A. Focused Read-aloud: Mama Miti, Pages 21-30 (15 minutes)

• Refocus whole group.
• Provide specific, positive feedback for students' ability to learn and engage in the Preposition Movement Routine.
• Display Mama Miti and read the title and the author's and illustrator's names aloud.
• Remind students that this is a true story about a woman named Wangari who encouraged others to plant trees to help her community.
• Remind students that they will focus on a few sections of Mama Miti to understand the reasons that Wangari told people in her community to plant trees.
• Tell students that after focusing on a few sections of Mama Miti, they will be able to compare the information and ideas they get from Mama Miti to the information and ideas they got from A Tree Is Nice, just like they did in the previous lesson.
• Throughout the focused read-aloud, consider using the Reading Informational Text Checklist to track students' progress toward RI.K.1, RI.K.2, RI.K.4, and RI.K.9.
• Read aloud pages 21-24.
• Follow the same routine from Work Time A of Lesson 2 to check for understanding. (She encouraged people in her community to plant trees to clean the stream so they could drink water from it.)

• Tell students that the tree Wangari gives to the people filters the water. Define filter (a device that removes dirt from water, so the tree removes dirt from the stream).
• Use the same routine from Work Time A of Lesson 3 to use a marker to add the reason to a sentence strip and tape it to the Reasons to Plant a Tree anchor chart. Refer to the Reasons to Plant a Tree anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.

• Repeat this process with pages 25-30, using the following prompt:
• "What did Wangari teach her community and the world about trees?" (that trees are very helpful and everyone can plant a tree)
• Direct students' attention to the Module 4 Guiding Question anchor chart and read the question aloud:

• "How are trees important to us and our community?"
• Turn and Talk:

"How and why were trees important to Wangari and her community?" (Trees provide shelter, safety, food, clean water, and beauty.)

"How and why are trees important to us and our community?" (Responses will vary.)

• Tell students that next they will act out some of the reasons to plant a tree that were described in this part of Mama Miti.

C. Scaffolded Writing: Reviewing the Planner and Writing an Opinion (25 minutes)

• Refocus whole group.
• Remind students that in the previous lesson they learned how to formulate an opinion statement and began planning an opinion about where to plant a tree and why.
• Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the second aloud:

"I can use pictures and words to state an opinion about where to plant trees and provide a reason to support it."

• Tell students that today they will use their Opinion Writing planners to write an opinion statement about where to plant a tree and why.
• Display the Opinion Model: "Where I Would Plant a Tree" and remind students that an opinion has three parts: 

• The opinion
• The word because
• The reason

• Display the Opinion Writing planner you completed in Lesson 7 and read aloud the place and reason.
• Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"On this planner, what is the opinion?" (the place to plant a tree)

"On this planner, what is the reason?" (why you should plant it there)

"What part of an opinion is missing?" (the word because)

• Confirm students' thinking by telling them that in order to turn their planners into opinion statements, they need to create a sentence that has all three parts: the opinion, the word because, and the reason.
• Display and model completing the Writing an Opinion response sheet using the following shared writing routine:

• Direct students' attention back to the Opinion Model: "Where I Would Plant a Tree" and the red underlined opinion. Tell students that first you will write the opinion, or where you think a tree should be planted.
• Reread the "place" section on the completed Opinion Writing planner and using a total participation technique, ask:

"How can we say the opinion in a complete thought?" (I would plant a tree in a field.)

• Write the opinion on the Writing an Opinion response sheet. Refer to the Writing an Opinion response sheet (example, for teacher reference) throughout the process.
• Direct students' attention back to the Opinion Model: "Where I Would Plant a Tree" and the circled word because. Remind them that because connects the opinion to the reason.
• Write the word because on the Writing an Opinion response sheet.
• Direct students' attention back to the Opinion Model: "Where I Would Plant a Tree" and the blue underlined reason. Tell them that now you will write the reason, or why the tree should be planted there.
• Reread the "reason" section on the completed Opinion Writing planner and using a total participation technique, ask:
• "How can we say the reason in a complete thought?" (I would plant a tree in a field because trees provide shade.)
• Write the reason after because on the Writing an Opinion response sheet.
• Invite students to read the completed opinion statement with you: "I would plant a tree in a field because trees provide shade."

• Tell students that now they will write their own opinion statement using any of the remaining ideas from the Places People Plant Trees anchor chart. Remind them that they should select a reason from the Reasons to Plant a Tree anchor chart that matches their opinion.
• Distribute clipboards and pencils.
• Invite students to begin writing.
• Circulate and support students as they write their opinion statement by referring back to their Opinion Writing planners and the parts of the Opinion Model: "Where I Would Plant a Tree."
• After 10 minutes, signal to students to finish up their writing.
• Provide specific, positive feedback on students' ability to formulate an opinion statement and tell them that next, they will share their opinion statements with a partner.