Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction: Texts and Lessons for Spot-On Writing About Reading (Corwin Literacy) [1 ed.] 1506360696, 9781506360690

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teaching Evidence-Based WRiting:

Nonfiction

TEXTS AND LESSONS FOR SPOT-ON WRITING ABOUT READING

with 100 Best-the-Test TIPS

Leslie Blauman

http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

FOR INFORMATION:

Copyright  2017 by Leslie Blauman

Corwin

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Blauman, Leslie, author. Title: Teaching evidence-based writing. Nonfiction : texts and lessons for spot-on writing about reading / Leslie Blauman.

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Description: Thousand Oaks, California : Corwin, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references.

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Identifiers: LCCN 2016030822 | ISBN 9781506360690 (pbk. : alk. paper)

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Subjects: LCSH: Language arts (Elementary)—United States. | Composition (Language arts)—Study and teaching (Elementary)—United States. | English language—Composition and exercises—Study and teaching (Elementary)—United States. | Reading comprehension—Study and teaching (Elementary)—United States. | Critical thinking—Study and teaching (Elementary)—United States. Classification: LCC LB1576 .B49828 2017 | DDC 372.6/044—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016030822 Publisher:  Lisa Luedeke

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Editor:  Wendy Murray Editorial Development Manager:  Julie Nemer Editorial Assistant:  Nicole Shade Production Editor:  Melanie Birdsall Copy Editor:  Diana Breti Typesetter:  C&M Digitals (P) Ltd. Proofreader:  Alison Syring Cover and Interior Designer:  Gail Buschman Marketing Manager:  Rebecca Eaton

16 17 18 19 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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CONTENTS VIDEO CLIPS

vi

WRITE-ABOUT-READING TEMPLATES

vii

EXCERPTS TO WRITE ABOUT

viii

DYNAMIC DUOS: ADDITIONAL IDEAS FOR TEACHING WITH THE TEXTS

x

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

xiii

INTRODUCTION

xv

Section 1. Evidence1 * These lessons are especially geared for Grades 6–8. zz Lesson 1. Ask and Answer Questions

2

Write-About-Reading Template: Ask and Answer Questions

6

Excerpt to Write About: “Where Do Tornadoes Come From?” From How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained by Kathy Wollard

7

zz Lesson 2. Cite Evidence*9

Write-About-Reading Template: Prove It! Excerpt to Write About: “The Storm Factory” From Hurricane Force: In the Path of America’s Deadliest Storms by Joseph B. Treaster zz Lesson 3. Use Quotes to Summarize Text

12 13 15

Write-About-Reading Template: Build My Summary

20

Excerpt to Write About: “Saving Cheetahs” by Suzanne Zimbler

21

zz Lesson 4. Cite and Analyze*22

Write-About-Reading Template: Analyze and Cite Evidence

24

Excerpt to Write About: “The Computer” From What a Great Idea! Inventions That Changed the World by Stephen M. Tomecek

25

Section 2. Relationships27 zz Lesson 5. Explain Events, Procedures, or Concepts

28

Write-About-Reading Template: Important Events and Ideas

33

Excerpts to Write About: “Enemy at the Gates” From Science Warriors: The Battle Against Invasive Species by Sneed B. Collard III

34

zz Lesson 6. Analyze How Authors Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate*36

Write-About-Reading Template: Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate

39

Excerpts to Write About: Albert Einstein Biographies: Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown; On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne; Who Was Albert Einstein? by Jess Brallier; Giants of Science: Albert Einstein by Kathleen Krull

40

zz Lesson 7. Describe Relationships and Interactions

44

Write-About-Reading Template: It’s All About Connections

48

Excerpt to Write About: “Opening Doors for Others” From Jackie Robinson: Strong Inside and Out by Denise Lewis Patrick

49

zz Lesson 8. Analyze the Connections Between People, Events, and Ideas*51

Write-About-Reading Template: Events, Individuals, and Ideas: How Do They Influence?

54

Excerpts to Write About: Influential Speeches: “The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln; “I Have a Dream” Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

55

Section 3. Main Idea/Central Idea57 zz Lesson 9. Identify Main Idea and Details

58

Write-About-Reading Template: Main Idea

63

Excerpts to Write About: “A Hurricane Arrives” From Violent Skies: Hurricanes by Chris Oxlade

64

zz Lesson 10. Understand Topics and Subtopics*67

Write-About-Reading Template: Topic Sentences

71

Excerpts to Write About: “White Death” From Avalanche! The Deadly Slide by Jane Duden

72

zz Lesson 11. Determine Central Ideas: Details*74

Write-About-Reading Template: Think About the Central Idea

79

Excerpt to Write About: “How Does a Chameleon Change Its Color?” From How Come? Planet Earth by Kathy Wollard

81

zz Lesson 12. Determine Multiple Ideas in a Text*83

Write-About-Reading Template: State the Central Idea

87

Excerpt to Write About: Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin

88

Section 4. Point of View91 zz Lesson 13. What Is the Author’s Purpose?

92

Write-About-Reading Template: Author’s Point of View

95

Excerpt to Write About: Foreword by Jane Goodall From Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey

96

zz Lesson 14. Determine Author’s Purpose and Point of View*97

Write-About-Reading Template: Notice Perspective

100

Excerpts to Write About: “Students Lead the Way” and “Retaliation and Intimidation” From The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement by Nadia Higgins

101

zz Lesson 15. Compare and Contrast Accounts*103

Write-About-Reading Template: Analyze Firsthand and Secondhand Accounts

106

Excerpts to Write About: Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine

107

zz Lesson 16. Explore Same Topic, Many Points of View*109

Write-About-Reading Template: Analyze Different Perspectives

112

Excerpts to Write About: Rosa Parks: Rosa by Nikki Giovanni; Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer by Karen Kelleher; Rosa Parks: My Story by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins

113

Section 5. Visuals117 zz Lesson 17. Mine Maps, Charts, and Other Visuals

118

Write-About-Reading Template: Visuals + Text = Better Understanding

121

Excerpt to Write About: “A Hot Topic” From Everything Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Kathy Furgang

122

zz Lesson 18. Read Digital and Print Efficiently*124

Write-About-Reading Template: On the Search!

127

Excerpt to Write About: “Drought in the Plains” From The Dust Bowl by Rebecca Langston-George

128

Section 6. Words and Structure131 zz Lesson 19. Determine the Meaning of Specialized Words*132

Write-About-Reading Templates: Word Attack!; What Does This Word Mean?

137

Excerpt to Write About: Weather! by Rebecca Rupp

139

zz Lesson 20. Spot Words That Signal Text Structure

141

Write-About-Reading Template: Dig Into the Structure of the Text

146

Excerpt to Write About: “Death Valley’s Super Bloom” by Kio Herrera

147

zz Lesson 21. Identify Text Structure*148

Write-About-Reading Templates: Look at Structure Across a Text (for Use With Short Texts); Look at Structure Across a Text (for Grades 6–8)

152

Excerpts to Write About: Volcano Facts: “What Is a Volcano?” From Violent Volcanoes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury; Volcanoes by Seymour Simon; “The Volcano Wakes” From Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber

155

zz Lesson 22. Compare and Contrast Overall Structure of Two or More Texts

158

Write-About-Reading Template: Compare and Contrast Text Structure

162

Excerpts to Write About: The Hindenburg Disaster: What Was the Hindenburg? by Janet B. Pascal; You Wouldn’t Want to Be on the Hindenburg! A Transatlantic Trip You’d Rather Skip by Ian Graham

164

zz Lesson 23. Evaluate the Reasoning, Relevance, and Sufficiency of Evidence*167

Write-About-Reading Template: Author’s Point

170

Excerpt to Write About: “How Octopuses Change Color” From The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk by Sy Montgomery

171

zz Lesson 24. Delineate the Argument and Specific Claims*172

Write-About-Reading Template: Map the Argument

176

Excerpts to Write About: Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow

177

REFERENCES181

Visit the companion website at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction for videos, write-about-reading templates, excerpts to write about, and more downloadable resources.

VIDEO CLIPS

Note From the Publisher: The author has provided video and web content throughout the book that is available to you through QR codes. To read a QR code, you must have a smartphone or tablet with a camera. We recommend that you download a QR code reader app that is made specifically for your phone or tablet brand. Videos may also be accessed at the companion website, http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Evidence zz Video 1: Students practice citing evidence about character traits in two biographies

Relationships zz Video 2: Students talk about how writing about reading deepens their understanding

Main Idea/Central Idea zz Video 3: A lesson on highlighting key details using an article

Point of View zz Video 4: Using the Excerpts to Write About activity to teach point of view

Visuals zz Video 5: Using the Write-About-Reading template with nonfiction picture books

Words and Structure zz Video 6: Guiding students to notice text structure by comparing two texts

vi  

WRITE-ABOUT-READING TEMPLATES Visuals

Evidence zz Ask and Answer Questions

6

zz Prove It!

12

zz Build My Summary

20

zz Analyze and Cite Evidence

24

Relationships zz Important Events and Ideas

33

zz Introduce, Illustrate,

and Elaborate zz It’s All About Connections

39 48

zz Events, Individuals, and Ideas:

How Do They Influence?

54

Main Idea/Central Idea zz Main Idea

63

zz Topic Sentences

71

zz Think About the Central Idea

79

zz State the Central Idea

87

zz Visuals + Text =

Better Understanding zz On the Search!

121 127

Words and Structure zz Word Attack!

137

zz What Does This Word Mean?

138

zz Dig Into the Structure of the Text 146 zz Look at Structure Across a Text

(for Use With Short Texts)

152

zz Look at Structure Across a Text

(for Grades 6–8)

153

zz Compare and Contrast

Text Structure

162

zz Author’s Point

170

zz Map the Argument

176

Point of View zz Author’s Point of View zz Notice Perspective

95 100

zz Analyze Firsthand and

Secondhand Accounts zz Analyze Different Perspectives

106 112

vii

EXCERPTS TO WRITE ABOUT Evidence

Main Idea/Central Idea

zz “Where Do Tornadoes Come

From?” From How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained by Kathy Wollard

zz “A Hurricane Arrives” From

Violent Skies: Hurricanes by Chris Oxlade 7

72

zz “How Does a Chameleon Change

13

zz “Saving Cheetahs”

by Suzanne Zimbler

zz “White Death” From Avalanche!

The Deadly Slide by Jane Duden

zz “The Storm Factory” From

Hurricane Force: In the Path of America’s Deadliest Storms by Joseph B. Treaster

64

21

Its Color?” From How Come? Planet Earth by Kathy Wollard

81

zz Years of Dust: The Story of the

Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin

88

zz “The Computer” From What

a Great Idea! Inventions That Changed the World by Stephen M. Tomecek

25

Point of View zz Foreword by Jane Goodall From

Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey

Relationships

zz “Students Lead the Way” and

“Retaliation and Intimidation” From The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement by Nadia Higgins 101

zz “Enemy at the Gates” From

Science Warriors: The Battle Against Invasive Species by Sneed B. Collard III

34

Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer by Karen Kelleher; Rosa Parks: My Story by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins

viii  

113

40

Visuals 49

zz “A Hot Topic” From Everything

Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Kathy Furgang

zz Influential Speeches:

“The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln; “I Have a Dream” Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

107

zz Rosa Parks: Rosa by Nikki Giovanni;

zz “Opening Doors for Others”

From Jackie Robinson: Strong Inside and Out by Denise Lewis Patrick

zz Freedom’s Children: Young

Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine

zz Albert Einstein Biographies:

Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown; On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne; Who Was Albert Einstein? by Jess Brallier; Giants of Science: Albert Einstein by Kathleen Krull

96

122

zz “Drought in the Plains”

55

From The Dust Bowl by Rebecca Langston-George

128

zz The Hindenburg Disaster:

Words and Structure zz Weather! by Rebecca Rupp

139

zz “Death Valley’s Super Bloom”

by Kio Herrera

147

164

zz “How Octopuses Change

zz Volcano Facts: “What Is

a Volcano?” From Violent Volcanoes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury; Volcanoes by Seymour Simon; “The Volcano Wakes” From Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber

What Was the Hindenburg? by Janet B. Pascal; You Wouldn’t Want to Be on the Hindenburg! A Transatlantic Trip You’d Rather Skip by Ian Graham Color” From The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk by Sy Montgomery

171

zz Fatal Fever: Tracking Down

Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow

177

155

EXCERPTS TO WRITE ABOUT  ix

DYNAMIC DUOS: ADDITIONAL IDEAS FOR TEACHING WITH THE TEXTS

Note: Every lesson in this book uses excerpts or whole pieces of amazing literature. These are the works my students love and that I lean on each year because there are so many aspects of reading you can explore with them. Here, I provide extra ideas for using these texts. Enjoy!

Text Pair “Saving Cheetahs” and Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall

Leads and Endings

Word Choice and Vocabulary

Compare and contrast how the author hooks the reader and concludes the piece.

Have students notice how domain-specific words are used in one piece vs. the other.

Hindenburg excerpts and Einstein excerpts

Notice how the leads in all the pieces establish point of view. What specifically does each author do to create interest?

“Enemy at the Gates” and “Where Do Tornadoes Come From?”

Compare and contrast the opening of each of these. How does the author grab the reader’s attention? What techniques to you notice? How does the title help determine the main idea?

Text Structures

Compare and contrast text structures and how these impact the main idea and point of view.

Consider the tone set in each piece. How does the author do this? Look at the specific word choice that affects tone.

Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary and Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl

x  

Elements of Literature

How does the author cover the topic? How does the author convey the main idea in each?

Both texts are written in narrative form. How does this help engage the reader? How does each author provide important details?

Text Pair

Leads and Endings

Each piece demonstrates a strong point of view. How does the word choice establish this? How does word choice add to tone/ mood?

Speeches (“The Gettysburg Address” and “I Have a Dream”) and pieces on Rosa Parks

Elements of Literature

Notice how each author catches the reader’s attention with the introduction. What specifically do they do? How do the authors end their pieces?

Text Structures

Determine the themes of these pieces. How are they similar? How do the authors establish theme?

Compare and contrast how each piece depicts the central idea of the piece.

“White Death” and “The Storm Factory” and Weather!

“How Does a Chameleon Change Its Color?” and “How Octopuses Change Color”

Word Choice and Vocabulary

How do the text features and structure affect how the main idea is conveyed? How does the structure affect voice and point of view?

Compare and contrast how each author establishes the main or central idea of the piece.

Dynamic Duos: Additional Ideas for Teaching With the Texts  xi

To Susan Zimmermann Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are a mentor extraordinaire. I am the teacher (and writer) I am because of your guidance.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A huge hug and thank you to my editor and friend, Wendy Murray. You are an inspiration. We started with a great idea, but you grew it and used your wisdom and vision to bring this book to life. You have an innate ability to envision and design beautiful books. Thank you to my students—all 33 years’ worth. Each year there is magic. I learn right along with you, and I continue to be amazed by you each day. A heartfelt thank you to the teachers with whom I work, here in Denver and across the country. I admire what you bring to your classrooms and the way you change lives, even when faced with daunting challenges. Thank you to Kate Blanchard for providing feedback on the lessons and layout. Besides being a dear friend, you are a talented educator, and your students are lucky to have you. To the schools that opened their doors and classrooms to our film crew, many, many thanks! At Aspen Crossing—Principal Scott Schleich, Jill Jesch and her third graders, and Kate Blanchard and Chad Blood and their fifth graders—your students are brilliant! At West ­ Middle School—Principal Kate Bergles, Carol Meyer and her fabulous sixth graders, and Kathryn Strickland and her tremendous eighth graders—the depth of the thinking blew me away! And finally, my fourth-grade students. Basically, “you rock!”

A shout-out to the film crew who did the video: David Stewart, Patrick Gillespie, Brandon ReichSweet, and Maya Ferrario. It was a blast! A huge thank you to video producer Julie Slattery for directing and keeping us on track. Thank you to my CHVE “family”—the phenomenal educators, students, and parents that make it such an outstanding school. A special thank you to Clay Borchert, Jessica Yoffe, and Sue Beman, who keep the laughter alive. And to our captain, Molly Drvenkar, for keeping the joy (and sanity) in teaching! You always have what’s best for kids at the forefront. Thank you to the Corwin “family” who work their magic and bring books to life. I could write pages of accolades to you all: Wendy Murray, Lisa Luedeke, Lisa Shaw, Rebecca Eaton, Melanie Birdsall, Julie Nemer, Nicole Shade, Gail Buschman, Diana Breti, and Alison Syring. Thank you to my friends, who are patient with me while I’m “working on the writing.” Friends who are worth their weight in gold. Trina and Sue, especially—thanks for keeping me balanced! I ­ love you! My family in Washington—a family of teachers. Andy, Jill, Allison, and Mark. I’m truly blessed to have you in my life. And finally, my kids. I am so incredibly proud of you. Carolynn and John, I love the people you are and I can’t wait to see where life takes you. Thank you for your support, love, and encouragement.

xiii

INTRODUCTION

Every writer goes into drafting a book with an ­operating metaphor—at least I do! For this one, I kept envisioning myself long-distance running on this wooded path in Colorado, or working out at the gym. Why these images? Because if we want students to be at the top of their game when it comes to writing, they need to practice it—a lot. And if we want our students to become especially good at writing in response to nonfiction reading, we need to do specific strength training so their minds’ work in particular ways as they analyze texts. How do we give students this practice so that students’ working metaphor isn’t an ox pulling a heavy cart or some image of dull labor? The answer is: Make sure the nonfiction your students read and mull is appealing and engaging to them. Period. That’s why I’ve built the lessons and student activities in this book around popular picture books, articles, online resources, topics, and authors that are easy to get your hands on and your minds around. Excerpts from Seymour Simon, Kathy Wollard, Gail Gibbons, and many others, writing about topics that range from civil rights to the Holocaust to endangered animals to hurricanes, tornadoes, and volcanoes—to name a few. Learning to support ideas with evidence from a text takes time, so my attitude is the literature we use has to be exemplary and well worth such close attention. Why does evidence-based writing matter? The lofty answer is: It’s a kind of writing that will serve students well throughout their school careers and lives because no matter what we do, being able to deliver a well-reasoned line of thinking is valued in the world. The teacher answer is: Helping our students get good at evidence-based writing is the gift that keeps on giving because it applies in every c­ ontent area and boosts reading, thinking, speaking, and listening skills, too. The not-so-secret-agenda answer is: Writing in response to texts is huge on the standardized tests.

I am passionately against test prep (and so is the research, which has shown it isn’t a good use of instructional time). So in this book, I provide lessons and practice that stay true to authentic examinations of nonfiction, but mark my words, these materials will prepare your students for high-stakes tests. My fourth graders have scored above the district and the national average for well over a decade. Although testing is not their favorite activity, they want to “show what they know.” I ask whether they prefer worksheets or “real-world learning.” Emphatically they say, “Give us the books and the writing.” My response: Knock it out of the ballpark! And they do. They have internalized the power of reading and writing authentically. How is that for bragging rights? In my heart of hearts, I know that teaching students how to read and write authentically will transfer to testing situations. Ideally, then, you will use the texts and lessons as amped-up practice within a reading and workshop model. However, I realize not every teacher can or wants to “do” workshop, so I designed everything to work in any literacy setting.

The Nonfiction Skills in Focus zz Evidence zz Relationships zz Main

idea (central idea in Grades 6–8)

zz Point

of view

zz Visuals zz Words

and structure

The Standards Aligned As this book goes to press, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) face some backlash, and states are keeping their content but renaming them. Therefore, while the standards I outline below are drawn from the CCSS, I am confident xv

that they align with your state’s standards, for as you will see below, the writing and reading skills involved are timeless. Writing Standard 9 states that students will “draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.” This, in essence, is writing about reading. The reading standards that the lessons in this book focus on are the following: zz Reading

1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

zz Reading

2: Determine central ideas of themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

zz Reading

3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

zz Reading 4: Interpret words and phrases as

they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. zz Reading

5: Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to one another and the whole.

zz Reading 6: Assess how point of view or pur-

pose shapes the content and style of a text. zz Reading 7: Integrate and evaluate content

presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

xvi  TEACHING EVIDENCE-BASED WRITING: NONFICTION

zz Reading 8: Analyze how two or more texts

address similar themes or topics to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take. Notice that there are eight standards here and six sections of the book. Writing about words and phrases is combined with structure of texts in one section. Comparing and contrasting works is embedded throughout the lessons, as it transfers across the reading standards.

The Expectations for Grades 6–8 While the standards remain the same, the sophistication changes as students progress through the grades. Verbs change, too. In Grades 3–5, students are generally describing or explaining. As they move to Grades 6–8, students are expected to analyze. These lessons are easily adapted to Grades 6–8 simply by having students analyze how the author writes or how the text is presented. In addition, the even-numbered lessons are all the more advanced follow-up to the preceding lesson. Teachers of Grades 6–8 might simply skip to these for their students. Specific lessons that focus on Grades 6–8 have asterisks next to them in the table of contents. It’s all about balance. I use that word a lot as I work with teachers. Best practice. And best practice means incorporating rich texts in our classrooms. There are a lot of rich texts in this book. Use them. Practice with them. Use the templates, but then move away from them and let the kids take control. The lessons in this book are meant to be the foundation for a solid start on writing about reading. My hope is that you use them to create a framework for a love of reading and writing in your classroom.

HOW TO USE THE LESSONS, EXCERPTS, AND GRAB AND GO PAGES Key terms are defined for easy understanding.

You post these prompts and make copies for students’ notebooks. The goal is for students to work independently, and these prompts provide structure while also moving students to be metacognitive.

L E SSON

1

Ask and Answer Questions

Textual Evidence: Words, phrases, passages, and illustrations that can be used to provide the strongest proof to support an assertion about what the text says and means. Cite Specific Textual Evidence: The act of finding a passage or any detail in a text that supports a claim, assertion, or argument about what a text says or means. Evidence comes from within the text itself, not from the reader’s opinion or experience. To cite may mean to directly quote from the text or to paraphrase it.

Prompts for Asking and Answering Questions zz What is my purpose in reading this text? zz What question can I already ask and answer about the topic? zz Does there seem to be a unique slant on the main topic? zz What does the text say about that? zz What does the author seem to want the audience to know most of all? zz What textual evidence supports my account of what the text says? zz What evidence—a detail, quotation, or example—can I cite to

support my inference here? zz Which specific details are most important? zz What inferences can I make and what specific details from the text

led me to make each one? zz Which specific details help me understand the main topic? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Captain Obvious here, but tests are nothing but questions! So, it makes sense to give students plenty of practice with a variety of questions, from multiple choice to ones that require answering a few things at once. zz Teach your students to cite evidence. I call it “lifting a line,” and both

verbally and in writing, I model how to do it and have students practice it throughout the year. zz During discussions, scaffold students’ skill with handy phrases: “This passage

supports my thinking because _________.” “In the following quote, the author reveals his belief about the topic.” “In the first section, all the details were about _________, so this leads me to think _________.” 2

This section explicitly states how the lessons address test-taking skills and provides ideas to introduce students to the genre of standardized tests.

This section explains what you need ahead of time—both the materials and the key points in texts.

This section offers a quick view to find more resources.

6. Share Howling Hurricanes, the second book on the same topic. Show the organization of this book, too, then turn to pp. 4–5 to answer the same question.

“I notice the author uses the word _________ a lot, so I think the author’s main purpose is _________.” Students can use these same response stems in their writing, too. zz Prior to testing, devote a lesson to analyzing released test questions.

Have students work in groups and create two-column charts with “Our Questions” and “Test Maker Questions,” and have them record what they notice about the different types.

7. Read the first paragraph and think aloud how you determine the most important facts/details. Record these under “Text Questions” and tell students you are adding the “evidence” on the chart.

zz Help students to recognize “distracter” answers that are designed to trip

you up. (It’s the answer that looks right, if you’re not paying attention; it might repeat a word from the end of the text.)

8. Read the second paragraph and have students turn and talk about what they think is most important—but reinforce that it needs to be tied to the text. Record thinking.

zz Share examples of released test questions for which using background

knowledge in answers doesn’t work. If a student knows the sky is blue, but the text says it’s pink, then in the answer students need to go with the text—pink sky.

9. Finally, read the third paragraph and record thinking. 10. Repeat this process with another question, preferably one of the students’ questions. You could stop here and pick up the next day. Repeat these same steps to cover different questions over a period of days. 11. Write about reading: Choose one of the questions and co-construct an answer using facts and details from the chart. Make sure to include at least one phrase from the text and explain that you are “citing evidence.”

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out prompts.

For more on tornadoes:

zz Choose

a book that has a succinct question and answer format. The Q & A series from Scholastic is a great resource. I use Do Tornadoes Really Twist? Questions and Answers About Tornadoes and Hurricanes by Melvin and Gilda Berger. Have a second book on the same topic, which is also organized by questions but has more in-depth answers (e.g., Howling Hurricanes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury).

zz https://www.ready.gov/tornadoes zz http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/tornado zz http://www.chaseday.com/ tornadoes.htm

Do Tornadoes Really Twist? Questions and Answers About Tornadoes and Hurricanes by Melvin and Gilda Berger Did It All Start With a Snowball Fight? And Other Questions About the American Revolution by Mary Kay Carson

A bit more on tornadoes: zz https://youtu.be/iMWoY PaQx0Q zz http://www.chaseday.com/ tornadoes.htm

Q & A Series from Scholastic—great titles and topics!

zz Choose

the question(s) you want to focus on (e.g., “What is a hurricane?”—p. 24 Do Tornadoes Really Twist?, pp. 4–5 Howling Hurricanes; “What is a storm surge?”—p. 36 Do Tornadoes Really Twist?, p. 17 Howling Hurricanes).

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages

Introduce It

Questions template on page 6 and the excerpt “Where Do Tornadoes Come From?” on page 7.

1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart.

Next, work through the article one paragraph at a time, thinking aloud as you decide which lines answer the question.

�

After a paragraph, turn the highlighting over to the students, and have them turn and talk and then confirm their thinking.

�

After finishing the article, decide what are the three most important facts that answer the question (it can be more than three, if you want).

�

Have them fill out the reproducible, guiding where needed.

�

Use this reproducible periodically with other short nonfiction texts, ultimately having students work through the reading, highlighting, annotating, answering, and citing evidence independently.

�

Periodically provide teacher/text-dependent questions for practice.

zz If

students are ready, have them work on the activity in small groups.

2. Construct another chart with headings for “Class Questions” and “Text Questions.”

zz If

students are just beginning to ask questions and find evidence, use these two pages as a teacherdirected lesson, as follows:

3. Introduce the first book, Do Tornadoes Really Twist?, and show students the question/answer format. Have students share their questions about tornadoes and hurricanes. Record about five of their questions on chart paper.

�

Begin by having students write down their current understandings about where tornadoes come from on the space provided on the article page.

�

Then discuss what they think the author’s purpose is and what the author intends for them to learn.

4. Read aloud the question “What is a hurricane?” on p. 24 and the answer. 5. Write the question on the chart under “Text Questions.” Discuss the answer: “A large, donut-shaped storm with heavy rain and strong winds blowing around a calm center. Hurricanes are the biggest and most destructive storms on Earth.” Discuss whether students really understand what a hurricane is from these two sentences. Do they want more information?

Lesson 1 z Ask And Answer Questions

Here is a short plan to follow, which begins with guided practice, includes student collaboration, and involves nonfiction pieces in the book or readily ­available elsewhere. This section always incorporates a “Write About Reading” section.

xviii

�

zz Distribute to students copies of the Ask and Answer

3

4

section 1 z evidence

Each lesson includes two Grab and Go reproducibles to share with students. One is a mentor text for students to annotate and write about, and the second is a template or task to provide additional writing practice. This “How To” page offers specific instructions on executing and extending the student practice.

Sample to Share With Students

Lesson 1 z Ask And Answer Questions

There are completed classroom samples to share with your students as benchmarks.

5

Students learn by doing, so these Write-About-Reading templates scaffold their collaborative and independent work as they reread and interpret texts. These pages can also be used in other lessons in this book, or you can tweak them to fit your instructional needs.

GrAB & Go

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Ask and Answer Questions Name:

Date:

Title: Directions: zz Write

the question you are answering.

zz Record

the three most important details from the text that help you answer the question and then “lift a line” or cite evidence from the text that supports your answer.

zz Finally,

write a short answer to the question using your information on the chart. Make sure to cite at least one specific example from the text.

Question

Answer

Detail, Quote, or Line From the Text

1

1

2

2

3

3

Write about reading: Using the information from the chart, answer the question:

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

6

xx

section 1 z evidence

This book includes 24 excerpts or complete pieces by top authors. You can use them for multiple purposes in this book’s lessons and beyond.

GrAB & Go

eXcerP t to write ABout

“Where Do Tornadoes Come From?” From How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained

by Kathy Wollard Name:

Date:

� Directions: zz Before

you start reading this article, look at the title and the question and write down what you think the answer is here:

zz Read

the article through once to gain a general understanding. Highlight any unfamiliar words.

zz Read

the text again, highlighting important words, phrases, and sentences that answer the question from the title. Jot your thinking in the margins. Tornadoes, although small, are the most powerful storms in nature. Twisting and turning, they snake down from clouds and wreak havoc, exploding houses, tossing cars like baseballs, and pulling trees up by their roots. Storm survivors may find even pieces of straw driven into the side of trees like nails. The sound of an approaching tornado has been described as the roar of a monster freight train. The United States is the tornado capital of the world, with an average of 700 twisters a year. The country that comes in second on the tornado hit list is Australia, with a measly 15. (Some U.S. states get more tornadoes than others. From 1953 to 1980, Alaska had one lonely tornado, while Kansas—home state of Dorothy and Toto—had more than 1,200.) The recipe for a tornado? Take a big thunderstorm. Add winds blowing from opposite directions, then throw in a strong updraft. If you were to look at the top of a big thunderstorm, you would see the cloud tops bubbling up and then subsiding as powerful gusts of wind (the updraft) surge up through the clouds. A tornado sometimes forms when the air in the updraft begins to rotate, as opposing winds in the storm spin it around. The spinning column of rising air is called a mesocyclone. Such a mass of whirling air and cloud, like the whirling water around a bathtub drain, is called a vortex. In the center of the storm vortex, the air pressure drops, as more air is sucked into the spinning part. No one knows just how low the pressure can drop, but some scientists estimate it may fall to half normal air pressure. (Continued) Lesson 1 z Ask And Answer Questions

7

Section 1 Evidence Right here, the author says that peregrine falcons almost became extinct because of pesticides, and later in the text, she lists other environmental threats. . . . Expert readers support their understandings with evidence from the text. They have learned a complex process of reading, wondering, and reading on to find answers to their questions. Often likened to detective work, this sleuthing all begins with questions: I wonder what almost wiped out these falcons? Why does the author continue to think the falcon is in danger? These might have been the wonderings that preceded the evidenced-based statements above. In this section, I show you how to open up our instructional time for explicit modeling of raising questions because it’s the central way we engage with nonfiction authors’ ideas. Students need to value their own questions and curiosities and, despite the current nonsense that students shouldn’t bring their background knowledge to the text, students need to feel free to access what they already know.

