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Teacher’s Guide Grade 4 • Unit 8 1Week

Summarize and Synthesize/ Evaluate Author’s Purpose

® 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

Unit 8/Week 1 at a Glance

Day Mini-Lessons

ONE • Introduce the Comprehension Strategy: Evaluate Author’s Purpose

• Think Aloud and Use the Metacognitive Strategy: Summarize and Synthesize

• Find the Author’s Purpose in a Picture

• Connect Thinking, Speaking, and Writing

• Reflect and Discuss

TWO • Review the Metacognitive Strategy: Summarize and Synthesize

• Use the Comprehension Strategy: Evaluate Author’s Purpose

• Connect Thinking, Speaking, and Writing


THREE • Extend the Comprehension Strategy: Evaluate Author’s Purpose

• Observe and Prompt for Strategy Understanding


FOUR • Read and Summarize

• Answer Text-Dependent Comprehension Questions: Evaluate Author’s Purpose (Level 3: Prove It!)


FIVE • Metacognitive Self-Assessment

Unit • Constructed Written Response

• Ongoing Comprehension Strategy Assessment

Teacher’s Guide Grade 4 • Unit 8

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Compromising

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Dear Diary,I learned a new word today.

That word is "compromise." Let me tell you how I learned about compromise.

Earlier today, my younger brother and I wanted to use the computer at the same time. We argued over who would use it first. My mother found us arguing. She told us that it was silly to disagree over a computer when both of us would get to use it at some point during the evening. Her words made sense to me. It really didn’t make any difference which one of us went first as long as we both got a turn.

In the end, I let my brother use the computer first. And, believe it or not, I felt good about my decision. Maybe one day soon, I can teach my brother about compromising.

Talk to you tomorrow. Linda

▲ chanterelles

▲ porcini

▲ morel ▲ earth balls

▲ death cap

▲ toadstool

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What do you think of when you hear the word “fungus”? A fungus is a type of plant that does not produce seeds or flowers. Mushrooms are one type of fungus.

When the ground is damp, you may see many types of mushrooms. Some mushrooms are edible, meaning you can eat them. Porcini mushrooms, for example, are often used to flavor soup. Chanterelles and morel mushrooms are edible, too. People cook and eat them with many types of foods.

Other mushrooms are poisonous. The death cap mushroom is one of the most toxic. It usually grows under oak and beech trees. Toadstools and earth balls are also poisonous.

Many types of mushrooms are difficult to identify. So to be safe, remember these two things: (1) do not eat any mushroom that you are not sure about; and (2) ask an expert before nibbling on a mushroom.

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Evidence: Author’s Purpose:

Long ago, before day and night existed, animals had no fire or light. They decided that someone must find Sun, who only shone on the other side of the mountain.

Spider volunteered for the dangerous mission. She took a pot with her and climbed slowly up into the sky. When she found Sun, she trapped a bit of him in her pot and quickly closed the lid. When she

returned to her friends, everyone was happy, for now they had fire and heat.

Sun was angry when he discovered that he lost part of his fire to Spider, and so he set off to find her. Every day he traveled the world from east to west looking for Spider. The animals were delighted with Sun’s

movement, for now they enjoyed regular times of light and heat.

Sun never found Spider, but continued traveling around Earth. He makes almost the same trip every day.

Spider and Sun

Clues: • There is a setting, a problem, a solution,

and characters.• Animals talk and do things, like go on missions.• Sun is angry.

Author’s Purpose: To entertain

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GeorgeWashington

Thomas Jefferson

Theodore Roosevelt Abraham

Lincoln

Meeting of the Mount Rushmore Presidents

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Good morning, Tom!Good morning, Teddy!Good morning, Abe!

Day One

Benchmark Literacy • Grade 4 • Unit 8/Week 1 ©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC2

Read-Aloud (10 minutes)

Select a favorite fiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Summarize and Synthesize.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Benchmark Literacy Overview.

Mini-Lessons (20 minutes)

Introduce the Comprehension Strategy: Evaluate Author’s Purpose

Say: When I give you facts about a topic such as U.S. presidents, I have a specific purpose, or reason, for talking to you. When I read a scary story to you, I have a different purpose. When I talk to you about exercising and encourage you to exercise regularly, I have a third purpose.

