Reading Scientific Text: Building Expertise on Animal Defense Mechanisms | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G4:M2:U1:L4

Reading Scientific Text: Building Expertise on Animal Defense Mechanisms

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RI.4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
  • RI.4.2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
  • RI.4.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.
  • RI.4.8: Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.
  • W.4.7: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
  • W.4.8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
  • SL.4.2: Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
  • L.4.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
  • L.4.4a: Use context (e.g., definitions, examples, or restatements in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
  • L.4.4c: Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can paraphrase information presented in a read-aloud on animal defense mechanisms. (W.4.8, SL.4.2)
  • I can determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details. (RI.4.2)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Listening Closely note-catcher (W.4.8, SL.4.2)
  • Close Read Questions: "A Life in Hiding" (RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RI.4.4, RI.4.8, W.4.7, W.4.8, L.4.4)
  • Determining the Main Idea note-catcher (RI.4.2)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engaging the Reader: Reading Aloud and Paraphrasing Venom (5 minutes)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time 

A. Close Read: "A Life in Hiding" (20 minutes)

B. Rereading an Informational Text: Determining the Main Idea (15 minutes)

C. A Closer Look at Words: Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses (10 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment 

A. KWEL: Animal Defense Mechanisms (5 minutes)

4. Homework 

A. Vocabulary Work from your homework resources for this unit.

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

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • As in previous lessons, this lesson opens with a read-aloud of Venom and students taking notes and paraphrasing (W.4.8, SL.4.2).
  • As in Lesson 3, students participate in a teacher-led close read that guides them through the text's challenging vocabulary and helps them to understand what defense mechanisms are, specifically focusing on how some animals hide to protect themselves (RI.4.4, W.4.7, L.4.4a, L.4.4c). In addition, students cite evidence from the text to support the answers to their questions (RI.4.1) and learn how to determine the main idea of a text and identify details that support this main idea (RI.4.2, RI.4.8).
  • Students continue the same process used in Lessons 2 and 3 to closely read their expert group's section of Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses. In this lesson, they reread the same section read in Lesson 3 to determine the main idea (RI.4, W.4.7, W.4.8) and to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary (RI.4.4, L.4.4a, L.4.4c).
  • Students practice their fluency in this lesson by following along and reading silently as the teacher reads Venom aloud in Opening A and by chorally reading their section of Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses in Work Time A.
  • Students who finish quickly can begin practicing to give an oral summary of "Lying Low" and "A Life in Hiding," including in their summaries a central idea that connects both sections, the main ideas of "Lying Low" and one or two examples, the main idea of "A Life in Hiding" and one or two examples, and a conclusion.
  • Students who finish quickly can continue researching their additional research questions developed in Lesson 2 by reading new sections of Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses.
  • In this lesson, the habit of character focus is working to become effective learners. The characteristics they are reminded of in this lesson are: perseverance and collaboration because students work together as they read a new complex text, "A Life in Hiding".

How it builds on previous work:

  • Students practice the skills introduced and modeled in Lessons 2 and 3 when determining the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary and determining main idea in their small groups.
  • The research reading students complete for homework will help to build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to animals and specifically animal defense mechanisms. 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 to describe and make sense of it.
  • Continue to use Goals 1 and 2 Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation.

Areas where students may need additional support:

  • Students may need support writing the answers to their questions. Consider grouping those students together so you can provide them with additional support.

Assessment Guidance:

  • Throughout the teacher-led close read, call on students to share their responses with the whole group to build knowledge collectively and clarify any misconceptions. As students are writing, circulate to clarify misunderstandings and use these as teaching points for the whole group.
  • Review students' vocabulary logs to review the strategies they are using to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.
  • Review students' Determining the Main Idea note-catchers to ensure they understand how to determine the main idea of a text; check in with students as necessary in Lesson 5 as they identify supporting details.
  • Consider using the Reading: Foundational Skills Informal Assessment: Reading Fluency Checklist when students reread their sections of Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses in Work Time B. See the Tools page.
  • Consider using the Reading: Foundational Skills Informal Assessment: Phonics and Word Recognition Checklist (Grade 4) to informally assess students when they reread their sections of Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses in Work Time B. See the Tools page.
  • Consider using the Speaking and Listening Informal Assessment: Collaborative Discussion Checklist during students' small group discussions in Work Times B and C. See the Tools page.

