nonfiction article of the week€¦ · ©2018 erin cobb imlovinlit.com nonfiction article of the...

©2018 erin cobb imlovinlit.com

Nonfiction Article of the Week7-7: Aliens: A Look at the Evidence

Table of Contents

Terms of Use 2

Table of Contents 3

List of Activities, Difficulty Levels, Common Core Alignment, & TEKS 4

Digital Components/Google Classroom Guide 5

Teaching Guide, Rationale, Lesson Plans, Links, and Procedures: EVERYTHING 6-9

Article: Aliens: A Look at the Evidence 10-11

*Modified Article: Aliens: A Look at the Evidence 12-13

Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice w/Key 14-15

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions w/Key 16-17

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article 18-20

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity & Answer Bank w/Key 21-23

Activity 5: Skill Focus – Analyze Word Choice 24-28

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – Video Clip & Questions w/Key 29-30

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key 31-34

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key 35-38

ELAR.5(F)

ELAR.5(F)

ELAR.5(F)

ELAR.5(F)

ELAR.9, 2(A)(B)(E)

ELAR.9(B), 12(F)

ELAR.9, 2(A)(B)(E)

ELAR.9, 2(A)(B)(E)

RI.7.1

RI.7.1

RI.7.1

RI.7.1

RI.7.4

RI.7.9

RI.7.1, RI.7.4

RI.7.1, RI.7.4

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge

Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice*

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions*

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article**

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity w/Answer Bank**

Activity 5: Skill Focus – Analyze Word Choice***

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – Video Clip & Questions***

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key**

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key**

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge

Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice*

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions*

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article**

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity w/Answer Bank**

Activity 5: Skill Focus – Analyze Word Choice***

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – Video Clip & Questions***

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key**

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key**



Teacher’s Guide

Activities, Difficulty Levels, and Common Core Alignment

Activities, Difficulty Levels, and TEKS Alignment



Teacher’s Guide

Instructions for Google Classroom Digital ComponentsAll student activities are available in digital format compatible with Google Classroom. They are available in two formats: Google Slides and Google Forms.

Google SlidesFirst, I have made all student pages (excluding assessments) in Google Slides format. Students can simply add text boxes to any area they wish to type on. To access the Google Slides for this article, copy and paste the link below into your browser. *Note that you’ll need to make a copy of the folder or slide before you can use it.*

link omitted in preview file

Google FormsI have made the assessments available in Google Forms. Here, they are self-grading, and I have set them all up with answer keys so they are ready to go for you. You’ll need to find these two files in your download folder to use Google Forms. The first file contains the links to the Forms, and the second file is explicit instructions for use. Look inside the Google Forms folder.



Teacher’s Guide

A Couple of Options for Teaching Article of the Week UnitsHere are my favorite suggestions for organizing these units with your schedule.*Please note that thumbnails show article 6.1 and activities.

Option A: Quickie UnitSimply complete all lesson activities in order OR pickand choose the activities you want to complete in order.

Time Needed: 2-3 fifty-minute class periodsPros: Super flexible; perfect filler around your other units; makes it easy to assign easier components for homework; ideal no prep sub plans if you have to be out for 2-3 days in a row.Cons: Fitting them all in around everything else you’ve got to do.

Option B: Daily ModelUse as a class starter or specific routine in yourclassroom everyday at the same time.

Time Needed: 15-20 minutes/day, 5 days/weekPros: IDEAL for block scheduling when you need to always change it up; Great way to fit nonfiction articles in with what you’re already doing.Cons: There are 25 total articles for each grade level, so some weeks you’ll need to skip the articles (I’d skip when doing projects, novels, during short weeks, and plan to finish up right before testing); May be difficult to commit to something rigid like this if you’re a type B teacher like myself ;)

Here’s how the daily model works:

Monday: Read article & complete basic comprehension activityTuesday: Text evidence activityWednesday: Skills focus activity (based on one key skill for each article)Thursday: Integrate information (other sources)Friday: Assessment

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday



Teacher’s Guide

WalkthroughI have discussed here how I use each activity and included hints and links to help you, too. Feel free to take or leave what you like. Even if you don’t plan to do every activity, I still recommend reading through this section to get the most out of these activities. Looking for a schedule to follow? Check the previous page for two suggested scheduling options.

These lessons and activities were designed to meet the needs of seventh graders during the first half the school year. The stories, activities, questions, and assessments will become increasingly rigorous and challenging as we progress through the year.