Ask: What specific purposes do I have when I talk to you in these situations?

Turn and talk. Ask students to turn to a partner and share purposes a teacher has for speaking to the class. Ask a few students to share with the whole group.

Explain: When I give you information about the presidents, my purpose is to inform. When I read a scary story, my purpose is to entertain. When I encourage you to exercise, my purpose is to persuade you to do something. Writers have these purposes, too. Good readers know how to identify the author’s purpose in fiction and nonfiction texts. We’re going to practice identifying the author’s purpose this week.

Think Aloud and Use the Metacognitive Strategy: Summarize and Synthesize

Display Poster 1.

Draw students’ attention to the illustration and text. (Whiteboard users can use the highlighter tool.)

Explain: When I look at this poster, the first thing I need to do is figure out what it is trying to show me. One way to do that is by identifying the most important information on the poster. Then I summarize, or put in my own words, what is happening on the poster. Thinking about my own experiences, or synthesizing, helps me understand the information even better. Let me show you how I do it.

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Identify the author’s purpose based on a photograph with text.

• Identify clues that reveal the author’s purpose.

• Summarize and synthesize to understand an illustration with text.

• Use academic sentence frames to discuss strategies.

Related Resources

• Whiteboard CD-ROM

• Home/School Connections (BLM 1)

About the Strategy

• The author’s purpose is the author’s reason for writing a particular text.

• The author’s purpose may be to inform, to entertain, or to persuade.

• Clues to an author’s purpose include content, style, and illustrations.

• Recognizing an author’s purpose helps readers understand why the author did what he or she did in a text.

Comprehension Anchor Poster 1

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GeorgeWashington

Thomas Jefferson

Theodore Roosevelt Abraham

Lincoln

Meeting of the Mount Rushmore Presidents

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Good morning, Tom!Good morning, Teddy!Good morning, Abe!

©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC Benchmark Literacy • Grade 4 • Unit 8/Week 1 3

Day One

Make Content Comprehensible for ELLsUse the following strategies to help ELLs understand the poster content and acquire academic language.

Beginning and IntermediateRead the title of the poster. Describe and explain Mount Rushmore. For example, say: Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota. You can visit the national park. (Point out the location of Mount Rushmore, in southwestern South Dakota, on a U.S. map.)

An artist designed the carvings. In 1927, people began carving the faces.

Ask ELLs to draw their interpretations of any parts of Mount Rushmore.

Intermediate and AdvancedPoint to and name the presidents on the poster: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Ask students to give facts they know about each president.

Comprehension Quick-CheckObserve whether students are able to articulate the author’s purpose in the poster. If they have difficulty, use the following additional explicit instruction.

Draw the author’s purpose graphic organizer on chart paper.

In the column under Clues, write photo of Mount Rushmore.

Say: This is the first clue to the author’s purpose. The photo is realistic. It shows Mount Rushmore as it really is.

In the next Clues row, write Funny words by Washington.

Say: I found clues to the author’s reason for writing the poster. They can help me figure out the author’s purpose.

Say: Now you find another clue to the author’s purpose on the poster.

Think aloud: The title of the poster is “Meeting of the Mount Rushmore Presidents.” I know that four of our greatest presidents are carved into the mountain at Mount Rushmore. The photograph shows Mount Rushmore as it really is, but the author has added cartoon balloons to show what George Washington says. The words Washington says are amusing. So now I have a good idea of the purpose of the poster. Describing the photograph and cartoon in my own words helps me understand the author’s purpose better.

Write your summary and synthesis on chart paper. Ask students to add to the summary.

Post the summary and synthesis on the wall as a Summarize and Synthesize anchor chart, or invite students to write them in their reading journals or notebooks to use in the future.

Find the Author’s Purpose in a Picture

Ask students what the purpose of the poster is. Point out that the title of the poster, “Meeting of the Mount Rushmore Presidents,” can help them figure out the author’s purpose.

Ask students to tell which elements of the poster helped them figure out the author’s purpose. Remind them that an author has a specific reason, or purpose, for each thing he or she writes.