With the practice pages, your students will do a lot of ­asking and answering questions as they read, and they will get great practice anchoring their answers with examples from the text. As you will see in the texts I include and suggest, I believe that students need practice with nonfiction that is challenging but not so hard they can’t navigate it. I recommend you jump right into this work at the beginning of the school year and deepen it throughout. Questions should drive instruction. Questions about topics, themes, and content—and also questions designed to ignite particular types of thinking. What is the author really trying to tell me? How has the author reeled me in? What details seem important, and why? And so on. Asking and answering questions helps students do the analysis, evaluation, and deeper thinking required by the standards. The work also reinforces students’ purpose s­etting because they are reading with particular questions in mind— reading for an explicit reason. We always need to know what we are reading and why, and the lessons in this section help students to practice these two facets of critical reading.

Watch Leslie Teach! Video 1: Watch Leslie guide students’ practice with citing evidence about character traits in two biographies. Go to http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction to see the lessons and guided practice in action. To read a QR code, you must have a smartphone or tablet with a camera. We recommend that you download a QR code reader app that is made specifically for your phone or tablet brand.

1

LESSON

1

Ask and Answer Questions

Textual Evidence: Words, phrases, passages, and illustrations that can be used to provide the strongest proof to support an assertion about what the text says and means. Cite Specific Textual Evidence: The act of finding a passage or any detail in a text that supports a claim, assertion, or argument about what a text says or means. Evidence comes from within the text itself, not from the reader’s opinion or experience. To cite may mean to directly quote from the text or to paraphrase it.

Prompts for Asking and Answering Questions zz What is my purpose in reading this text? zz What question can I already ask and answer about the topic? zz Does there seem to be a unique slant on the main topic? zz What does the text say about that? zz What does the author seem to want the audience to know most of all? zz What textual evidence supports my account of what the text says? zz What evidence—a detail, quotation, or example—can I cite to

support my inference here? zz Which specific details are most important? zz What inferences can I make and what specific details from the text

led me to make each one? zz Which specific details help me understand the main topic? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Captain Obvious here, but tests are nothing but questions! So, it makes sense to give students plenty of practice with a variety of questions, from multiple choice to ones that require answering a few things at once. zz Teach your students to cite evidence. I call it “lifting a line,” and both

verbally and in writing, I model how to do it and have students practice it throughout the year. zz During discussions, scaffold students’ skill with handy phrases: “This passage

supports my thinking because _________.” “In the following quote, the author reveals his belief about the topic.” “In the first section, all the details were about _________, so this leads me to think _________.” 2

“I notice the author uses the word _________ a lot, so I think the author’s main purpose is _________.” Students can use these same response stems in their writing, too. zz Prior to testing, devote a lesson to analyzing released test questions.

Have students work in groups and create two-column charts with “Our Questions” and “Test Maker Questions,” and have them record what they notice about the different types. zz Help students to recognize “distracter” answers that are designed to trip

you up. (It’s the answer that looks right, if you’re not paying attention; it might repeat a word from the end of the text.) zz Share examples of released test questions for which using background

knowledge in answers doesn’t work. If a student knows the sky is blue, but the text says it’s pink, then in the answer students need to go with the text—pink sky.

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out prompts.

zz Choose

a book that has a succinct question and answer format. The Q & A series from Scholastic is a great resource. I use Do Tornadoes Really Twist? Questions and Answers About Tornadoes and Hurricanes by Melvin and Gilda Berger. Have a second book on the same topic, which is also organized by questions but has more in-depth answers (e.g., Howling Hurricanes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury).

zz Choose

the question(s) you want to focus on (e.g., “What is a hurricane?”—p. 24 Do Tornadoes Really Twist?, pp. 4–5 Howling Hurricanes; “What is a storm surge?”—p. 36 Do Tornadoes Really Twist?, p. 17 Howling Hurricanes).

Introduce It  1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart.  2. Construct another chart with headings for “Class Questions” and “Text Questions.”  3. Introduce the first book, Do Tornadoes Really Twist?, and show students the question/answer format. Have students share their questions about tornadoes and hurricanes. Record about five of their questions on chart paper.  4. Read aloud the question “What is a hurricane?” on p. 24 and the answer.  5. Write the question on the chart under “Text Questions.” Discuss the answer: “A large, donut-shaped storm with heavy rain and strong winds blowing around a calm center. Hurricanes are the biggest and most destructive storms on Earth.” Discuss whether students really understand what a hurricane is from these two sentences. Do they want more information? Lesson 1    Ask and Answer Questions  3

 6. Share Howling Hurricanes, the second book on the same topic. Show the organization of this book, too, then turn to pp. 4–5 to answer the same question.  7. Read the first paragraph and think aloud how you determine the most important facts/details. Record these under “Text Questions” and tell students you are adding the “evidence” on the chart.  8. Read the second paragraph and have students turn and talk about what they think is most important—but reinforce that it needs to be tied to the text. Record thinking.

For more on tornadoes: zz https://www.ready.gov/tornadoes zz http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/tornado zz http://www.chaseday.com/ tornadoes.htm

 9. Finally, read the third paragraph and record thinking. 10. Repeat this process with another question, preferably one of the students’ questions. You could stop here and pick up the next day. Repeat these same steps to cover different questions over a period of days. 11. Write about reading: Choose one of the questions and co-construct an answer using facts and details from the chart. Make sure to include at least one phrase from the text and explain that you are “citing evidence.”

Do Tornadoes Really Twist? Questions and Answers About Tornadoes and Hurricanes by Melvin and Gilda Berger Did It All Start With a Snowball Fight? And Other Questions About the American Revolution by Mary Kay Carson

A bit more on tornadoes: zz https://youtu.be/iMWoY PaQx0Q zz http://www.chaseday.com/ tornadoes.htm

Q & A Series from Scholastic—great titles and topics!

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages

{{

Next, work through the article one paragraph at a time, thinking aloud as you decide which lines answer the question.

{{

After a paragraph, turn the highlighting over to the students, and have them turn and talk and then confirm their thinking.

{{

After finishing the article, decide what are the three most important facts that answer the question (it can be more than three, if you want).

{{

Have them fill out the reproducible, guiding where needed.

{{

Use this reproducible periodically with other short nonfiction texts, ultimately having students work through the reading, highlighting, annotating, answering, and citing evidence independently.

{{

Periodically provide teacher/text-dependent questions for practice.

zz Distribute to students copies of the Ask and Answer

Questions template on page 6 and the excerpt “Where Do Tornadoes Come From?” on page 7. zz If

students are ready, have them work on the activity in small groups.

zz If

students are just beginning to ask questions and find evidence, use these two pages as a teacherdirected lesson, as follows: �

Begin by having students write down their current understandings about where tornadoes come from on the space provided on the article page.

{{

Then discuss what they think the author’s purpose is and what the author intends for them to learn.

4  Section 1    Evidence

Sample to Share With Students

Lesson 1    Ask and Answer Questions  5

GRAB & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Ask and Answer Questions Name:

  Date:

Title:  Directions: zz Write

the question you are answering.

zz Record

the three most important details from the text that help you answer the question and then “lift a line” or cite evidence from the text that supports your answer.

zz Finally,

write a short answer to the question using your information on the chart. Make sure to cite at least one specific example from the text.

Question

Answer

Detail, Quote, or Line From the Text

1

1

2

2

3

3

Write about reading: Using the information from the chart, answer the question:

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

6  Section 1    Evidence

GRAB & GO

E X CER P T TO WRITE A B OUT

“Where Do Tornadoes Come From?” From How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained

by Kathy Wollard Name:

  Date:

� Directions: zz Before

you start reading this article, look at the title and the question and write down what you think the answer is here:













zz Read

the article through once to gain a general understanding. Highlight any unfamiliar words.

zz Read

the text again, highlighting important words, phrases, and sentences that answer the question from the title. Jot your thinking in the margins. Tornadoes, although small, are the most powerful storms in nature. Twisting and turning, they snake down from clouds and wreak havoc, exploding houses, tossing cars like baseballs, and pulling trees up by their roots. Storm survivors may find even pieces of straw driven into the side of trees like nails. The sound of an approaching tornado has been described as the roar of a monster freight train. The United States is the tornado capital of the world, with an average of 700 twisters a year. The country that comes in second on the tornado hit list is Australia, with a measly 15. (Some U.S. states get more tornadoes than others. From 1953 to 1980, Alaska had one lonely tornado, while Kansas—home state of Dorothy and Toto—had more than 1,200.) The recipe for a tornado? Take a big thunderstorm. Add winds blowing from opposite directions, then throw in a strong updraft. If you were to look at the top of a big thunderstorm, you would see the cloud tops bubbling up and then subsiding as powerful gusts of wind (the updraft) surge up through the clouds. A tornado sometimes forms when the air in the updraft begins to rotate, as opposing winds in the storm spin it around. The spinning column of rising air is called a mesocyclone. Such a mass of whirling air and cloud, like the whirling water around a bathtub drain, is called a vortex. In the center of the storm vortex, the air pressure drops, as more air is sucked into the spinning part. No one knows just how low the pressure can drop, but some scientists estimate it may fall to half normal air pressure. (Continued) Lesson 1    Ask and Answer Questions  7

GRAB & GO

(Continued) Some mesocyclones get stronger, spinning faster and faster as they shrink. As the pressure in the center drops, the whirling air mass takes on the familiar “funnel” shape we know as a tornado. And as more air gets pulled into the funnel, it accelerates upward, stretching the tube. A tornado may be shaped like a cone, or a thick pillar, or a long, thin, twisty tube. Tornadoes come in different colors, too. When the funnel cloud first dips down from the sky, it may be dirty white or gray. But as it lifts up dust and debris from the ground, it often turns brown or clay-red. Wind speeds may reach 600 miles an hour. Pieces of wood and metal picked up from the ground hurtle around in the tornado at the same speeds, becoming lethal weapons. And the extremely low pressure in the center can explode small closed buildings as the funnel passes overhead. Lucky for us, meteorologists are getting better and better at predicting when a tornado will form. If a tornado warning is issued, the northeast corner of a basement or the center of a first floor is the safest place to be. Outside, a ditch or other low-lying area is the best bet. Note: Kathy Wollard uses many techniques for engaging the reader with her subject matter. Instead of delivering just plain facts about tornadoes, she uses descriptive words, similes, metaphors, and comparisons to help us envision both the science and the havoc of these storms. Choose a paragraph to see what you notice and what you might try in your own nonfiction writing. For example, in paragraph one, notice the verbs: twisting and turning, snake, exploding, tossing, pulling, driven—do you feel the “wind energy” of those words? Wollard likens tornadoes to familiar things her reader might know. Why does she do that? For example, the tornado’s approach is “the roar of a monster freight train.” In paragraph four, she helps us understand vortex by reminding us that we see one in action when the water whirls around a bathtub drain. Read this excerpt and think about how Wollard is clearly writing for a particular audience of readers about your age. Might that be why she alluded to Dorothy and Toto in paragraph two? Or the recipe in paragraph three?

8  Section 1    Evidence

LE SSON

Cite Evidence

Best the Test Many test questions have two parts. The first asks students to identify something (e.g., a main idea in a passage). The second part asks students to cite evidence to support their answer. zz Help your students to see that citing evidence is a vital research skill and

life skill! Whether debating who deserves the Oscar or which candidate deserves the White House, educated citizens know to back up their opinions with evidence. zz Practice this skill throughout the content areas, and make it as much a part

of discussion as writing about reading. I find students really get the hang of determining what’s important and citing it when they can see and hear the process through talk.

2

Key Details: Parts of a text that support the main idea and enable the reader to cite evidence, draw conclusions, and infer what the text or a portion of a text is about. Evidence: Studies, expert quotes, statements, and data that supports the author’s claim, or meaning, in a nonfiction text. The evidence may, indeed, support an author’s intended message, but a reader may question it and find it flawed and use it to assert an opposing point of view.

Lesson Prep zz Photocopy

for each student the Prove It! template on page 12 and “The Storm Factory” on page 13.

zz Choose short informational pieces of text that lend themselves to answer-

ing a specific question about a specific topic. Photocopy for students.

Introduce It 1. Review how to cite evidence and discuss how it is an important component in written answers to questions. In addition, discuss the real world/ authentic connection. Writers cite! Television pundits cite! Scientists cite! Sportscasters cite! 2. Set the purpose by telling students they are reading to answer a question (e.g., “What is the storm factory?”). No matter what text you use, keep the question focused! Prompt with: What information in the text answers this? What can you highlight to lift out to cite evidence?

9

To find out more about hurricanes: zz http://www.nhc.noaa.gov zz http://www.weatherwizkids .com/weather-hurricane.htm zz https://scied.ucar.edu/ webweather/hurricanes

Can You Believe? Hurricanes by Sandra Markle Hurricanes Have Eyes but Can’t See and Other Amazing Facts About Wild Weather by Melvin and Gilda Berger

zz Distribute

copies to each student of the Prove It! template on page 12 and “The Storm Factory” excerpt on page 13. You can do this as a teacherguided lesson or have students work in groups, with partners, or independently. students are finished reading, highlighting, and annotating, have them transfer information to the Prove It! template. Note: as with any technique, at a certain point later in the year, ease up on “always” highlighting and annotating. You don’t

10  Section 1    Evidence

zz https://youtu.be/RZvljNvnd18

Hurricane Force: In the Path of America’s Deadliest Storms by Joseph B. Treaster

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages

zz When

The Perfect Storm movie trailer is on YouTube. Use it as a springboard for students to write an evidence-based poem or paragraph about Hurricane Grace:

want kids doing it on autopilot if they are ready to use their own style of note taking. zz At the end of the Prove It! template is a writing task.

If your students need support, complete this as a collaborative activity. If they can do it independently, use their responses to inform next steps. Ask yourself: Do students need more direct instruction or are they working independently successfully? What’s strong about their responses? What might they need more demonstrations and guided practice on? zz Use

the Prove It! page with other texts throughout the year.

Sample to Share With Students

Lesson 2    Cite Evidence  11

GRAB & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Prove It! Name:

  Date:

Title:  Question you are answering:   Directions: zz Read

the text once. Read it again and think about what information is important in answering the question.

zz Fill

in the boxes with information from the text that answers the question.

zz Remember

to use direct lines from the text—cite evidence. (You may not have information for each box.)

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

Why?

How?

Write about reading: Use the information from your chart to answer the question you have written above.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

12  Section 1    Evidence

GRAB & GO

E X CER P T TO WRITE A B OUT

“The Storm Factory” From Hurricane Force: In the Path of America’s Deadliest Storms

by Joseph B. Treaster XXDirections: Think about the title “The Storm Factory.” What question does that title make you

ask? Read the first two paragraphs and highlight information that answers that question. Hurricanes owe a great deal to the dry, hot winds of the Sahara desert. In summer, the desert winds swirl out over the Atlantic from the coast of West Africa, carrying tropical waves (also called easterly waves) that often spawn clusters of thunderstorms stretching hundreds of miles. Some of these sprawling patches of turbulent weather grow into hurricanes right there off Africa. Most shift and scatter as they drift westward across the Atlantic on the trade winds and die out quietly. But if conditions are right, some of the clusters of thunderstorms build into hurricanes in the Atlantic east of the Bahamas, in the western Caribbean, or in the Gulf of Mexico—within easy range of the coasts of Mexico and half a dozen southern states. XXWhat important information have you learned from the first two paragraphs? Highlight and

annotate any information that helps explain what a storm factory is. Use the margins to sketch or draw visuals to help you understand. Scientists are still searching for the answers to what causes some tropical waves to blossom into hurricanes and others to drift into oblivion. But it is clear that hurricanes get going in areas of low atmospheric pressure, that they need warm water to fuel their massive engines, and that they depend upon certain favorable wind conditions. XXDoes this paragraph answer questions or does it raise new questions?

As you read on, notice how the author uses the term low pressure from the last paragraph. How does that help answer what a storm factory is? Use the margins to sketch or draw visuals to help you understand. Tropical waves provide a vast area of low pressure. As they move over the ocean, warm, moist air rises and condenses into clouds that often crackle with thunder and lightning. The pressure drops further and surrounding air rushes in. This creates wind, which, because of the rotation of the earth, begins turning counterclockwise. The pressure continues to fall and the swirling warm air alternately absorbs and releases heat and energy that drive the storm even faster. Any number of conditions can scatter a gathering storm before it can become a hurricane. Warm, dry air at altitudes of 10,000 to 20,000 feet can choke a storm. Wind shear—a sharp difference in wind speed and direction—can knock the rising air at an angle, destroying the chimney that the storm needs to channel moisture and heat upward. If the layer of warm water at the ocean’s surface is not deep enough, the storm will quickly use it up and weaken. (Continued)

Lesson 2    Cite Evidence  13

GRAB & GO

(Continued) XXNotice the next sentence starts with the word But—what does that make you do as a reader?

How does the next information build on the previous section? What information is important?

Use the margins to sketch or draw visuals to help you understand. But it is the surviving storms that get our attention. When the wind is spinning in a closed circle at up to 38 miles an hour, it is designated as a tropical depression. At 39 miles an hour it becomes a tropical storm and is given a name. And at 74 miles an hour the storm becomes a hurricane. At full song, a hurricane is a roaring natural turbine, spinning as fast as 175 miles an hour. The heart of the turbine is a flexing double column of air—like a rumpled sleeve within a rumpled sleeve—rising as much as ten miles from the surface of the sea. The greatest killing power is in the space of perhaps ten to twenty miles between the sleeves, known as the eye wall. The center, or eye, of the storm is usually calm and may be as large as fifty miles across. But powerful and destructive winds often extend hundreds of miles from the center. XXWhat new information do you have about hurricanes? What is important from this last section?

Note: In this excerpt from a book on hurricanes, Joseph B. Treaster is focusing on a single topic: where hurricanes come from—what causes them. It’s interesting that he titles it “The Storm Factory,” likening a natural occurrence to a word wholly associated with human-made production. Notice that in the first couple of paragraphs, he is including a lot of geographical information. If you happen to know where the Sahara desert is and have seen photos of it, you can envision it. The same is true of the Atlantic Ocean, the coast of West Africa, and all the locations mentioned in paragraph two. These paragraphs provide a good example of how nonfiction writers are constantly making choices about what to show and explain, and what they expect their readers to already know. In these opening paragraphs, it’s almost as though we are being nudged to pull out maps, globes, and online resources to help us see the global weather pattern he describes. In the next three paragraphs, Treaster explains the way tropical waves, moisture, air pressure, and temperature interact to create wind. Might you be able to create a color graphic, based on these details so far? What would you picture, and what facts would you use as labels?

14  Section 1    Evidence

LE SSON

Use Quotes to Summarize Text Prompts for Developing Summaries zz When I reread and skim each section, what headings and details

jump out at me? zz What is the main idea of this text? What does it seem to address the

most? zz What details and facts from the text would I include when

summarizing what the text is about? zz What details and facts must an objective summary of the text include

(that offer no opinion or judgment)? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Writing summaries is a requirement on tests throughout the grades, so the more students practice, in authentic ways, the better. Teach your students to get good at the work that leads to summarizing, too:

3

Quote Accurately: Use quotation marks around language taken directly from a text. Students can quote words, sentences, and paragraphs when identifying the important details that support an assertion they are making about the text. They understand that all claims, assertions, or arguments about what a text means or says require specific examples from the text. Summary: In a summary, the reader identifies the key ideas, details, or events in the text and reports them with an emphasis on who did what to whom and when; in other words, the emphasis is on retelling the most important aspects of what happened or what the text says with the utmost fidelity to the text itself, thus requiring students to check what they say against what the text says happened.

zz Think aloud as you read and summarize a section or two of an article that

you display on a document camera, building up to summarizing the entire piece. Students see and hear how you use headings, important sentences, transition words, visuals, and other elements to stitch together a summary. zz In small groups, have students practice identifying important facts and

details and then including them in a summary as quotes. zz Come together to discuss, so everyone benefits from hearing your

commentary on the summaries and use of quotes.

15

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out prompts.

zz Choose a short article with headings that show main

ideas within the text. National Geographic for Kids magazine or TIME for Kids are excellent resources. If you don’t have those available, download an article from the Internet (I often go to TIME for Kids at http://www.timeforkids.com/news). zz Familiarize yourself with the information and have

sticky notes available to flag the sections. zz Have

on hand chart paper and two different colored markers.

Introduce It  1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart.  2. Set the purpose for reading: Today we will be identifying the most important details from the text and then using them to write a summary.

 5. Reread the first section. Discuss what is important and why. Then show how you “lift a line” or quote directly from the text—write these quotes on the sticky notes and put next to the section.  6. Repeat through the remaining sections, using the headings to determine the main idea.  7. Write about reading: Now, place the sticky notes on which you “chunked” the most important information and quotes at the top of the chart paper. Discuss how they go together to support what the article is about.  8. On the chart paper, co-construct a topic sentence with the main idea from the article. Use one color marker to delineate the topic sentence.  9. Using the sticky notes, continue the summary, writing a detail sentence and then a quote from the sticky notes that supports it. Use one color for detail sentences and another color for quotes.

 3. Preview the article with the students—the title, headings, visuals, captions, etc.—and ask them to share what they think the author intends.

10. Wrap up with a concluding sentence. Use the same color marker as you did for the topic sentence, to show how the two sentences frame the summary.

 4. Read aloud the entire article once and discuss vocabulary.

11. Tell students they will be doing the same process as they continue to read informational articles.

A great link to access articles: zz http://www.timeforkids .com/news

16  Section 1    Evidence

These books are terrific to complement the article on cheetahs:

To supplement information on the cheetah article:

zz Face to Face With Cheetahs by Chris Johns with Elizabeth Carney

zz National Geographic: https://youtu.be/T5E4VT3Qw2k

zz Chasing Cheetahs: The Race to Save Africa’s Fastest Cat by Sy Montgomery

zz Cheetahs Against All Odds: https://youtu.be/EJRX2JVw_B0

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student copies of the Build My Summary template on page 20 and the “Saving Cheetahs” article on page 21.

zz If

students need more direct instruction with chunking and identifying important quotes from a

text, use the lesson steps outlined above and present it as a teacher-guided activity. zz If

students are ready to work in groups or independently, have them repeat the lesson process. Keep the co-constructed summary displayed so students can use it as a model for their own summaries.

More Templates to Share With Students W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

GRAB & GO

Main Idea (Topic) 1st important fact or detail:

I know this because in the text it says:

2nd important fact or detail:

The author states:

Did you know?

3rd important fact or detail:

For example:

Concluding sentence:

Retrieved from the companion website for Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Lesson 3    Use Quotes to Summarize Text   17

Sample to Share With Students Summary: “Saving Cheetahs” The cheetah is the fastest animal on earth, but it is also “quickly disappearing.” This article explains why cheetahs are disappearing and what people are doing to save them. Cheetahs live in Asia and Africa and 100 years ago there were a lot of them. For example, the text says “There were 100,000 cheetahs in the world. But that number has dropped sharply.” The reasons for the drop are they are captured and sold as pets, they were hunted and killed for their fur, and their habitat shrank because people built cities. Sadly, the text also says, “Today, there are only about 10,000 cheetahs left in the wild.” But there are ways to save them. One example is in Namibia, Africa where the cheetah population was shrinking. Laurie Marker, the founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, had an idea to use special dogs called Anatolian shepherds to protect the livestock and scare away predators. This was successful! “About 20 years ago, Marker and her team began placing the dogs on Namibian farms. Since then, she says, ‘we’ve stopped the killing and doubled the country’s cheetah population.’” Because of this success, other African countries are using the dogs and there is hope that “people, livestock and wild cheetahs will be able to live in harmony.” (Continued)

18  Section 1    Evidence

(Continued)

Use articles and newspapers in the classroom to practice writing summaries.

Lesson 3    Use Quotes to Summarize Text   19

GRAB & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Build My Summary Name:

  Date:

Title:  What this article is about (main topic):  

Most Important Information! Facts and details that I think are important to include in a summary:

Quotes from the text (you can write them, or put your sticky note here!):

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

20  Section 1    Evidence

GRAB & GO

E X CER P T TO WRITE A B OUT

“Saving Cheetahs” by Suzanne Zimbler Cheetahs are in danger of becoming extinct. People are working to save the wild cats. As fast as a cheetah. Whether it’s describing a car or the best runner in a race, the comparison is made all the time. It’s for good reason, too. The cheetah is the speediest runner on Earth. Sadly, the cheetah is also quickly disappearing. Just 100 years ago, the spotted cat was a common sight in Africa and Asia. There were about 100,000 cheetahs in the world. But that number has dropped sharply. Cheetahs were captured and sold as pets. They were hunted and killed for their fur. And their habitat shrank as people build cities where wilderness used to be. Today, there are only about 10,000 cheetahs left in the wild. Laurie Marker is the founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF). She has spent nearly 40 years helping the wild cats. She says it is still possible to save them. “I do believe we can turn back time,” she told TFK. “We now have the tools.”

Courtesy of Irma Bense/Pixabay

A Brighter Future for the Cats In 1977, Marker moved to Namibia, a country in southern Africa where the cheetah population was quickly shrinking. Farmers were killing the wild cats to protect their livestock. Marker had an idea. She knew that for thousands of years, farmers in Turkey had been using special dogs, called Anatolian shepherds, to protect their livestock. These guard dogs scare away predators without hurting them. “They bark loudly,” says Marker. “They stand their ground.” About 20 years ago, Marker and her team began placing the dogs on Namibian farms. Since then, she says, “we’ve stopped the killing and doubled the country’s cheetah population.” Now the dogs are being used in other African countries, too. As a result, fewer cheetahs are being killed. Marker’s goal is for people, livestock, and wild cheetahs to be able to live in harmony. “That’s my vision,” she says, “and it’s doable.”

“Power” Words harmony: agreement livestock: farm animals predator: an animal that eats other animals to survive Note: Suzanne Zimbler writes with great economy. Notice how her first sentence immediately makes the reader envision a cheetah in action and reminds us why we should care about this animal. From there, Zimbler explicitly establishes the problem, and then in paragraph two, describes the cause of it and the depth of it. In paragraph three, the possible solution is introduced—a dedicated conservationist, Laurie Marker. This is a good piece to point out not only embedded structures of cause and effect, problem and solution, but also the way in which writers employ several structures and “mini-genres.” “Saving Cheetahs,” for example, also has an element of a profile about a person.

Lesson 3    Use Quotes to Summarize Text   21

LESSON

4

Cite and Analyze

Analyze: Break something down methodically into its parts to understand how it is made, what it is, how it works; look at something critically in order to grasp its essence (Burke & Gilmore, 2015). Cite: To quote from another source to support one’s own thinking while giving credit to those whose ideas and data support it. You can cite a passage, a book, an author, or a speaker; it doesn’t have to be a published work to deserve a citation.

Best the Test As students move from elementary school to the middle grades, they no longer quote from the text; they cite evidence to support their analysis.

Lesson Prep zz Photocopy

for each student the template Analyze and Cite Evidence on page 24 and the excerpt “The Computer” on page 25.

Introduce It 1. Discuss what it means to cite evidence and how that can be used to support an analysis of a text. 2. Use the article and the template as either a guided practice/teacherdirected lesson, or have students work in small groups, with partners, or independently.

For more information on inventions: zz http://www.history.com/topics/ inventions/invention-of-the-pc zz http://inventors.about.com/library/ blcoindex.htm

22

What a Great Idea! Inventions That Changed the World by Stephen M. Tomecek

1950s IBM Computer: zz https://youtu.be/3wIMpROrxVo

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

copies to each student of the Analyze and Cite Evidence template on page 24 and “The Computer” on page 25. you are a fifth-grade teacher, you can use these pages to have students determine two main ideas within a text and write a summary on each: (1) how it works; (2) the impact of the computer. Follow the basic steps from Lesson 3.

{{

Read through the article once and discuss what the main idea is.

{{

Reread and highlight/annotate important details and facts that support the main idea.

{{

Revisit the highlighted details and choose two (or one, if your students are in eighth grade), and put stars by them.

{{

Transfer these two pieces of evidence to the template and complete the template.

{{

Write a summary.

zz If

you are a middle school teacher, use these materials to practice citing evidence. Have your students do the following:

zz If

Sample to Share With Students Analyze and Cite Evidence: “The Computer” The main idea of the article is that today computers are everywhere, and we use them to help in all parts of our life, and while we think they are a recent invention, they’ve actually been around since 1822. The article then explains how it works and its history. The text states, “Simply stated, it’s a programmable device that helps solve problems by processing information following a series of instructions.” This statement is backed up by examples of Babbage in 1812 using punched cards to create calculators, but he couldn’t do it because of “the limits of the equipment of the day.” Another inventor, Herman Hollerith, was able to use these ideas and make a “working device which used punched cards to input data via an electric card reader.” These details support the idea that the computer has been around for a long time. The text then explains how the computer evolved from a mechanical system to 1939 when John Atanasoff “built a prototype of an electromechanical computer.” It also explains that the only thing that kept it from being a modern computer was “lack of programming.” This provides a short history that leads to “The first truly digital, multipurpose, fully electronic computer, designed by J. Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly, was unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946.” This computer was ENIAC. By showing three important inventions of the computer, the author shows how it has been around a long time and how it was invented and improved. Finally, the author states that computers have changed our lives and society. “There is hardly any part of our daily lives that isn’t affected by a computer in some way, shape, or form.” This quote sums up the impact of the invention of the computer.

Lesson 4    Cite and Analyze  23

GRAB & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Analyze and Cite Evidence   Date: 

Name: Title:  Main idea of the text:  

Textual evidence that supports the main idea:

Analyze how this evidence supports the main idea:

Textual evidence that supports the main idea:

Analyze how this evidence supports the main idea:

Conclusion:   Put it all together: Take your information from the planner and write a summary/analysis—citing evidence and how that supports the main idea.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

24  Section 1    Evidence

GRAB & GO

E X CER P T TO WRITE A B OUT

“The Computer” From What a Great Idea! Inventions That Changed the World

by Stephen M. Tomecek Today computers are just about everywhere, from the ignition system of our cars to the tuners in our digital radios. Millions of us use personal computers in our homes for everything from video games to home finances. This very book was written on one! Although computers are thought of as modern, high-tech devices, they actually date back to 1822, when Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, was looking for an easier way to count numbers.