• *There are no higher order thinking questions included here – only basic, literal comprehension.

• These activities are designed to be completed on an either/or basis, meaning your students should only complete one of them, not both.

• Use Activity 1 for a quick cold-read assessment or after you’ve read the article together. I use these to hold students accountable for reading carefully. I recommend having students complete activity 1 without the article as long as they’ve just read the article (so not the next day), unless you’re providing a testing accommodation.

• Use Activity 2 for an open-ended option for the same exact questions. Students may have a harder time answering this one without the article, so choose this one if you want students to use the article but still prove that they’ve understood the content.

Article Modified Article

Activities 1-2

Activity 1

Activity 2



Teacher’s Guide

Activities 3-4• Again, these activities are either/or, so choose

one or the other but not both.• Activity 3 requires students to annotate text

evidence in the article and includes an article annotation key.

• Activity 4 requires students to choose text evidence from a bank at the bottom. This format prepares students to choose from and distinguish between pieces of text evidence on a state assessment. I recommend mixing it up and going back and forth between these among units until your students are proficient at both methods.

Activity 5• This activity is focused around the main skill

for this article: RI.7.4 – Analyze Word Choice, specifically. Students will need the reference sheet to complete this activity.

• Complete answer keys included, as always.

Activity 6• This activity requires students to integrate

information from another source or media. • Here, students view a video clip about the same topic.

Students will look for different evidence within the video to record.

• View the video clip: https://youtu.be/H8jOR8xGRug• Backup: https://goo.gl/iAS8Eu

Activity 3

Activity 4

Activity 5

Activity 6



Teacher’s Guide

Activities 7-8• What’s the best way to make sure your students

are prepared for the state assessment? Assess them regularly with that format. I always let my students practice for the first few before I start counting them for a grade, and I always use the basic comprehension assessment (activity 1 or 2) as an easy grade so it levels the playing field.

• Activity 7 is the regular assessment.• Activity 8 is the modified assessment. The

modified assessment offer students only two answer choices instead of four. Note that only the multiple choice portion of the modified test is different from the original. Simply put, only page one is different. Complete keys included as always (not shown).

• In a hurry? I always include only multiple choice questions on the first page in case you’re in a hurry and need to skip the open-ended portion of the test. I don’t recommend skipping regularly but every now and then, I need a grading break.

Activity 7

Activity 8


what that could be, other than another spacecraft from another world..”

Regular people around the world have been reporting UFO sightings for at least hundreds of years. And there are certainly situations where many people who have never met report seeing the same thing in the night sky. Sometimes sightings can be explained by things like a wayward weather balloon or military training, but other sightings remain mysterious. There are also spots in the world that are “hot spots” for UFO sightings, such as Bonnybridge, Scotland where an average of 300 sightings are reported each year, or Wiltshire, England where crop circles are commonly found in fields and strange lights are spotted.

Probability is a math term for how likely something is to occur. Based on the size of the universe (apparently infinite) and the number of planets with life sustaining elements, probability tells us that chances are strong that some type of alien life exists. However, this does not mean that the alien life is anywhere near us, or capable of contacting or visiting us!

So, is there enough evidence to believe? That’s up to you to decide.

create fictional stories. Or did they actually encounter visitors from space?

There are numerous accounts from airline pilots, military pilots, and actual astronauts of unidentifiable and peculiar objects flying in the sky.

In 2018, two commercial airline pilots claimed they saw an unidentified flying object pass overhead while flying over the Arizona desert. After hearing reports from a Learjet pilot about a mysterious object in the sky, an air traffic controller alerted an American Airlines pilot who was in the area. About fifteen minutes later, the American Airlines pilot radioed back to the air traffic controller. “It’s American 1095. Yeah, something just passed over us. I don’t know what it was, but at least two-three thousand feet above us. Passed right over the top of us.” The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the controller was unable to verify that any other aircraft should have been in the area at the time. The strange encounter happened not far from Roswell, New Mexico, a city famous for a mysterious “flying saucer” crash in the late 1940s.

The famous astronaut Buzz Aldrin himself saw something flying outside of his Apollo 11 rocket. Mission control was able to say that the object was

Civilian Sightings

Do the Math

Pilot and Astronaut Sightings

about 6000 feet away from Apollo 11. Rumors have swirled around this sighting for decades, but there’s still no definitive answer about what Aldrin and other astronauts saw. According to Aldrin, “On Apollo 11 in route to the moon, I observed a light out the window that appeared to be moving alongside us. There were many explanations of

How have American opinions about aliens and UFOs shifted over the last 70 years?