Provide the following academic sentence frames to support ELLs and struggling students:

The author’s purpose is . One way I use synthesis to figure out the author’s purpose is .Clues that help me identify the author’s purpose are .

Connect Thinking, Speaking, and Writing

Write down the author’s purpose students identify and reread it as a group. Then write the clues they found that help them identify the author’s purpose. Give students the opportunity to expand on their shared writing.

Reflect and Discuss

Ask and discuss the following questions: •Whyisitimportanttoidentifytheauthor’spurpose?Howdoesthis

help you?•Howdidsummarizingandsynthesizinghelpyouunderstandtheposter?•Howdoesthetitlehelpyouidentifytheauthor’spurpose?

Day One


Support Special Needs LearnersSupport visual learners and students with attention issues by projecting the whiteboard version of the posters. Allow students to come to the whiteboard and circle, underline, or highlight clues to the author’s purpose in the text. Invite them to label what they see.

Access the graphic organizer provided on the whiteboard. Record the author’s purpose and clues with students.

Provide opportunities for active involvement. For example, ask students to make their own illustrations of poster content and describe how they illustrate the author’s purpose.

Access the image bank for enlarged images that students can use to practice summarizing and synthesizing and determining author’s purpose.

Home/School ConnectionsOn Day 1, distribute copies of Home/School Connections (BLM 1). Each day during the week, assign one of the six home/school connection activities for the students to complete. Ask them to bring their completed assignments to class the following day. Make time at the beginning of each day for students to share their ideas.

Connect and transfer. Say: Remember, you can look for the author’s purpose in a text, too. Tomorrow, we will practice looking for the author’s purpose in a text.

Small-Group Reading Instruction (60 minutes)

Based on students’ instructional reading levels, select titles that provide opportunities for students to practice identifying author’s purpose. See the list provided on the Unit at a Glance chart.

Use the before-, during-, and after-reading instruction provided in the Teacher’s Guide for each text.

Individual Student Conferences (10 minutes)

Confer with individual students on their text selections and applications of strategies. Use the Reading Conference Note-Taking Form to help guide your conferences.

Word Study Workshop (20 minutes)

Use the Day 1 instruction provided in Word Study Skill Bag 22.

Home/School Connections (BLM 1)

Name Date

Benchmark Literacy • Grade 4 • Unit 8/Week 1 ©2010 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Home/School Connections: Evaluate Author’s Purpose

1. Make Text-to-World Strategy ConnectionsThink of a topic you have enjoyed studying in school recently. Tell your family members something about the topic to inform them about it. Then persuade them of something about the topic. Then entertain them with something about the topic. Discuss the purposes with your family members. Report on your ideas with the class.

2. Make Text-to-Text Strategy ConnectionsWith your family, read an article in a newspaper or magazine. Discuss the article’s purpose. Highlight or circle clues in the article that show the author’s purpose. Bring your example to school to share with the class.

3. Make a Strategy Connection to Social StudiesFind and read a story or book that describes the life of an American leader. Think about the purpose or purposes of the story. Write the purpose or purposes and some clues that show them.

4. Make a Strategy Connection to LiteratureFind a story that explains how and why something occurred in nature in an imaginative way. Think about the parts of the story that make it entertaining. List the parts.

5. Make an Author’s Purpose ChartIdentify and summarize three articles, stories, or books with three different purposes. Make an Author’s Purpose chart that lists the titles of the works and their purposes. You can ask a family member to help you. Sign your name and your family member’s name on your chart. Bring your chart to class to share.

6. Think and Write About the StrategyThink about how identifying the author’s purpose has helped you become a more strategic reader. Write about how and when you use this strategy to help you understand what you are reading.

BLM 1

Day Two


Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Identify the author’s purpose in a passage.

• Identify clues that indicate the author’s purpose.

• Summarize and synthesize to understand a text.


Related Resources



• Comprehension Anchor Poster 2 (BLM 2)


Select a favorite fiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Summarize and Synthesize.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Benchmark Literacy Overview.