How It Works To understand how the computer was invented, we must first define exactly what a computer is. Simply stated, it’s a programmable device that helps solve problems by processing information following a series of instructions. In 1812, Babbage came up with the idea of using punched cards to input data into an “analytical engine.” He built a series of calculators leading to his prototype machine. Unfortunately, Babbage’s groundbreaking ideas couldn’t be turned into reality due to the limits of the equipment of the day. Picking up on some of Babbage’s ideas, an American inventor named Herman Hollerith was determined to come up with a way of automatically tabulating census data. Hollerith had worked on the 1880 U.S. census and found it to be very time-consuming. By the 1890 census, he had a working device which used punched cards to input data via an electric card reader.

Impact Through the early part of the twentieth century, electric calculators flourished, but they had their limits. Small improvements were made along the way, but clearly mechanical systems were a dead end. For a device to be really fast and versatile, it would have to use the same type of electronic tubes that made radio and television possible. In 1939, American physicist and mathematician John Atanasoff built a prototype of an electromechanical digital computer. His model was the first ever to use vacuum tubes to do computations, and the only thing keeping it from being a modern computer was the lack of programming. To say that computers have changed society would be a gross understatement. There is hardly any part of our daily lives that isn’t affected by a computer in some way, shape, or form. But as sophisticated as computers are, they still need people to program them.

Children of the Invention The first truly digital, multipurpose, fully electronic computer, designed by J. Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly, was unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946. (Continued) Lesson 4    Cite and Analyze  25

GRAB & GO

(Continued) Called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), the system contained over 18,000 tubes, and used more than 100 kilowatts of electricity (that’s 1,000 100-watt lightbulbs on at the same time!), but it was a thousand times faster than anything before it. In a few short years, this, too, would change, because at that same time, in another part of the United States, the transistor was being invented. XXWhat is this article nudging you to continue reading about?

  XXWhat questions are you left with?

 

Note: In this excerpt, Stephen M. Tomecek shares information about the early scientific work and inventions that led to the digital technology we use today. He doesn’t include Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the famous poet, Lord Byron, who worked with Charles Babbage. She was an English mathematician and writer who is said to have developed an algorithm for a computer. It’s possible that historians didn’t know about Lovelace’s contributions at the time this book was published, in 2003, or it may be that as a writer, Tomecek researched and decided Babbage alone deserved mention. This piece provides a good forum for a discussion about how any nonfiction writing is a product of its time and what was known then. As readers, it’s important to consider that! Think about it—the book was published in 2003, before smart phones and other recent advancements. Before Steve Jobs of Apple became so famous that many young people assume he invented the computer! In the last paragraph, Tomecek describes the ENIAC, unveiled in 1946. Can you imagine its size? Find a photo of it online? As a reader, even without seeing a photo of it, can you use your background knowledge to compare it to the size of the computers you use today? By heading the section “Children of the Invention,” Tomecek signals to his reader that yes, technological/digital inventions will continue to spawn new generations of faster, smarter computers.

26  Section 1    Evidence

Section 2 Relationships In Section 1, the lessons and activities focused on finding evidence in order to summarize it. Now, we help students notice evidence of a different kind: relationships. The relationships may be between people, ideas, or sections of text—the myriad patterns authors lay down like brickwork. To make sense of these relationships, readers must ask such questions as, How does this part connect with that? What structure is the author using to expose these relationships? How does this person relate to that one? Who would be against this idea, who would be for it, and why? Analyzing relationships takes readers to a deep level of comprehension because they’re better able to get to the truth of things. Think of history: Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball because of his relationship with Branch Rickey. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus because it was her civil right to sit, and yet it was the relationship with Martin

Luther King, Jr. that led her to be a symbol of the civil rights movement. What was the connection between Paul Revere’s trade as a silversmith and his joining the other patriots to fight the British? And in current events, what are the relationships behind the headlines? A hundred years from now, historians will be looking at the dynamics between Gloria Steinem, Hillary Clinton, and millennial women. This is the kind of sleuthing of complex issues we want to help our students begin to do now. In this section, your students will get good at articulating cause and effect, which is a skill that shows up a lot on highstakes tests. Along with the readings and lessons in this section, build in the time needed for students to dig below the surface of a topic. Provide access to websites and multiple texts. All this work will serve them well in testing situations, when they are asked to read across texts (or view films) and then write about the connections.

Watch Leslie Teach! Video 2: Watch Leslie’s students talk about how writing about reading deepens their understanding of texts. Go to http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction to see the lessons and guided practice in action.

27

LESSON

5

Explain Events, Procedures, or Concepts

Sequence of Events: The order of events or the order in which specific tasks are performed. Text Structure: A writer’s device for organizing ideas in writing. A writer may convey sequence of events through a cause and effect text structure, or opposing viewpoints, or a dated journal structure, to name a few. A writer may use more than one structure within a section, chapter, or entire piece.

Prompts for Considering Sequence The following help readers notice important events—and why they happened—in a sequence: zz How is this text organized? Does the author describe the topic in a

chronological sequence? zz How can I “outsmart” the text by using features like the index, TOC,

glossary, illustrations and photographs, bolded words, and headings to help me understand? zz What specific information or key ideas explain why the event

happened? zz If I had to choose one specific piece of information from each page

that best explains what or why something happens, what would it be? zz What are the key moments, characters, or ideas in the story? zz How do these different elements interact with and influence each

other? zz What evidence or examples can I provide to support my claim(s)?  vailable for download at A http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Sequencing, stating chronology, and explaining one’s thinking are all common tasks that show up on ELA tests as well as science and social studies tests. Analyzing relationships starts in sixth grade. In Grades 3–5, students describe and explain events and relationships and need to cite specific information in the text to support their thinking about sequence. zz Teach your students to answer questions fully, explain why events happened,

and then cite evidence to explain their thinking. zz In reading and writing, demonstrate the difference between retelling,

summarizing, and analyzing. 28

zz With students’ permission, share pieces they have written that are exemplary,

and highlight with markers where you see analytical thinking. zz Always follow your teacher modeling with guided practice, so students try

what you just demonstrated.

Lesson Prep zz Download and print out prompts. zz Photocopy

for each student Important Events and Ideas on page 33 and “Enemy at the Gates” on page 34.

zz Choose

a high-interest book that depicts important events in sequential order (e.g., Shackleton’s Amazing Antarctic Adventure: Trapped by the Ice! by Michael McCurdy). Familiarize yourself with the structure (e.g., foreword, afterword, illustrations, written in chronological order).

zz Plan on reading and working with the book over several days.

Introduce It 1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart. 2. Using chart paper or document camera, create a flow chart and a cause and effect chart or a timeline, if you prefer. 3. Show students the pages of Trapped by the Ice! and have them discuss how the text is organized. They should quickly notice that there are dates (like a journal) before the longer text. Read the Author’s Note and Foreword and notice the map. Discuss what information the students already know (ship was trapped in ice, adventure lasted more than two years) from reading the front matter. 4. Start to read the October 27, 1915, entry and think aloud how the text jumps right into the part where the boat was trapped. After finishing the description of that date, ask students what was important to remember. Begin a flow chart (see Important Events and Ideas, page 33), writing in the date and the important event(s). 5. Continue reading and charting through the book. 6. When you finish, discuss why the book was organized this way and how it helped to understand what the Shackleton crew endured. 7. You want your students to realize that the author wants the reader to not just look at the order of events, but also think about why they happened. With the class, choose one event from the flow chart and make a cause and effect chart. For example, the ice floe breaking caused them to get in the boats and head to sea and eventually land on Elephant Island. 8. Write about reading: Co-construct a short response from the information on the cause and effect chart to explain an event from the text, what happened, and why it happened. Include specific information from the text. Lesson 5    Explain Events, Procedures, or Concepts  29

More info on Shackleton and Endurance, including photographs: zz http://www.coolantarctica.com zz http://shackleton-endurance.com/ Shackleton

Spirit of Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong. This is an excellent companion piece to Trapped by the Ice! Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong is a longer text on these topics, good for upper grades.

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student copies of the Important Events and Ideas template on page 33 and the excerpt “Enemy at the Gates” on page 34.

zz Guide

students through reading for cause and effect and analyzing events and why they happened. Students can read, highlight, and annotate in groups or on their own.

zz Next,

have students transfer their annotations to the Important Events and Ideas template.

30  Section 2    Relationships

Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure, a 40-minute film directed by George Butler and narrated by Kevin Spacey.

zz Finally, students refer to their template as they write a

response explaining what happened and why, citing evidence from the text. zz On

another day, have students read informational text (picture books or short excerpts) using the same process outlined above. They can work in small groups, with a partner, or independently.

zz Have them use the Important Events and Ideas tem-

plate to help them organize their writing. zz Remember,

this process works really well with any content-area reading.

Sample to Share With Students Cause and Effect: Trapped by the Ice! One major event in the text was when the ice floe that the men were camped on began to break apart and the crew had to launch the lifeboats. This event happened on April 8, 1916. The ice floes breaking apart was the cause of their leaving. “By now, the ice floes were breaking up into smaller and smaller pieces all around the men as they drifted closer to the edge of the polar sea. Shack thought it was a good time to launch the lifeboats, rigged with small canvas sails.” There were many effects because of this, but the most important effect was that ultimately they made it to South Georgia Island and survived. However, there were other effects that occurred before that. First of all, the men survived the open sea and many hardships as they traveled to Elephant Island. For example, “Tall waves lifted them up and down like a roller coaster.” Also they were seasick, thirsty, and killer whales circled them. But they made it! The second effect of the ice floes breaking and making the men launch the lifeboats was that Shackleton took five men with him and sailed to South Georgia Island, leaving the rest of the crew behind to create a permanent shelter while they waited for Shackleton to return. This voyage was harder than the first. The men faced graybeards, which are enormous waves——one almost capsized their boat. They also sailed through a hurricane. “Miraculously, just as things looked hopeless, the sea calmed enough to allow the Caird to land safely on the rocky beach of Haakon Bay.” From here, four of the men hiked over the mountains to get to the whaling camp. They made it! It took more than three months and four attempts for Shack to rescue the men on Elephant Island, but he did. The most important effect of the ice floe breaking was “Shack finally did it——and without any loss of life. The men were glad to have a ship’s deck once again under their feet. Finally, they were going home!” While the ice floes breaking apart caused the men danger and dangerous journeys, the final effect was worth it! (Continued)

Lesson 5    Explain Events, Procedures, or Concepts  31

(Continued)

32  Section 2    Relationships

W RIT E - A B OUT- R E ADIN G T E M PLAT E

G RA B & GO

Important Events and Ideas Name:

  Date:

Title: Directions: zz Fill

in the flow chart with the important events and ideas from the text.

zz Code

each box with an E for an event and an I for an idea.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 5    Explain Events, Procedures, or Concepts  33

G RA B & GO

E XC E RPTS TO W RIT E A B OUT

“Enemy at the Gates” From Science Warriors: The Battle Against Invasive Species

by Sneed B. Collard III Name:

  Date:

� Directions: zz Read

the excerpt from Science Warriors: The Battle Against Invasive Species by Sneed B. Collard III.

zz As

you read, think about cause and effect. Ask yourself, what event happened that caused something else to happen? Why is it important?

zz Read

a second time and highlight lines that help you determine the cause and effect. Think about what happened—and why it happened.

zz Annotate

your thinking in the margins, then write a response about what happened and why, using evidence from the text.

Chapter 1: Enemy at the Gates On the U.S. island of Guam, Andersen Air Force Base is under siege. Nighttime patrols walk the fence line around the base, looking for any signs of intruders. Live traps are set every sixty to seventy-five feet along the perimeter. Inside the base, federal agents work with highly trained Jack Russell terriers, which sniff a load of equipment bound for Hawaii. This isn’t a drill. The threat is real, and if security efforts fail, the Hawaiian Islands could become a disaster zone. Under the watchful eye of her handler, one terrier walks toward a large military truck. The dog’s sensitive nose filters the air for the tiniest odors. Suddenly, the hair on her neck stiffens and she sits down. The agent steps forward, his heart racing. “Find it,” he tells the terrier. Sniffing vigorously, the dog makes her way to the front of the truck and holds her paw out toward the engine compartment. “Good girl,” the handler tells her, slipping her a treat. After tying the dog’s leash to a nearby crate, the agent turns on his flashlight and gets down on his knees to look under the truck’s front end. Nothing. He carefully pops open the hood and scans the engine with the flashlight. Again, he doesn’t see anything. Then, his flashlight beam freezes. Wrapped around the truck’s master brake cylinder sits the stowaway—a three-foot-long brown tree snake. Working quickly the agent unwraps the struggling serpent from the brake cylinder. After placing the hissing reptile into a bag, the agent’s heartbeat begins to return to normal and relief washes through him. It’s one more close call. One more disaster narrowly averted. (Continued)

34  Section 2    Relationships

G RA B & GO

(Continued) XXAfter reading this first section, do you think there is a problem? What is the problem? Read on to

determine cause and effect. The brown tree snake provides a vivid example of just how harmful an invasive species can be. Originally from Australia and nearby islands, the snake hitchhiked to the U.S. island of Guam shortly after World War II. In Guam, it found a new home free of predators and full of food. By the 1980s, more than 13,000 brown tree snakes filled every square mile of Guam. The serpents wiped out at least nine of Guam’s native bird species, along with native geckos and most other vertebrates. The snakes began causing thousands of blackouts as they crawled across power lines. They literally devoured Guam’s poultry industry. Even more alarming, they began biting people of all ages, sending many to hospital emergency rooms. In one prolonged punch, this single species devastated Guam’s environment, damaged its economy, and reduced the quality of life for the people who lived there. Yet the brown tree snake is only one of thousands of examples of invasive species that have had a negative impact on our nation and our planet. According to a report by the Office of Technology Assessment, by 1993 more than two hundred alien species in the United States had been classified as invasive. Today, scientists estimate that number is 7,000. Scientists, in fact, consider the problem of invasive species to be one of the most urgent crises humans face on earth. Note: Sneed Collard III is an expert writer. Notice in the first paragraph the way he builds suspense and makes readers think the air force base is under imminent attack by a military enemy. He uses words like “siege” and “patrol” and “security” and then deftly delivers the surprise: the clear and present danger is a snake, not a human enemy or chemical weapon! How might you apply this technique to your own nonfiction writing?

Lesson 5    Explain Events, Procedures, or Concepts  35

LESSON

6

Analyze How Authors Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate Best the Test In Grades 3 and 4, students are expected to analyze a single section of text on standardized tests. In Grades 5 and above, comparing and contrasting a few texts becomes more common. To prepare students, zz Give them opportunities to read multiple examples on the same topic as

a class. zz For independent reading, have students read both short informational articles

and picture books as well as longer works, so they develop their abilities to hold thinking over the course of a chapter book. zz Consider allotting one day a week just to focus on informational text. Some

teachers I know find this a great way to make sure students do sufficient nonfiction reading over the course of the year.

Lesson Prep zz Photocopy

for each student the template Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate on page 39 and the Albert Einstein Biographies on page 40.

zz Provide different colored highlighter pens to students. zz Choose any topic that has a variety of texts on it (I use Albert Einstein here:

Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown and On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne—both picture books, and two chapter books: Who Was Albert Einstein? by Jess Brallier and Giants of Science: Albert Einstein by Kathleen Krull. These excerpts all focus on the leads of the books).

Introduce It 1. Read aloud the leads (introductory sentences/paragraphs) of 2–3 texts on the same topic. 2. Think aloud as you analyze how the author is going about introducing his or her topic, whether a person, animal, event, or issue.

36

3. Highlight important words and phrases that help you. 4. Then add longer books on the same topic and analyze how the author illustrates or elaborates—adds more information.

Einstein Archives Online: zz http://www.alberteinstein.info zz http://www.biography.com/ people/albert-einstein9285408#theory-of-relativity

5. Or, if you don’t have time, use the excerpt sheet to do these steps. 6. As you model, be sure to consider the author’s point of view in your think aloud.

On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown

For more information on Albert Einstein: zz https://www.brainpop.com/ science/famousscientists/ alberteinstein

Who Was Albert Einstein? by Jess Brallier Giants of Science: Albert Einstein by Kathleen Krull Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins Countdown to Extinction: Animals in Danger! by David Burnie

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

copies to each student of the Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate template on page 39 and the Albert Einstein Biographies on page 40.

zz Have

students write in the margins as they read excerpts from the leads about Albert Einstein.

zz Have them use different colored highlighters to show

the difference between positive and negative attributes. zz If

you would rather use the excerpts as a teacherguided lesson, then read aloud the book(s) and print or project these excerpts to demonstrate specific information that helps to show how Einstein is introduced.

zz Continue

with the last two excerpts to highlight and annotate how the author elaborates about Einstein.

zz Have

students transfer thinking and annotations to the write-about-reading template. Emphasize that the details should be tied to the text (or even cite examples).

zz Have

students write an analysis of Einstein based on these excerpts. This could either be co-constructed or independent.

zz Have students use sticky notes to mark details in their

independent reading that support their analysis of individuals or events. This can also transfer to content reading (including textbooks). zz Have

students write responses in their reading journals or their content area logs.

zz Have

students discuss their thinking and their responses—either with partners or in literature circles, book clubs, or inquiry circles.

Lesson 6    Analyze How Authors Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate  37

Sample to Share With Students

38  Section 2    Relationships

W RIT E - A B OUT- R E ADIN G T E M PLAT E

Name:

  Date:

Title:

How Subject/Topic Is Introduced

Details

How Subject/Topic Is Illustrated/Elaborated

Details

Write about reading: On a separate sheet of paper, take your notes and analyze how the author introduced, illustrated, and elaborated the topic.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 6    Analyze How Authors Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate  39

G RA B & GO

Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate

G RA B & GO

E XC E RPTS TO W RIT E A B OUT

Albert Einstein Biographies Name:

  Date:

� Directions: zz Notice

how Albert Einstein is introduced in this lead.

zz Use

one color highlighter pen to show positive attributes.

zz Use

a different color highlighter pen to show negative attributes.

Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown On a sunny, cold Friday in the old city of Ulm, Germany, a baby named Albert Einstein is born. It is March 14, 1879. The joy his family has for the new birth is brief. His grandmother cries, “Much too fat. Much too fat.” And his mother fears his head is too big. Be patient and all will be well, the doctor insists. And he is right, although the back of Albert’s head will always appear somewhat swollen. Albert grows, and soon it is time for him to coo and babble and make cute words. But he says . . . nothing. His family frets and waits and frets and waits. Is Albert well? Finally, he talks, and when he does he can be clever and sharp. When he is nearly three, his parents promise Albert a surprise, and he expects a toy. When instead they present him with a baby sister, he says, “Where are the wheels?” XXHow would you describe Albert from the information so far?    

Note: Don Brown writes with an engaging voice and injects humor into his account of Albert Einstein’s first years and the fact that he didn’t talk until later than usual. When the grandmother cries, “Much too fat. Much too fat” you can picture the scene so clearly. The sentence “His family frets and waits and frets and waits,” continues the wry tone. And with the last line of the excerpt, it’s almost like the punch line of a joke: “Where are the wheels?” Don Brown’s purpose here is to both inform and entertain. You might want to compare it to an adult biography of Einstein, to notice similarities and differences in the facts.

(Continued) 40  Section 2    Relationships

XXNow read the lead of this next book. How is Einstein introduced? How is it similar to the first?

How does it differ?

On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne Over 100 years ago, as the stars swirled in the sky, as the Earth circled the sun, as the March winds blew through a little town by a river, a baby boy was born. His parents named him Albert. Albert turned one year old. And didn’t say a word. Albert turned two. And didn’t say a word. Albert turned three. And hardly said a word at all. He just looked around with his big, curious eyes. Looked and wondered. Looked and wondered. His parents worried. Little Albert was so different: was there something wrong? But he was their baby, so they loved him . . . no matter what. One day, when Albert was sick in bed, his father brought him a compass—a small round case with a magnetic needle inside. No matter which way Albert turned the compass, the needle always pointed north, as if held by an invisible hand. Albert was so amazed his body trembled. Suddenly he knew there were mysteries in the world—hidden and silent, unknown and unseen. He wanted, more than anything, to understand those mysteries.

XXWhat new information have you learned about Einstein?    

Note: Jennifer Berne describes Albert Einstein’s delayed development of speech in a simple, almost song-like manner. At the same time, she manages to convey detail about his intelligence and innate curiosity with “He just looked around with his big, curious eyes. Looked and wondered. Looked and wondered.” You can infer that he was smart and taking in the world, even though he didn’t talk. Then, when we learn that he was so excited by the compass that he trembled, it makes sense. It’s “in character.” Berne manages to convey character in very few words.

(Continued) Lesson 6    Analyze How Authors Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate  41

G RA B & GO

(Continued)

G RA B & GO

(Continued) XXNow compare this excerpt from the introduction to the chapter book Who Was Albert Einstein?

to the first two. How is Einstein introduced? How is he elaborated? (In other words, how does the author explain his life and accomplishments?)

Who Was Albert Einstein? by Jess Brallier Did you know that Albert Einstein was a very poor student who got kicked out of school? Well, he was. Yet he was one of the most brilliant people that the world has ever known. Did you know that Albert was a peace-loving person who hated war? Well, he was. Yet his work led to the creation of the most destructive bomb ever. Did you know that Albert was shy and hated publicity and attention? Yet he was a media superstar. Even now, fifty years after his death, Hollywood still makes movies about him— and T-shirts, coffee mugs, and posters are decorated with pictures of his famous face. Who was Albert Einstein? You are about to find out. XXHow did the author introduce Einstein’s accomplishments? What new information have you

learned?    

XXIn this final excerpt, notice the elaboration. Read to find out new information.

Giants of Science: Albert Einstein by Kathleen Krull “If I have seen further [than other people] it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” —Isaac Newton, 1675 Albert Einstein had major bedhead. His hair looked as though he’d stuck a finger in an electrical socket. Besides being fashion-challenged, he had problems with school, women, money, memory, and day-to-day life. In the lab, things around him tended to explode. For years no university would have anything to do with him. For years he toiled as a clerk in a government job.

(Continued) 42  Section 2    Relationships

But he had his charms. He became king of the snappy sound bite, always bemused, sort of cuddly, with soulful eyes. And quite rightfully, his name has become a synonym for genius. His work in physics, the science that studies the behavior of objects in motion, was revolutionary. At age twenty-six, in 1905, this man changed the course of the world with his theory of relativity and his famous equation E = mc2. Energy and matter, he said, were basically the same thing, and you could convert one into the other. It is no exaggeration to talk of a pre-Einstein and a post-Einstein world. XXWhat new information do you learn about Einstein from this final excerpt?    

Note: This author chooses to open a book on Albert Einstein with a series of examples that shows the contrasts between Albert’s traits and how his genius affected the world. He was a “very poor student,” yet his name is now synonymous with genius. The writer shares other ironies, and it works to pique a reader’s curiosity about this well-known figure. The author’s touching upon the pop culture aspect of his scientific fame is another way of signaling to the reader, “don’t worry, this is not going to be a dry, factual biography.” The author writes in a conversational voice to also ease her audience’s mind that the ensuing pages will both entertain and inform.

Lesson 6    Analyze How Authors Introduce, Illustrate, and Elaborate  43

G RA B & GO

(Continued)

LESSON

7

Describe Relationships and Interactions

Interactions: An occasion when two or more people or things communicate with or react to each other. Relationships: In nonfiction writing, as is true in fiction writing, authors work very hard to create a clear, cogent presentation of something in our world, and they do this through relationships. On a granular level, authors have one sentence relate to the next; authors use text structures to help readers see relationships between ideas and causes and effects; finally, and more globally, authors relate their work to other works and world knowledge either implicitly or explicitly with citations and references.

Prompts for Describing Interactions zz Which people, events, ideas, or concepts does the author treat as important in the text? zz How would I explain their relationships or interactions based on specific information in the text? zz How do people, events, or ideas connect? zz What are the connections and relationships between procedures, steps, and so on? zz What connection is the author trying to make in this text? zz What techniques does the author use to make connections or distinctions between different elements? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test On standardized tests, the work your students do with these lessons and practice pages often takes the form of being able to explain cause and effect. zz To prepare your students, build their background knowledge—big time. Why?

Because to understand connections and relationships in texts, they need a secure understanding of the content. And the best way to build knowledge is to have your students read a lot of nonfiction throughout the content areas. zz Analyzing requires reading and accruing meaning throughout an entire piece

in order to get the big picture and put it all together. So although short pieces provide practice, allow students to dig into longer pieces of text.

44

Lesson Prep zz Download and print out prompts. zz Photocopy

for each student the It’s All About Connections template on page 48 and “Opening Doors for Others” on page 49.

zz Choose

a book that explores connections or relationships (Teammates by Peter Golenbock depicts the relationship between Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese while illuminating the prejudice of that period). Place sticky notes where the two men interact. Also place sticky notes where Pee Wee Reese comes to Jackie Robinson’s defense and be prepared to think aloud about why he did that.

1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart. 2. Create an anchor chart with three columns—one titled “Jackie Robinson,” one “Pee Wee Reese,” and the third “Connections.” 3. Read aloud Teammates (or some other book with strong relationships/interactions).

zz http://www.teachertube.com/video/ jackierobinson-alegacy-63625

5. In this book, important pages are p. 7 and beyond (Jackie is introduced and his character explained, along with the difficulties he faced). Page 18 is where Pee Wee Reese is introduced and then the relationship between the two men evolves. 6. After reading, pose the question, How did Jackie and Pee Wee respond to prejudice and the treatment of Jackie? Revisit your sticky notes and either place them on the chart with three columns, or jot notes under Jackie and Pee Wee. 7. Discuss with students what the connections were bet­ ween the men and record them in the third column.

Introduce It

Jackie Robinson:

4. Think aloud as you read, highlighting the pages you’ve flagged, being sure to address the prompts on the anchor chart—especially the ones about connections.

8. Write about reading: Co-construct a short res­ ponse explaining the relationship and connections between Jackie and Pee Wee. Include the techniques the author used to show this. 9. Tell students they will be doing this same process you are now modeling, answering the question, How would I explain the relationships or interactions between the important people or events in the text?

Teammates by Peter Golenbock

42: The True Story of a Sports Legend

Stealing Home: The Story of Jackie Robinson by Barry Denenberg Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson by Sharon Robinson Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki One More Border: The True Story of One Family’s Escape From War-Torn Europe by William Kaplan

Lesson 7    Describe Relationships and Interactions  45

between the important people or events in the text?” Responses should include at least three facts from the text to support them.

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute to each student copies of the It’s All About

Connections template on page 48 and the excerpt “Opening Doors for Others” on page 49.

zz On

another day, have students read and annotate picture books, or any other informational texts with strong relationships, using the same process outlined above.

zz Have

students read and annotate the excerpt and then transfer their thinking to the template. They can use sticky notes if they wish.

zz Finally,

have students write short responses to “How would I explain the relationships or interactions

More Templates to Share With Students

Key Words for Compare and Contrast The following words signal that two pieces are being compared: also

just as

as well as

like

both

most important

comparatively

similarly

in the same way

the same as

in addition

too

The following words signal that two pieces are being contrasted: although

more than

besides

nevertheless

but

notwithstanding

compared with

on the other hand

conversely

otherwise

differ

rather than

even though

regardless

furthermore

though

however

unless

in contrast to

unlike

instead

while

less than

yet

Retrieved from the companion website for Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

46  Section 2    Relationships

Sample to Share With Students Co-Constructed Response to Teammates The title of this book captures the relationship between Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese because Pee Wee Reese stands up to fans and hostility and stands by Jackie to show that they are truly teammates. The text shows all the hardships that Jackie Robinson had to endure in order to play on the Dodgers baseball team as the first black player. He is explained first——how strong he was. The text explains that he couldn’t sleep in hotels with the white team, people called him names, spit on him, and players tried to hurt him. His own team wouldn’t sit with him. There were even threats on his life. These are just a few things that he had to deal with——and he couldn’t fight back! He was basically alone and in pain. Then the text explains Pee Wee Reese who was from the south, and most of his friends and relatives were prejudiced. People thought Jackie would take Pee Wee’s job as shortstop, but instead of hating Jackie, Pee Wee said, “If he’s good enough to take my job, he deserves it.” Pee Wee refused to sign a petition to throw Jackie off the team. This shows how he was supporting Jackie being a talented player. Their relationship is shown when they are in a game in Cincinnati, which is near Pee Wee’s hometown of Louisville. The fans were awful to Jackie and Pee Wee decided to take a stand and do what was right. He walked out to Jackie and put his arm around him to show that they were teammates——to show that he stood with Jackie. That couldn’t have been easy for Pee Wee, and what Jackie had to deal with wasn’t easy either. But both men stood up for what was right and supported each other. By showing they were teammates they made a difference.

Lesson 7    Describe Relationships and Interactions  47

G RA B & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

It’s All About Connections Name:

  Date:

Title: Directions: zz Write

questions that can be answered by reading the text, and then jot the answers under the headings.

zz Finally,

record the connection.

Text:

Question

Person, place, etc.

Person, place, etc.

Person, place, etc.

Connection

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

48  Section 2    Relationships

G RA B & GO

E XC E RPT TO W RIT E A B OUT

“Opening Doors for Others” From Jackie Robinson: Strong Inside and Out

by Denise Lewis Patrick XXAs you read through this excerpt about Jackie Robinson, think about how Jackie Robinson

connected to others at that time and to events of the time. Highlight where you find evidence of this, and jot your thinking in the margins. After Jackie, more and more black players joined the major-league baseball teams. Larry Doby was the first in the American League, not long after Jackie. He played for the Cleveland Indians. Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe joined Jackie with the Dodgers. Jackie Robinson had opened the door, and it stayed open. In the 1950s doors were opening all over America. Jackie Robinson had given many African Americans the courage to fight for equal rights. He had stopped accepting unfairness in silence. Jackie began to speak out more and more. He wrote a book about his life, The Jackie Robinson Story. A movie was made from it in 1950. Jackie played himself! Jackie’s major-league career lasted almost ten years, almost all of them with the Dodgers. The team won six pennants and a World Series title. The 1956 season was his last. The Dodgers were moving to California. Jackie found out they were planning to trade him to the New York Giants. But he was already thinking of leaving baseball. He wasn’t as fast as he used to be. He wasn’t playing as well as he wished. And by then he and Rachel were the parents of Jack Jr., Sharon, and David. He wanted time with his family. Jackie announced that he would retire. He was ready to live a life outside of baseball.

