TeACher’S Guide

Level N/30

Why Polar Bears Like Snow...and Flamingos Don't

Teacher's Guide

Skills & Strategies

Anchor Comprehension Strategies ? Compare and contrast

Comprehension

? Determine text importance ? Visualize ? Use graphic features to interpret

information

? Use text features to locate information

Word Study/Vocabulary

? Use context clues to determine word meaning

? Analyze compound words

Science Big Idea

? Earth is home to many types of living things. Living things have internal and external parts that help them survive and reproduce.

Science Theme: Life Science

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overview

Why Polar Bears Like Snow...and Flamingos Don't

Related Resources

Comprehension Strategy Posters (for Assessed Skills/Strategies) ? Comparing and Contrasting ? Using Text Features

Thematic Poetry Connections (in Reading & Writing Poetic Forms) ? "The Fox" (Anonymous) ? "On the Grasshopper and the

Cricket" (John Keats) ? "The Pasture" (Robert Frost)

Comprehension Strategy Assessment Handbook (Grade 3) ? Ongoing Assessments #31 and #32

Notable Trade Books for Read Aloud ? George, Jean Craighead.

One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest. HarperTrophy, 1990. (Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children, 1990; Notable Children's Trade Book in Social Studies, 1990) ? Arnosky, Jim. Wild and Swampy. HarperCollins, 2001.

skills and strategies

This lesson teaches and/or reinforces the following skills and strategies:

? Compare and Contrast (pp. 3?9)

Use Text Features to Locate Information (pp. 4?6)

? Evaluate Author's Purpose (p. 4) ? Use Context Clues to Determine Word Meaning (p. 4) ? Activate Prior Knowledge (p. 5) ? Use Knowledge of Word Structures to

Determine Word Meaning (p. 5)

? Draw Conclusions (pp. 6?7) ? Use Graphic Features to Interpret Information (p. 6)

This skill/strategy is the focus of the Ongoing Assessments for

this title.

National contenT standards

Science

Life Science: a, b

Web Site for Content Information ? Missouri Botanical Gardens

Click on "Just for Kids" to explore six major habitats.

theme connections

Animal Habitats Survival in Nature

table of contents

Before Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Chapters 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chapters 3 & 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Chapters 5 & 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 After Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Writing Workshop and Writing Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 9 Reproducible Graphic Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Content-Area Extension Activities (BLMs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Before Reading

Book Summary

Author Nancy White takes readers on a tour of four unique habitats: the Arctic, the tropical rain forest of South America, the grasslands of Africa, and the Everglades of Florida. She compares and contrasts the animals that live in these habitats, and describes the amazing adaptations that help them survive and thrive there.

Introduce the Book

Draw students' attention to the front cover of the book. Read the title

together. Turn to the back of the book and read the blurb and author

information. Examine the table of contents. Page through the book

looking at the photographs and captions. While previewing, pose the

following questions to encourage students to think about the text before

reading.

? Based on your preview, what do you predict this book is about? What do

you think the author will talk about?

? Do you think the book is fiction or nonfiction? Why? ? What kinds of features would you expect to find in a nonfiction book?

Do you see any of those features here?

? Which animals do you recognize in the photographs? What do you

already know about these animals? Which animals don't you recognize?

? Which places shown in the photographs have you seen before? What do

you know about these places? What do you think you'll find out?

? What kinds of special vocabulary words do you think you'll find

in this book?

Comparing and Contrasting Animal Adaptations

Characteristics of the Habitat

Animals and Their Adaptations

Arctic

Tropical Rain Forest

Set a Purpose for Reading

This text provides an excellent opportunity to focus on the strategy of comparing and contrasting information. Explain that the author is going to present the characteristics of four animal habitats--the Arctic, the tropical rain forest, the grasslands of Africa, and the Florida Everglades. She will also compare and contrast how the animals are adapted in similar and different ways to their habitats.

Read page 5 from the text. Say: Listen carefully for which animals the author compares in these paragraphs. After reading, point out that certain words, such as too, also, most and many can signal that an author is making a comparison. Other words, such as but, however, or on the other hand may signal a contrast between two pieces of information. Sometimes, however, the author doesn't use any signal words, but rather suggests a comparison or contrast by describing one thing first and then another immediately after.

African Grassland

Florida Everglades

Introduce the Graphic Organizer

Provide each student with a copy of the Comparing and Contrasting Animal Adaptations graphic organizer. Explain that as they read, students will be looking for data to fill in this chart. You might suggest that students place sticky notes in the margins of pages where they see comparisons and contrasts being made. Point out that comparing and contrasting allows readers to put information into meaningful categories that can help them process information.

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Why Polar Bears Like Snow...and Flamingos Don't

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CHAPTERS 1 & 2

Read the Text pages 2?8

Use the following prompt to set a purpose for the reading: As you read, think about the information the author is presenting. What does she want you to know? What is the author's purpose for writing this book? Ask students to read the chapters independently. Invite them to use sticky notes to flag sections of the text that support their ideas about the author's purpose. Also ask them to flag examples of comparisons and contrasts and any unfamiliar words they encounter. When the group has finished, use the activities below to focus on skills, strategies, and text and graphic features of the book.

