Encourage students to use the sentence starters at the top of each column as they share. (MMR)
  • For students who may need additional support in verbal expression: During the Think-Triad-Share, invite students to jot down their ideas on an index card for reference as they share with the whole group. (MMAE, MME)

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A. Complete the Language Dive Practice: Nouns in your Unit 1 homework.

B. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.
  • For ELLs: (Oral Response) Read aloud, discuss, and respond to your prompt orally, either with a partner, family member, or student from grades 2 or 4) or record an audio response

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