Review the Metacognitive Strategy: Summarize and Synthesize

Display Poster 2 with annotations hidden and/or distribute BLM 2 and read aloud the title.

Read aloud the text with students.

Explain: Yesterday when I looked at the “Meeting of the Mount Rushmore Presidents” poster, I thought about the most important ideas in the pictures and text. I thought about what I already knew about Mount Rushmore and about cartoons to summarize what the poster was showing. I’ll show you how I do this.

Reread the first paragraph. Think aloud: The story is about a spider and the sun. Both characters have traits of humans: Spider volunteers to find Sun, and Sun gets angry. I have read stories like this in which animals and other objects that are not human are described as human. The stories are fun to read.

Reread the rest of the story. Think aloud: The story does not give facts. The story explains nature with a fun story. I enjoy reading the author’s explanation of why the sun goes from east to west each day.

Build academic oral language: Ask students to use what they read and what they know to summarize and synthesize. Invite students to describe how summarizing and synthesizing helped them identify the author’s purpose in this story. Reinforce the idea that good readers use their own words and experiences to summarize what happened in a story, and they include their own experiences, or synthesize, to deepen their understanding. Support ELLs and struggling readers with the following sentence frames:

The main characters’ traits are .The story explains .Summarizing and synthesizing helped me .

Comprehension Anchor Poster 2 (BLM 2)

Long ago, before day and night existed, animals had no fire or light. They decided that someone must find Sun, who only shone on the other side of the mountain.

Spider volunteered for the dangerous mission. She took a pot with her and climbed slowly up into the sky. When she found Sun, she trapped a bit of him in her pot and quickly closed the lid. When she

returned to her friends, everyone was happy, for now they had fire and heat.

Sun was angry when he discovered that he lost part of his fire to Spider, and so he set off to find her. Every day he traveled the world from east to west looking for Spider. The animals were delighted with Sun’s

movement, for now they enjoyed regular times of light and heat.

Sun never found Spider, but continued traveling around Earth. He makes almost the same trip every day.

Spider and Sun

Clues: • There is a setting, a problem, a solution,

and characters.• Animals talk and do things, like go on missions.• Sun is angry.

Author’s Purpose: To entertain

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BeginningRead aloud the poster title and passage. Point to the illustrations and identify the details it shows (spider, pot, angry sun).

Beginning and IntermediateAsk students to use their own words to describe what happens in the story. Ask questions to help them get started.

If you have students whose first language is Spanish, share these English/Spanish cognates: day/el día, existed/existió, animals/los animales, mountain/la montaña, mission/la misión, east/el este, west/el oeste, regular/regular.

All LevelsPair ELLs with fluent English speakers during partner discussions and activities.

Model the use of academic sentence frames to support ELLs’ academic vocabulary and language development. (See suggested sentence frames provided.)

Use the Comprehension Strategy: Evaluate Author’s Purpose

Reread the poster text with students, annotations still hidden.

Say: Now think about the content of this passage. What is the first clue to its purpose?

If necessary, explain that the passage is about parts of nature: spiders and the sun. The characters are nonhuman, but they act like humans.

Say: Let’s look closely to find the clues that tell the author’s purpose. What are some clues you notice that tell the author’s purpose?

Write the clues that students identify. Then reveal the Clues annotations. Ask: Did we find all the clues? Let’s compare lists.

Build academic oral language. Say: The clues help us figure out what the author’s purpose is in this text. Is it to inform, to entertain, or to persuade? Let’s think about our first clue. The first thing we notice is the illustrations. What feeling do the illustrations create? (amusement, humor) Howdoesthis help you figure out the author’s purpose? (It shows that the purpose is probably not to inform or to persuade.)

Day Two

Clues:

• There is a setting, a problem, a solution, and characters.

• Animals talk and do things, such as go on missions.

• Sun is angry.

Purpose:

to entertain

Comprehension Anchor Poster 2 Sample Annotations


Day Two

Connect Thinking, Speaking, and Writing

Prompt students to identify other clues that show that the purpose of the text is not to inform or to persuade. Students should understand that each feature in a text may not directly indicate the author’s purpose, but studying the clues together should help readers identify the purpose.