Down the road:

  • Students continue to work in expert groups to read the predetermined sections in Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses. In Lesson 5, they will continue working in these groups to identify details that support that main idea and meet with students who read different sections of the text to share the main idea and supporting details, as well as key vocabulary words.
  • Students will build on what they have learned about determining the main idea and identifying supporting details to write summaries of informational texts in the second half of this unit. 

In Advance

  • Read the Close Reading Guide: "A Life in Hiding" in conjunction with the text to familiarize yourself with what will be required of the students.
  • Display the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3), the Determining the Main Idea anchor chart (from Lesson 3), and the Determining the Meaning of Unfamiliar Vocabulary anchor chart (from Lesson 2).
  • Post: Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart, Determining the Main Idea anchor chart, Determining the Meaning of Unfamiliar Vocabulary anchor chart; learning targets.

Tech and Multimedia

  • Work Times A and B: Student Expert Group Animal research notebooks could be completed by students online, for example on Google Docs in a folder for each student.
  • Work Times A and B: Students complete their note-catchers in a word processing document, for example a Google Doc using Speech to Text facilities activated on devices, or using an app or software like Dictation.io.
  • Work Time C: Consider inviting students to use a web page annotation tool such as Diigo for highlighting unfamiliar vocabulary words on a web page. Model this in Work Time A and invite students to use the tool for their own work in Work Time C.

Unit 1

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 4.I.B.6, 4.I.B.8

Important points in the lesson itself 

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs through a close read, which makes space for students to apply their understanding of smaller pieces of a larger complex text. Example: students predict what the text sections will be about, thus helping them focus in on specific language they should look for as they read.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to paraphrase well. There are cultural differences that may explain some difficulties that some ELLs may have. In some cultures, "borrowing" word-for-word is acceptable, even honored. Tell ELLs: "In the United States, you can use the ideas from a text. You have to say where you got the ideas. But you cannot use the same sentences from a text. You have to say them again in your own words."

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Challenge students to create their own selected response test-taking strategies and write their own selected response questions to help them prepare for the mid-unit assessment. Students who need heavier support can complete the questions.

For heavier support:

  • Ask students what new language they remember from the previous lesson. Congratulate them heartily: "You are learning more and more English!"
  • In preparation for the mid-unit assessment, devise two-part selected response questions. Some students may have never experienced a selected response question, so they'll benefit from orientation and practice. Example:

Part A

What is the meaning of social as it is used in Paragraph 3 of "Wasp-Waisted"?

A. part of a house

B. part of a community

C. insects we usually see

D. insects that build homes

Part B

Which evidence from Paragraph 3 best supports the answer to Part A?

A. "... most often encounter ...

B. "... live in groups ..."

C. "... types of papery nests ..."

D. "... on door hinges ..."

  • Test-taking strategies: Explain that students should first read the question and try to answer without looking at the options. They should choose just one answer, the best answer. Finally, if they don't know the answer, they should simply guess, and they should always guess the same number, B or C.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): In this lesson, support activating background knowledge by providing students with some specific ideas about questions they could ask about the text. Additionally, revisit the Animal Defenses research notebooks with the small group of students who met to check and clarify the organization of information within the research notebook
  • Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): Students who need support organizing their thoughts and/or writing may benefit from having a "sneak peek" at the recording forms they will use in today's lesson. Walk through the Animal Defenses research notebook with them, pointing out where different information should be recorded. Encourage them to write sentence frames in advance, working as a small group to come up with these sentence frames for different parts of the recording forms. If necessary, model recording evidence and documenting a source again, using one of the students' independent reading books.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Since students have used the research notebook for a few lessons now, check their previous work. Point out places they did a great job capturing their thinking and give suggestions for how they could improve other places where their thinking is less clear or where they may have misunderstood the writing expectations.