New Careers And that’s what Jackie Robinson did. He worked in business as a vice president at Chock Full o’Nuts, a coffee company. He wrote a newspaper column. He helped start a bank. Jackie met U.S. presidents and movie stars. He traveled and went deep-sea fishing with his family. In 1962 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York. It was one of the proudest days of his life. Two important people from his early years were there to celebrate: his mother, Mallie, and Branch Rickey. Jackie’s concern for opening doors kept him busy. His whole family took part in the 1963 March on Washington for equal rights for African Americans. The Robinsons stood with tens of thousands of Americans of all races to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Jackie believed in Dr. King’s words about different races working and living together. That’s what his baseball career had been all about. He worked to bring more black managers and coaches to baseball. And he and Rachel raised money to make Dr. King’s (Continued)

Lesson 7    Describe Relationships and Interactions  49

G RA B & GO

(Continued) dreams happen. To do this, they started having “Afternoons of Jazz” concerts each summer in their big backyard in Stamford, Connecticut. Note: From this excerpt, the reader deduces that the author is focusing here on Jackie Robinson’s post–baseball career life. The heading itself—”Opening Doors for Others”—signals to the reader what the author most wants us to take away from this section and perhaps the entire biography. Jackie Robinson’s role as the baseball player who broke the color barrier paved the way for other black baseball players to enter the game as well—and by extension, enter the game of American business and culture, too. Notice that by the second paragraph, we recognize that the author is asserting a far bigger influence, lacing details of Robinson’s public speaking and life after retirement around claims such as “Jackie Robinson had given many African Americans the courage to fight for equal rights.” In the section “New Careers,” the author details Robinson’s successful life after baseball. What’s heartening about it is that the hallmarks of success aren’t strictly about his corporate posts or earnings; they include details that he was a man who loved his family and was smart enough to enjoy pursuits like deep-sea fishing and jazz. We can infer he was a balanced person, and because of it, he was able to continue to break barriers, working on behalf of equal rights. We learn that not only did Robinson and his family attend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington, but they raised money for the civil rights cause. With these details, the author makes sure readers don’t pigeonhole Jackie Robinson as a groundbreaking baseball player. Not unlike Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson was an intellectual, spiritual, and moral person who saw that with fame came a responsibility to make America live up to its principles of equality and nonviolent resolutions.

50  Section 2    Relationships

LESSON

8

Analyze the Connections Between People, Events, and Ideas Best the Test From sixth grade on, the curriculum involves more and more nonfiction. Thus, standardized tests use more of it, too. Students are tested on their ability to analyze interactions and how they influence individuals and events. To prepare, zz Provide practice along the lines of the lessons in this section throughout

the year, especially in the content areas. zz Look for signs that your students notice and analyze relationships

metacognitively as they read; with enough practice, students ought to spot relationships “automatically.” zz Never underestimate that students need background knowledge to

support this work! It’s impossible to analyze interactions if you have no concept or schema of it—so make sure to amp up students’ independent reading in the content areas.

Lesson Prep zz Photocopy

for each student the Events, Individuals, and Ideas: How Do They Influence? template on page 54 and the Influential Speeches on page 55.

zz Gather

texts (or multiple texts) that contain and explain interactions between individuals, events, and ideas. This can be periods in history (American Revolution, Civil War, WWII, Civil Rights), science, etc. Make sure students have background knowledge on the topic.

zz Or

focus on how speeches and events across history connect—here the focus is Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and excerpts from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

51

Introduce It 1. Demonstrate how you hold your thinking across texts (see, e.g., the Events, Individuals, and Ideas: How Do They Influence? template on page 54 as you analyze the interactions between ideas, ­people, and events).

“I Have a Dream” speech: zz https://youtu.be/3vDW Wy4CMhE

2. Or, if time is tight, introduce these skills by using the Influential Speeches on page 55 and the Events, Individuals, and Ideas: How Do They Influence? template on page 54. 3. Refer to the anchor chart from Lesson 3 in Section 1.

Who Was Abraham Lincoln? by Janet Pascal I Am Abraham Lincoln by Brad Meltzer Abraham Lincoln: Great Speeches edited by Roy P. Basler

Selma, the 2015 PG-13 movie, is suitable for students age 13 and over; you could also show a portion of it if you aren’t able to show the entire film.

I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World by Martin Luther King, Jr. Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? by Bonnie Bader I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. by Brad Meltzer My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up With the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Christine King Farris

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student copies of the Events, Individuals, and Ideas: How Do They Influence? template on page 54 and the Influential Speeches excerpts on page 55.

zz Set

the context for these two addresses. The first, Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” and the second, King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

zz Have students work in pairs or small groups, reading

the excerpts, noting similarities, and discussing how the two speeches connect.

52  Section 2    Relationships

zz Have students analyze how these speeches connect

to the events of their time (this requires background knowledge for students!). zz Tell students to use the template to hold thinking. zz Have

students write an analysis of how the two speeches connect and how these men (and these speeches) affected events.

Sample to Share With Students

Lesson 8    Analyze the Connections Between People, Events, and Ideas  53

G RA B & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Events, Individuals, and Ideas: How Do They Influence? Label the boxes and jot down what happens.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

54  Section 2    Relationships

G RA B & GO

E XC E RPTS TO W RIT E A B OUT

Influential Speeches “The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow— this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. XXCompare this speech to the beginning of the next. What do they have in common?

What events are they each referring to?

“I Have a Dream” Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later the life of the Negro is still badly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. . . . (Continued) Lesson 8    Analyze the Connections Between People, Events, and Ideas  55

G RA B & GO

(Continued) And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification”—one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today! XXHow did events of this time affect what Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in this speech? Highlight

evidence of this. How did events affect him? How did this speech affect events? Note: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech has been studied and celebrated since the moment he uttered it on August 28, 1963, when he stood before thousands who’d marched on Washington, D.C., to demand civil rights and the end of racism in America. It’s a powerful speech, and it draws its potency from prior speeches, sermons, the Bible, and lyrics from spirituals, to name a few. Play an audio recording to hear King’s amazing skills as an orator. In this excerpt, you might have students organized in different groups, each with a different colored highlighter pen, and have one group highlight words associated with light and heat and posit their effect, jotting in the margin; have another group do the same with images of people coming together; another, highlight use of repetition; another group, highlight and consider specific places and people; another to highlight words relating to time. Join together as a whole class and co-create an anchor chart of how each of these elements contributes to the overall meaning and effect of the speech.

56  Section 2    Relationships

Section 3 Main Idea/Central Idea I confess! I’m often hard pressed to point to a single ­overall main idea in the texts I read because writers often seem to be putting a couple of important ideas out there. Nevertheless, in the classroom it’s useful to think in terms of a main idea, and as students become more mature as readers, they can consider a text’s other important ideas. When teaching main idea, I deliberately ask a wide range of questions to help make students flexible in their thinking about a text’s plurality of ideas (see the Prompts for Identifying Main Idea and Details, page 58). Main idea and supporting details are two sides of the same coin. Students need to identify the important details to arrive at the idea. And to do that, students often have to get good at synthesizing ideas section by section to arrive at the whole-piece, big idea. That’s why it’s useful to start small. Model and have students practice noticing key details in a simple, short book or a paragraph. Gradually move to longer articles and books. A student’s understanding of text organization—and why an author uses it—goes hand in hand with getting main idea, so I recommend you look at Section 6 as you plan your teaching because cause and effect is an especially important text structure.

Once your students can determine main idea and details during discussions of a text, bring in summary writing. Summaries are a way of taking the big picture and the salient details and condensing them to the most important aspects. In testing situations, writing summaries is objective—meaning they are tied to the text, and students are not to include background knowledge and personal opinion. This requires practice and teaching your students audience and purpose and how that influences writing. If the purpose is writing for a test, then know the expectation—which means drop the “voice” and stick to the facts. Knowing that the audience is “test makers and graders,” students need to recognize that they write for what that group is looking for. Thus, teaching students the “testing genre” and how summaries fit is wise, but teaching them how summaries are important in their own scholarly life is just as important—it makes these skills another tool in their reading and writing lives. My students really value this distinction, and when it comes time to take a standardized test, they know it’s a genre in which “the only answer that counts is the one that reflects the author’s main idea.”

Watch Leslie Teach! Video 3: Watch Leslie teach a lesson on highlighting details that support main idea using an article. Go to http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction to see the lessons and guided practice in action.

57

LESSON

9

Identify Main Idea and Details

Main Idea: The most important or central idea of a paragraph or a larger part of a text. The main idea tells the reader what the text is about and is what the author wants you to remember most. Key Supporting Details and Ideas: Important details and ideas support the larger ideas the text develops over time and are used to advance the author’s claim(s). Not all details and ideas are equally important, however, so students must learn to identify those that matter the most in the context of the text. Determine Central Ideas (Grades 6–8): Some ideas are more important to a work than are others; these are the ideas you could not cut out without fundamentally changing the meaning or quality of the text. Think of the “central ideas” of a text as you would the beams in a building: They are the main elements that make up the text and that all the supporting details help to develop.

Prompts for Identifying Main Idea and Details zz What is the big idea/main idea of this text? zz What key ideas, specific details, and events help me determine this? zz What details and facts from the text would I include when

summarizing? zz What conclusions does the author discuss in this text? zz What does the author want me to believe/do after reading this text? zz What inferences can I make and what specific details from the text

led me to make each one? zz What is the topic/subtopic—and what does the text say about that? zz What does the writer keep calling attention to, in pictures and in

words? Are there sentences in the beginning or end that seem to speak to this bigger point? zz How is this text organized to get me to think/feel in particular ways? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Identifying the main idea is one of the most tested skills, often presented as multiple choice and sometimes also requiring students to explain how they determined it, using details from the text. In the classroom, then, let’s get our students comfortable with providing apt examples, making comparisons, and using facts and statistics and anecdotes. Teach your students to zz Notice signal words, text features, and repetition. zz Appreciate that nonfiction isn’t just facts but facts stacked up by an author

to make a point. I often liken a main idea to a layer cake, where the main

58

idea is the frosting on the surface, and then the key details are all the ingredients that get stirred, layered, and baked! zz Identify the details that led them to the main idea. I often use “prove it”

language with students, so they come to see it as a regular life challenge— the need to support one’s thinking.

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out the prompts.

zz Photocopy

for each student the Main Idea template on page 63 and “A Hurricane Arrives” on page 64.

zz Decide

on what type of template you want to use in your classroom for identifying the main idea—there are so many! The table with main idea on the top and the legs as details; a hand with main idea on the palm and the fingers representing details—use whatever is best for your students.

zz Choose

a short article or book you can finish in one sitting to introduce main idea. Here I use “Protecting Penguins” from Scholastic News (http://magazines.scholastic.com/news/2016/03/Protecting-Penguins). You can use any Scholastic article for this lesson.

zz Photocopy the article or have it projected on the interactive whiteboard. zz As

you use the lessons in this section, keep in mind that students may find that what they think is important differs from what the author intended as the main idea. Harvey and Goudvis (2007) define this tension as “Important to Whom,” asserting “we teach our kids to make a distinction between what they think is most important to remember and what the writer most wants them to take away from the article” (p. 167).

Introduce It 1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart. 2. Using the document camera or the interactive whiteboard, preview the article. Read the title and headings and think about what you already know about the topic and what you think the author wants you to learn (e.g., “When the world’s tiniest penguins were in trouble, sheepdogs saved the day” leads me to think that it’s the sheepdogs that protected the penguins.). Also preview the photos and captions and jot down your thinking about them. 3. Proceed paragraph by paragraph, reading the text and then thinking aloud what the main idea is. Highlight words and phrases that help you determine it. Write main ideas in the margins (e.g., In the first two paragraphs the main idea is that specially trained sheepdogs are protecting tiny fairy penguins from foxes. Paragraph three: how the problem

Lesson 9    Identify Main Idea and Details  59

started. Paragraphs four and five: A possible solution and why it was finally accepted. Paragraph six: Sheepdog success! Paragraph seven: What’s next.) 4. Model how you revisit the main ideas for each paragraph to determine the main idea of the article. Fill out the template with the main idea and the three most important details that helped you determine it. 5. Write about reading: Write a short response stating the main idea and details about the article (for a scaffolded response, see page 79 in Lesson 11). Focus the writing on what the author intended the

More online resources: zz http://teacher.scholastic.com/ activities/scholasticnews/index.html zz http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com zz http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/ zz http://www.dogonews.com zz www.noaa.gov

60  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

main idea to be. Students can add their own opinions and thinking, if you want that. 6. Tell students they will be doing this same process you are now modeling, asking what is the main idea and what are the details that help them determine it. 7. Show students the “trick” of turning headings into questions to determine the author’s main idea (e.g., “Pooch Patrol”—turn it into “What is the Pooch Patrol?” Answering this question will help with identifying the main idea.) Show students how to annotate or to use sticky notes.

Can You Believe? Hurricanes by Sandra Markle In the Path of America’s Deadliest Storms: Hurricane Force by Joseph B. Treaster Violent Skies: Hurricanes by Chris Oxlade Any of the articles from the How Come books by Kathy Wollard are terrific

For more information on hurricanes: zz https://youtu.be/H9Vp wmtnOZc

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student the Main Idea template on page 63 and the excerpt “A Hurricane Arrives” on page 64.

zz Use

the reproducibles as a guided lesson, walking students through the process of turning headings into questions and then answering them, or students can work in small groups as you circulate, providing guidance as needed.

zz Have

students record their thinking directly on their copies, highlighting and annotating.

zz On

another day, have students use the template to hold their thinking about additional nonfiction articles to gain additional practice.

zz Use

“A Hurricane Arrives” as a template to collect articles to use with your students.

More Templates to Share With Students

Look for Signal Words When Determining Main Idea! Mostly about . . . Most likely . . . Sums up . . . There are several reasons for . . . A major development . . . Remember that . . . A key idea . . . The main focus . . . Above all . . . Finally . . . For example . . . In essence . . . What the author is saying . . .

Retrieved from the companion website for Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Lesson 9    Identify Main Idea and Details  61

Sample to Share With Students

Article Source: Tocco, N. (2016). Protecting penguins. Scholastic, SuperScience. Retrieved from https://superscience.scholastic.com/top_ news/2016/03/protecting-penguins

62  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

W R I TE - A B O U T- READ I N G TE M P LATE

G RA B & GO

Main Idea Name:

  Date:

Title: 

Topic  Main Idea

Details 1.

2.

3.

(Add more details if you need!)

Write about it:

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 9    Identify Main Idea and Details  63

G RA B & GO

E X C ER P TS T O W R I TE A B O U T

“A Hurricane Arrives” From Violent Skies: Hurricanes

by Chris Oxlade Name:

  Date:

� Directions: What do you think the author’s main idea is? zz Determine

the main idea of each section. Highlight words and phrases that support your

thinking. zz Jot

the main idea in the margins.

zz After

you have read the article, determine the overall main idea.

Howling Winds XXTurn this heading into a question to help you determine the main idea!

Question:  The eye of the hurricane is just a few miles away. The eye wall is right overhead. This is the most violent part of the storm. The wind is screaming. Some gusts are traveling at more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour. Rain is lashing down. Flashes of lightning streak across the dark sky. The wind creates havoc. Trees tumble to the ground with their roots ripped out. The falling trees crush cars and houses. Telephone poles fall. Traffic lights and lampposts sway wildly. Cars roll and trucks flip over. The street is a dangerous place to be. Roof tiles, sheets of metal and plastic, signs, garden furniture, and other debris fly around. They are like deadly missiles. Answer to your question:  

The Eye Passes XXTurn this heading into a question to help you determine the main idea!

Question:  Now the winds suddenly die down. The sky clears and the sun shines. The hurricane seems to have gone, but this should not fool you. The light winds and clear sky mean that the hurricane’s eye has arrived. There will only be a short rest from the howling wind. After only half an hour the wind starts again. The eye has passed by. Now the wind blows from the southwest.

(Continued) 64  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

G RA B & GO

(Continued) Small houses are ripped apart by the wind. Others lose their roofs. The winds tear through a town center. They pull windows from office blocks. Glass crashes into the streets below. Answer to your question: 

The Hurricane Ends XXTurn this heading into a question to help you determine the main idea!

Question:  It is twelve hours since the hurricane’s eye passed. The wind has died down. The sea is calm. There was more heavy rain, but now it has stopped. The sky is blue and the sun is shining. There is still seawater in the street. This poured inland during the storm surge. It is draining slowly back into the ocean. People who evacuated are returning home. They find devastation all around. The hurricane has completely destroyed some parts of the town. People who lived here have lost their homes. Their possessions have been ruined by seawater. The streets are full of mud and sand. Vehicles and boats lie in tangled piles. Answer to your question:  

Cleaning Up XXTurn this heading into a question to help you determine the main idea!

Question:  The hurricane caused all that damage in just a few hours, but it will take many months to clear up the mess. The emergency services begin to search for missing people. People without homes go to emergency shelters. The hurricane has damaged electricity supplies, telephone lines, and water pipes. These services are repaired as soon as possible. Debris is cleared from the streets. Builders begin repairing and rebuilding houses and other buildings. Hurricane damage is often worse in developing countries. People have very little even before a hurricane hits. They may have nothing at all afterward. Relief agencies often help to rescue people. They provide food and clean water. They repair communications and homes. Answer to your question:   (Continued) Lesson 9    Identify Main Idea and Details  65

G RA B & GO

(Continued) � Write about reading: zz What

is the main idea of this article? What are the supporting details? What do you take away after reading this?

zz Use

the Main Idea template to help you plan out your writing.

Note: The author provides a title and series of four headings that, like the path of a hurricane itself, are hard to miss. You can see just from skimming these headings that the information is going to be explained in a chronological order. Notice that it’s told in present tense, second person voice. The effect the author might intend is to make a reader feel he or she is outside, experiencing the high winds and other forces of the storm. Notice, too, the sensory details. Wind screams, rain lashes down, lightening streaks. Skim through all the paragraphs and you will see the author continues this multisensory style. The last two paragraphs of this excerpt bring into high relief that hurricanes devastate areas where people live. High winds and flooding damage and ruin homes and hinder communities’ supplies of electricity and water. Oxlade balances details about the scientific aspects of a hurricane with its effect on people, without sensationalizing the devastation.

66  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

LESSON

Understand Topics and Subtopics Best the Test While not all nonfiction text is written with topic sentences, test questions often ask students to identify topic sentences in excerpts when topic sentences are evident. Providing students with practice identifying topic sentences and writing them is beneficial. zz Topic sentences can come at the beginning of pieces, or they may be

embedded in the middle (which takes more observation for students) or at the end. zz Branch out from shorter, simple texts to longer, more sophisticated ones in

which students must dig in and search for the topic sentence. zz Let’s be real—not all nonfiction is organized around topic sentences!

10

Topic Sentence: A topic sentence is often the first sentence of a paragraph, and it explicitly states the main focus or idea of the paragraph (e.g., Great White sharks are not the predators they are made out to be). Sometimes in expository pieces a writer will position this kind of sentence as a summarizing final sentence of a paragraph, instead. These sentences bring cohesion to a paragraph and the piece as a whole and help a reader accumulate understanding, section by section.

So expecting students to find a topic sentence in every paragraph is unrealistic.

Lesson Prep zz Make photocopies for each student of the Topic Sentences template on

page 71 and “White Death” on page 72. zz Choose

a book or article with obvious topic sentences (Kristin Joy Pratt’s A Walk in the Rainforest is a wonderful source—it is an ABC book, so you don’t have to read it in its entirety to teach the concept. In addition, it is rich with alliteration, e.g., “a slow sloth suspended in a tree”).

zz Textbooks

can also be used to teach this skill.

zz If using A Walk in the Rainforest, choose a few specific letters on which

to focus. I suggest emerald tree boa (He is ideally suited for his forest environment.), jaguar (It is at the top of the food web in American rainforests; it can kill and eat anything it finds, but nothing eats it.), and leaf-cutter ants (Leaf-cutter ants are fantastic fungus farmers.).

67

distribute it to students to work on with partners or independently.

Introduce It 1. Create an anchor chart with the questions or prompts that help readers determine the main idea and details. 2. Read one of the letters from A Walk in the Rainforest and model/think aloud how you determine the topic sentence and how that contains the main idea. Highlight the topic sentence with one colored marker and the important supporting details with another color. 3. Choose another animal and work through determining the topic sentence with students. 4. Be explicit about how topic sentences help determine the main idea. 5. Continue to practice, continually turning over res­ ponsibility to the students. If projecting the book on the whiteboard, have students highlight topic sentences and important details. Another option is to type one of the “letters” or animals/plants and

All of the websites with free resources are terrific for this skill.

6. Demonstrate how to use sticky notes to hold thinking if students are unable to annotate. 7. To move toward independence, type up a few of the “letters” and copy them for students to annotate and write on directly (see page 70 for an example). 8. Write about reading: Co-construct a short res­ ponse stating the topic sentence and how students determined this. Once students understand how a topic sentence helps determine/state the main idea, they can write their own topic sentences in their independent writing. Provide opportunities and practice with writing topic sentences and—­ depending on the sophistication of your students— placing them in different sections of a paragraph. 9. Tell students they will be doing this same process, answering the questions: What is the topic sentence? How do I know? and How does that help me determine the main idea?

A Walk in the Rainforest by Kristin Joy Pratt

zz http://teacher.scholastic.com/ activities/scholasticnews/index.html

Avalanche! The Deadly Slide by Jane Duden

zz http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com

Kids Discover magazines are also excellent resources.

zz http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/ zz http://www.dogonews.com zz www.noaa.gov More on rainforests: zz http://environment.nationalgeographic .com/environment/habitats/ rainforest-profile/ zz http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/kids

68  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

More on rainforests: zz https://youtu.be/J8LIEaeywSQ

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

copies to each student of the Topic Sentences template on page 71 and the excerpt “White Death” on page 72.

zz Have

students highlight topic sentences in one color highlighter and important details in another.

zz Students

continue through the piece and then write a response explaining how topic sentences help the reader determine the main idea.

zz On another day, students use the template to record

topics and subtopics. zz Finally,

students write about the main idea using their template to support them.

zz Students

“add up” all the topic sentences under the subtopic to determine the main idea of the ­section and write it down.

More Templates to Share With Students

On the Lookout for Key Details: What Are Some Things to Look for? Word choice—especially repetition Facts/statistics Anecdotes Examples Comparisons Cause and effect

Retrieved from the companion website for Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Lesson 10    Understand Topics and Subtopics  69

Sample to Share With Students

70  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

W R I TE - A B O U T- READ I N G TE M P LATE

G RA B & GO

Topic Sentences Name:

  Date:

Title: Directions: zz Look

for topic sentences to help you determine important information and details to support the main idea.

zz Fill

in the chart with subtopics and details that support the main idea.

zz On

the back, write a short response stating the main idea and at least three (3) important details that support it.

Subtopic/Details

Subtopic/Details

Subtopic/Details

Subtopic/Details

Subtopic/Details

TOPIC

Subtopic/Details

Subtopic/Details

Subtopic/Details

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 10    Understand Topics and Subtopics  71

G RA B & GO

E X C ER P TS T O W R I TE A B O U T

“White Death” From Avalanche! The Deadly Slide

by Jane Duden � Directions: zz Highlight

the topic sentence with one color marker

zz Highlight

important details in another color

Chapter 2: White Death An avalanche is a mass of snow moving down a slope. It’s also called a snowslide. Ice, dirt, rocks, trees, or other junk may be in the snow. When it all comes to a rest, it’s called avalanche debris.

Why Worry About Avalanches? No one expects tragedy when out for sport or fun. But unstable snow is a huge danger. The power of snow can snuff out life. An avalanche can come with no warning. Riding snow in the mountains means risking your life. An avalanche can race at 200 miles an hour or more. It can crash with 50 tons of force per square yard. Not all avalanches are large. Not all are fast-moving. But whatever the speed, it’s too fast for anyone in the way. Avalanches are White Death. Avalanches are natural. The world has perhaps a million avalanches per year. Avalanches can happen on any steep, snow-covered slope. The steeper the slope, the faster the slide. Most avalanches are not a problem. Not unless people or their property are in the way. Mountains, snow, and people can add up to fun. Sadly, they are also ingredients for an avalanche. Even small avalanches are deadly. They can smash buildings and snap trees. They can bury and kill people too. Children have been caught in snowslides while sledding. It happened to three boys in Montana in 1985. They were ages seven to nine. One boy was killed. Even young children can learn what makes an avalanche. And everyone can stay away from steep slopes right after a storm. XXHow do the topic sentences help you determine the main idea of this section? Add up the

topic sentences to see whether you can determine the main idea of this section.

When People Get Caught Most avalanche deaths happen while people are out for sports or fun. People are skiing. Snowmobiling. Ice climbing. Snowshoeing. Or snowboarding. (Continued)

72  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

Sometimes, people are killed in avalanches while working. Some victims are miners, like Jack Ritter. Some are construction workers. Or power company workers. Some are driving in cars or trucks. Some are volunteer rescuers. Ski patrollers have died in avalanches while at work. So have snowplow drivers and photographers. Most avalanche victims are in their 20s. In the past five years, snowmobilers led the list of victims. Now snowboarding is getting more popular. That means more snowboarders may die in avalanches. Winter recreation is booming. Avalanche deaths in the U.S. are going up. More people use the backcountry for sports. Snow machines carry people faster and higher. Skiers, snowboarders, and climbers get more skillful. Sometimes they push the limits. In the United States, most avalanche accidents happen in Colorado. The reason is its climate. This state as a thinner snow cover and colder temperatures than other mountain states. The two are a deadly combination for a weak, dangerous snowpack. But more people are moving into the mountains. So accidents in the other mountain states are catching up. When are avalanches most likely? During snowstorms and during thaws. In Colorado, about 2,000 avalanches are reported in a normal winter. More than 80 percent occur during or just after large snowstorms. February has the most avalanches. Then March, then January. Most avalanches caused by thaw are in April. XXHow do the topic sentences help you determine the main idea of this section? Add up the topic

sentences to see whether you can determine the main idea. XXWrite about reading: How did the topic sentences help you determine the main idea of the

piece? Note: Jane Duden does a couple of things in this piece about avalanches. For one, she explains what an avalanche is and shares other facts about them. Second, she describes the danger they pose to humans and shares facts pertaining to where and when they occur and who tends to fall victim to them. This is a good piece for thinking about cause and effect because Duden is often explicit. For example, the statement “Most avalanche accidents happen in Colorado” is immediately followed by “The reason is its climate,” and then she goes on to explain “the weak snowpack and the increasing population.” As readers, this gives us the chance to do some reasoning with the data and combine it with details from other paragraphs to recognize that yes, avalanches of snow cause “white death,” but human behavior is involved as well.

Lesson 10    Understand Topics and Subtopics  73

G RA B & GO

(Continued)

LESSON

11

Determine Central Ideas: Details

Analyze Development: The careful and close examination of the parts or elements from which something is made and how those parts affect or function within the whole to create meaning. Readers look at idea and argument development. Reading Stamina: A reader’s ability to comprehend and engage with a text over an extended period of time. Inextricably linked with motivation, stamina is needed to analyze various elements over the course of a text.

Prompts for Noticing Central Ideas zz What key ideas and themes does the author introduce and develop? zz What specific details does the author use to convey this idea? zz How does the author use supporting ideas to develop the main idea

or theme? zz What details and facts must an objective summary of the text

include? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Students in sixth grade are expected to shift from determining the main idea to determining the central idea and analyzing how it is developed in a longer text. Standardized tests reflect this sophistication, and students read longer excerpts and are required to write more in-depth summaries analyzing pieces. Teach students to zz Hold thinking over entire books to glean the central idea and important

details, which is important for learning new content and for researching. zz Discover their own tools for holding their thinking, whether it’s a physical

tool like a reading notebook, a particular template, or a mental technique like pausing at the end of a section to recap before reading on.

74

anchor chart, or if using an article under a document camera, highlight and annotate.

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out prompts.

zz Choose

a book or article that focuses on one topic but introduces different elements over the course of the text. In this lesson, I use The Great Monkey Rescue: Saving the Golden Lion Tamarins by Sandra Markle, as it can be read and discussed in two class periods, it is highly engaging, and the chapters focus on different aspects of the golden lion tamarin, but all add up to the main idea. (This book is also a fantastic resource for how photographs add to meaning—see Section 5.)

zz Familiarize

yourself with the text.

zz I hold my thinking on large sticky notes that I affix to

an anchor chart before I teach. For example, I write the important details from the first chapter ahead of time to model with students (e.g., “Trapped!” descriptive/narrative writing—setting the scene of a young female golden lion tamarin. Listening for shrill tweets that can be heard over a mile. Mating calls. Tamarins live in family groups. Outsiders aren’t welcome and are chased away, as they don’t want breeding females. Sleep in tree holes for protection from weasel-like tayras. Only 12 square miles of habitat and no territory for new families. This section shows how hard it is for survival.)

Introduce It 1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart. 2. Read from The Great Monkey Rescue (or another book or article that is lengthy enough to analyze the central idea). 3. Think aloud as you read the chapter or subtopics and record how the information is presented and key details. Record on sticky notes or directly on an

4. Place sticky notes on the anchor chart after you finish a section or chapter of the book (see page 78). This establishes a chronology that will help you analyze the development of the text. 5. Continue reading and recording. Because this is a longer text, gradually release responsibility to the students—have them help determine what to add to the sticky notes (e.g., “Almost Gone Forever”—no longer in a narrative form. Factual. Maps. Live in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Rain forest. Once stretched all along country’s coastline. Forest cleared, only a fraction remains. Trees cut for Europe. Plantations— sugarcane, coffee, crops. Then for cattle pasture. Roads, cities, towns. Only 10% remains.) 6. When you finish the book, ask, What was the central idea? Record this on the chart. Model how you revisit the sticky notes to determine this. Also star or mark the sticky notes that helped you the most with determining this. 7. Then ask, How did the author develop the central idea? In this case, the author used narrative nonfiction to draw the reader in at the beginning and to circle back and wrap up the text at the end. She provided specific facts about the golden lion tamarins (what makes their habitat special, family) and then chronologically explained how scientists and citizens saved them and their habitat. Record this on the anchor chart. 8. Write about reading: Co-construct an objective summary explaining the central idea and the key supporting details and ideas. 9. Tell students that they will be doing this same process you are now modeling, answering the questions, What was the central idea and what were the key details that supported it? and How was the central idea developed over the course of the text?

Lesson 11    Determine Central Ideas: Details   75

For more articles on endangered species: zz http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ news/2013/12/131216-conservationenvironment-animals-scienceendangered-species zz http://www.scholastic.com/browse/ article.jsp?id=3749571 zz http://www.scholastic.com/browse/ article.jsp?id=3749635 zz http://www.scholastic.com/browse/ article.jsp?id=3746724 For more on lion tamarins and African elephants: zz http://www.zooatlanta.org/golden_ lion_tamarin#oQL37 zz www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/ africanelephants/item399.html

76  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

The Great Monkey Rescue: Saving the Golden Lion Tamarins by Sandra Markle The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O’Connell and Donna M. Jackson is another wonderful resource that uses headings to develop ideas.