Record students’ purpose on chart paper. Then reveal the Author’s Purpose annotation.

Say: Let’s compare our purpose to the one on the poster. Allow time for discussion.

Reflect and Discuss

Ask and discuss the following questions:•Howdoessummarizingandsynthesizingthetexthelpyouasareader?•Howdoesknowingtheauthor’spurposehelpyouunderstandwhat

you are reading? •Whatkindsofclueshelpyouidentifytheauthor’spurpose?

Connect and transfer. Ask: Howwillyouusewhatwehavepracticedtodaywhen you read on your own?


Based on students’ instructional reading levels, select titles that provide opportunities for students to practice identifying the author’s purpose. See the list provided on the Unit at a Glance chart.






Comprehension Quick-CheckTake note of which students can or cannot contribute to the discussion of the Poster 2 author’s purpose. Use the following activity to provide additional explicit instruction for these students.

Use an additional real world example to help students understand how to identify author’s purpose. For example, say: I went into my kitchen a few days ago. I saw my catandsaid,“Hi,Callie.”ThenIheardacat meow behind me. It was Callie. The first cat was not my cat at all. It had gotten in the house when someone left the door open. I laughed when I realized what had happened. Ask students to write the purpose of what you said and the clues that indicate your purpose. Then ask them to discuss the clues and your purpose.

Oral Language ExtensionDuring independent workstation time, pair students to brainstorm texts with specific purposes that they have read recently. Ask students to take turns identifying each purpose and discussing clues that indicate the purpose. Tell students to be ready to report on their texts, author’s purposes, and clues during individual conference time.

Home/School ConnectionsAt the beginning of the day, make time for students to share their ideas based on the activity they completed the previous night.

At the end of the day, ask students to complete another home/school connection activity from BLM 1 and bring their assignment to class the following day.



Select a favorite nonfiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Summarize and Synthesize.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Benchmark Literacy Overview.


Extend the Comprehension Strategy: Evaluate Author’s Purpose

Display Poster 3 and/or distribute BLM 3 and read aloud the title.

Say: Today you’re going to practice reading and identifying the author’s purpose in a text. Remember to use what you’ve learned. You can summarize and synthesize the text to help you understand.

Based on students’ needs and abilities, ask them to read the passage independently or with a partner. Tell them to locate and write the evidence of the author’s purpose in the Evidence box. Encourage students to identify the author’s purpose in the Purpose box. Tell students to underline, circle, or flag key information as they read.

Invite individual students or pairs to share the evidence and purpose they identified. Record students’ findings on the poster or on chart paper. See the sample annotations.

Observe and Prompt for Strategy Understanding

While using the poster, note students who demonstrate understanding of the concepts and those who seem to struggle. Use appropriate responsive prompting to help students who need modeling or additional guidance, or to validate students who demonstrate mastery.

Goal Oriented•Iamgoingtolookforcluesthatshowtheauthor’spurpose.•Iamgoingtosummarizeandsynthesizetofindtheauthor’spurpose.•Theclueinsentence shows that the purpose is .

Directive and Corrective Feedback•Doesthatsentencehelpyoufigureouttheauthor’spurpose?•Whichdetailsshowtheauthor’spurpose?Howcanyoutell?•Whatdothecluestellyouabouttheauthor’spurpose?

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Identify the author’s purpose in a passage.

• Identify evidence that indicates the author’s purpose.

• Summarize and synthesize to better understand a text.


Related Resources




Day Three


▲ chanterelles

▲ porcini

▲ morel ▲ earth balls

▲ death cap

▲ toadstool

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What do you think of when you hear the word “fungus”? A fungus is a type of plant that does not produce seeds or flowers. Mushrooms are one type of fungus.

When the ground is damp, you may see many types of mushrooms. Some mushrooms are edible, meaning you can eat them. Porcini mushrooms, for example, are often used to flavor soup. Chanterelles and morel mushrooms are edible, too. People cook and eat them with many types of foods.

Other mushrooms are poisonous. The death cap mushroom is one of the most toxic. It usually grows under oak and beech trees. Toadstools and earth balls are also poisonous.