Vocabulary

Key: (L): Lesson-Specific Vocabulary; (T): Text-Specific Vocabulary; (W): Vocabulary used in writing

  • determine (L)
  • armor, fleeing, poison, predator, pursue, threatened (T)

Materials

  • Venom (book; one per display)
  • Animal Defenses research notebook (from Lesson 1; one per student and one to display)
    • Listening Closely note-catcher (pages 13-14 of Animal Defenses research notebook)
    • Close Read Questions: "A Life in Hiding" (pages 15-19 of Animal Defenses research notebook)
    • Determining the Main Idea note-catcher (pages 20-21 of Animal Defenses research notebook)
    • KWEL Chart: Animal Defense Mechanisms (page 1 of Animal Defenses research notebook)
  • Equity sticks (one per student)
  • Listening Closely note-catcher (example, for teacher reference)
  • Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses (book; one per student and one to display)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3)
  • Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (from Module 1)
  • Close Reading Guide: "A Life in Hiding" (for teacher reference)
  • Determining the Main Idea anchor chart (begun in Lesson 3)
  • Determining the Main Idea note-catcher (answers, for teacher reference)
  • Vocabulary log (one per student; begun in Module 1)
  • Sticky notes (two per student)
  • Vocabulary Words (for teacher reference)
  • Domain-Specific Word Wall (from Lesson 2)
  • Index cards (two per group)
  • KWEL Chart: Animal Defense Mechanisms (answers, for teacher reference)

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: Reading Aloud and Paraphrasing Venom (5 minutes)

  • Display the cover of Venom and ask:

"What did we learn about when we read aloud Venom in Lesson 3?" (We learned about bees and how they sting, or It was about the defense mechanisms of bees.)

  • Validate responses and explain to students that they will listen to another section of Venom today that shares information about how another animal uses venom to protect itself.
  • Invite students to turn to the Listening Closely note-catcher in their Animal Defenses research notebooks. Point out where they will take notes and where they will paraphrase the text. Remind them that they don't have to write anything here just yet and that they will talk about this after listening to this section of Venom.
  • Remind students that the first time they hear the text read aloud, they should simply listen to what is being read. The second time, they should take running notes. 
  • Tell students you will read page 19 aloud and remind them that they should just listen to what is being read.
  • Read page 19 aloud. 
  • Then invite students to turn and talk, sharing what this section was mostly about. (It was about different kinds of wasps, what they eat, and how they use their venom.)
  • Explain to students that they will now hear page 19 read aloud a second time. Tell them they should take notes in the note-catcher as you read aloud.
  • Read aloud page 19 in Venom, stopping briefly after each paragraph. If necessary during each short pause, remind students to fill in notes on their note-catchers.
  • After this second read, ask students to share their notes with a partner. Tell them they can add to or revise their notes with their partners.
  • Remind students of the purpose for reading this text--to research how animals' bodies and behaviors help them survive. Invite students to complete the "What QUESTIONS do you have?" box.
  • Use equity sticks to call on pairs to share notes that they have added. Using the Listening Closely note-catcher (example, for teacher reference) as a reference, confirm with the class what should be recorded on the note-catcher for this selection from Venom.
  • Next, explain that students are ready to paraphrase this section of Venom. If necessary, review what it means to paraphrase a text.
  • Invite students to turn to the next page of their note-catchers. Tell them that now you would like them to practice paraphrasing this section of Venom. Ask them to do the following:

