level d/5 in the forest - amazon s3 · literacy level d/5, including: • english-language learners...

B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y

Teacher’s GuideFor students reading at Literacy Level D/5, including:

English-language learners •Students reading below grade level •K–1 emergent readers •

skills & strategies

Metacognitive StrategyVisualize •

VocabularyRecognize high-frequency words •Develop Tier Two vocabulary •Develop Tier Three vocabulary •

Grammar and Language Development

Recognize the sentence structures • Some ____ are ____ and This ____ is a ____.

Use the adjectives • big and little

Phonemic AwarenessListen for short • a

PhonicsUse middle-letter cues to solve words •Recognize words with short • “a”

FluencyRead with appropriate pitch •

WritingWrite to a picture prompt •

ANCHOR Comprehension STRATEGIES

Make predictions •Draw conclusions •

Theme: habitatsWhat Can You See in a Desert? (A/1) •On a Coral Reef (C/3) •Ponds (E/7) •

science Big idea:Readers learn about plants and animals that live in a forest

In the ForestLevel D/5

© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLCIn thE ForEst2

• Use a Graphic Organizer Draw a T-chart on the board with the headings Plants and Animals. Read the headings aloud and ask students to help you list the plants and animals they mentioned. Then read each entry on the chart and ask students to echo-read.

Introduce the Book• Give each student a copy of the book.

Remind students they will read about plants and animals that live in the forest. Preview the book, encouraging students to interact with the pictures and text on each page as you emphasize the elements from the page 3 chart that will best support their understanding of the book’s language, concepts, and organization. (Items in bold print include sample “teacher talk.”)

• Cover Graphic Feature Say: The cover has a photograph. Photographs are pictures that show us what the book is about. What does the photograph on the cover show you about the book? Allow time for students to share their ideas.

Before Reading

Make Connections and Build Background• Use a Photograph Tell students

you will read a book about plants and animals that live in the forest. Show students the photo on page 7. Say: I will tell you something that lives in the forest. Many trees live in the forest. Next, ask students to Think/ Pair/Share other plants and animals in the forest.

Related ResourcesThe following Benchmark Education resources support this lesson.

Other Early Explorers Books• The Arctic (F/10)• Colorful Coral Reefs (G/12)• The Savannas of Africa (H/14)• In a Tropical Rain Forest (I/16)• In the Backyard (K/20)• Polar Habitats (M/28)

Fluency and Language Development• In the Forest Audio CD

Comprehension Resources• In the Forest question card• Power Tool Flip Chart for Teachers• Student Bookmark

Assessment• Early Explorers Overview &

Assessment Handbook• Grade K or Grade 1 Comprehension

Strategy Assessment Book

Plants Animals

• trees

• bushes

• grass

• bear

• squirrel

• deer

© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC In thE ForEst 3

© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in Canada.ISBN: 978-1-60437-469-8

Pages Text and Graphic Features

Words to Discuss

English/Spanish Cognates

Sentence Structures

Cover title, author, photo

1 title, author, photo

2–3 photos forest, grass, red fox, trees

4–5 photo forest, home, plants, animals

animal/el animal

6–7 photos trees Some ____ are ____.

8–9 photo flowers, grass flower/la flor

10–11 photos birds, woodpecker, hawk

This ____ is a ____.

12–13 photos porcupine, leaves, red fox

porcupine/ el puercoespín

14–15 photos ants, frog

16 photo


• Remind students to use other reading strategies they are learning as well, such as checking the pictures and returning to the beginning of the sentence if something doesn’t sound right.

Set a Purpose for Reading• Direct students’ attention to the plants

and animals T-chart. Say: Now it’s time to whisper-read the book. Read to learn about plants and animals that live in the forest.

Before Reading (continued)

• Pages 2–3 Words to Discuss Ask students to point to each photograph as you say its matching label. Repeat the process, inviting students to echo-read. After students Think/Pair/Share what they know about each word, fill in any missing details. Say: We will see these words in the book.

• Spanish Cognate Ask: Does animal sound like a word you know in Spanish? (Allow time for students to respond.) The English word animal sounds like the Spanish word el animal. Animal and el animal mean the same thing. What are some animals you know? (Allow time for students to respond.) Write the word animal on the board and ask students to locate it on page 4 in the book.