Many types of mushrooms are difficult to identify. So to be safe, remember these two things: (1) do not eat any mushroom that you are not sure about; and (2) ask an expert before nibbling on a mushroom.

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Evidence: Author’s Purpose:

Comprehension Quick-CheckThe responsive prompts on pages 8–9 are designed to help you meet the needs of individual students. Based on your observations, identify students who may need additional explicit reinforcement of the strategy during small-group instruction or intervention time. Use similar responsive prompts during small-group instruction to scaffold students toward independent use of the strategy.


Day Three


BeginningPoint to the poster photographs and read the names of the mushrooms. Explain the meanings of the words edible and poisonous. Use pantomime and simple words to demonstrate the meanings of the words.

Beginning and IntermediateIf you have students whose first language is Spanish, share these English/Spanish cognates: type/el tipo, plant/la planta, flowers/las flores, soup/la sopa, toxic/tóxico, difficult/difícil, identify/identificar.

Home/School ConnectionsAt the end of the day, ask students to complete another home/school connection activity from BLM 1 and bring their assignment to class the following day.

Self-Monitoring and Reflection•Whatcouldyoudotofigureouttheauthor’spurpose?•Howcouldyousummarizeandsynthesizetofindtheauthor’spurpose?•Howdoesidentifyinghowthetextmakesyoufeelhelpyouidentifythe

author’s purpose?

Validating and Confirming•Greatjobidentifyingtheauthor’spurpose!•Youfoundallthecluesthatshowtheauthor’spurpose.•Ilikethewayyousummarizedandsynthesizedtohelpidentifythe

author’s purpose.

Reflect and Discuss

Ask and discuss the following questions:•Whatpurposeshaveyoufoundinnonfictiontextsyouhaveread?•Whatpurposewouldafictionalstoryhave?Explain.•Whatpurposesmightanewspaperarticlehave?Howdoesidentifying

the author’s purpose help you understand an article?

Connect and transfer. Say: Remember that every fiction and nonfiction text you read has a purpose. Look for the author’s purpose today when you read in small groups. Summarize and synthesize to help you figure out the author’s purpose.








Evidence:

• First paragraph gives background information on mushrooms.

• The passage gives examples of types of mushrooms that people can eat.

• The passage gives examples of types of mushrooms that are poisonous.

• Author tells how to be safe when eating mushrooms.

Purpose:

to inform




Select a favorite nonfiction read-aloud from your classroom or school library with which to model the metacognitive strategy “Summarize and Synthesize.” Use the sample read-aloud lessons and suggested titles in the Benchmark Literacy Overview.


Read and Summarize

Display Poster 4 and/or distribute BLM 4.

Based on students’ needs and abilities, ask them to read the passage independently or with a partner. Remind students to summarize and synthesize to help them understand what they read.

Build academic oral language. When students have finished, ask individuals or pairs to tell what the author’s purpose was for writing the passage. Encourage ELLs or struggling readers to use the academic sentence frame:

The author’s purpose for writing this passage was .

Answer Text-Dependent Comprehension Questions: Evaluate Author’s Purpose (Level 3: Prove It!)

Say: Sometimes you need to answer questions about a passage you’ve read. Some questions require you to identify the author’s purpose. Today we’re going to read and answer questions. Some of the questions will ask you to identify the author’s purpose.

Distribute BLM 5 and read Question 2 together. (“What is the author’s main purpose in the passage?”)

Ask: What is the question asking us to do? If students can’t tell you, ask: Is the question asking us to find the main idea? Is it asking us to summarize? What strategy will we need? (identifying author’s purpose)Howdoyouknow? (It asks for the purpose of the passage.)

Say: To find the author’s purpose, I will have to think about why the author wrote this passage and look for clues that can help me figure out the reason, or purpose. I’m going to read this question again carefully to be sure I understand what I need to do.

Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Learn strategies for analyzing questions and finding answers, clues, and evidence.

• Identify author’s purpose and evidence that indicates the purpose in a text.

• Answer text-dependent author’s purpose questions.

• Use academic vocabulary to discuss strategies.

Related Resources




• Comprehension Questions (BLM 5)

Day Four


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Dear Diary,I learned a new word today.