For video on the golden lion tamarin: zz http://www.arkive.org/ golden-lion-tamarin/ leontopithecus-rosalia/ videos.html

zz After

completing the reading, students review their headings and write down the central idea of the piece.

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student the Think About the Central Idea template on page 79 and the “How Does a Chameleon Change Its Color?” excerpt on page 81.

zz Finally, students write about reading by writing an

objective summary. zz On

another day, or for additional practice at holding thinking across a longer text, have students use the template to discern the central idea by recording important details at the beginning of the text and later in the text and describing how the new information added to their understanding or changed their thinking.

zz Use

the reproducibles as a guided practice lesson, or have students work in groups, with partners, or independently.

zz Students

read and highlight important details, then use these details to create headings for each section.

More Templates to Share With Students W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

GRAB & GO

Writing a Paragraph About Main Idea and Key Details Name:

Date:

Title:

The main idea is

A detail that helped me determine the main idea is

This helps me because

A second key detail is

This is important because

Another important point is

This supports the main idea because

Want to write more? Use “additionally” or “finally” before your detail and then follow with This helps establish

Retrieved from the companion website for Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Lesson 11    Determine Central Ideas: Details   77

78  

Sample to Share With Students

W R I TE - A B O U T- READ I N G TE M P LATE

G RA B & GO

Think About the Central Idea Name:

  Date:

Title: 

In a Nutshell: Early on the author says  about  Then suggests   And finally at the end says  

Going Into Depth: What big idea/central idea was presented at the beginning of the text?

What are the details that the author uses?

(Continued) Lesson 11    Determine Central Ideas: Details   79

G RA B & GO

(Continued) What NEW information was presented LATER?

How did the NEW information help you understand the main idea?

What is the central idea that you should take away when you finish the book?

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

80  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

G RA B & GO

E X C ER P T T O W R I TE A B O U T

“How Does a Chameleon Change Its Color?” From How Come? Planet Earth

by Kathy Wollard XXSample Heading: How Does a Chameleon Change Its Color?

Imagine your mother is calling you to come in for lunch on a cool fall afternoon. You are playing in a pile of leaves—red, gold, green, and brown scraps of color, crackling and shifting. You don’t want to stop. As your annoyed mother comes into the backyard to look for you, you relax and sink into the leaves. You idly watch as the skin on your hands and arms quickly begins to change color, from its normal flesh tone to mottled, red, gold, green, and brown. As you lie quietly, perfectly matching the leaves, your mother passes nearby, muttering to herself. “When I find him . . .” Your now-orange lips suppress a smile. Fooled her again. XXNow read the next section and highlight important details that help you determine the main

idea. Once you’ve decided on a main idea, write a heading for this section. XXHeading 

Being a chameleon for a day sounds like fun. But what’s a chameleon’s life like? You’re probably familiar with the pet shop chameleon, small and green. But chameleons come in 84 more varieties. Many live on Madagascar, a huge island off the east coast of Africa. Others skitter around the African mainland, India and Pakistan, and the south of Spain. Some kinds are less than an inch long; others measure 2 feet or more. Their long, darting tongues make it easy to catch insects, as well as spiders and scorpions. Some of the bigger chameleons even eat birds and small mammals. XXAs you read the remainder of the article, pay close attention to each section. Highlight

important details, determine the main idea, and then create a heading that reflects the main idea. XXHeading 

Each chameleon comes equipped with special skin cells called chromatophores, which contain an array of pigments that allow chameleons to change their body colors—totally or in part. The chameleon’s body secretes hormones that trigger the chromatophores to redistribute pigment. This means that a chameleon has the extraordinary ability to blend in perfectly with it surrounding—to take on the exact green shade of a sheltering leaf, or to fade to brown against a bare tree trunk. A scuttling scorpion might not notice its enemy until it’s too late to escape. Likewise, a branch-leaping lemur might continue on its way, unaware that a chameleon dinner is within easy reach. (Continued) Lesson 11    Determine Central Ideas: Details   81

G RA B & GO

(Continued) XXHeading 

Ever see a mood ring? Popular in the late 1960s, mood rings changed color with body heat, supposedly reflecting the wearer’s emotions. Well, chameleons are nature’s mood rings—or, rather, mood lizards. Madagascar’s panther chameleons shift from an ordinary green to an array of neon colors before they do battle, like British redcoats in the American Revolutionary War. The angrier these male chameleons are, the brighter their colors—an intimidating display to a potential rival. (When some chameleons feel threatened, their skin actually develops a menacing-looking arrowhead pattern.) At mating time, chameleons change color to attract or repel potential suitors. An ordinary brownish female may turn bright orange, signaling she is available to mate. After hooking up with the male of her choice, she turns Halloween colors—black with orange splotches. This tells other interested males that this lovely chameleon is, unfortunately, taken. Changing temperatures can cause a color change, too. Chameleons can use color to regulate their body temperature. By turning a darker color, they will absorb more heat and warm up. A shift to a lighter color will reflect more heat, helping the chameleon cool down. (We use the same principle when we wear white rather than black T-shirts in the hot summer sun.) XXHeading 

If you were a human chameleon, you would probably soon grow tired of displaying your every emotion in living color. It’s bad enough to blush in the presence in the presence of someone you have a crush on; imagine turning bright orange all over, like an international distress signal. Given the choice, most people would probably leave the color-shifting to the lizards. XXLook at the headings you wrote. How do these add up to one central idea for the text? What

is the central idea?       XXWrite about reading: On another piece of paper, write an objective summary stating the

central idea and the key details that support it. Note: Kathy Wollard conveys an impressive amount of information about chameleons; notice that she does several things to engage readers to make her piece more than just a collection of facts. What do you notice? In the first paragraph, she teaches us about camouflage by having us imagine we had that same capability. Notice in the last paragraph above, the author again makes us consider whether or not we would want to change colors with every emotion. How does that technique add to your understanding of lizards? Or does it just make the piece more engaging to read?

82  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

LESSON

Determine Multiple Ideas in a Text Prompts FOR HELPING Readers Notice Multiple Main Ideas zz Why did the author write this piece? What does he or she want me

to understand? zz What are the main ideas of this text? What ideas run from the

beginning to the end of the text? zz What key idea does the author develop throughout the text? zz What specific details help me determine this? zz (Seventh grade) What central ideas does the author introduce and

develop throughout? zz (Seventh grade) How does the author develop these big ideas

throughout the text? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test As students read longer books, there are usually multiple main ideas. When they read textbooks, even within chapters there are multiple main ideas, so this is a skill that is both authentic for reading to learn and for reading across content areas.

12

Author’s Purpose: Often the central idea or message in a nonfiction text expresses an author’s purpose—the passion behind why the writer has taken the time to write the piece. An author may want to save an endangered species; describe an event in history to persuade readers to a particular point of view; debunk current misconceptions about a topic; use facts to describe something; and so on. Multiple Ideas: Exemplary nonfiction writers make complex subjects understandable for a wide readership. Complex subjects are inherently made up of many, sometimes competing, forces or ideas. For example, a book on new disease epidemics might address deforestation and other changes in human and animal habitats— political, economic, and cultural realities that shape how an outbreak occurs.

zz In testing situations, students identify multiple main ideas and the details

that support them. This requires a strong understanding of exactly what a main idea is, or in Grades 6 and up, how to determine the central idea of a text.

83

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out prompts.

zz Choose

a book or article with multiple main ideas. This could include using a textbook. Here I use Will We Miss Them? Endangered Species by Alexandra Wright, as it can be read and discussed in one period.

zz The

main ideas of this book are why endangered species are unique/important (Will we miss them?) and why they are endangered. In addition, students could decide that each animal in the text stands alone as a main idea; however, a central idea generally runs through the entire text—beginning to end.

Introduce It 1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart. 2. Explain that main ideas are introduced in the beginning and go to the end of the text. In many books there are multiple ideas, and our purpose today is to determine two main ideas in the text and the important details that support them. 3. Create a two-column anchor chart with the headings Main Idea #1 and Main Idea #2. 4. Read the introduction and discuss how this helps set up the main ideas (e.g., Main Idea #1: “This book is about some amazing animals that are disappearing

For additional articles and resources: zz http://beyondweather.ehe.osu.edu zz http://beyondpenguins.ehe .osu.edu

from the Earth. . . . Will we miss them? The first step is to learn who they are.” Main Idea #2: “Some are becoming scarce because hunters kill them for their horns, tusks, skins, or fur. Others are vanishing because they cannot compete with people for space, water, or food. . . . Can we help save them?”) Record the two main ideas in each column and tell students that you will be recording details that ­support these topics. 5. Read and discuss each animal, recording only salient details that support the main ideas (don’t get lost in the weeds about specific details on each animal). 6. Discuss as you read whether these two main ideas are continued through the text. 7. When you get to the conclusion, record the important details that support the initial main ideas. You can also point out that the introduction and conclusion are examples of persuasion/opinion and how the author’s point of view influences the development of the main ideas. 8. Write about reading: Co-construct an objective summary stating both main ideas, the supporting details, and how they were developed over the course of the text. 9. Tell students they will be doing this same process you are modeling, answering the question, What are the main ideas of this text and how are they developed?

Will We Miss Them? Endangered Species by Alexandra Wright Can We Save Them? Endangered Species of North America by David Dobson Tornado! The Story Behind These Twisting, Turning, Spinning and Spiraling Storms by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin

84  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

The Dust Bowl: zz https://youtu.be/ MYOmjQO_UMw

for us today because the Dust Bowl was caused less by natural forces than by people’s abuse of the land.” Make sure students notice this; however, they need to highlight and think about the details that support this.

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student copies of the template State the Central Idea on page 87 and Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl on page 88.

zz Students highlight, annotate, and answer the ques-

zz Have

students work in groups, pairs, or independently with these pages.

tions on the reproducible. zz Another

zz If

time permits, I encourage you to read the entire book Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl, or use it as a resource for students who want to learn more. The conclusion of this book addresses deforestation, which connects to The Great Monkey Rescue in Lesson 11.

option is to provide a template to hold

thinking. zz After

reading and responding to the excerpts, students write a summary stating the two main ideas and how the author presents and develops them. This is an excellent example of author’s point of view and persuasive/opinion writing.

zz The

author literally states the two main ideas at the end of the conclusion—“It is really two stories. The first story focuses on ecology—the natural world of the Great Plains. The second story is about how people invited disaster by changing the ecology of the Great Plains; ‘assaulting’ might be a better word. Both stories hold important lessons

zz Add

this sample to your repertoire of texts with strong introductions and conclusions that help ­students determine multiple main ideas.

zz Use the template with students to hold their think-

ing as they practice this skill with many other texts.

More Templates to Share With Students W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

GRAB & GO

Multiple Main Ideas Name:

Date:

Title:

Main Idea

Main Idea

+ Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Put it together and write!

Retrieved from the companion website for Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Lesson 12    Determine Multiple Ideas in a Text  85

Sample to Share With Students

86  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

W R I TE - A B O U T- READ I N G TE M P LATE

G RA B & GO

State the Central Idea Name:

  Date:

Title: 

Main Idea #1

Details

Main Idea #2

Details

Put it together:

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 12    Determine Multiple Ideas in a Text  87

G RA B & GO

E X C ER P TS T O W R I TE A B O U T

Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin XXLook at the title. What do you think the major topic of this book is? XXHere is the introduction to the book. Does it help explain things more for a reader who

doesn’t have knowledge of this period in American history? In April 1935, Reporter Robert Geiger set out by car across the Great Plains. As he headed east, heat waves made the air shimmer, causing him to squint. Temperatures rose to over one hundred degrees in the shade. There was nothing green visible in the fields; obviously, no rain had fallen for many weeks. Then, while driving across Oklahoma, Geiger encountered a “black blizzard,” an immense dust storm. He had never imagined, let alone experienced, anything like it before. It was as if nature had gone insane. At noon, darkness enveloped the earth. It seemed like an evil spirit had splashed an immense bucket of black paint across the sky. Within minutes, from horizon to horizon, the sun disappeared and noontime became “midnight.” But such a midnight! There was no moon, no stars, no meteorites flashing across the heavens. Instead, billowing clouds of dust, some rising more than two miles into the air, whipped across the plains. Driven by howling winds, the clouds easily overtook speeding cars. As the dust fell back to earth, it drifted like dirty crunchy snow, choking roads and bringing trains to a grinding halt. Worse, the dust buried crops and livestock, destroying farmers’ homes and livelihoods. The storm left Geiger shaken. Afterward, he interviewed some farmers. These oldtimers, bony fellows with calloused hands and deep crease lines in their thin faces, seemed desperate. This was not the first dust storm they had experienced, nor, they reckoned, would it be the last. “Three little words,” Geiger concluded, “achingly familiar on a Western farmer’s tongue, rule life in the dust bowl of the continent—if it rains.” Dust bowl! Geiger used the phrase as a way to make fun of gala sports events, like the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl, two well-known football games. Geiger’s phrase, however, took on a new meaning. It stuck, instantly grabbing the public’s imagination. During the 1930’s, as today, “Dust Bowl” became a dramatic term for the parts of the Great Plains stricken by the worst environmental disaster in American history. Coming at the same time as the Great Depression, the dust storms not only ravaged the land, they tore at the human spirit. . . . Could it be that our nation’s best years were over? Could our future ever be as bright as our past?. . . . Now we know that the dream is not finished. It continues, as vivid as ever. The Great Depression eased, and time proved that America would become stronger and richer than any nation in the history of the world. After nearly a decade, the rains returned to the Great Plains. The dust storms ended. The land blossomed again and the nation’s spirits revived. The Dust Bowl became a bad memory. (Continued) 88  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

G RA B & GO

(Continued) This book aims to tell the story of the Dust Bowl disaster. It is really two stories. The first story focuses on ecology—the natural world of the Great Plains. The second story is about how people invited disaster by changing the ecology of the Great Plains; “assaulting” might be a better word. Both stories hold important lessons for us today because the Dust Bowl was caused less by natural forces than by people’s abuse of the land. The Dust Bowl story is not finished, nor can it ever be. If we do not learn from past mistakes, the future is as certain as tomorrow’s sunrise. We must change our ways or there will be more dust bowls. The storms of the future may very well be even worse than the ones that ravaged the Great Plains in the 1930s. XXWhat are the two main ideas that the author seems to want to get across? Highlight the

sentences and details that support this. What themes or central ideas would you watch for as you read the book?

XXNow read excerpts from the conclusion and notice whether these two main ideas are still

present. What does the author want you to take away after reading this book? On a bright, cool day in 1941, a group of Kansas wheat farmers gathered on the steps of their town courthouse. The drought was over and prosperity had returned to the Great Plains, so most were hopeful about the future. “People are thinking differently about taking care of the land,” one said, smiling. The other nodded in agreement—all, that is, except one. “Don’t fool yourself,” he growled. “You can’t convince me we’ve learned our lesson. It’s just not in our blood to play a safe game.” Time would prove this doubter right. . . . The good times could not last forever; they never do, particularly on the Great Plains. In 1952, farmers saw a replay of the dirty thirties. The called it the “filthy fifties.” Drought and record heat waves returned, and with them dust storms. In 1945, just one major dust storm rolled across the plains; in 1952, there were ten. For the next five years, until the rains returned, crops wilted, cattle starved, highways became impassable, and people died of dust pneumonia. Had the drought continued longer, another full-scale Dust Bowl might have occurred. Drought returned in 1974, and again dust storms raged. Luckily, this drought lasted “only” three years. In a drought that lasted from 1998 to 2002, rainfall was 30 percent less than what fell during the thirties. Yet the dust storms did not compare to those of the past. One reason is that many farmers have accepted government payments to take land out of production, allowing it to return to grass. The lesson is clear: serious droughts are inevitable. We should expect them and plan for them. If not, we will see more Dust Bowls. History is more than a record of politics, wars, and economic changes. It is also an encyclopedia of human folly and lesson for the future. Seen in this light, the Dust Bowl has serious implications not only for Americans, but for all people. As world population grows in the twenty-first century, humanity will place greater demands on nature. However, nature operates according to its own laws, which have nothing to do with our needs and desires. Whether we like it or not, we are bound by nature’s laws. If the Dust Bowl experience teaches anything, it is that the natural world is not merely a “resource” humans can exploit for profit, without thought for the consequences. (Continued) Lesson 12    Determine Multiple Ideas in a Text  89

G RA B & GO

(Continued) XXWhat new information do you get about the main ideas from reading the conclusion? XXWrite a summary of this text stating the topic, the two main ideas, and how the author

presents and develops these ideas in the introduction and the conclusion. Note: Albert Marrin is an expert nonfiction writer. He introduces an ecological/science account by making us feel what it would be like to experience a “black blizzard”—a dust storm. Even if you don’t know where the Great Plains are, or that the event occurred in the early 1930s, Marrin’s descriptions make it fresh and vivid. Notice the second paragraph, in particular. He tells us that noon seemed like midnight; it seemed like an evil spirit had come upon the land. We learn the force of the dust-blowing winds with his detail about clouds overtaking speeding cars. What other details make you feel the peril of being amidst that storm? What else do you learn about the cause and effect of these dust storms? Compare and contrast this paragraph to a Wikipedia entry on the Dust Bowl. Taken together, these excerpts show the way Marrin captures the interconnectedness of humankind and the natural world. He also doesn’t hide that he has a lesson he wants us to learn from the hardship of the Dust Bowl. Here is just one of several sentences where his point of view is explicit: “Whether we like it or not, we are bound by nature’s laws. If the Dust Bowl experience teaches us anything, it is that the natural world is not merely a ‘resource’ humans can exploit for profit, without thought for the consequences.”

90  Section 3    Main Idea/Central Idea

Section 4 Point of View Dark chocolate is good for you! Capacity for happiness is genetically inherited! Rising sea levels occurring at a faster rate than previously thought! The good news/bad news of living in the Information Age is that yes, vast knowledge, opinions, studies, and data surround us—but it can be a challenge for the reader to evaluate the quality of the source. Thus, teaching our students to be critical consumers of information is imperative. In the lessons in this section, your students learn to question and wonder as they read, asking themselves, Who is sharing the information, and why? Is the author reliable? Is there a specific purpose for the writing? As Beers and Probst (2016) write, Nonfiction . . . should come with a cautionary note that reminds us that getting lost in the text might be dangerous. The reader needs to remember that a work of nonfiction will try to assert something about his world, and he needs to take those assertions with a grain of skepticism. (p. 76) Your students will also learn to consider their own points of view in relation to the author’s and in relation to what other texts seem to say. They do this work in a few ways:

looking at key words to help discern the author’s slant and noticing how the author has set up the text, to name just a couple of the reading strategies involved. For example, is the author using a compare and contrast structure to show why one viewpoint is superior to another? Working with peers, your students will explore the difference between firsthand and secondhand sources. I encourage you to introduce this work early in the school year and deepen it throughout the year, in language arts and in the content areas. When students have an understanding of primary sources versus secondary sources at the early grades (third and fourth), they are much, much more able to read and write critically about author purpose and point of view. In testing situations, students are asked to determine purpose and point of view and what specifics in the text led them to that answer. In addition, they are required to compare and contrast across a text or across a variety of texts, so the more texts you bring into the classroom on the same topic the better. To get at point of view, I find this question is one my students can readily wrap their minds around: “How do you think the author feels about this topic?” Keep it simple, then go from there!

Watch Leslie Teach! Video 4: Watch Leslie use the Excerpts to Write About activity to teach point of view. Go to http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction to see the lessons and guided practice in action.

91

LESSON

13

What Is the Author’s Purpose?

Point of View: The place, vantage point, or consciousness from which someone describes a situation, tells a story, or makes an argument. Conflicting Evidence or Viewpoints: Evidence is “conflicting” when it contradicts what the writer has offered as his or her claim; thus, the writer must address and resolve that conflict or opposing viewpoint on the way to advancing and clarifying his or her own.

Prompts for Noticing Point of View zz What is the topic/subject? What is the author’s attitude toward it? zz What is the author’s point of view or purpose regarding this subject? zz How does the author weave in his or her angle or point of view

about the topic? zz Is there a different or opposing point of view that the author doesn’t

include? zz What techniques or devices does the author use to develop the

point of view or achieve this purpose? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Standardized tests questions often ask students to identify the author’s purpose and point of view—and explain how they determined it. Teach your students to do the following: zz Cite evidence and articulate why you selected it to support your thinking. zz Think about what the author assumes they already know and what the

author wants to explain or teach. zz Become accustomed to spotting the vocabulary in a text that most exposes

an author’s point of view.

Lesson Prep zz Download zz Choose

and print out the prompts.

a book wherein the author’s point of view and the purpose of the book is easily discerned (e.g., Hester Bass’s Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama), preferably one that requires students to infer, but which has specific text that leads

92

to inferences (e.g., Bass uses “seeds of freedom” throughout to show point of view—that it’s time for equal rights to grow. Notice the verbs she uses with the lines “Time to sow seeds of freedom.” “The seeds of freedom are planted in Huntsville.” “Are the seeds of freedom wilting?”). In addition, she starts sentences with “But” and “So” and uses compare and contrast. zz Familiarize

yourself with the text and place sticky notes on the pages with the phrase “seeds of freedom.”

Introduce It  1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart.  2. Create an anchor chart with the heading “What Is the Author’s Point of View?” and then underneath, “Techniques/Devices That the Author Uses.”  3. Introduce the text. Tell students that together, you are going to be noticing how the author advances his or her point of view. They are going to learn to zero in on vocabulary, repetition, and phrases/sentences.

 6. Read aloud Seeds of Freedom (or some other book with evident POV).  7. Think aloud as you read the pages you’ve flagged, being sure to address the prompts for point of view on the anchor chart and the specific purpose of the lesson.  8. If your students are ready for gradual release, midway through the book, ask them to determine when the author is showing point of view and why (they should pick up on the repetition of “seeds of freedom”).  9. When you finish the book, ask, “What was the author’s point of view?” Record it on the anchor chart. Then ask, “What specifically did the author do to show this?” Record it on anchor chart. Possible answers are repetition of “seeds of freedom,” use of verbs, use of “But” and “So” to start sentences, and portrayal of blacks and events. 10. If time permits, read the Author’s Note at the end and discuss whether it confirms student thinking recorded on the chart.

 4. Introduce the title and the text: What might the author assume we know?

11. Write about reading: Co-construct a short res­ ponse on the anchor chart stating the author’s purpose, point of view, and how you determined this, using evidence from the text.

 5. Read aloud the first page and ask whether it gives them any more information.

12. Tell students they will be following this same process with their own reading and responses.

Companion for When Marian Sang: zz http://www.biography.com/ people/marian-anderson9184422 A great website that demonstrates that students can’t believe everything they read on the Internet: zz http://allaboutexplorers.com/ about

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford (companion to Seeds of Freedom) Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Movie trailer for The Butler To see Marian sing: zz https://youtu.be/ mAONYTMf2pk

Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama by Hester Bass A Taste of Colored Water by Matt Faulkner (literature–companion book) Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan Birmingham Sunday by Larry Brimner Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey

Lesson 13    What Is the Author’s Purpose?  93

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

the Author’s Point of View template on page 95 and the Foreword by Jane Goodall excerpt on page 96 to each student.

zz Have

students work alone or with partners to read, annotate, and write.

zz On

another day: If you have additional picture books or texts on the same topic, have students read and annotate them, using the process you just modeled.

Sample to Share With Students

94  Section 4    Point of View

zz Students

can record their thinking on sticky notes or the Author’s Point of View template.

zz For

ongoing writing about point of view, ask students to respond to these questions, making sure to include information and details from the text: {{

What was the author’s purpose and point of view and how did you determine them?

{{

What techniques did the author use to develop his or her point of view?

W R I TE - A B OUT- REA D I N G TE M P L ATE

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Author’s Point of View Name:

  Date:

Title: _________________________________________________ Author: 

What is the author teaching or explaining?

What is the point of view (POV)?

How does the author show that?

Techniques

How that shows POV

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 13    What Is the Author’s Purpose?  95

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E X C ER P T TO W R I TE A B OUT

Foreword by Jane Goodall From Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall

by Anita Silvey � Directions: zz Read

through the foreword written by Jane Goodall to determine her purpose and her point of view. Think about what she wants the reader to do.

zz Read

a second time and highlight words or phrases that help you determine purpose and point of view.

zz Annotate

how those words support your thinking.

As you will learn in this book, I have loved animals all my life. When I was a child, growing up in England, I had various pets, ranging from dogs and cats to guinea pigs and hamsters. But what was most special was being out in nature, watching birds and insects, learning about how they lived their lives. Because of my passion for learning about animals, I saved up money to buy a ticket to Africa—and was offered the chance to live with and learn about not just any animal but the one most like us, the chimpanzee. Chimpanzees are more like humans than any other living animal. They have personalities—each one is as different from every other as we are from one another. They have minds that can solve simple problems. They have emotions like happiness and sadness, anger and frustration, and grief. More than 50 years ago, scientists told us that only humans had personalities, thinking

minds, and emotions. When I began writing that chimpanzees did too, I was criticized. But I had learned all this long before from my childhood teacher—my dog Rusty! Now it is known that there is no sharp line separating us from the other animals. Now we know that many other species of animals— including birds and octopuses!—can solve problems. When it comes to feeling pain, science has now proved that fish and lobsters can feel pain. There is so much more to learn. I hope some of you will want to learn about animals by watching your pets or the wildlife around your home, or, one day perhaps, wolves or bears, lions or kangaroos. And I hope, too, that you will help us protect them. So many animals today are endangered—often because we are destroying the habitats where they live. If we do not work together for conservation, many of these animals will become extinct. And we must not let that happen.

XXWrite about reading: What is Jane Goodall’s point of view? Write a response sharing what you

think her purpose and point of view are and how you determined them. Make sure to include at least three details from the text to support your thinking. Note: In this foreword, Jane Goodall, the famous primatologist, makes an elegant, simple appeal to her audience: protect wild animals. One reason it is powerful and persuasive is that it’s not heavy handed. She builds up to “And I hope, too, that you will help us protect them” by a broader invitation to her young readers to follow in her footsteps. That is, she describes how her passion for researching chimpanzees began with a somewhat ordinary childhood and somewhat ordinary childhood curiosity about the birds and insects in her backyard. And it grew from there! Goodall also deftly makes the profound point that pioneers of every kind often have to hold true to their theories and discoveries, even in the face of a world that has yet to be convinced and may, in fact, believe the opposite of what the pioneer is asserting as a “new” truth. That was true of Goodall, whose groundbreaking research opened the door for research on other animals that pursued questions like, What “human” emotions and cognitive processes is this species capable of? Goodall writes with restraint, never boasting of her contribution but making it clear she is a game changer.

96  Section 4    Point of View

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14

Determine Author’s Purpose and Point of View Best the Test Compare/contrast is a major emphasis of testing. You’ll want to teach students to think critically by routinely presenting texts that include both sides of an argument, topic, etc. That, in and of itself, is a life skill. zz Teach your students how to find both perspectives, even when they read

a piece from one particular POV (e.g., if you are reading about climate change, students might want to read texts that argue that the warming climate is not caused by humans). Doing so is great scaffolding for writing argument because students get good at quoting data—and then refuting opposing viewpoints. zz By learning about different perspectives, students can create their own

well-reasoned opinions—often seeing that both sides may have valid points.

Bias: As readers become more sophisticated, they can spot when a writer (or filmmaker or speechmaker, etc.) is presenting his or her point of view in a biased manner. The writer may cloak his or her POV in an incomplete set of facts or manipulate the reader with written and visual devices that sway the reader to believe a certain way, despite an even stronger counterargument. The most trustworthy writers do careful research and often talk to experts who hold opposing viewpoints, in order to present a more balanced account.

zz Determining how the author distinguishes his or her position from others and

responds to conflicting evidence requires paying attention to vocabulary.

Lesson Prep zz Photocopy

for each student the Notice Perspective template on page 100 and “Students Lead the Way” and “Retaliation and Intimidation” on page 101.

zz Read The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement by Nadia Higgins,

so you know it well (or substitute another Split History book). You can either plan to teach the entire book or just have students work with the excerpts shown on page 101. zz If

you decide to read the entire book, decide ahead of time whose perspective you want to read first (segregationists’ or activists’) or whether you want to read about one event at a time and read from both perspectives.

97

3. Guide students through the text and determine the different perspectives about the same events.

Introduce It 1. Model how two sides or perspectives about the same topic or event can be shown in one book—in this case, The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement—and show how to hold thinking across a longer book with multiple events. Use the Notice Perspective template on page 100.

4. Refer to the chart you made in Lesson 13. 5. As you model, make sure to point out techniques the author uses to show POV.

2. If you have less time, just read “Students Lead the Way” and “Retaliation and Intimidation” on page 101 and do it as a class activity.

For more on civil rights: zz http://www.ushistory.org/more/ timeline.htm zz https://www.archives.gov/education/ lessons/civil-rights-act/ zz http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/ history/6-legacy/freedom-struggle-2. html

The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement by Nadia Higgins The Split History of the Civil War by Stephanie Fitzgerald

zz https://youtu.be/ySDLLImtbNY

The Split History of the American Revolution by Michael Burgan The Split History of the Battle of Gettysburg by Stephanie Fitzgerald

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student copies of the Notice Perspective template on page 100 and “Students Lead the Way” and “Retaliation and Intimidation” on page 101.

zz Students

can work in groups to read and notice the differing perspectives on the lunch counter sit-ins. In addition, have students use information and details from the text to articulate the difference between activists and segregationists and exactly what these labels mean.

zz If you would rather use the page as a teacher-guided

lesson, then read aloud the book and project this page to dig into the specific differences between the two sides and show techniques the author uses to portray the different points of view. zz Ongoing: Augment this practice by discussing point

of view any time you’re reading informati­onal texts.

98  Section 4    Point of View

For older students, see Voices of Civil Rights:

Read books from different perspectives on the same topic at least once a month. zz Have

students use sticky notes or other organizers to mark techniques authors use to convey POV.

zz When

researching, students should include POV in their bibliographies.

zz Have

students write responses in their reading journals comparing and contrasting point of view or write about their own point of view compared to the author’s. Make sure they support their opinions with information from the text.

zz Have

students discuss their thinking and their responses, either with partners or in groups. This is an essential part of interacting with text and becoming a critical reader of POV.

Sample to Share With Students

Lesson 14    Determine Author’s Purpose and Point of View  99

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W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Notice Perspective Name:

  Date:

Title:  Directions: zz Fill

in the chart with the topic(s) from the two texts. For each, write what you think the author’s purpose is.

zz Then

write the perspective and cite evidence for why you think this.