Informational Text

For items 1-4, you’ll be citing textual evidence to support what the text says explicitly.

1. Find the sentences that explain the meaning of the acronym UFO. Highlight them in

blue.

2. Find the sentence that explains where crop circles are commonly found and highlight it

in green.

3. Find the sentence that reveals how the government explained the video footage released

in 2017 and highlight it in purple.

4. Find the sentence that suggests one way our ancestors were like us. Highlight it in gray.

Finding Text EvidenceFind each piece of text evidence in the article and highlight OR underline it with the color specified.

Skill: Text Evidence

For items 5-8, you’ll be citing one piece or multiple pieces of textual evidence to support

inferences drawn from the text.

5. Find one piece of evidence that supports the idea that some Native American tribes

believed in aliens. Highlight it in orange.

6. Find one piece of evidence from the article that supports the idea that what Buzz Aldrin

saw was probably not from another planet. Highlight it in yellow.

7. Find three pieces of text evidence that provide specific evidence that our ancestors may

have seen alien life or UFOs. Highlight them in pink.

8. Find two details from the article that supports this statement:

The southwestern U.S. is a hotbed for suspicious alien activity. Highlight them in red.

Activity 3



Informational TextSkill: Text Evidence

Activity 3



Informational Text

Finding Text EvidenceFind each piece of text in the text evidence bank and highlight OR underline it with the color specified.

Skill: Text Evidence

Activity 4

For items 1-4, you’ll be citing textual evidence to support what the text says explicitly.

1. Find the sentences that explain the meaning of the acronym UFO. Highlight them in

blue.

2. Find the sentence that explains where crop circles are commonly found and highlight it

in green.

3. Find the sentence that reveals how the government explained the video footage released

in 2017 and highlight it in purple.

4. Find the sentence that suggests one way our ancestors were like us. Highlight it in gray.

For items 5-8, you’ll be citing one piece or multiple pieces of textual evidence to support

inferences drawn from the text.

5. Find one piece of evidence that supports the idea that some Native American tribes

believed in aliens. Highlight it in orange.

6. Find one piece of evidence from the article that supports the idea that what Buzz Aldrin

saw was probably not from another planet. Highlight it in yellow.

7. Find three pieces of text evidence that provide specific evidence that our ancestors may

have seen alien life or UFOs. Highlight them in pink.

8. Find two details from the article that supports this statement:

The southwestern U.S. is a hotbed for suspicious alien activity. Highlight them in red.



Informational Text

Activity 5

Skill: Analyze Word Choice

A. Is it a good choice of word given the context it is in? Provide at least one reason to support your analysis.

B. Consider replacing scheming with the word contriving. How is it different from contriving? Which word is more precise?

3. word: contrivingsentence: Certainly our ancient ancestors were capable of contriving to creative fictional stories.


B. Consider replacing peculiar with the word fascinating. Which word gives the sentence a more positive tone? Which word gives the sentence a more negative tone? Explain.

4. word: peculiarsentence: There are numerous accounts from airline pilots, military pilots and actual astronauts of unidentifiable and peculiar objects flying in the sky.



Informational Text

Activity 5

Skill: Analyze Word Choice


B. Consider replacing scheming with the word contriving. How is it different from contriving? Which word is more precise?

3. word: contrivingsentence: Certainly our ancient ancestors were capable of contriving to creative fictional stories.

Yes, because at the time the government did not openly acknowledge the existence of the program. Covert is also commonly used in the context of secret government, military, or police operations.

Scheming and contriving both mean to plan something cleverly, but scheming includes the implication that it is being done in a way that is dishonest. So I believe scheming would fit better here since in this sentence it is being discussed that maybe our ancestors were trying to deceive.


B. Consider replacing peculiar with the word fascinating. Which word gives the sentence a more positive tone? Which word gives the sentence a more negative tone? Explain.

4. word: peculiarsentence: There are numerous accounts from airline pilots, military pilots and actual astronauts of unidentifiable and peculiar objects flying in the sky.

Yes, because use of the word peculiar means that it is strange, or not normal, and the sentence seeks to point out that whatever object was flying in the sky was not normally there, making it definitely peculiar.

Peculiar creates a more negative tone in this sentence because it implies that something is out of place, doesn’t belong, or is strange. The word fascinating gives the sentence a more positive tone, as the meaning of fascinating is interesting or appealing, and appealing is typically a good attribute.

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