• Page 6 Sentence Structure Write Some ____ are ____ on the board. Read the sentence structure aloud and ask students to repeat it several times. Say: We use this sentence structure to describe some things. Model using the sentence structure to tell about the photographs, such as Some trees are tall or Some forests are old. Then assist students in forming their own sentences using the structure. Say: This sentence structure is in the book. Can you find the structure on page 6? Frame the sentence. Let’s read the sentence together.

Rehearse Reading Strategies• Say: One word in this book is this.

Say the word this. What letter do you expect to see in the middle? Allow time for students to respond, assisting as needed. Then ask them to find the word this on page 10. Say: Use middle-letter sounds to help you when you read.


Observe and Prompt Reading Strategies• After the supportive introduction,

students should be able to read all or most of the book on their own. Observe students as they read. Take note of the graphophonic, syntactic, and semantic cues they use to make sense of the text and self-correct. Prompt individual students who have difficulty problem-solving independently, but be careful not to prompt English-language learners too quickly. They may need more time to process the text as they rely on their first language for comprehension.

Use the Graphic Organizer to Summarize• Ask students to think about their

reading. Say: Look at our T-chart. Did we read about any of these plants or animals? Put check marks next to any matching responses. Then ask students to name other plants and animals they read about in the book. Add these to the chart and put check marks beside them. Then choral-read the check-marked words and ask students to use the graphic organizer to tell a partner about the book.

During Reading After Reading

Cue Source Prompt Example Page

Graphophonic Look at the middle letter.

big 6

Syntactic Think about the sentence structure.

This animal is a porcupine.

12

Semantic Check the picture.

woodpecker 10

Plants Animals

• trees ✟

• bushes

• grass ✟

• flowers ✟

• bear ✟

• squirrel

• woodpecker ✟

• hawk ✟

• deer

• red fox ✟

• porcupine ✟

• ants ✟

• frog ✟


After Reading (continued)

Reading Strategy Mini-Lesson: Visualize• Reflect Ask: Did you understand

what you read? What parts were hard to understand? How did you help yourself?

• Model Say: I want to understand what I read. One way is to visualize what I’m reading. To visualize means to make a picture in my mind. Ask students to turn to pages 4 and 5. Say: I will shut my eyes. I will imagine I am in a forest. I am standing under tall trees. I feel cool in the shade. I see a deer eating grass. I hear a bird chirping. I smell grass and flowers. I touch a bumpy tree trunk. Can you think of other things I might see, smell, hear, or feel? Allow time for students to share their ideas. Say: Visualizing the pages helped me. Now I better understand what a forest is like.

• Guide Invite students to read page 10 with you. Ask: What do you see? Can you hear the woodpecker tapping the tree trunk? Can you imagine the woodpecker moving up and down the tree trunk? How do you feel? Allow time for students to share their visualizations. Then invite them to tell how visualizing the scene helped them better understand page 10.

• Apply Ask students to read their favorite page to a partner and then visualize it out loud. Observe students as they share their visualizations, providing assistance if needed. See the Early Explorers Overview & Assessment Handbook for an observation chart you can use to assess students’

understanding of the monitor-reading strategy. Then say: You can visualize any time you read. Remember to visualize to help you understand.

Answer Text-Dependent Questions• Explain Remind students they can

answer questions about books they have read. Say: We answer different types of questions in different ways. I will help you learn how to answer each type. Tell students that today they will practice answering Prove It! questions. Say: The answer to a Prove It! Question is not stated in the book. You have to look for clues and evidence to prove the answer.

• Model Use the first Prove It! question on the question card. Say: I will read the question to figure out what to do: “Write a summary sentence for this book.” The word summary means to tell what the book is about. What other information in the question helps me? (Allow student responses.) Yes, I need to say my summary in one sentence. Model looking through the book. Say: I see that a forest is a home for plants and animals. I see many trees. I see flowers and grass. Many animals live in the forest, such as birds, porcupines, red foxes, ants, frogs, and bears. Now I can summarize the book: Plants and animals live in a forest. The evidence in the book supports my answer. The answer makes sense.

• Guide Ask students to answer the other questions on the question card. Use the Power Tool Flip Chart and Student Bookmark to provide


additional modeling as needed. Remind students to ask themselves: What is the question asking? How can I find the answer? Does my answer make sense? How do I know?

Build Comprehension: Draw Conclusions• Explain Create an overhead

transparency of the graphic organizer on page 12 or draw it on the board. Say: An author can’t give us every bit of information in a book. We figure out some things on our own. We use the author’s words and the photographs for clues. Figuring something out using three or more clues is drawing a conclusion.