Topic(s)

Text #1

Text #2

Title:

Title:

Author’s Purpose:

Author’s Purpose:

Perspective:

Perspective:

How I Know:

How I Know:

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

100  Section 4    Point of View

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E X C ER P TS TO W R I TE A B OUT

“Students Lead the Way” and “Retaliation and Intimidation” From The Split History of the Civil Rights Movement

by Nadia Higgins Name:

  Date:

XXFrom this excerpt, see whether you can determine who the activists were and what their

purpose was. How would you define activist? Highlight words/phrases in the text that help you identify the activists and their purpose, and jot down notes about your thinking.

The Activists’ Perspective: Students Lead the Way Four black college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, opened a new chapter in the civil rights movement February 1, 1960. They began with a simple but profound action—sitting where they weren’t allowed. That afternoon the young men arrived downtown at the Woolworth’s department store. They purchased a few small items to show they were paying customers. Then, with pounding hearts, the neatly dressed teenagers took four stools at the store’s whites-only lunch counter. The waitress refused to serve them. Still the Greensboro Four, as they came to be called, stayed put. They remained seated for an hour, until the manager closed the place down. In the following days, hundreds of others followed the lead of the Greensboro Four. Soon the sit-ins, as the protests were called, spread like wildfire to cities across the South. Black students brushed past “Whites Only” signs at lunch counters, pools, libraries, and more. Unlike the Montgomery boycotters or the Little Rock Nine, these protesters were breaking the law. At workshops in Nashville, Tennessee, students trained in this form of protest, called civil disobedience. Activists learned how to protect their heads during a beating or throw their bodies in front of a comrade who was being attacked. They were given a list of dos and don’ts: Do be courteous, sit straight, and face the counter. Don’t laugh, strike back, or curse. Sit-ins often turned dangerous. The students were beaten, spat on, or burned with cigarettes or hot coffee. Police dragged them off their stools and shoved them into paddy wagons. As one group got carted off, another group took its place. “Jail, no bail,” was the students’ motto. They refused to pay a fee to escape imprisonment. Filling up jails was part of the strategy to cause as much inconvenience and expense to a city or county as possible. The activists also considered time in jail an honorable duty. XXNow that you finished reading about the activists’ perspective, what do you think their point

of view was? Why do you think this? (Continued) Lesson 14    Determine Author’s Purpose and Point of View  101

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(Continued) XXIn the next excerpt, see if you can determine who the segregationists were and what their

purpose was. How would you define segregationist? Highlight words/phrases in the text that help you identify the segregationists and their purpose, and jot down notes about your thinking.

The Segregationists’ Perspective: Retaliation and Intimidation Business owners in Nashville, Tennessee, were starting to get desperate in the spring of 1960. The “sit-in” movement that had spread across the South was especially strong in their city. The trouble had begun the previous winter. About 200 black students had refused to budge from whites-only lunch counters in downtown department stores on February 18. At first segregationists claimed that sit-ins were just the latest college fad. The black students were looking for publicity—and were getting plenty of it. Business owners responded mostly by ignoring the protests. Some managers roped off their lunch counters entirely, while others pressured local colleges to expel the activists. But as the sit-ins continued, angry whites began attacking the black students. Crowded paddy wagons rolled down Nashville’s streets as police arrested the students on charges such as trespassing or disturbing the peace. Soon white customers were afraid to shop downtown, while black customers refused to spend their money at segregated stores. In desperation, business owners proposed opening black sections at the lunch counters, but the activists refused the offer. They wanted nothing less than full integration. Then, on April 19, angry whites bombed the home of one of the city’s prominent black lawyers. The same day Nashville’s citizens looked on in astonishment as a crowd of 2,500 activists silently marched to Nashville’s City Hall. Mayor Ben West was waiting for them on the building’s steps. One protester asked him about his personal beliefs on the sit-ins. West looked into the thousands of expectant faces. “I found that I had to answer it frankly and honestly,” he later recalled. “I did not agree that it was morally right for someone to sell them merchandise and refuse them service.” Privately Nashville business owners breathed a sigh of relief. Less than a month later, lunch counters were opened up to black customers. The struggling stores could get back to business, while Mayor West shouldered the blame. XXNow that you finished reading about the segregationists’ perspective, what do you think their

point of view was? Why do you think this? Were there similarities between the two accounts? What were the major differences in perspectives between the two sides? Note: Nadia Higgins has chosen to organize her book, and this excerpt, in a manner that makes it easier for readers to understand this period in American history—especially those born several decades after the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Quite simply, she “splits” the story in half, clearly demarcating the black and activist perspective from the white segregationists’ point of view. First, we get the activist point of view, and we can use our background knowledge and the information in the text to understand what was driving the sit-ins. We can grasp it without, in a sense, being distracted by another point of view. Then, Higgins shifts to another section of text that describes the white business owners’ perspective on the sit-ins. As you read this section, you can feel the entrenched beliefs, economic systems, prejudice, and fear of change. You can also infer that social and political change often doesn’t come about purely as a result of a change of heart or a more enlightened view. Businesses were suffering as a result of the civil unrest, and this compelled white business owners to acquiesce and allow blacks to sit with whites at lunch counters.

102  Section 4    Point of View

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Compare and Contrast Accounts Prompts for Comparing and Contrasting Accounts zz Is this a firsthand or secondhand account of the event or topic? zz How does the point of view differ between the firsthand and

secondhand accounts? zz What are the points of view in two or more different accounts? zz How are these accounts similar and different? zz Where and how does the author acknowledge and respond to

evidence or viewpoints that conflict with his or her own?

15

Firsthand/Secondhand: Firsthand accounts are those that come from direct observation or firsthand experience. A secondhand account comes from an “intermediary,” in other words, someone who didn’t directly experience the event. Journals, diaries, and newspaper accounts can be firsthand and are beneficial when discerning point of view from other time periods in history.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Questions on firsthand/secondhand accounts are standard on content-area tests, especially in social studies. The following will help students prepare: zz Practicing determining the difference between the two types of accounts

and describing how they know. zz Reading a lot of firsthand sources in their independent reading, including

memoirs, autobiographies, and accounts of current topics and events. zz Using the Internet to scout out primary source documents that provide a

firsthand point of view.

103

3. Show students both book titles, and invite them to comment on what they notice.

Lesson Prep zz Make

copies of the Analyze Firsthand and Second­ hand Accounts template on page 106 and the Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories excerpt on page 107.

zz Choose

at least two books or resources that show a firsthand account and a secondhand account of the same event, person, or idea (e.g., Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges and The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole). Familiarize yourself with both books. This may be a multiple-day lesson as it includes two books.

Introduce It 1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart. 2. Create an anchor chart or Venn diagram to record similarities and differences between firsthand and secondhand accounts.

For more on Ruby Bridges: zz http://www.biography.com/people/ ruby-bridges-475426 zz http://teacher.scholastic.com/ activities/ruby-bridges/ruby-bridgesfor-kids.htm

5. Read and think aloud about Through My Eyes, and either write on the anchor chart or use sticky notes on the Venn diagram to record important events and Ruby’s perspective. 6. Ask: So what was the point of view? How did it affect your point of view on the topic? 7. Repeat this process with The Story of Ruby Bridges. Be sure students do the thinking! 8. Discuss the two books, and demonstrate for students how you revisit the sticky notes you’ve done, and move them around based on new thinking. 9. Write about reading: Co-construct a compare/ contrast piece describing the differences in focus and the information provided in the firsthand and secondhand account.

Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story by Ruby Bridges Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine Birmingham Sunday by Larry Dane Brimner Black & White: The Confrontation Between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor by Larry Dane Brimner Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison (Companion novel: The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis)

104  Section 4    Point of View

Ruby Bridges movie: zz https://youtu.be/QZgn DbSQ4Io

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Hand

out to each student copies of the Analyze Firsthand and Secondhand Accounts template on page 106 and the Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories excerpt on page 107.

zz Have students work through the excerpts, using the

same process you just modeled. zz They can use the template to record their thinking.

zz Have

them write a compare and contrast piece describing the differences in focus and the information provided in the firsthand and secondhand account. They may refer to the co-constructed piece to help with their writing.

zz Ongoing: Develop your own excerpts of other arti-

cles and texts to write about. Putting two contrasting points of view side by side in this manner helps students be aware of the fact that virtually no text is neutral—there is always a point of view.

Sample to Share With Students

Lesson 15    Compare and Contrast Accounts  105

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W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Analyze Firsthand and Secondhand Accounts Name:

  Date:

Title: 

Topic Title:

Title:

ilarities Sim

Firsthand

How I Know

Secondhand

POV/Purpose

POV/Purpose

How I Know

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

106  Section 4    Point of View

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Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen Levine XXAs you begin to read, ask yourself, “Is this a firsthand or secondhand account? How do I know?”

Read through one time and decide what topic or event this is discussing, then read through a second time and determine point of view about the events. Highlight words and phrases that help you determine the point of view, and jot down your thinking. In 1954, in a case called Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the United States Supreme Court ruled that separating the races in schools deprives Negro children of equal educational opportunities. “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” Chief Justice Warren wrote. In addition, he said, school segregation creates in minority children “a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.” The Court declared school segregation law as unconstitutional. The decision stunned and enraged southern segregationists. In March 1956 a group of U.S. Senators and Representatives from the eleven states of the Old Confederacy signed a statement called the “southern Manifesto.” In it, they declared their opposition to the Supreme Court decision and urged that schools fight any attempts to integrate. As a result of resistance by segregationists, which was sometimes violent, most southern schools were not integrated until ten to twenty years after the Supreme Court decision in the Brown case. Black children’s experiences in segregated schools differed widely. In some classrooms, teachers were hesitant to talk about civil rights for fear of antagonizing the white establishment. In others, teachers instilled in their students a pride in black achievement. As in all schools, segregated or integrated, some teachers repeated past lessons so that few were inspired and most were bored. Others challenged their students to think, to stretch. . . .  But despite the limited resources, black children in segregated schools were at least in a safe environment. Their first experiences of integration were startling by contrast. Although none of them anticipated warm welcomes, neither did they expect the depth and extent of the hostility they encountered from white students and often teachers. Yet they persisted, and in that persistence exhibited an extraordinary strength and single-mindedness of purpose. XXNow read a different version of the same event. Notice the heading “Pat Shuttlesworth.”

Is this a firsthand or secondhand account? How do you know? Read through one time and decide what topic or event this is discussing. Read a second time and determine the point of view about the events. Highlight words and phrases that help you determine the point of view, and jot down your thinking. In the fall of 1957 in Birmingham, less than a year after their church parsonage had been bombed, Reverend and Mrs. Shuttlesworth tried to enroll their two oldest daughters, Pat and Ricky, in the largest all-white high school in the city. Their son, Fred, was in elementary school at the time. (Continued) Lesson 15    Compare and Contrast Accounts  107

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(Continued)

Pat Shuttlesworth We were told we were going to integrate Phillips. With Daddy being the leader, he wanted his first two kids to be involved. I’m not as patient and nonviolent as Ricky and Daddy are. If anybody hit me, I was ready to hit back. But I had been told you can’t do anything but walk in the school. They prepared us. The car pulled up, and there were mobs of people saying, “N— go home!” and shouting obscenities. All these vicious-looking people saying things you hadn’t heard before out loud. It didn’t make sense to me to get out of the car with all those people surrounding us. But Daddy was going to try to do it anyway. They started to attack him. Then my mother got out because he was being attacked, and that’s when she got stabbed in the hip. She was trying to tell us to stay in the car, but we didn’t want to hear. We were going to go out to help our father. There was just so much confusion. Even though he had been beaten, Daddy had enough strength to work his way around and get back in the car. We sped off. Ricky got her foot slammed in the door. I never got out at all. At the hospital when we saw there was blood, we knew my mother had been stabbed. The hardest part was when my father was on that stretcher in the hospital, and he was telling us to be brave and that you have to forgive people. I don’t look at it now when it’s on TV because it’s painful. I can’t watch it. I get angry all over again. I don’t like crowds to this day. XXUse your notes and fill in the template with similarities and differences between the two

accounts, then write a short compare/contrast piece. Note: Levine reports the history of the landmark Supreme Court decision that declared segregating children in public schools unconstitutional. She provides an overview of the aftermath of that decision, including details about the outrage and violence that ensued when Southern segregationists resisted the new law of the land. But it’s not until Levine includes the firsthand account of a young black child that we can fully understand and empathize with the terror black students and their families encountered when attending formerly white-only schools, where crowds of angry whites let it be known with words and violence that they were opposed to integration. Suddenly, with the account of Pat Shuttlesworth, the harsh reality of the past comes flying forward, into the reader’s consciousness. Notice the last line: To this day, Pat can’t watch footage of those events, and she doesn’t like crowds. With that one detail about crowds, we know she, like thousands of other innocent people, was traumatized by the events. This serves to remind us that history—his-story—is never really over, never fully “past”; it impacts its active and passive participants in profound ways.

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Explore Same Topic, Many Points of View Best the Test Beginning in sixth grade, students are expected to recognize how point of view or purpose shape the content and style of a text. Standardized tests reflect these expectations. zz In your classwork, help students to become skilled at noticing the author’s

point of view and also to look for how the author is responding to another writer’s/speaker’s evidence or viewpoint. zz In testing situations, students are presented with two points of view and

16

Argument: An argument is based on logic—meaning that each point in an argument is supported by the others. The points are called claims, and one makes an argument by supporting each claim with facts, statistics, data, and expert opinion. An argument often begins with an assertion and ends with conclusive reiteration of the assertion.

then are required to write an argument piece incorporating both sides. Thus, providing ample practice with reading, analyzing, and writing in response to differing points of view provides authentic practice.

109

Lesson Prep

Introduce It

zz Photocopy

for each student the Analyze Different Perspectives template on page 112 and the Rosa Parks excerpts on page 113.

1. Model thinking about author’s purpose and point of view as you read through several texts on the same topic or event.

zz Read

2. Use the Analyze Different Perspectives template on page 112 to hold thinking—showing the major topics and how each author views or treats them.

or view multiple accounts of the same event or topic, so you know the perspectives well. Gather these materials to either read/share with students or have available for students to read independently.

zz You

can either plan to share these in their entirety with students (over multiple periods) or just have the students work through the excerpts on page 113.

To learn more about Rosa Parks: zz http://www.biography.com/people/ rosa-parks-9433715

3. Refer to the anchor chart from the previous lesson. 4. As you model, make sure to pay attention to words, structures, figures of speech, or other elements that imply a certain perspective.

10 True Tales: Young Civil Rights Heroes by Allan Zullo Rosa by Nikki Giovanni

zz http://teacher.scholastic.com/rosa/ sittingdown.htm

Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer (TIME for Kids Biographies) by Karen Kelleher

zz https://jr.brainpop.com/ socialstudies/biographies/rosaparks/ preview.weml

If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks by Faith Ringgold

zz http://www.salon.com/2013/02/03/ rosa_parks_i_had_been_pushed_ as_far_as_i_could_stand/

Rosa Parks (National Geographic Kids) by Kitson Jazynka Rosa Parks: My Story by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Hand

out to each student copies of the Analyze Different Perspectives template on page 112 and the Rosa Parks excerpts on page 113.

zz Explain

to students that they will be reading and annotating three different excerpts on Rosa Parks (one is a firsthand account).

zz As

students read the excerpts, have them turn and talk and share their thinking.

110  Section 4    Point of View

For older students, show a portion of the recently remade Roots series.

zz Next,

have students choose two of the excerpts, fill out the template, and write a compare/contrast piece, noting similarities and differences.

zz Ongoing:

Provide practice reading texts by different authors on the same topic or event throughout the year (at least once during each content unit).

zz Use these excerpt pages as templates to create your

own assignments for your students.

Sample to Share With Students Analyze Different Perspectives: Rosa Parks In the TIME for Kids Biographies, Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer and Rosa Parks: My Story basically have the same point of view. Both excerpts show the bus incident and how Rosa Parks stood up for herself. The only difference is that the first is a secondhand account told in third person, and My Story is a firsthand account told by Rosa Parks and gives more insight into why she didn’t give up her seat——which helps with the perspective. The author’s purpose in Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer is to show that Rosa’s act of courage would help change segregation. “She was tired of giving in to unfair laws. And she was tired of being mistreated. Rosa had to stick up for herself.” The author shows what Rosa was thinking and why she allowed herself to be arrested. The author’s point of view is that Rosa did the right thing refusing to give up her seat——that she was heroic. The firsthand account shows a little different information about why Rosa didn’t give up her seat. For example, she writes, “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” This shows that she was standing up to segregation and was courageous, but she also adds this: “People have asked me if it occurred to me then that I could be the test case the NAACP had been looking for. I did not think about that at all. In fact, if I had let myself think too deeply about what might happen to me, I might have gotten off the bus. But I chose to remain.” This shows her point of view——that if she had thought too hard about being arrested, etc., she wouldn’t have done what she did. In this excerpt, her purpose is to show “The more we gave in and ­ complied, the worse they treated us.”

Lesson 16    Explore Same Topic, Many Points of View  111

G RA B & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Analyze Different Perspectives Name:

  Date:

Text Title:

Key Topics

Text Title:

Key Topics in Both

Key Topics

Point of View

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

112  Section 4    Point of View

G RA B & GO

E X C ER P TS TO W R I TE A B OUT

Rosa Parks Name:

  Date:

XXPart 1 Directions: Read these three excerpts written by different authors on Rosa Parks.

They all focus on the same event. Highlight words and phrases in each piece that help you determine the author’s purpose and point of view. Annotate your observations in the margins.

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni “I said give me those seats!” the bus driver bellowed. Mrs. Parks looked up in surprise. The two men on the opposite side of the aisle were rising to move into the crowded black section. Jimmy’s father muttered, more to himself than anyone else, “I don’t feel like trouble today. I’m gonna move.” Mrs. Parks stood to let him out, looked at James Blake, the bus driver, and then sat back down. “You better make it easy on yourself!” Blake yelled. “Why do you pick on us?” Mrs. Parks asked with that quiet strength of hers. “I’m going to call the police!” Blake threatened. “Do what you must,” Mrs. Parks quietly replied. She was not frightened. She was not going to give in to that which was wrong. Some of the white people were saying aloud, “She ought to be arrested,” and “Take her off this bus.” Some of the black people, recognizing the potential for ugliness, got off the bus. Others stayed on, saying among themselves, “That is the neutral section. She has a right to be there.” Mrs. Parks sat.

Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer by Karen Kelleher After work, Rosa boarded a city bus to go home. As always, she walked past the first five rows. These rows were empty, but they were marked “Whites Only.” It was against the law for blacks to sit there. At that time Alabama and other southern states had laws that were unfair to black citizens. These segregation laws said that blacks had to drink from separate water fountains, go to separate schools, and ride in a separate part of the bus. (Continued) Lesson 16    Explore Same Topic, Many Points of View  113

G RA B & GO

(Continued) Rosa found a seat in the first row of the “Colored” section. Black passengers were allowed to sit there—unless white riders needed the seats. As the bus continued, all the seats filled up. The driver noticed that a white man was standing. The driver looked at Rosa and the other black passengers. “I want those seats,” the driver said. At first, no one moved. Then the man sitting beside Rosa moved to the back. The city’s laws said that a black person could not sit in the same row as a white person. Rosa would have to move so that the white man could sit. But Rosa did not budge. She was tired of giving in to unfair laws. And she was tired of being mistreated. Rosa had to stick up for herself. “Are you going to stand up?” asked the driver. “No,” Rosa answered quietly. “Well, I’m going to have you arrested,” he warned. Rosa looked the driver in the eye. “You may do that.” Soon two white police officers arrived. One of them asked Rosa why she hadn’t given up her seat. She asked him a question in return. “Why do you all push us around?” “The law’s the law, and you’re under arrest,” he answered. Rosa hated segregation, and she hoped that the laws would change one day. But she did not know that her own act of courage would lead the way.

Rosa Parks: My Story by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins The next stop was the Empire Theater, and some whites got on. They filled up the white seats, and one man was left standing. The driver looked back and noticed the man standing. Then he looked back at us. He said, “Let me have those front seats,” because they were the front seats of the black section. Didn’t anybody move. We just say right where we were, the four of us. Then he spoke a second time: “Y’all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats.” The man in the window seat next to me stood up, and I moved to let him pass by me, and then I looked across the aisle and saw that the two women were also standing. I moved over to the window seat. I could not see how standing up was going to “make it light” for me. The more we gave in and complied, the worse they treated us. . . .  People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in. (Continued) 114  Section 4    Point of View

G RA B & GO

(Continued) The driver of the bus saw me still sitting there, and he asked was I going to stand up. I said, “No.” He said, “Well, I’m going to have you arrested.” Then I said, “You may do that.” These were the only words we said to each other. I didn’t even know his name, which was James Blake, until we were in court together. He got out of the bus and stayed outside for a few minutes, waiting for the police. As I sat there, I tried not to think about what might happen. I knew that anything was possible. I could be manhandled or beaten. I could be arrested. People have asked me if it occurred to me then that I could be the test case the NAACP had been looking for. I did not think about that at all. In fact if I had let myself think too deeply about what might happen to me, I might have gotten off the bus. But I chose to remain. XXPart 2 Directions: zz Choose

two of the above excerpts and use your annotations to fill out the Analyze Different Perspectives template.

zz Write

about the similarities and differences in point of view of the two different authors. Use information from the text to support your analysis.

Note: With these three excerpts that describe Rosa Parks’s refusal to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger, we have three distinct narrative points of view. The one written by Rosa Parks herself, with Jim Haskins, inarguably has the greatest force of truth and factual accounting. After all—Rosa was there. And yet, and yet—whenever you have a byline “with _______,” it introduces another factor, another agenda, another point of view. The strong writing and vivid details make you believe everything happened just as it’s described, right down to the bus driver’s diction, “Y’all better make it light on yourselves.” But did Rosa really say or write, “I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in”? That may, indeed, be a direct quote we can confirm from a TV clip, a radio interview, a letter Rosa wrote, or some other primary source document. But as is true of any “nonfiction,” the job of a reader and a historian is to look at several accounts and consider the veracity of these details. In Rosa, by Nikki Giovanni, we are given the account through the lens of an African American poet and writer who was probably a young girl at the time of the famous incident. It’s clear from the dialogue and the sentence structure that Giovanni is telling the story in a way younger readers can grasp. In Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer, the authors weave in more background than the other two accounts do, with details about the separate water fountains, schools, and buses for blacks and whites. Notice that in Rosa’s account, she claims she only told the bus driver “You may do that.” She says, “These were the only words we said to each other.” Yet in the account by Kelleher, there is dialogue between the bus driver and Rosa, with Rosa retorting, “Why do you all push us around?” What, as readers, do we make of this discrepancy? Did Rosa forget she said that? Did Kelleher get the quote from some other source? Taken together, these three pieces remind us that it takes long, hard research and critical reading to describe events in history supported by the real facts.

Lesson 16    Explore Same Topic, Many Points of View  115

Section 5 Visuals “Reading” visuals levels the playing field for students, ­allowing students who struggle with reading a more accessible entryway into a nonfiction text. The truth is, any student—or adult—likes to get a foothold in a text by first looking at an image. I’ve been using pictures to launch lessons and units for several years, taking my cues from authors like Smokey Daniels, Ann Goudvis, and Stephanie Harvey, all of whom have been advocating for the greater use of photos and illustrations in our teaching. My students and I love the nonfiction books published in the last couple of years—because authors, illustrators, and publishers are pulling out all the stops on creative use of visuals. In a word: the books are gorgeous and inventive in presenting information. Our job as teachers is to make sure we mine these images for all they’re worth and help our students do the same. Students need to learn how to recognize and read all kinds

of images, from maps to graphs to charts and photographs. Most important, we need to do a lot of demonstrating and practicing how to relate the visuals to the information in the text. The lessons and collaborative activities in this section show you how to teach students to engage with various types of visual texts, to think about why the author might have chosen a particular image, and to name precisely what the image offers. In testing situations, students are required to interpret information from visuals, to identify the types of visuals and why the author chose them, and to compare and contrast visual and text formats. Thus, all the teaching and learning in this section is tailored to develop these skills in students. Once students know how to read visual features, then they can write about them. Think about complex text and how visuals help you understand them better. When students can identify how visuals improve understanding, then they can write about it.

Watch Leslie Teach! Video 5: Watch Leslie use the Write-About-Reading template to have students practice reading visuals in nonfiction picture books. Go to http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction to see the lessons and guided practice in action.

117

LESSON

17

Mine Maps, Charts, and Other Visuals

Visual Information: Pictorial displays of information such as charts, graphs, diagrams, timelines, maps, images, animations, or interactive elements on webpages.

Prompts for Understanding Visuals zz What is the topic/subject of the written text? zz What is the main idea? zz What visual information is used? zz How do the pictures and captions, diagrams and charts, timelines,

and so on help me understand what the texts says? zz What key ideas and information can you draw from the media,

quantitative data, or visual formats used to convey other aspects of this subject or issue? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Test questions often assess a student’s ability to interpret information conveyed through visuals. Over time, teach your students to zz Slow down! Students tend to enjoy an image without analyzing it. Talk

about captions, color, tone, as well as the information. Ask open-ended questions: What do you notice? What do you see? What might be left out? zz View multiple texts with diverse media so they gain confidence in

synthesizing information from more than one text and visual. zz Evaluate the visual content. It’s easy to bring newspaper and online images of

current events into your teaching so students can practice evaluating often.

118

2. Create a chart with two columns: “Visual Feature” and “How It Enhances Understanding.”

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out the prompts and, for the student practice, color copies of the two images in the “A Hot Topic” excerpt on page 122 (download a full-color version at http://resources.corwin .com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction). copies for each student of the Visuals + Text = Better Understanding template on page 121.

zz Make

zz Choose

a text with illustrations and other visual features (maps, graphs, etc.) that add meaning to the text. Ideally, select a text that students might not understand unless they use the visuals. This can be a book tied to your content area curriculum or a book on a high-interest topic—sharks, volcanoes, hurricanes, and endangered animals. (I suggest Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting With the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy.)

Introduce It 1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart.

More on sharks: zz http://animals.nationalgeographic .com/animals/fish/great-whiteshark/ zz http://ocean.si.edu/great-whiteshark

3. Share all the pages of the section they will be focusing on during this lesson so that students are familiar with the visual features. (This lesson presupposes that students understand what maps, charts, timelines, etc. are.) 4. Begin to read aloud the text, but stop and give students time to view and discuss the illustrations. 5. Record the feature and how it improves comprehension on the chart. 6. Continue with that section of the book, stopping, discussing, and recording. 7. When finished, discuss how the illustrations helped students understand the topic better. Ask which one was most helpful. 8. Write about reading: Co-construct a short res­ ponse answering this question: What visual information is used and how do the pictures and captions, diagrams and charts, timelines, and so on help me understand what the texts says?

All the nonfiction books by Seymour Simon are full of photos that enhance the text. Books by Gail Gibbons are also picture rich, and the text is appropriate for younger readers.

If your students want more information on sharks: zz http://www.discovery.com/ tv-shows/shark-week/videos/ great-white-shark-videos

Everything Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Kathy Furgang

Lesson 17    Mine Maps, Charts, and Other Visuals  119

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute the Visuals + Text = Better Understanding

template on page 121 for students to record their thinking. zz If you have access to a color printer or photocopier,

print the two images in the “A Hot Topic” excerpt on page 122 (download a full-color version at http:// resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwritingnonfiction), making enough so that small groups can have a copy, or photocopy, mount on tagboard/ cardstock, and laminate to use over and over. If you don’t have access to colored copies, project on a screen and have students either work on the board or record their thinking in their reading journals.

Sample to Share With Students

120  Section 5    Visuals

zz If

students have their own copies, have them annotate what they are thinking and learning from the illustrations. This can also be done with sticky notes or highlighting tape. Focus their attention on how the visuals explain and enhance vocabulary words.

zz Write about reading: Have students write a short

response to “What visual information is used and how did that help me understand the text better?” zz On

another day, read the entire book to students and discuss (Everything Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Kathy Furgang).

zz Provide

numerous opportunities for students to read and integrate text and visuals in picture books, articles, websites, etc. Make this a common practice in your classroom.

W RITE - A B O UT- READIN G TE M PLATE

Name:

  Date:

Title: 

What I learned from the VISUALS:

What I learned from the TEXT:

How the visuals helped me understand the text BETTER:

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 17    Mine Maps, Charts, and Other Visuals  121

G RA B & GO

Visuals + Text = Better Understanding

G RA B & GO

E X C ERPT T O W RITE A B O UT

“A Hot Topic” From Everything Volcanoes and Earthquakes

by Kathy Furgang XXDirections: How do the visuals help you understand volcanoes? Jot your thinking on sticky notes.

(Continued) 122  Section 5    Visuals

G RA B & GO

(Continued) Note: In these two visually arresting pages, readers get an extremely clear picture of the inner workings of a volcano. Notice on the first page how the bold labels for crater, vent, conduit, fissure, etc., efficiently convey information, “faster” than if the writer attempted to describe each one of these parts in words. The visuals on this page show exactly where the red/orange fiery lava we see in movies and in the news comes from, and why it erupts. Notice on the second page photos of four different types of volcanoes are set side by side for easy study and comparison. Again, imagine if the writer tried to describe each type without the benefit of photographs. As readers, we must read visuals thoroughly because so much information is contained in them.

Source: Furgang, K. (2003). Everything volcanoes and earthquakes. Washington, DC: National Geographic.

Lesson 17    Mine Maps, Charts, and Other Visuals  123

LESSON

18

Read Digital and Print Efficiently

Digital Literacy: The ability to access and use digital tools and utilize knowledge and ideas to create and to communicate. The digitally literate person is able to find and evaluate the quality of content in digital formats and to synthesize the information.

Prompts for Reading Digital and Print Efficiently zz What is the subject of the written text—and what does that text say

about the subject? zz How do the pictures or charts add to my understanding? How

does a video or multimedia resource on the subject add to my knowledge? zz What do I still have questions about from the written text that might

be answered digitally? zz What are the available media formats (print or digital, video or

multimedia)? zz Which format shall I look at first in order to locate information quickly? zz Are there specific places in the various sources that can quickly point

me toward the answer? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Test questions will often ask students to answer literal questions about charts, graphs, maps, etc., so exposure to these features is important. In addition, questions require students to analyze the information and write about it in their own words. Help your students prepare with these authentic practices: zz Have students answer questions about a visual in anything you study

together (e.g., What does the visual show about the phases of the moon in relation to the earth and sun?). Have them do this in both discussion and in writing, so they can hear the thinking of their peers. zz Routinely display multiple print and digital sources on a topic you are

studying, pose a question, and have students answer it in a short period of time. This gives them important practice at becoming swift in analyzing information from several sources.

124

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out the prompts.