That word is "compromise." Let me tell you how I learned about compromise.

Earlier today, my younger brother and I wanted to use the computer at the same time. We argued over who would use it first. My mother found us arguing. She told us that it was silly to disagree over a computer when both of us would get to use it at some point during the evening. Her words made sense to me. It really didn’t make any difference which one of us went first as long as we both got a turn.

In the end, I let my brother use the computer first. And, believe it or not, I felt good about my decision. Maybe one day soon, I can teach my brother about compromising.

Talk to you tomorrow. Linda



BeginningSupport the concept of compromising by performing a role-play with a student in which two people want to use the same piece of sports equipment, they argue about it, and then they take turns using it.

Beginning and IntermediateAsk students to draw a picture showing a situation in which they compromised with a friend or sibling.

If you have students whose first language is Spanish, share these academic English/Spanish cognates: diary/el diario, computer/la computadora, time/el tiempo, point/el punto, difference/la diferencia, decision/la decisión.

Intermediate and AdvancedAsk two students to act out the situation in the passage and explain how they solve it.

Model the use of academic sentence frames to support ELLs’ academic vocabulary and language development. (See suggested sentence frames provided.)


Day Four

Say: Now we’re ready to reread the passage to find the information we need. In the first paragraph, the author says she will tell how she learned the meaning of the word compromise. I will read on to see if the author’s purpose is to inform. The second paragraph tells a story about the author and her brother. Stories are often told to entertain readers, so the author’s purpose may be to entertain. I’ll keep reading. If I were writing this passage, I might try to persuade readers that they should compromise. But instead, the author describes her feelings after compromising with her brother. Once again the author is informing readers about learning about the word compromise. The author does not tell the dictionary definition of the word compromise. The author tells how she learned about the word’s meaning through experience. I think that the author’s main purpose is to inform readers. I had to think like the author to figure out the answer. The answer, to inform readers, makes sense. So I’ll choose B.

Ask students to work independently or with a partner to answer additional text-dependent questions on BLM 5.

Review students’ answers and use the poster as needed to model analyzing questions and rereading to put information together to figure out answers.

Evidence:

• Author says she will tell how she learned about compromise.

• Author describes compromising in a particular situation.

• Author tells readers her feelings about compromising.

Purpose:

to inform

Comprehension Questions (BLM 5)

Name Date


Compromising: Comprehension Questions

Directions: Use information from the poster to answer questions 1–4.

1. What is this passage mostly about?

A a girl wanting her own computer

B a girl having a fight with her brother

C why keeping a diary is useful

D the meaning of the word “compromise”

2. What is the author’s main purpose in the passage?

A to entertain readers by telling about a funny argument

B to inform readers how the author learned the meaning

of a word

C to persuade readers not to argue with their brothers and

sisters

D to inform readers of the dictionary meaning of a word

3. Which sentence is the best clue to the author’s purpose?

A Let me tell you how I learned about compromise.

B My mother found us arguing.

C Her words made sense to me.

D And, believe it or not, I felt good about my decision.

4. Which is an effect of the words Linda’s mother says?

A Linda learns a lesson.

B Linda gets to use the computer first.

C Linda’s brother gets in trouble.

D Linda gets angrier.

BLM 5



Day Four

Comprehension Quick-CheckNote whether students are able to analyze each Level 3 text-dependent comprehension question and return to the text to find the information they need to answer the question correctly. If students have difficulty, use small-group reading time for additional practice answering these kinds of questions, which appear on standardized reading assessments. The Comprehension Question Card for each leveled text provides practice questions at four levels of comprehension. The Comprehension Teacher Flip Chart helps you model the strategies students need to master.

Oral Language ExtensionDisplay Comprehension Anchor Poster 4 during independent workstation time. Invite pairs of students to read and talk about the poster together. Encourage students to think of a word whose meaning became clear through experience. Then ask them to write a diary entry about the word to inform, entertain, or persuade. Ask students to exchange and discuss diary entries and identify their partner’s purpose. Remind students to be prepared to share their diary entries and purposes during independent conference time.