• Model Say: Let’s draw a conclusion about In the Forest. On page 4 we read that a forest is a home for plants and animals. On pages 6 and 7 we read that a forest has big and little trees. On page 8 we read that flowers and grass live in the forest. Record this evidence in the first Clues box on the graphic organizer. Then say: Now we need to use the clues to draw a conclusion. We can conclude that many different plants live in the forest. Write this statement in the first Conclusion box.

• Guide Say: Now let’s draw another conclusion about the book. I see some tiny animals on page 14. I see some small animals on pages 10, 11, and 15. What animals in the book are medium-sized? What animals in the book are large? Allow time for students to respond, assisting if needed. Record the evidence in the second Clues box on the graphic organizer. Then ask:

What can we figure out from these clues? Yes, we can conclude that the forest has animals of all sizes. Write this statement in the second Conclusion box.

• Apply Ask students to work with a partner to draw conclusions from pages 12–14. Remind them to use word and picture clues to figure out things the author doesn’t say. After the partnerships share, record their ideas on the graphic organizer. Finally, read the completed graphic organizer aloud and invite students to echo-read.


After Reading (continued)

Home Connection• Give students the take-home version

of In the Forest to read to family members. Encourage students to work with a friend or family member to draw a forest scene that shows plants and animals. Invite them to bring their drawings to share with the group.

Reader ResponseInvite students to respond to the book in a way that is meaningful to them. Model and use think-alouds as needed to scaffold students before they try the activities on their own.• Act out a visit to a forest with

a partner.• Tell something you learned

about forests. • Tell about another book you have

read about forests.• Draw your favorite animal in the book.

Tell why you like it.• Write a word that describes each plant

and animal.• Write a question you would like to ask

the author about forests.

Write to a Picture Prompt• Write a Description Tell students

they will talk about a picture from the book. Then they will write about the picture. Ask them to turn to page 6. Say: I can describe this picture in my own words: The plants under the giant trees look like soft feathers. Now I will write my idea. Model writing your sentence on the board. Ask students to choose a picture and describe it to a partner. Allow time for students to share their descriptions, providing assistance as needed. Then say: You described a picture in the book. Now write your idea. When you finish, read your writing to a partner.

Phonemic Awareness: Short a• Tell students you will read a sentence

from In the Forest. Ask them to listen for words that have short a: You can see grass, too (page 8). Reread the sentence if needed so students can identify the words can and grass.

• Say: I will say some words that name forest animals. Some have short a and some do not. Listen carefully. Clap if you hear a word that has short a: ant, deer, mouse, rabbit, bear, badger.

Mini-Lessonsfor Differentiating Instruction


Phonics: Short “a”• Ask students to locate the word can

on page 14. Write can on the board and underline the “a” in the middle. Say: I see the letter “a” in the word can. I hear short a in the word can. Slowly draw your finger under the word as you blend the sounds. Then ask students to do the same in their books. Repeat the process with ants on page 14, plants and animals on page 4, and grass on page 8.

• Ask students to brainstorm words with short a. Make a list on the board. Then read each word, inviting students to echo-read.

• Say: I will make up some rhymes. You may call out a word from the list to help me finish each rhyme. I will underline the “a” in the word. Then you will know you guessed correctly. Use simple rhymes such as I know a girl. Her name is Sal. She is my friend. She is my ____ (pal).

Vocabulary• Tier Two Vocabulary Pronounce the

word numerous and ask students to repeat it. Say: Numerous means many. A forest has numerous plants. A forest has numerous animals. Discuss specific plants and animals that are numerous in a forest, such as bushes and insects. Then model a sentence, such as We have numerous books in our school library. Invite students to share their own sentences, providing assistance as needed. Ask: What word have we been talking about? Yes—numerous. Let’s try to use the word numerous many times today. We can use the word at school and at home.

• Tier Three Vocabulary Review the book with students and write the words animal and plant on the board. Then record the words ants, flowers, frogs, grass, hawk, porcupine, red fox, woodpecker, and tree on index cards. Ask students to read the words with you. Mix the word cards and place them facedown on the table. Choose a card, read the word, and model an oral sentence using that word and either animal or plant. Finally, invite students to take turns making their own sentences. Continue the game until each student has had several turns with different word pairs. For additional practice, students may work as a group or in pairs to complete the vocabulary activity on page 11.