2. Hand out copies of the On the Search! template on page 127 and the excerpt “Drought in the Plains” on page 128.

zz Photocopy

3. Working independently or with partners, students answer the question and provide evidence from the illustrations of the Dust Bowl.

zz Choose

4. Next, have students compose a question that they want to answer from the illustration.

the On the Search! template on page 127 and the excerpt “Drought in the Plains” on page 128. a topic that you want students to learn more about—this could be a content area topic or one of your choosing. Have print materials available on this topic as well as a few websites that you are comfortable having students visit. (The topic here is the Dust Bowl.)

zz Choose

a text with visual features and pose questions that can be answered by the visuals.

Introduce It 1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart.

5. Choose one student’s question for the class to answer—and this is where it gets fun! Make it a race to see who can find the complete answer first. 6. Ongoing: Use the On the Search! template to scaffold students’ work whenever you want to have them practice this skill of quickly locating information. It works best if you can provide each partnership or group with the print sources and the webpages so that it’s easier for them to study the images up close.

Want more information on the Dust Bowl? Here are some websites:

The Dust Bowl by Rebecca Langston-George

zz http://www.history.com/topics/ dust-bowl

Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin

zz http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ americanexperience/features/ timeline/dustbowl/

Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley

zz http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/ farminginthe30s/water_02.html

Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown

The Ken Burns film The Dust Bowl is excellent! zz https://youtu.be/MYOmjQO_UMw

zz http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/ dustbowl/legacy/ zz http://www.encyclopedia.com/ topic/Dust_Bowl.aspx

Lesson 18    Read Digital and Print Efficiently  125

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute the On the Search! template on page 127

for students to record their thinking with an additional assignment (see “On another day” below). zz If

you have access to a color printer, print the two images in the “Drought in the Plains” excerpt on page 129 (download a full-color version at http:// resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwritingnonfiction), making enough so that small groups can have a copy, or photocopy, mount on cardstock/tagboard, and laminate to use over and over. If you don’t have access to colored copies, project on a screen and have students either work on the board or record their thinking in their reading journals.

126  Section 5    Visuals

zz If students have their own copies, have them anno-

tate what they are thinking and learning from the illustration. This can also be done with sticky notes or highlighting tape. zz Using

these annotations, have students answer the questions on the On the Search! template.

zz Have

students write a short response/answer to the question they recorded about the Dust Bowl images.

zz On

another day: read the entire book to students and discuss.

zz Distribute the On the Search! template and pose a

question. Have students work in groups, with partners, or independently to find the answer to your question, using a variety of resources and recording their process on the template.

W RITE - A B O UT- READIN G TE M PLATE

G RA B & GO

On the Search! Name:

  Date:

Question: Directions: zz Find

the answer to the question as quickly as you can.

zz Record

what resources you use in the order you use them—jot down what you used, why you chose it, and the information you found.

zz When

Resource

you find the answer to the question, write it down and turn this sheet in.

Why I Chose It

Information

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Answer:    Did you find your answer from one single source or from combining information from multiple sources?  

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 18    Read Digital and Print Efficiently  127

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E X C ERPT T O W RITE A B O UT

“Drought in the Plains” From The Dust Bowl

by Rebecca Langston-George Name:

  Date:

XXDirections: Look at these two pages from The Dust Bowl by Rebecca Langston-George. Read

the text, but pay attention to the visual features. Use the visual features to answer these questions. Annotate in the margins your thinking and how the visuals help you answer these questions: 1. Which two states were affected most by the drought?      2. Describe what the Dust Bowl looked like without using the word desert.     

XXAfter: From these two pages, what big question do you have? Write it here:

    

Note: Look at the visual showing drought in the plains. Notice how color and shading is used to convey the areas most hard hit by drought, in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. What can you infer from the information on this page? Do the pictures and words help you infer why the area was called the Dust Bowl? Why do you think the choice was made to show the other states? Nonfiction writers and illustrators have made many choices, even in a relatively simple graphic like this one.

(Continued) 128  Section 5    Visuals

Source: Langston-George, R. (2015). The dust bowl. North Mankato, MN: Capstone.

(Continued)

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  129

Section 6 Words and Structure Take a piece down to the studs and you have words and structure, the basics upon which an author builds. In state and national standards, words and structure are often addressed separately, but in this section I combine them. Structure brings organization to a text, and the words create the meaning. Words give us power—and what do our students want? Power! The research is conclusive that vocabulary is linked to comprehension. In fact, the 2011 NAEP results show this correlation. Fourth graders scoring above the 75th percentile in reading comprehension also had the highest average vocabulary score. Fourth graders who scored at or below the 25th percentile in reading comprehension had the lowest vocabulary scores. In Grade 8 in 2011, the patterns were similar to fourth graders (Robb, 2014). The implications of this study is that we should be intentionally, explicitly teaching vocabulary every day and providing our students with the strategies to add new words to their repertoire and to decipher and understand unfamiliar words. Text features are in Section 5; however, we also need to be explicit about text features versus text structure. Text features are the surface structures that help the reader determine the internal structures. These internal structures help

the reader hold on to meaning across a text. Signal words also help the reader determine the internal structure. Cause/effect, compare/contrast, chronological order, etc., often are on tests—“How is this text organized?” However, it isn’t always that simple; many texts have multiple structures. Although we want students to recognize these ­structures, ultimately we want them to explain how the structures create meaning for the reader and to use the same structures when they write. As students move through Grades 6–8, they move toward analyzing the overall organization of the text, which generally falls into descriptive or sequential categories. Students analyze sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and sections as they relate to the overall development of the text. Finally, this section includes evaluating the reasoning and the evidence and also evaluating the argument the author makes. Although these are generally taught in sixth grade and above, there is no reason why they can’t be introduced in earlier grades. In turn, evaluating reasons and arguments helps students with writing their own argumentative essay. In addition, all the books that have been the focus of lessons in the previous sections can also be used to teach vocabulary and text structure in this section.

Watch Leslie Teach! Video 6: Watch Leslie guide students to notice text structure by comparing two texts. Go to http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction to see the lessons and guided practice in action.

131

LESSON

19

Determine the Meaning of Specialized Words

Domain Specific: Within each discipline or branch of the discipline, certain words have a domain-specific use (e.g., biology— cell, division); other words, however, are unique to that discipline and are thus essential to understand complex texts in that subject. In textbooks and other texts, these words are often in bold or highlighted and then are defined in the glossary. General Academic: In state and national standards, these are considered “tier 2” words—they are found in written texts and are vocabulary shared between teachers and students. These words lead to a rich vocabulary and are often words found in the thesaurus that students can substitute for common words. These words are more precise or subtle forms of familiar words and include multiple-meaning words. Technical Meaning: In general, this term refers to words with specialized meanings that are specific to a topic or subject being investigated. This can often be narrowed down to mean domainspecific words that typically occur in texts related to a specific content area (e.g., geology—igneous, metamorphic; weather—cumulous, precipitation).

Prompts for Understanding Special Words zz What is the topic of this text? zz How can I use the text and surrounding photos and captions to

figure out what this word or phrase means? zz Are there words the author uses repeatedly or did the author use a

synonym to define this topic-specific word? zz When I read aloud the word or sentence, does that help me figure

out the challenging word? zz Which words have a technical meaning in this context? zz Which key words or phrases must I understand to comprehend this

text? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Vocabulary is a huge component of tests. Students are required to determine the meaning of specific words, and then explain what specifically in the text helped them determine the meaning. To prepare students, zz Give students a steady diet of complex nonfiction for instruction and

independent reading, so they aren’t intimidated by it. zz Demonstrate how you tackle technical terms in a challenging text, and over

time, arm students with several different strategies for figuring them out, from using context clues, to glossaries, to rereading. zz Don’t be afraid to simply “frontload” important vocabulary before reading.

This is even more essential for students learning the English language. zz Teach students prefixes, roots, and suffixes. Latin and Greek etymology

often shows up in testing situations. zz Starting in sixth grade, students not only need to determine figurative

meanings but also the connotative meanings (association or emotion connected to a word). 132

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out prompts for each student.

zz Photocopy

the Word Attack! template on page 137 and the Weather! excerpt on page 139.

zz This and all the lessons in this section can be done

using books featured in earlier lessons, your content books, or even textbooks. zz This

lesson should be repeated to teach different strategies to determine unknown words. Show the different ways to determine meaning one at a time instead of all at once, which can be overwhelming for students.

zz Start with a book that is highly explicit in introduc-

ing vocabulary, like Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons. Even though it’s rather ­primary, it provides a concrete example of technical terms, definitions, and illustrations.

Introduce It 1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart. 2. For Weather Words and What They Mean, I use the first two prompts, and I create a two-column chart with “Vocabulary Word and Definition” and “How We Figured It Out” headings. 3. Read and discuss the book with a focus on how Gail Gibbons helps the reader understand the vocabulary words and how that helps the reader comprehend the text and understand the topic. Be explicit about how the illustrations add meaning and that it’s a skill students can use to help

them understand new words—they can draw a visual representation. This is also excellent for ESL students. Record some of the words on the chart and how the reader knew the definition. 4. If time allows, move to a second book (here I use Weather by Seymour Simon) to demonstrate another strategy. Simon’s (1993, p. 4) book provides explicit definitions in parentheses: Weather is what’s happening at the bottom of the atmosphere, mostly in a layer seven and a half miles thick called the troposphere. (Tropo comes from a Greek word meaning “change.”) Above the troposphere, another layer called the stratosphere extends up to about thirty miles. (Strato comes from a Greek word meaning “covering.”) See also pp.  6 and 10. In addition, the photos in the book are magnificent and add to meaning. 5. Continue to teach strategies for vocabulary using the books listed below and add the strategies to your charts. These lessons and charts can be reviewed and reinforced throughout the year and with different topics. 6. Write about reading: Choose a word from a shared text and have students define it and explain how they figured it out and ways to remember it in the future. This is a great activity to do throughout the year to get students thinking about how they use text and strategies to discern new words. 7. Tell students that they will be using this same ­process whenever they are faced with unfamiliar words.

Lesson 19    Determine the Meaning of Specialized Words  133

Want more practice with weather words? Here are some websites:

Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons

zz https://quizlet.com/17450176/ weather-vocabulary-flash-cards/

Weather by Seymour Simon (context clues, punctuation clues)

zz https://quizlet.com/2128629/ weatheratmosphere-vocabularyflash-cards/

Tornadoes! by Gail Gibbons (using visuals) Tornadoes by Seymour Simon (context clues, punctuation clues) Howling Hurricanes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury (bold words)

TED Talks: Select one appropriate for your students, and have your students jot down words they don’t know as they listen. Or play snippets of several TED Talks to notice domain-specific words: zz https://www.ted.com/talks These sites have great videos to reinforce information on weather: zz http://kids.nationalgeographic. com/videos/wacky-weather/ zz http://www.watchknowlearn.org/ Category.aspx?CategoryID=6305 zz http://climatekids.nasa.gov/menu/ watch

134  Section 6    Words and Structure

­ roject the pages, so that students can view the p illustrations. This is an excellent way to reinforce how text features improve understanding.

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student the Word Attack! template on page 137 and the Weather! excerpt on page 139. (For students in Grades 6–8, you may instead hand out What Does This Word Mean? on page 138.)

zz Have

students write a short response on how the author helps the reader understand technical words.

zz Extension:

zz Either

in small groups, with a partner, or independently, have students read and annotate the excerpt on weather and record their thinking on the template.

Another way to practice and use new words is to create dictionaries—especially picture dictionaries—that can be used year after year (or even used with ESL students). My students also like to create Google slides of technical terms, using pictures and video, etc.

zz If your students need more guidance, do the above

steps as a class. If you have access to the book,

More Templates to Share With Students

How Do Readers Figure Out What Words Mean? Here are some strategies: zz What

does the word make you see? Smell? Hear? Feel? Taste? (visualization and sensory images)

zz Can

you think of antonyms for the word? (opposites)

zz Can

you think of synonyms for the word? (words that have the same meaning)

zz Can

you use the context to help you figure out the word?

zz What

tone or mood does the word make you feel?

zz Can

you make associations?

zz Can

you use it in new ways?

zz Is

the definition right on the page?

zz Is

this an example of word play?

zz What

are the writer’s choices? Why did he or she choose to use these words?

Retrieved from the companion website for Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Lesson 19    Determine the Meaning of Specialized Words  135

Sample to Share With Students

136  Section 6    Words and Structure

W RITE - A B OUT- REA D ING TEMPLATE

GRA B & GO

Word Attack! Name: Title:

  Date:



How Do You Figure Out What a Word Means? Try these strategies when you’re faced with an unfamiliar word! zz Read

all the way to the end of the sentence and look for clues. Does the author use commas and definitions or maybe parentheses? What do you notice that might give you a clue?

zz Go

back and read the sentence that comes before. Are there clues there?

zz Look

for punctuation (parentheses, commas, colons).

zz Read

the entire paragraph again for clues.

zz Is

the word in bold? That means it’s usually in the glossary or defined right on the page.

zz Break zz Do

it down! Look for word parts—roots, prefixes, suffixes. What’s familiar?

you know what part of speech it is?

zz Replace

the word with another and see whether it makes sense.

Ways to Remember Word

Visual (Sketch It)

What are the characteristics? What facts do I know?

In my own words — what I think the definition is:

Connections

Use It!

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 19    Determine the Meaning of Specialized Words  137

GRA B & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

What Does This Word Mean? Name:

  Date:

Title:  How was the word used in the context of the piece?   

Word

Definition (In my own words)

Facts, properties, characteristics of the word

Ways to remember (pictures, connections, etc.)

How I determined the meaning (How the text helped me figure it out!)

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

138  Section 6    Words and Structure

GRA B & GO

E X CERPT TO W RITE A B OUT

Weather! by Rebecca Rupp � Directions: zz Use

two different highlighters—one to mark the bold words and the other to mark unfamiliar words.

zz Annotate

in the margins what you think the definition is, and sketch the types of clouds using information from the text. We’ve all at some time found pictures or patterns in the shifting clouds—the shapes of dragons, cows, or elephants, castles or sailing ships. There’s even a name for what we’re doing: nephelococcygia (pronounced ne-fee-low-kok-e-JEE-a). Invented by the Greek playwright Aristophanes, the term comes from nephos, the Greek word for cloud. The scientific study of clouds is called nephrology. The best clouds for shape-gazing are cumulus clouds, the fat fluffy white clouds that scatter across the sky on blue summer days, looking like woolly sheep, globs of whipped cream, or huge heaps of cotton candy. The name cumulus, in fact, comes from the Latin word for heap. The cloud names we use today were invented by Luke Howard, an English pharmacist and hobby cloud-watcher, in 1803. They’re in Latin, because Howard had a classical education. He also had a good eye for cloud shapes, because his classification scheme, with just a few minor rearrangements, is still used today. Howard divided clouds into three major groups: bulbous heaped-up cumulus clouds; flat blanket-like stratus clouds; and thin wispy cirrus clouds, which look like horse’s tails or curly locks of windblown hair. Eventually he added a fourth group—nimbus, or rain clouds. Today meteorologists list ten different classes of clouds. For clouds that aren’t quite one class or another but somewhere between, scientists run two cloud names together, producing tongue-twisting cloud combinations such as cumulonimbus, stratocumulus, and nimbostratus. Low-altitude clouds (those that flow at around below 6000 feet) include cumulus, stratocumulus, and stratus clouds. Cumulus clouds look nice but don’t do much. If these “fair-weather clouds” dot the sky on the day you’ve planned for a picnic, don’t worry: they rarely produce rain. Cumulonimbus, or towering thunderheads, however, have a good chance of at least dripping on your parade. Stratocumulus clouds are dark, dense, and depressing, and usually cover the whole sky. They periodically spit out showers or snow flurries. Stratus clouds are similar, but thinner, paler, and prone to drizzle. Middle-altitude clouds, between 6,000 and 20,000 feet above sea level, include altostratus, altocumulus, and nimbostratus clouds. The nimbostratus types are the clouds that really mean business. These are dark, heavy, impenetrable clouds (Continued)

Lesson 19    Determine the Meaning of Specialized Words  139

GRA B & GO

(Continued) associated with all-day soakers and major snowfalls. Altostratus clouds are usually rainless: These are the high opaque sheets through which the Sun can just be seen, shining weakly from behind a cloudy curtain. Altocumulus clouds are thickly scattered but patchy, punctuated by stretches of open sky. High-altitude clouds are found anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 feet up, and all are wispy, wind-battered, and cold. Cirrus clouds, high, think, and snowy white, are often blown into curls, swirls, and sweeping plumes. Sailors once called these “mares tails,” because they look like the curly tails of galloping horses. Cirrostratus clouds are like thin white gossamer veils. It’s these clouds that create the “rings” sometimes seen around the Sun or Moon. Cirrocumulus clouds are the highest clouds of all—usually appearing more than 25,000 feet up. These often appear in small patches and look a bit like fish scales. Sailors called a sky thick with cirrocumulus clouds a “mackerel sky.” Note: Rebecca Rupp’s piece on clouds is a fine example of how nonfiction writers practice their craft. She knows her primary audience are students in elementary and middle school who may not yet be familiar with formal names for clouds. Or perhaps more importantly, she knows that readers of all ages can understand unfamiliar science concepts and terms when they are likened to familiar experiences. Notice, then, that she begins with the sweet pastime of cloud-gazing, and finding “dragons, cows, or elephants, castles or sailing ships” shapes. Skim the piece and spot other instances where she appeals to our fanciful sides as she explains additional scientific information about clouds.

140  Section 6    Words and Structure

LESSON

Spot Words That Signal Text Structure Prompts for Spotting Text Structure zz How are the main sections of the text organized? zz What organizational pattern does the author use? zz Can I identify and use key words to help me explain the patterns

or the organization and structure of the text, such as chronology, cause/effect, or problem/solution? zz Does the author use a few different structures in different parts?

How do features like bullets, sidebars, and photos help me see these different text structures? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test On tests, student will need to identify text structure and explain how they arrived at that determination. Come at this skill a variety of ways, and over time,

20

Text Structure Signal Words: There are five common structures nonfiction writers use to organize their ideas, and to transition into these structures, authors often rely on words that signal to the reader how the author wants the reader to proceed through the information. For example, a sequence structure might have words like first, second, next, beginning with, then, finally. Text Structure Graphics: Writers often arrange information into graphics that reinforce one or more of the structures they are using. For example, a compare and contrast piece may use a Venn diagram; a descriptive piece on, say, a coral reef, might use headings that move from general attributes to more specific attributes.

zz Do a marathon one week (or more!) when you bring in colorful, sterling

examples of articles from all sorts of magazines and post them on your walls. zz Hand out stacks of sticky notes and have students do a gallery walk,

posting what they notice in terms of vocabulary, text features, and structures. zz Discuss all the articles as a class and develop an anchor chart of what you

discover about key words and common structures. zz Invite students to continue to bring in examples throughout the year and

present to the class. Challenge students to notice how radio, TV news, and online features mix and match text structures, from the tug-at-the-heartstrings profile of a person tied to the topic in some way to more tempered statistics and reportage.

141

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out the prompts for each

­student. zz Since

books often have numerous text structures (e.g., both chronological and cause and effect), a good way to start is with short news articles. You want your first lesson to focus on one type of text structure at a time, so that students aren’t overwhelmed. Turning to online resources such as Scholastic News and TIME for Kids allows you to access current events for students. Here I use “Big News for Bison” (Scholastic News, May 12, 2016) to show cause and effect. Make copies of the article for students.

Introduce It

3. Discuss that the article you’ll be working on is an example of cause and effect and explain the terms (it is also descriptive). 4. Model how you read through the article, highlighting specific words and phrases that provide clues to cause and effect. Annotate in the margins where it’s the cause and where it’s the effect. 5. Discuss how the text structure helps the reader understand the main points of the text. 6. Write about reading: Co-construct an example of how the text structure helped the reader understand the main idea of the text. Make sure to include how you determined that the structure was cause and effect, noting specific key words and phrases.

1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart.

7. Tell students that they will be doing this same process you are modeling as they decide how a text is organized.

2. Explain that you will be reading texts that are written using each type of structure, and the goal is for students to notice text structure independently as they read.

8. Extension: Flip books are wonderful ways to hold onto multiple ideas. Flip books for text structures allow students to record templates/diagrams, key words, and specific examples and mentor texts.

Here are two great resources for free articles to share with students: zz http://magazines.scholastic.com zz http://www.timeforkids.com

Trapped by the Ice by Michael McCurdy (sequence) The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons (description) Animals That Changed the World by Keltie Thomas (cause/effect)

Death Valley: zz http://video.nationalgeographic .com/video/us_deathvalley zz http://cybersleuth-kids.com/ videos/Death-Valley-NationalPark_v3286 Bison: zz https://youtu.be/3bS6Dz4YVqQ zz http://www.history.com/topics/ native-american-history/nativeamerican-cultures/videos/ american-buffalo

142  Section 6    Words and Structure

uses (cause/effect) and how these words/phrases provide clues.

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student a copy of the Dig Into the Structure of the Text template on page 146 and the excerpt from “Death Valley’s Super Bloom” on page 147.

zz Use

the template if your students need more support, or save it for future texts and independent reading.

zz You can use the template for single texts, or do two

zz Either

in small groups, with a partner, or independently, have students read and annotate the article.

and compare and contrast for fifth grade because comparing and contrasting two texts is a fifth-grade standard.

zz Students

highlight words/phrases that help them determine what type of text structure the author

More Templates to Share With Students

Text Structure Key words for text structure: Cause/Effect Since, when, because, if/then, so, therefore, without, as a result of, due to, without Compare/Contrast Like/unlike, both, also, most, but whereas, however, on the other hand Chronological Order First, next, then, as, while, finally, last, years Problem/Solution Dilemma, because, question/answer, so that, resolution, issue leads to Description For instance, in addition, also, specifically

Questions readers ask to determine text structure: Cause/Effect What happened and why did it happen? What caused something to happen and what was the result? Compare/Contrast What is being compared? How are they the same? How are they different? Chronological Order or Sequence Is the event taking place over time? Are there dates? Problem/Solution What is the problem and what is the solution? Description Is there a specific person, event, place, or thing being described? How is it described?

Retrieved from the companion website for Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Lesson 20    Spot Words That Signal Text Structure  143

Samples to Share With Students

(Continued)

144  Section 6    Words and Structure

(Continued)

Article Source: Walter, J. M. (2016). Big news for bison. Scholastic, News for Your Classroom. Retrieved from http://magazines.scholastic .com/news/2016/05/Big-News-for-Bison Lesson 20    Spot Words That Signal Text Structure  145

GRA B & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Dig Into the Structure of the Text Name:

  Date:

Title: 

What did you learn?

How is the text organized?

How do you know? What does the author do? Key words?

Writing about it:

Important Information

Big Ideas

Events

Write about reading: How does the text structure help the reader understand?

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

146  Section 6    Words and Structure

From the pages of

“Death Valley’s Super Bloom” by Kio Herrera Imagine the driest, hottest place in North America suddenly being covered with thousands of bright-yellow wildflowers. That is exactly what is happening now in Death Valley National Park, in California. The region is experiencing a rare “super bloom,” attracting tourists from all over the world to get a close-up look at the sea of golden flowers. The park is a difficult place for flowers to grow. It holds the world record for hottest temperature ever recorded: 134 degrees Fahrenheit, set on July 10, 1913. On average, Death Valley receives 2 inches of rainfall per year. Sometimes, it gets no rain at all. This season, however, was different. In early October, Death Valley got three rainstorms with an accumulation of more than 3 inches of rain in some parts of the valley. This rare abundance of water caused the growth of millions of wildflower seeds that had been dormant in the ground. This kind of “super bloom” only happens about once every decade. Death Valley last had a bloom this size in 2005, and the one before that happened in 1998. During the 2005 bloom, flowers that had never been seen before in the area began to blossom, suggesting that the seeds had been dormant for years.

Gold Rush This year, the park’s most abundant wildflower is the desert gold, a large, brightyellow, daisy-like bloom. Its stems are growing about waist high, with the flowers covering hillsides and wide areas of the valley floor. Other blooming flowers include the gravel ghost, a small white flower that looks like it is floating above the ground because its stem is so thin, and different kinds of desert primrose. The colorful attraction won’t last much longer, though. As temperatures rise over the next few weeks, the flowers will begin to whither and fade and the bloom will move north, to higher elevations. Source: TIME FOR KIDS and the TIME FOR KIDS logo are registered trademarks of Time Inc. used under license. © 2016 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted from TIME FOR KIDS and published with permission of Time Inc. Reproduction in any manner in any language in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

XXDirections: Read to determine how the text is organized—what type of text structure does

the author use? Read through the first time and try to answer that question. Read the text a second time and highlight words and phrases that give you clues to organization. Annotate how these clues provide information about text structure. XXWrite about reading: How is the text organized? What specifics in the text helped you

determine that? How did the text structure help you understand the main idea? Lesson 20    Spot Words That Signal Text Structure  147

GRA B & GO

E X CERPT TO W RITE A B OUT

LESSON

21

Overall Structure: Authors use devices such as transitions, organizational patterns (compare/ contrast, cause/effect, problem/ solution), and strategies (chronological order, order of importance) that allow them to emphasize certain ideas, events, concepts, or information. Structure of Texts: This refers to how authors organize their ideas and the text as a whole. Through structural patterns—at the sentence, the paragraph, and the whole-text level—authors emphasize certain ideas and effects. This can also be accomplished using structural patterns such as problem/solution and cause/effect. Authors emphasize certain ideas, events, concepts, or information.

Identify Text Structure Prompts for Noticing Text Structure zz How are the main sections of the text organized? zz What organizational pattern does the author use? zz How does this pattern help me explain events, ideas, or information

in the text? zz Which component—a sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section—

contributes most to the development of ideas in the text? zz Which organizational techniques or patterns does the author use in

this text? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Text structure is a focus on most tests, so students need ample demonstrations and discussions with a variety of nonfiction texts. zz Help your students to appreciate that when they understand the function of

the “surface” features (headings, glossaries, etc.) they are able to navigate a text efficiently and find information quickly. zz Help your students to feel confident in noticing the internal features/

structures, such as a bulleted list, or a paragraph that is built upon causes and effects, or expert quotes. Talk together about precisely why the author might have used them to advance a claim or idea. Have students articulate how these structures help them to hold meaning across a text. This metacognition combats students’ tendency to gloss over or skip reading sections they presume are “fluff”! zz If you teach third grade, focus on physical structures such as paragraphs,

bold text, images, graphs/charts, bullets, hyperlinks, etc. Explicitly teach what they are and why they’re important.

148

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out the prompts for each

­student. zz Photocopy

for each student copies of the Look at Structure Across a Text template on pages 152 or 153 and the Volcano Facts on page 155.

zz Because

there are numerous text structures, it behooves you to teach one at a time. This lesson builds on Lesson 20. Once students have an understanding of the vocabulary that signals text structure, they can begin to apply their knowledge. Many books have multiple structures occurring simultaneously, so the goal is to have students identify the different types and then transfer this knowledge to their independent reading.

zz Choose

a book that is high interest with obvious text structures (or choose a content book). For this lesson, I use Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis. Familiarize yourself with the book and where text structure is shown.

Introduce It 1. Distribute prompts to students and/or display on wall as anchor chart.

More on the Chicago World’s Fair: zz http://www.hydeparkhistory.org/ 2015/04/27/ferris-wheel-in-the-1893chicago-worlds-fair zz http://www.history.com/news/7-thingsyou-may-not-know-about-the1893-chicago-worlds-fair

2. Have chart paper available and sticky notes. Introduce the book and tell students that you will be looking for the evidence or the clues that help you determine text structure. 3. Highlight p. 3. (“Now it was America’s turn to impress the world at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. But what could outshine the famous French tower? And who would build it? A nationwide contest was announced.”) This is an example of problem/solution—if the students don’t recognize this, help them discern the text structure. 4. After you finish reading, revisit the chart with the text structures and evidence. 5. Write about reading: Either co-construct a res­ ponse to how the author organized the text or have students independently write a response explaining what the text structures were and how they helped the reader make meaning. 6. Extension: To introduce this text structure, have a variety of books on the same topic available to students. Use these books for students to look at and get an overall impression of text structure—just from skimming them. If you have multiple books on a unit of study, start there. Have students work with groups or partners, sorting through books in text sets and identifying and labeling text structure.

Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis

A great video on the first Ferris wheel: zz https://youtu.be/Jk8T5AIDon4

The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margaret and H. A. Rey by Louise Borden

zz http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ history-ferris-wheel-180955300/?no-ist

Lesson 21    Identify Text Structure  149

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student copies of the Look at Structure Across a Text template on pages 152 or 153 and the Volcano Facts on page 155.

zz Either

in small groups, with partners, independently, or as a guided lesson, have students work through the three excerpts on volcanoes to determine text structure.

zz Stop

and discuss their thinking and why they decided on specific text structures.

zz On

another day, have students use the template to hold their thinking about another piece of nonfiction and its organization. The first template matches the standards for Grades 3–5, the second matches the standards for Grades 6–8 and can be used for specific chapters or to hold thinking across a text.

zz Look for examples of text structure (especially in con-

tent areas you teach) to use as excerpts with students. zz Possible

answers to the excerpts: (1) “What Is aVolcano?”—question/answerstructure,(2)Volcanoes— cause/effect structure, (3) “The Volcano Wakes”— chronological structure.

Sample to Share With Students Co-Constructed Response on Mr. Ferris and His Wheel The author, Kathryn Gibbs Davis, organized the book Mr. Ferris and His Wheel in chronological order. The book begins with the words “It was only ten months until the next World’s Fair” and then has dates that move the story forward. The book ends with the end of the Fair in 1894 and then finally wraps up with “Today Ferris wheels are the most familiar and beloved carnival ride at state fairs and amusement parks. A ride on one still feels like flying to the moon——and oh-oh-oooh, the view!” The last sentence of that quote shows another text structure of the book——description. The entire book is filled with descriptive writing that helps the reader visualize and understand the text. Davis adds lots of details and examples that make the text interesting and more than just facts. She has great word choice. The descriptive text structure makes the most impact on the book. Because there was a problem (needing something as good as the Eiffel Tower) and a solution——hold a contest——which Ferris won, the main point of the book is the problem/solution. Therefore that’s another important text structure. In addition, there are several examples of cause and effect within the story. For example, when Ferris wins the contest but won’t be given money, he has to figure out how to get the funding (going bank to bank). Also, this book has text boxes on each page with additional information that relates to the story or its impact on the world. For example, “The Chicago Fair, or the ‘White City’ inspired two more (Continued) 150  Section 6    Words and Structure

(Continued) magical places——the Emerald City in the classic children’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, and Disneyland. Walt Disney’s father was a construction worker on the fair. He told his son stories about the dreamlike city he had helped build, and young Walt grew up to build famous amusement parks that stay open all year round.” These text boxes are almost all examples of cause and effect text structure.