1. Reread your notes from today's reading of Venom.

2. Think about how you could paraphrase what you heard today. 

3. Share with an elbow partner how you would explain this text in your own words.

  • As students work, point out that they should include the source when they paraphrase and that referring to their running notes can help them include many specific details when they paraphrase. Invite students to write their paraphrased version of the text on their note-catchers.
  • Call on a few pairs to share how they paraphrased. (This section of Venom was about different kinds of wasps, what they eat, and how they use their venom. Wasps are related to bees, but they are not as hairy and are narrower. They don't make honey or wax like bees, and they have smooth stingers. This means they can sting their enemy over and over without dying. Hornets, yellow jackets, and paper wasps are kinds of wasps that live in groups. They make papery nests, and if you bother their nests they may sting you. Some wasps live alone. These wasps will use their venom to protect themselves, but they usually use their venom to paralyze their prey. They will sting their prey and then drag it to their nests to eat. Some wasps will then lay their eggs on the prey, and when the eggs hatch the larvae will eat the meat of the prey.)
  • Remind students they will have many more opportunities to read this book and can read through it on their own during independent reading or in their free time during the school day if they wish.
  • For students who may need additional support with reading fluency: Hearing a complex text read slowly, fluently, and without interruption or explanation promotes fluency for students; they are hearing a strong reader read the text aloud with accuracy and expression and are simultaneously looking at and thinking about the words on the printed page. Be sure to set clear expectations that students read along silently in their heads as you read the text aloud. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs: Elicit the meaning of the frequent, multiple uses of the preposition and infinitive marker to in the Venom text:

put ice on it to reduce swelling and pain and use their venom to paralyze spiders or insects: this usage indicates the writer will tell us a reason or purpose

manage to lug it to the spider's nest: these usages indicate the joining of two verbs and directionality

This wasp's sting is especially painful to people: this usage indicates the person or thing affected by something else

  • For ELLs: Students may struggle with paraphrasing for several reasons. Whereas they may be able to replace certain words with synonyms, they may present the information with syntax that is identical to the original text. Help them overcome this issue with a strategy: Sometimes they can reverse the order of information, presenting the final part of the original information first and leaving the first part for last. English is pretty flexible in this sense. Give them an example of you how you might reverse syntax to paraphrase a sentence from the Venom text.

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

  • Use equity sticks to call on a student to read the learning targets:
    • "I can paraphrase information presented in a read-aloud on animal defense mechanisms."
    • "I can determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details."
  • Distribute copies of Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses. Tell students that they will begin by closely rereading a selection from Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses about animal defense mechanisms. Build up the excitement!
  • Explain that then they will continue to work in their expert groups to reread and determine the main idea of their sections.
  • For students who may need additional support with vocabulary: Discuss and clarify the language of learning targets to help build academic vocabulary. (MMR)
  • For ELLs: Ask: "What do the uses of to mean in to support the answers to my questions?"

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Close Read: "A Life in Hiding" (20 minutes)

  • Pair students.
  • Display page 7 of Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses and invite students to turn to that page in their copies and to the Close Read Questions: "A Life in Hiding" in their Animal Defenses research notebooks.
  • Point out the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart and focus students on the final criteria and bullets:
    • Listen to the questions:
      • Go back to the text to find answers to questions.
      • Talk with your partners about the answers you find.
  • Tell students that you are going to guide them through this close read. Some of the questions will be discussed as a whole group, and others will be discussed with a partner. 
  • Focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart, specifically perseverance and collaboration. Remind students that as they will be reading a new complex text and will need to persevere while they read, and will be working with one another as they read so will need to collaborate.
  • Guide students through the close read using the Close Reading Guide: "A Life in Hiding."
  • For ELLs: Provide students with a version of the close read text that has a few key language structures highlighted; alternatively, tell ELLs which key language structures to underline. Check and clarify ELLs' understanding of the meaning these structures impart.
  • For ELLs: Make sure students can use the word shell in various collocations, in particular: its shell, their shell, has a shell made of. The word and its collocations are used multiple times in Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses and on the mid-unit assessment. In addition, a shell is a key defense mechanism.

B. Rereading an Informational Text: Determining the Main Idea (15 minutes)

  • Congratulate students for persevering through the close reading of "Lying Low" and "A Life in Hiding."
  • Tell students they will now reread their expert group's section of Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses a second time to determine the main idea of their section. In Lesson 5, they will identify details from the text that support the main idea they identify today. Invite students to open their research notebooks to the Determining the Main Idea note-catcher.
  • Direct students' attention to the Determining the Main Idea anchor chart. Ask:

"What do we mean by the main idea of a text?" (The main idea is what a text, or part of a text, is about overall, or The main idea is the important thing the author wants the reader to know from reading the text.)