TEACHING TIPS

Meaningful Activities for Rapid Readers

?Do the sidebar activity on

page 7. How does it help you appreciate camouflage?

?Think about the question in the

bubble on page 8. Come up with an answer.

Prompts to Help Readers Monitor Comprehension

? If you lose the meaning, go back and reread the section where you lost concentration.

? Look for context clues to help you define unfamiliar words.

Focus on comprehension

Evaluate the Author's Purpose Invite students to share their ideas about the author's purpose. Encourage them to point out examples from the text that helped them figure it out. If students have difficulty, use a think aloud to model how a good reader thinks through an author's purpose.

The very first sentence on page 2 ("Different kinds of animals live in different places") got me thinking that the author was going to compare and contrast animals and places. Then she gave two concrete examples of animals that live in different places and have very different characteristics, the polar bear and the flamingo.

Use Context Clues Have students look at the word blubber (page 5). The author defines this word in context using a synonym, fat. Challenge students to locate this definition in context. Create a visual word web like the one below and have the class complete it.

synonym fat

Begin the Graphic Organizer: Comparing and Contrasting

Ask students to reread or skim and scan the text to locate information for the graphic organizer. Draw students' attention to the structure of Chapter 2. On the first page, the author gives characteristics of the habitat. On the following pages, she describes the animal adaptations based on these habitat characteristics. Ask: How does recognizing this structure help you find the information you're looking for?

Use Text Features: Sidebars

Point out the Meet the Walrus sidebar on page 5. Ask: How is this sidebar text different from the other text on the page? They should notice that:

? The sidebar has a special heading to separate it from the other text.

? The text in the sidebar has a different type style and size.

? The sidebar text is in a special tinted box.

? The information supports the text with additional details.

Invite students to skim the rest of the book to find other "Meet the Animal" sidebars. Explain that this is a recurring type of sidebar in the book. Ask: How does the information in these sidebars help you as you read?

blubber

definition the layer of fat on whales, seals, and other animals

sentence A seal's blubber keeps it warm even in the cold, Arctic water.

Then tell students to apply this and other strategies to unfamiliar words they flagged. These may include: swampy, p. 2 bounding, p. 2 adapted, p. 3 camouflage, p. 7 surroundings, p. 7

4 Why Polar Bears Like Snow...and Flamingos Don't

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CHAPTERS 3 & 4

Read the Text pages 9?18

Use the following prompt to set a purpose for the reading: As you read, think about what you already know about rain forest or grassland animals--from movies, other books you've read, or trips you've taken to the zoo. How can using prior knowledge help you read and understand new information? Ask students to read the chapters independently. Encourage them to use sticky notes to jot down personal connections they make to the text as they read. Also ask them to flag examples of comparisons and contrasts and any unfamiliar words they encounter. When the group has finished, use the activities below to focus on skills, strategies, and text and graphic features of the book.

TEACHING TIPS

Meaningful Activities for Rapid Readers

?Brainstorm and list other animals you associate with the tropical rain forest or grassland.

?Which animal discussed so far interests you the most? Write down what else you would like to learn about it.

Prompts to Help Readers Monitor Comprehension

? If you lose the meaning, go back and reread the section where you lost concentration.

? Look for context clues to help you define unfamiliar words.

Focus on comprehension

Discuss Using Prior Knowledge Invite students to share personal connections they made to the text. Ask: What information was already familiar to you? What information was entirely new? Which of the animals mentioned had you seen before? What new information did you learn about them? Did this make reading about them more interesting? Why and how?

Continue the Graphic Organizer: Comparing and Contrasting Ask students to reread or skim and scan the text to locate information for the graphic organizer. Did students notice any adaptations that rain forest and grassland animals have in common (such as camouflage)?

Use Text Features: Bold Text

Point out the words in bold text on page 9: tropical rain forests, equator, canopy, understory, forest floor. Ask students why these words are bolded. They should note that bold text: ? makes a reader pay more attention. ? stands out, making those words look more important. ? identifies words that are in the glossary. Invite students to consider why other unfamiliar words in the chapter do not appear in bold text. Explain that most glossaries include only words related to the main topic of a book, not random words that happen to be difficult.

Analyze Compound Words Challenge students to find examples of compound words in the text. Discuss how paying attention to the words within compound words can be used to decipher meaning and spelling patterns. Create a word web like the one below as an example.

understory

under

word parts

story

below level synonym floor

definition The level of the rain forest

below the canopy

Then tell students to apply this strategy to other compound words they flagged. These may include: canopy, p. 9

treetops, p. 9 anteater, p. 14

grasslands, pp. 15, 16, 17

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Why Polar Bears Like Snow...and Flamingos Don't

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