At the end of the day, ask students to complete another home/school connection activity from BLM 1 and bring their assignment to class the following day.

Reflect and Discuss

Ask and discuss the following:•Whatstrategydidweusetoanswerquestionsaboutthetext?•Noticehowwelookedforcluestotheauthor’spurposetounderstand

and answer questions.

Connect and transfer. Say: Practice identifying the author’s purpose. This strategy can help you understand an author’s motivations, or reasons for what he or she includes in a text. It can also help you when you take tests.




Use the Comprehension Question Card for each title and the Comprehension Teacher Flip Chart to practice answering Level 3 text-dependent comprehension questions.






Lesson Objectives

Students will:

• Reflect orally on their strategy use.

• Create an author’s purpose graphic organizer and write a paragraph based on it.

• Answer multiple-choice and short-answer questions.

Related Resources



• Constructed Written Response (BLM 6)

• Comprehension Strategy Assessments, Grade 4


Revisit the week’s read-alouds to make text-to-text connections and provide opportunities for reader response. Use the suggested activities in the Benchmark Literacy Overview, or implement ideas of your own.

Assessment (20 minutes)

Metacognitive Self-Assessment

Ask students to reflect on their use of metacognitive and comprehension strategies this week. What did they learn? How will they use the strategies in the future? What do they still need to practice, and how can they do this?

Invite students to share their reflections in one of the following ways: conduct a whole-class discussion; ask students to turn and talk to a partner and then share their ideas with the class; or ask students to record their thoughts in their journals or notebooks.

Constructed Written Response

Distribute copies of Constructed Written Response (BLM 6) and ask students to think about the content and purpose of each poster they have studied during the week. In the Title column, they should write the poster title. In the Clue column, students should summarize clues to the author’s purpose in the passage. In the Purpose column, students can write the purpose indicated by the clues.

Ask students to choose a topic that interests them, such as American presidents or national parks. Tell them to use notes from the graphic organizer and write one or two sentences about their topic to inform, one or two to entertain, and one or two to persuade. Encourage to use reference books to find out more about a topic. Read aloud the checklist at the bottom of BLM 6 to help students evaluate their work.

Challenge activity. Students who are able to may write full paragraphs on their topic for one or more purposes.

Support activity. If students cannot identify an author’s purpose and write with a specific purpose, review clues to author’s purpose on the posters. They can use the sentence frames:

The author’s purpose is . The clues to this purpose are and .

Reinforce the fact that titles, content, illustrations, and feelings expressed by the author are clues to the author’s purpose.

Day Five

Constructed Written Response (BLM 6)


Name Date

BLM 6

Constructed Written Response:Evaluate Author’s Purpose

Author’s Purpose Writing Checklist

_____ My sentences are on a topic that interests me.

_____ Each set of sentences has a specific purpose.

_____ The details and feelings in each set of sentences shows

my purpose.

Title Clues Purpose


Day Five

Make Assessments Accessible for ELLsUse the following strategies to help ELLs demonstrate their understanding of the strategies.

Beginning Use Constructed Written Response (BLM 6) with ELLs at the beginning proficiency level.

Beginning and IntermediateUse the Comprehension Strategy Assessment as a listening comprehension assessment and scaffold students’ understanding of the text. As an alternative, allow students to tell you about the author’s purpose in one of the Comprehension Anchor Posters you have used during the week.

Intermediate and AdvancedSupport ELLs with academic sentence frames during the metacognitive self-assessment. Possible sentence frames to use are:

We summarize so that .

I will summarize when I .



Ongoing Comprehension Strategy Assessment

Distribute one of the Evaluate Author’s Purpose and Point of View Comprehension Strategy Assessments from the Grade 3 Comprehension Strategy Assessment book (“Washington Still the Best,” pages 58–59, or “Living on a Kibbutz,” pages 60–61). Ask students to read the passage and use the information to answer the questions.

Use the results of this assessment to determine students who need additional work with the strategy.

Record students’ assessment scores on the Strategy Assessment Record (page 141) so that you can monitor their progress following additional instruction or intervention.

Provide additional modeling and guided practice during small-group reading instruction using the recommended titles in this Teacher’s Guide.








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