  • Ask:

"How do we determine the main idea of a section of text?" (Describe close reading of "Lying Low" in Lesson 3 and "A Life in Hiding" earlier in this lesson. We think about what the text is mostly about as we read each paragraph and confirm or change our thinking about the main idea as we read, or We think about what the text is about and gather details to confirm this original thinking about what the text is about or more precisely focus this thinking.)

  • If productive, cue students to expand the conversation by saying more, and to listen carefully and seek to understand

"Can you say more about that?" (Responses will vary.)

"Who can tell us what your classmate said in your own words?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Tell students they will write the main idea on their note-catchers for their section only. Explain that they should leave the other sections blank for now.
  • Point out the second part of the Main Idea box with the phrase, "What clues did you use to determine the main idea?" Remind students that their section may have more than one main idea.
  • Invite students to begin working on identifying the main idea(s) of their section and the clues they used from the text to determine it. 
  • Circulate to support students. Refer to the Determining the Main Idea note-catcher (Answers, for Teacher Reference).
  • Invite students to show a thumbs-up if they were able to determine the main idea(s) of their section and a thumbs-down if they were not. Be sure to check in with students who gave a thumbs-down during the group work in Lesson 5.
  • For students who may need additional support with reading fluency: Offer selected shorter passages to specific groups based on the readiness and needs of the group. This provides an opportunity for students to read a complex text within the fourth-grade level span but differentiates the length of the text, not the complexity. (MMAE)
  • For students who may need additional support with sustained effort: Graphic organizers and recording forms engage students more actively and provide the necessary scaffolding that is especially critical for learners with lower levels of language proficiency and/or learning. For students needing additional support, provide a partially filled-in graphic organizer. (MMAE, MME)
  • For ELLs: Students may benefit from having key sections pre-highlighted in their texts. This will help them determine the main idea, focusing on small sections rather than scanning the whole text for answers.
  • For ELLs: Tell students that a clue is a piece of information that helps you find the answer to a task or problem.

C. A Closer Look at Words: Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses (10 minutes)

  • Explain that students will now have a chance to reread their section from Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses again and practice figuring out the meaning of challenging words. Point out on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart that close readers read and reread texts many times to deeply understand a text.
  • Review the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart and use equity sticks to call on students to read the strategies listed in the previous lesson. Invite students to turn and talk:

"What strategy do you use most often trying to figure out what a word means?"

  • If productive, cue students to listen carefully. Cold call two or three students to share their partner's response.

"Who can repeat what your classmate said?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Tell students that they now are going to practice some of these strategies while rereading Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses to determine the meaning of some challenging words.
  • Invite students to take out their vocabulary log and to turn to the section for this module at the back of the book.
  • Explain that in their expert groups, they will determine the meaning of certain words from their group's section(s) of the text and talk with their partners about their understanding of the words. 
  • Write the following on the board so each group knows what words to determine the meaning of:
    • Group 1: fleeing, page 22; pursue, page 23 (pursuer, pursued)
    • Group 2: armor, page 49; threaten, page 50
    • Group 3: poison, page 56(poisonous); predator, page 56
  • Post the following directions:

1. With your partners, determine the meaning of the words from your selection of Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses.

2. In your vocabulary log, write the definition, the strategy you used to figure out the meaning, and a sketch representing the word.

3. Reread the text with your partners.

4. Discuss the following questions: How has your understanding of these words changed? Which words are still confusing for you and why? Record your questions on a sticky note.