Grammar and Language DevelopmentAdjectives big and little

• Model Explain that authors sometimes use describing words when they write. Say: Adjectives are words that describe nouns. Some adjectives describe size. I see an adjective on page 6: “Some trees are big.” The word big describes the size of the trees. Point to objects in the classroom to support the concept of big as you model oral sentences, such as: The windows are big. The door is big. The teacher’s desk is big.

• Guide Invite students to read page 7 aloud. Ask: Which word is an adjective? (little) Why is little an adjective? (Little describes the size of the trees.)

• Apply Pair students. Ask them to make up sentences with the words big and little. As they share their sentences with the group, write them on the board and underline the adjectives.

Fluency: Read with Appropriate Pitch• Say: We do not read every word at

the same pitch. We change our pitch to match what we are reading about. Use a low pitch to say: We might read some parts with a low pitch. Then use a high pitch to say: We might read other parts with a high pitch. Finally, use a normal voice to say: We read the rest of the book with a normal pitch, like this.

• Ask students to turn to pages 6 and 7. First, read the pages in a normal voice. Ask students if they think the sentence about the big trees and the sentence about the little trees should have the same pitch. Then read the page again using a lower pitch for the first one and a higher pitch for the second. Ask students to echo-read.

• Ask students to turn to page 13. Invite them to say the sentences in a high pitch and then in a low pitch to see which they like better. Then choral-read the page with students.

• Invite students to take turns rereading In the Forest with a partner. Remind them to change their pitch to match what they are reading.

© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC In thE ForEst11

Name: Date:

Vocabulary

Read each sentence. Then draw a circle around Yes or No.

1. Some trees are big. Yes No

2. A hawk is a bird. Yes No

3. A porcupine eats frogs. Yes No

4. A forest has woodpeckers. Yes No

5. Ants live in the forest. Yes No

6. Leaves are animals. Yes No

7. A red fox eats big animals. Yes No

8. Grass and flowers are plants. Yes No


Name: Date:

In the Forest

Clues Conclusion

Skills Bank


Build ComprehensionMAke PReDICTIONS

Explain • Create an overhead transparency of the graphic organizer “In the Forest” or draw it on the board. Say: We make predictions before we read a book and while we read. Then we check our predictions. Making predictions helps us pay close attention to our reading.

Model Say: • Let’s think about a prediction someone might make before reading In the Forest. Display the covers of In the Forest and Fox in the Forest. Say: I see that Fox in the Forest has illustrations, while In the Forest has photographs. I remember that Fox in the Forest was fiction, or a story that is not real. Because it has photos, I think In the Forest will be a nonfiction text, or a book that tells about real events or places. I predict that this book will be a nonfiction book about things in the forest. Write this in the first Prediction box on the graphic organizer. Then say: We check the prediction by beginning to read the book. Take a picture walk through the first few pages. Say: We can mark Yes because the prediction is correct. Draw a check mark in the Yes column.

Guide Say: • Now let’s think about another prediction. What might someone predict about the photograph on page 5? (Allow time for students to respond, assisting if needed.) Yes, readers might think that a forest is a place where deer live. Write the page number and prediction in the second row of the graphic organizer. Say: We check the prediction by reading the book. read page 4 aloud. then say: We can’t mark Yes because the prediction is not correct. This page is not just about deer. It is about many plants and animals that live in the forest. Write this statement in the first No box on the graphic organizer.

Apply • Ask students to work with a partner to think of other predictions readers might make based on the photographs. After each partnership shares, record some of the predictions and results on the graphic organizer. Finally, read the completed graphic organizer aloud and invite students to echo-read.

Name _______________________________________________________ Date __________________

In the Forest[Bhead] Make Predictions


Prediction Yes No

Before reading the book someone might predict …

On page _____, someone might predict …

On page ________, someone might predict …

On page _____, someone might predict …

On page ___________, someone might predict …

On page ___________, someone might predict …

Answers will vary. Possible answers:

The book is a nonfiction book about things in the forest.

5

A forest is a place where deer live.

A forest is a place where

many plants and animals live.

6 and 7

A forest has trees of many sizes.

9

A forest has weeds.

A forest has flowers and

grass.

10 and 11

A forest has different kinds of birds.

14 and 15

A forest has logs and leaves.

[anno: A forest has ants and

frogs.]

Notes


level d/5 in the forest - amazon s3 · literacy level d/5, including: • english-language learners...

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