  • If necessary, review Steps 1 and 2 briefly by saying: "Let's review how we did this with the word quiver. First, we flipped through the glossary until we found the word. Remember, it's set up so the words are in alphabetical order, so since quiver starts with the letter Q, it was toward the middle of the glossary. Then we wrote the definition of the word. We figured out that it meant to move with a slight shaking motion by looking it up in the dictionary, so that's what we wrote in the definition box. Then we thought about what vocabulary strategy we used to figure out the meaning of that word. We looked up the definition in the dictionary and then read on in the text and did some inferring about which dictionary definition made sense. So I wrote 'dictionary and reading on in the text and infer' in the Vocabulary Strategy box. The last thing we did was a quick sketch showing what this word meant. I drew a sketch of a gazelle and drew little lines by its body to show it was shaking."
  • Give students 7-8 minutes to work in their expert groups. Circulate and support groups as needed. Remind them to record their words in their vocabulary logs. If necessary, ask questions like: "How did you figure out the meaning of that word?" or "Are there any clues in the text that can help you figure out what that word means?" Listen for students discussing the meanings of the words and using strategies from the Determining the Meaning of Unfamiliar Vocabulary anchor chart.
  • Cold call groups to share their definitions and visuals/notes for each word. Clarify the definition of each word if necessary. Refer to the Vocabulary Words (for teacher reference).
  • Point out the Domain-Specific Word Wall. Distribute two index cards to each group. Invite groups to write the words on their Word Wall cards and post to the Domain-Specific Word Wall.
  • Focus students on the learning targets. Read each one aloud, pausing after each to use a checking for understanding protocol for students to reflect on their comfort level with or show how close they are to meeting each target. Make note of students who may need additional support with each of the learning targets moving forward.
  • Repeat, inviting students to self-assess how well they collaborated and persevered in this lesson.
  • For students who may need additional support with strategy development: Pair students with strategic elbow partners to ensure that struggling readers have a strong, politely helpful person to support their efforts at determining the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words.(MMAE)
  • For students who may need additional support with vocabulary: Consider flagging the vocabulary words in the texts of students struggling with reading or organization to help them focus on the meaning of the word rather than finding the word. These students may also benefit from being told which vocabulary strategy to use to figure out the meaning. (MMR)
  • For ELLs: Encourage students to go a step further in getting to "know" a word by investigating various forms of the word. Example: threat, threaten, threatened, threatening, threatener. Allow them to find the forms of the word in different contexts by searching the texts, a learner's dictionary, and approved websites. Ask them to discuss what the word is doing: Is it a person (noun)? An action (verb)? Describing a noun (adjective)? Describing a verb (adverb)? Ask them questions: "How does a springbok feel when it sees a lion?" (Threatened.) "Why does a lion growl?" (To threaten.) "How does a lion growl when it sees a springbok?" (Threateningly.)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. KWEL: Animal Defense Mechanisms (5 minutes)

  • Ask students to turn to the KWEL Chart: Animal Defense Mechanisms on page 1 of their Animal Defenses research notebooks.
  • Remind students that the E means evidence and the L is what they learned.
  • Focus students on the Source column on their KWEL charts. Tell them that when they cite evidence, it is important to explain where that evidence came from so they can return to it later or others can find it. This lets other people read the original source themselves and consider whether the information provided is indeed reliable. 
  • Model how to do this on the KWEL Chart: Animal Defense Mechanisms. See KWEL Chart: Animal Defense Mechanisms (answers, for teacher reference).
  • Emphasize that evidence should be copied carefully, word for word, and should be written inside quotation marks and the source should be recorded in the column next to the evidence.
  • Invite students to discuss with an elbow partner what they have learned from the close readings of "Lying Low" and "A Life in Hiding" from Animal Behavior: Animal Defenses. Then ask students to add their source, learning, and evidence to their own KWEL charts.
  • Circulate to support students in their discussions and recordings. Look specifically at student use of quotation marks and the way they are citing evidence from the text.
  • For ELLs: Remind students that providing a source is very important in the United States. Without a source, a writer can sometimes get into serious trouble.

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A. Vocabulary Work from your homework resources for this unit.

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

  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with reading and writing: Refer to the suggested homework support in Lesson 1. (MMAE, MMR)

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