Lesson 21    Identify Text Structure  151

GRA B & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Look at Structure Across a Text (for Use With Short Texts) Name:

  Date:

Title: 

Overall structure of the text. How does the author present information to the reader? Chapters? Paragraphs? Text features?

Break it down: Structure (cause/ effect, chronological, problem/solution, compare/contrast, description, etc.)

How this structure helps develop ideas How I determined the structure (evidence)

How it helps the reader understand the topic and details

Beginning

Middle

End

Write about reading: How did the author organize/structure the text and how does that help the reader?

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

152  Section 6    Words and Structure

W RITE - A B OUT- REA D ING TEMPLATE

GRA B & GO

Look at Structure Across a Text (for Grades 6–8) Name:

  Date:

Title: 

Overall structure of the text. How does the author present information to the reader? Chapters? Paragraphs? Text features?

Break it down: Structure (cause/ effect, chronological, problem/solution, compare/contrast, description, etc.)

How this structure helps develop ideas How I determined the structure (evidence)

How it helps the reader understand the topic and details

Beginning

(Continued)

Lesson 21    Identify Text Structure  153

GRA B & GO

(Continued) Structure (cause/ effect, chronological, problem/solution, compare/contrast, description, etc.)

How this structure helps develop ideas How I determined the structure (evidence)

How it helps the reader understand the topic and details

Middle

End

Digging deeper—How does the author use the following: Topic sentences

Transition words

Details

Summaries

Put it all together: Write about reading: The big idea from the text is ______________________________________________. Explain how the author structures the text to help the reader comprehend.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

154  Section 6    Words and Structure

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E X CERPT S TO W RITE A B OUT

Volcano Facts Name:

  Date:

� Directions: Read the first excerpt. Read through once and think about the text structure. Read

a second time and highlight words and phrases that provide clues to text structure. Annotate your thinking.

“What Is a Volcano?” From Violent Volcanoes

by Louise and Richard Spilsbury A volcano is a hole in the Earth’s surface. The hole reaches down into a pool of hot, liquid rock below. Most of the time, a volcano is silent and still. However, it can also suddenly erupt. When it erupts, boiling rock from inside the Earth spurts out of the opening. This lava may spill out like bubbling molasses, or it may shoot into the air at high speed. Some volcanoes give off clouds of ash and gas as well.

Incredible Power Most of the volcanic eruptions that happen are small, but some can cause terrible destruction. They can damage buildings, injure, and kill people. A large, violent, volcanic eruption can destroy all life for kilometers around. Volcanoes can completely change the way the land around them looks. They can blast away patches of ground and create new areas, such as hills or slopes. Some volcanoes shoot so much ash into the sky that they change the weather in an area for months on end. What do you think the text structure is?   Why?   XXRead the next excerpt. Read through once and think about the text structure. Read a second

time and highlight words and phrases that provide clues to text structure. Annotate your thinking. How is this excerpt different from the first? (Continued)

Lesson 21    Identify Text Structure  155

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(Continued)

Volcanoes by Seymour Simon In early times, no one knew how volcanoes formed or why they spouted red-hot molten rock. In modern times, scientists began to study volcanoes. They still don’t know all the answers, but they know much about how a volcano works. Our planet is made up of many layers of rock. The top layers of solid rock are called the crust. Deep beneath the curst is the mantle, where it is so hot that some rock melts. The melted, or molten, rock is called magma. Volcanoes are formed when magma pushes its way up through the cracks in Earth’s crust. This is called a volcanic eruption. When magma pours forth on the surface, it is called lava. As lava cools, it hardens to form rock that is also called lava. What do you think the text structure is?   Why?   XXRead the last excerpt. Read through once and think about the text structure. Read a second

time and highlight words and phrases that provide clues to text structure. Annotate your thinking. How does this excerpt differ from the first two?

“The Volcano Wakes” From Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens

by Patricia Lauber For many years the volcano slept. It was silent and still, big and beautiful. Then the volcano, which was named Mount St. Helens, began to stir. On March 20, 1980, it was shaken by a strong earthquake. The quake was a sign of movement inside St. Helens. It was a sign of a waking volcano that might soon erupt again. . . . In the middle 1800s a number of small eruptions took place. Between 1832 and 1857 St. Helens puffed out clouds of steam and ash from time to time. It also gave off small flows of lava. Then the mountain fell still. (Continued)

156  Section 6    Words and Structure

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(Continued) For well over a hundred years the volcano slept. Each spring, as winter snows melted, its slopes seemed to come alive. Wildflowers bloomed in meadows. Bees gathered pollen and nectar. Birds fed, found mates, and built nests. Bears lumbered out of their dens. Herds of elk and deer feasted on fresh green shoots. Thousands of people came to hike, picnic, camp, fish, paint, bird-watch, or just enjoy the scenery. Logging crews felled tall trees and planted seedlings. These people knew that Mount St. Helens was a volcano, but they did not fear it. To them it was simply a green and pleasant mountain, where forests of firs stretched up the slopes and streams ran clear and cold. The mountain did not seem so trustworthy to geologists, scientists who study the earth. They knew that Mount St. Helens was dangerous. It was a young volcano and one of the most active in the Cascade Range. In 1975 two geologists finished a study of the volcano’s past eruptions. They predicted that Mount St. Helens would erupt again within 100 years, perhaps before the year 2000. The geologists were right. With the earthquake of March 20, 1980, Mount St. Helens woke from a sleep of 123 years. . . . What do you think the text structure is?   Why?  

Note: Notice in the first paragraph the way in which Patricia Lauber personifies the volcano, by saying it “slept” for many years, and that in 1980, it showed signs of “waking.” In addition, even though assigning it the adjectives of silent, still, big, and beautiful isn’t full-tilt personification, the author is purposefully enhancing our sense of Mount St. Helens as a being. In the second paragraph, Lauber continues to give us this sense of the volcano as a willful, puffing dragon. In the third paragraph, we are treated to idyllic, almost Disneyesque images of people and nature living in harmony. Notice the way Lauber deftly continues this conceit of the seemingly “pleasant” mountain, but roiling beneath, “untrustworthy” qualities, according to the geologists. The effect? We are enticed into this narrative, curious to know more about when Mount St. Helens erupted, and how severe was its effect. Effective nonfiction writers such as Lauber use many literary devices to make facts “fully rounded” with human emotion and consequence.

Lesson 21    Identify Text Structure  157

LESSON

22

Compare and Contrast Overall Structure of Two or More Texts Structure and Style: The structure of a text can be likened to the wood beams of a house. An author, like an architect, figures out how she or he wants to arrange the “rooms” of information and the “staircases” of thought leading through it, so that the reader finishes the piece thinking/feeling in a particular way. Style: To extend this house analogy, the style of a nonfiction piece is the elements that enhance the information and point of view. Stylistic elements might include personal asides, use of humor, word choice, and frequency of challenging words or easier-to-understand words. Photos, charts, and visuals can also contribute to the style, making it either more accessible or more scholarly, for example.

Prompts for Comparing and Contrasting zz What is the main idea of the texts? zz Can I find the important events, ideas, or information in each text? zz How are the texts and the information similar? zz How are the texts and information different? Can I contrast the

structure and the information? zz How does the structure of these texts affect their meaning and style? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Compare/contrast is a standard element on most tests. Students not only have to identify how two texts are similar and different, they often need to write compare/contrast essays citing evidence from the texts. zz Students are asked to compare/contrast a variety of elements including text

structure. But on a practical level, as students become familiar with how authors structure nonfiction, they will become adept at writing their own. zz In addition, understanding text structure lays the foundation for more

sophisticated skills, such as analyzing the structure and the author’s argument.

158

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out prompts for each student.

zz Photocopy

for each student the Compare and Contrast Text Structure template on page 162 and The Hindenburg Disaster excerpts on page 164.

zz Before

 3. Discuss how this shows similarities and differences in a book by one author, so the text structure remains the same. Add a box to the bottom of the Venn diagram anchor chart that is titled “Text Structure” and add to this. (Descriptive informational text. Written in second person. Also includes text features—text boxes and photos.)

introducing compare/contrast between two texts, demonstrate how one text shows two contrasting points of view. The Who Would Win? series is excellent for this, as it has the two sides on each page and ultimately shows who would win at the end of the book. (Killer Whale vs. Great White Shark is excellent.) Plus, the books are highly engaging. I use Seymour Simon’s Extreme Earth Records to introduce the concept, followed by books on the Titanic to show how text structure changes the comparison and contrast.

 4. Introduce that the purpose for this lesson is to compare and contrast two texts on the same topic, but to dig into the text structure. I use two of the Titanic books listed under the book icon; however, you can use two books on the same topic— especially a content area you are teaching.

zz Have at least one text set (two or more books on the

 7. Read the first book, stopping for students to jot thinking on their templates and turn and talk to share thinking.

same topic) ready to share.

 5. Hand out the template (you can also record thinking on a template under the document camera).  6. Have students skim the two books for text features and jot their thinking on their templates.

 8. Repeat this process with the second book.

Introduce It  1. Create a Venn diagram for compare/contrast of your introductory book.

  9. Write about reading: Co-construct a compare/ contrast piece on the text structure of the two texts.

 2. Read the first two chapters of Extreme Earth Records—The Coldest Place on Earth (p. 9) and The Hottest Place on Earth (p. 13)—and discuss and fill in the Venn diagram.

10. Option: Use the template from Lesson 20 on page 146 to hold thinking across two texts—­ simply have students fill one out for each text and then compare/contrast.

More on the Titanic: zz http://www.history.com/ topics/titanic zz http://www.eyewitnessto history.com/titanic.htm zz http://ngm.national geographic.com/2012/04/ titanic/sides-text

Any of the Who Would Win? series by Jerry Pallotta Extreme Earth Records by Seymour Simon Any of the text sets from prior lessons are excellent resources for this lesson.

Want to watch the Titanic sink in real time? Here’s a video: zz https://youtu.be/rs9w 5bgtJC8

Titanic text set: zz Titanic: Voices From the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson zz You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on the Titanic! by David Stewart zz The Story of Titanic for Children by Joe Fullman zz National Geographic Kids: Titanic by Melissa Stewart

Lesson 22    Compare and Contrast Overall Structure of Two or More Texts  159

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student copies of the Compare and Contrast Text Structure template on page 162 and The Hindenburg Disaster excerpts on page 164 (download a full-color version at http://resources .corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction).

zz Either

in small groups, with partners, or individually, have students read, highlight, and then record their thinking on the template.

zz Discuss

thinking before writing a compare/contrast

essay. zz Use

the excerpts as a template to create your own excerpts on relevant material for your students to compare and contrast.

zz Note:

The box on the template that focuses on organization affecting style is intended for Grades 6–8. That can be omitted for younger grades.

Sample to Share With Students

(Continued)

160  Section 6    Words and Structure

(Continued)

Co-Constructed Response on National Geographic Kids: Titanic and The Story of Titanic for Children Both the books, National Geographic Kids: Titanic and The Story of Titanic for Children, provide a lot of information for the reader. Both are written in third person and both have many of the same text features. For example, they both include photographs, pictures, and captions. The visuals provide a lot of information. They also have diagrams and primary sources. Finally, both have an index and a glossary. Another similarity is that both books use the structure of cause and effect (What was the cause for the Titanic sinking? What was the effect?). However the text structure in each makes how you read the book different. In The Story of Titanic, the reader doesn’t necessarily have to read the entire book sequentially. Each section can stand alone, so you can choose what to read and learn. It really is a book of facts and details about the Titanic. The author gives two pages on each topic and on those pages is a short piece of text explaining (usually one paragraph) and then photos, drawings, and text boxes to go into more detail. There are photographs and artifacts and stories, so this book offers different, more in-depth information about the Titanic.

National Geographic Kids: Titanic is written in chronological order. It begins with Robert Ballard discovering the shipwreck, but then goes back to the beginning of the Titanic and tells the Titanic story sequentially by date. There is also a timeline at the end of the book with the minutes after the Titanic hit the iceberg and what was happening. This book doesn’t have as many extra facts and details as the other book, but it does have text boxes of “Weird but True” and other short blurbs that add to the text. Another difference is this book has specific pages on “10 Cool Things” or “10 Real Reasons for the Titanic Tragedy.” This last one is a great example of cause and effect. This book needs to be read cover to cover to get all the information, although the table of contents at the beginning lets the reader know what is in the book. Both books give the reader a lot of information, but in different ways. The text features in both make the books entertaining and interesting. The visuals definitely help to explain the text.

Lesson 22    Compare and Contrast Overall Structure of Two or More Texts  161

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W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Compare and Contrast Text Structure Name:

  Date:

Topic: 

Text #1

Text #2

Title ____________________________________

Title ______________________________________

Overall organization of the text (include text features)

Overall organization of the text (include text features)

Text structures (e.g., cause/effect, compare/ contrast, problem/solution, chronological, question/answer, description)

Text structures (e.g., cause/effect, compare/ contrast, problem/solution, chronological, question/answer, description)

Text clues that help me determine this (cite evidence)

Text clues that help me determine this (cite evidence)

Overall meaning:

Overall meaning:

How does the organization affect the style of the text?

How does the organization affect the style of the text?

(Continued) 162  Section 6    Words and Structure

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(Continued) How are the texts SIMILAR?

How are the texts DIFFERENT?

Write about reading: Write a compare/contrast essay on these two texts, using the thinking you noted above.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Lesson 22    Compare and Contrast Overall Structure of Two or More Texts  163

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E X CERPT S TO W RITE A B OUT

The Hindenburg Disaster � Directions: zz Read

through the first excerpt and highlight examples of text structure. Use the Compare and Contrast Text Structure template to record your thinking.

zz Then

read the second excerpt and do the same.

What Was the Hindenburg? by Janet B. Pascal On Thursday, May 6, 1937, a crowd gathered in Lakehurst, New Jersey. They were there to watch the airship Hindenburg land. Although the ship had arrived in Lakehurst several times before, it was still a thrilling sight. The Hindenburg was the first flying ship ever to carry passengers over the Atlantic Ocean to America. A little while before 7:00 p.m., the Hindenburg appeared. It was a kind of ship called a zeppelin. This is a large balloon on a hard frame, filled with a gas that is lighter than air. It floats through the sky like a helium balloon. To hold enough gas to stay up, zeppelins had to be huge. The Hindenburg was almost a sixth of a mile long. It was shaped like a tube with rounded ends. Its surface was a shining silver. Despite its size, it floated lightly and quietly through the air, as much at home as a fish in water. As it began to sink gently toward the airfield, it was a beautiful sight. More than a hundred workers were waiting on the field to help pull in the ship. The crew dropped two ropes to them. It seemed that the Hindenburg had finished another successful voyage. What happened next would horrify the world and change the future of flying. Most people believed that these majestic, floating bubbles would soon carry passengers all over the world. Until May 6, 1937, it seemed they would someday rule the sky. But after that day, no passenger zeppelin ever flew again. Note: In these four opening paragraphs, Pascal uses carefully chosen words to paint a picture of promise, technological beauty, and people’s investment in these “magical floating bubbles” as vessels to a bright future of glamorous air travel. The zeppelin was not just silver but “shining” silver, and it floated lightly and quietly through the air. One of the most arresting phrases is “as much at home as a fish in water.” What’s so interesting about that line is that it’s an outlier—totally conjecture. In other words, the vessel may have looked at home to people, but there is a presumptuousness, or innocence in the line that is not unlike the overconfidence folks had for the safety of the gas-powered Hindenburg. Was that intentional on the part of the writer, to plant this line? One of the pleasures of reading nonfiction is to ponder what a writer had in mind as he or she selected details.

(Continued)

164  Section 6    Words and Structure

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(Continued)

You Wouldn’t Want to Be on the Hindenburg! A Transatlantic Trip You’d Rather Skip by Ian Graham Introduction The year is 1936—and this is the most exciting day of your life! You have just learned that you are to join the crew of the Hindenburg airship. The LZ129 Hindenburg is the world’s biggest airship. It’s as big as an ocean liner, but it’s lighter than air, thanks to the hydrogen gas that fills it. It was built by the Zeppelin company in Germany for luxury flights across the Atlantic Ocean. You have been working as an airship mechanic for the past five years. Your job is to keep the engines in tip-top condition. At first, you worked in workshops on the ground. Then you flew in the company’s smaller airships, looking after the engines during flights. Now, you’ve been given your dream job in the brand-new Hindenburg. It is due to make ten flights from Germany to the United States and seven to Brazil, all in its first year. You’ll be going with it—and you can’t wait!

Flying Whales Zeppelin airships have been flying since 1900. They are named after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the German nobleman who develop them. Earlier airships were just big bags of gas; they sometimes collapsed like leaking party balloons. Count Zeppelin’s airships are bigger and stronger because they have a metal frame inside. In 1909, Zeppelin formed Delag, the world’s first airline. Its airships have carried tens of thousands of passengers—including you—between German cities. The Zeppelin company makes military airships, too. Note: One glance at the following two heavily illustrated pages and you know both the author and illustrator are out to capture your attention about a gruesome disaster with a touch of . . . humor? Yes, this is an interesting example of a talented team who have a particular purpose in mind: educate younger readers who might not be eager to read history about an important event. The subtitle, for starters, uses understatement—“a transatlantic trip you’d rather skip”—to set a tone. Then, when you let your eyes wander across the page, the fun fonts, the “flying whales” heading, and that white-mustached man who looks more like a man selling breakfast cereal than a German nobleman all combine to invite you into this lighthearted book. Word choice and details like “bag of gas” and “deflated party balloons” not only make the account more relatable to young readers but seem to forecast the human folly and maybe hubris that led to the air disaster. Although it’s hard to tell from this excerpt, the author’s inclusion of the detail that zeppelins were used as military ships too may be an invitation for a savvy reader to investigate this tidbit more. In fact, just a few years after the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, zeppelins were used by Germany to scout and bomb Britain. Look at photos of the Hindenburg and you will see a swastika on its side. Is there some element of Ian Graham sticking it to the Germans here? One of the challenges and thrills of reading nonfiction is pondering an author’s deepest thoughts on a topic.

(Continued)

Lesson 22    Compare and Contrast Overall Structure of Two or More Texts  165

166  

Source: Graham, I. (2009). You wouldn’t want to be on the Hindenburg! A transatlantic trip you’d rather skip. New York, NY: Franklin Watts.

(Continued)

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LE SSON

23

Evaluate the Reasoning, Relevance, and Sufficiency of Evidence Prompts for Evaluating Evidence zz What is the topic of this text? zz What is the main idea/key point the author is asserting about the topic? zz How do headings, topic sentences, and repeating words and

graphics help me decide the key point the author is making?

Evidence: It is the reader’s job to determine whether the evidence is, in fact, related to the claim and does, indeed, provide adequate support. If the evidence is from an unreliable source or is limited to a few details, the reader should consider the evidence insufficient.

zz Are there subtopics? zz Might the subtopics help me know which reasons support each key

point? zz What evidence does the author provide to support each key idea? zz Does the evidence seem sound (from authoritative sources)? zz Is there a variety of data (statistics, expert quotes from opposing views)? zz Is this a personal opinion, devoid of generalizable evidence about

this topic? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test As students progress through the grades, they are required to determine, evaluate, and analyze the evidence in texts. Introduce students to these basics: zz Give them lots of practice in determining the claim and noticing the

evidence being used to support the claim. zz Read aloud and share examples of unsupported opinions or weak

arguments, so students develop an ear for impassioned entreaties about an issue that may be well intended, but not well reasoned.

167

zz Talk about the kinds of things that can make a piece stronger. What’s

missing? What could this writer have added to win you over? zz Tactile, physical collaborative activities work well, wherein students debate

in teams or physically cross the room when someone has swayed them to a point of view.

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out the prompts for each

­student. zz Photocopy the Author’s Point template on page 170

and “How Octopuses Change Color” on page 171. zz This

lesson is intended for Grades 6 and above; however, it can be adapted for the younger grades if you feel your students are ready for this skill.

zz Choose

a text with an obvious claim or perspective from the author. For this I use an article from history. com on Columbus called “Columbus Controversy.”

Introduce It 1. Introduce that many times authors state a claim and then provide reasons and evidence to support it. Sometimes the evidence is strong; other times it isn’t sufficient.

For more on the Columbus controversy: zz http://www.history.com/topics/ exploration/columbus-controversy Want more science? zz www.sciencemeetsadventure.com

168  Section 6    Words and Structure

2. Model your thinking as you work through the article—beginning with the title and the word controversy. Work paragraph by paragraph. High­ light the claim in one color and the evidence in another color. 3. Number the evidence as you read—be explicit that you are determining the evidence. 4. After reading through the article once, read a second time—this time with the purpose of evaluating the evidence. 5. Finally, review the claim and the evidence and analyze whether the author provided adequate support. 6. Write about reading: Co-construct a short response (use the scaffolded response chart, if necessary) analyzing the claim and the support. 7. Tell students they will be practicing what you just modeled in their independent reading.

Any of the Scientists in the Field: Where Science Meets Adventure series Gentle Giant Octopus by Karen Wallace Encounter by Jane Yolen (fiction, but a companion piece to the Columbus article)

Columbus’s ships: zz http://www.history.com/ topics/exploration/columbuscontroversy/videos

zz Students

read and highlight the excerpt, record their thinking on the template, and then write about their thinking.

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student copies of the Author’s Point template on page 170 and “How Octopuses Change Color” on page 171.

zz This

process can transfer to any articles or content area reading in which students are required to evaluate the evidence. Remember, it can be hard for any of us to discern the quality of the evidence, and students are on the beginning of a lifelong journey of being critical readers. Do lots of discussing of “the gut instinct,” too—that as they read, they should stay tuned to their horse sense about things, asking questions like, What do I like? How is this making me feel? Why is it not sitting right? Why are there so many adjectives and so few facts?

zz Use

the excerpt as a stand-alone practice; students can work in small groups, with partners, or independently to determine the author’s assertion and the evidence to back it up.

zz However, upper-grade students need practice hold-

ing thinking over longer texts, so if time allows, read the book in its entirety, highlighting this particular section.

More Templates to Share With Students W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

GRAB & GO

Write About Reasoning Name:

Date:

Title: Author: Argument:

One way it’s supported:

A second way the author supports it:

For these reasons, the argument is (strong, weak, effective, ineffective):

Types of Evidence/Supporting Details zz Examples

zz Analogies

zz Facts/data

zz Causal

zz Details

zz Quotes

relationships from one or more experts

zz Anecdotes

Retrieved from the companion website for Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Lesson 23    Evaluate the Reasoning, Relevance, and Sufficiency of Evidence  169

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W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Author’s Point Name:

  Date:

Title: 

Author’s Point

Author’s Point

Reasons Evidence

Reasons Evidence

Evaluate the evidence

Evaluate the evidence

Write about reading: The author makes these points:    The evidence and reasons are     Because of this reasoning, my evaluation of the evidence is    

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

170  Section 6    Words and Structure

“How Octopuses Change Color” From The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk

by Sy Montgomery � Directions: zz What

is the author’s assertion right from the beginning? What evidence backs this up?

zz Underline

the supporting details and annotate/classify what type of details these are.

Octopuses put chameleons to shame. An octopus can change its entire appearance— going from red to white, from stripes to spots, from bumpy to smooth—in one-tenth of a second. The secret is its amazing skin, which it changes to blend with its surroundings, startle prey, scare away predators, and signal to mates and rivals. No one has decoded what all the different colors and shapes mean for all the different octopus species (though in many species, an octopus who turns red is excited, and one who is white is relaxed). But scientists do have a good idea how octopus skin works. Small muscles in the ski can pull it into the peaks called papillae. For its color palette, the octopus uses three layers of three different types of cells near the skin’s surface. The topmost cells are called chromatophores (cro-MAT-uh-fores). Each chromatophore cell is like a little pot of color, it can use its muscles to open and to reveal a lot or a little of each pot—or not. It can make each chromatophore as big as seven times its resting (and invisible) diameter. The chromatophores may contain the colors yellow, red, brown, and black (depending on the species of octopus). A middle layer of cells, the iridophores (eh-RID-uh-fores), can create an array of glittering blues, greens, and golds. By using iridophores in combination with chromatophores, for instance, the octopus can create colors such as purple and orange. The iridophore cells don’t open and close, but the octopus can change the angle of each cell to reflect light like a tiny mirror. At the deepest layer of skin are the octopus’s leucophores (LEW-kuh-fores). These, too, reflect light, but instead of glittering colors they can create a white shine. How does the octopus know which colors to turn? Scientists aren’t sure. Especially because they have determined, by counting the different light-receiving pigments in the octopus eye, that octopuses are color-blind! XXAfter: Use the template to record your thinking. Write whether you think the author provided

sufficient evidence to support her assertion. Note: Sy Montgomery clearly has done her research! It’s a fascinating, little-known topic—that octopuses have the ability to change color—and it’s notable that most of the piece is “straight facts.” Paragraphs three, four, and five describe the function of the three layers of skin, with little editorializing or embellishment. Notice the domain-specific/specialized vocabulary, which is even augmented with pronunciation guides. It’s the kind of nonfiction writing that lends itself to a highlighter pen, so the reader can reread and recall the distinct attributes of each layer of skin. Nevertheless, it’s noteworthy that Montgomery, in both the second and last paragraphs, reminds us that scientists are continually searching for additional answers about the octopus. It’s a refreshing grace note and contributes to our sense of science as inquiry.

Lesson 23    Evaluate the Reasoning, Relevance, and Sufficiency of Evidence  171

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E X CERPT TO W RITE A B OUT

LESSON

24

Delineate the Argument and Specific Claims

Argument: The writer or speaker adopts a position, and he or she attempts to persuade others to think or feel differently about an issue, to change how they act, or to resolve disagreements with other parties about an issue. He or she accomplishes these ends by presenting claims supported with reasons, evidence, and appeals. Arguments are related to but different from claims, propositions, or assertions. Claims: A specific assertion that authors want readers to accept as true and act on; the author’s thesis is the primary claim he or she will make, develop, and support with evidence throughout the text. Because a claim is debatable, it requires supporting evidence to counter inevitable challenges the critical readers will make as they assess the validity of the claims, logic, and evidence. Delineate: The reader must be able to describe or represent in precise detail the author’s argument, as well as his or her claims, reasoning, and evidence; to delineate is to draw a line between what is and is not the exact argument, claim, reason, or evidence.

172

Prompts for Delineating the Argument and Claims zz What arguments or claims does this text make—and how do these

evolve as I trace them from beginning to end? zz How sound is the reasoning behind the argument and claims? zz Does one claim and details support the next claim and details? zz How can I determine whether the evidence is relevant and sufficient? Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction

Best the Test Not only are students required to identify the claims and arguments, by eighth grade they need to be able to analyze how the author defends his or her argument and offers sound reasoning. Prepare students for this by zz Having students read multiple texts and write their own arguments, citing

evidence from the texts provided. Reading and analyzing arguments gives them practice with this.

Lesson Prep zz Download

and print out the prompts for each

­student. zz Use

longer pieces of text. Any texts that fit with the content area are perfect, especially ones that communicate a certain point of view. There are many excellent books on WWII and the Holocaust, and here I use Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

Introduce It 1. Start a chart, or record under the document camera the title, author, and the question, “What argument or claim does this text make?” OR provide students with a template to complete as you work through the text. 2. Since this is a long book (175 pages), focus on the Introduction and Author’s Note at the end. Either copy these pages for students to follow along, or project them under the document camera. 3. Read together the Foreword and record what you think the author’s argument is (“Formed officially in 1926, the Hitler Youth offered its members excitement, adventure, and new heroes to worship. It gave them hope, power, and the chance to make their voices heard. And for some, it provided the opportunity to rebel against parents, teachers, clergy, and other authority figures. . . . Hitler counted on Germany’s boys and girls. This is their story.”) 4. Skip to the Author’s Note and read and discuss. Add thinking to the chart about author’s argument. Specific sections to discuss: Just say “Adolf Hitler” and the name of the man responsible for the deaths of over 53 million ­people—most in their late teens and early twenties—evokes disgust. Some time ago, I stumbled across an article called “Nazis Under Twenty-one” p ­ ublished in a 1944 issue of The Nation magazine. In the

article, author Karl Paetel claimed that the National Socialist Party, or Nazis, “rode to power on the shoulders of politically active youth.” His words made my heart turn over. I wondered: What role did young people serve in Hitler’s Third Reich? Did they help Adolf Hitler and his rising Nazi Party ride to power in Germany? If so, were they willing participants in his machinery of oppression and murder? Or were they brainwashed victims? Or something in between? (p. 161) This book is my attempt to understand the role of young people during a devastating twelve-year period of history that changed our world forever. It is my attempt to make sense of the fact that adults taught young people to hate, to kill, and to feel superior over others. After all, the Hitler Youth weren’t born Nazis; they became Nazis. The stories in this book are complicated. They are riveting. But most of all, they turn the heart over. (p. 162) 5. Ask, how do we decide whether the author provides reasoning? How do we decide whether the evidence is relevant and sufficient? You have to read what’s in between! 6. Either read sections of the book over time and record the evidence on the chart OR provide students with specific chapters to read, annotate, and discuss. These can be done as small book clubs, and then each group can share out the information and the evidence to determine whether the author has made the argument. 7. Write about reading: Co-construct, or have students independently write, an essay analyzing the author’s argument and the evidence she provides. 8. Tell students they will be doing this independently as they work through texts with strong arguments. 9. Extension: This can also be done with speeches, etc. Any time students can think critically is opportune.

Lesson 24    Delineate the Argument and Specific Claims  173

More information on WWII and the Holocaust (please preview first, especially if sharing with younger children): zz http://www.holocaustresearchproject. org/holoprelude/hitleryouth.html zz https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article .php?ModuleId=10005143 zz http://www.auschwitz.dk zz http://www.historyplace.com/ worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html zz https://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/ resource.htm Typhoid Mary:

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti Tell Them We Remember: The Story of the Holocaust by Susan D. Bachrach I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children’s Drawings and Poems From the Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942–1944 by Hana Volavkova (editor) Erika’s Story by Ruth Vander Zee

Please note—the following video is for older students only and should be viewed by the teacher PRIOR to showing—there are unsettling images from the death camps, etc.: zz https://youtu.be/-nNA8YIekBI Typhoid Mary: zz https://youtu.be/8JPCZOb7z2w

Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

zz http://history1900s.about.com/ od/1900s/a/typhoidmary.htm

How to Use the Grab and Go Pages zz Distribute

to each student a copy of the Map the Argument template on page 176 and the Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary excerpts on page 177.

zz Either

in partners or independently, have students read and annotate the excerpts, following the directions and the guiding questions.

174  Section 6    Words and Structure

zz After

working through the text, students record their thinking on the template and write a response.

zz The

template can be another “tool” for students to use as they hold their thinking about author’s claims and arguments.

  175

Sample to Share With Students

GRA B & GO

W R I T E - A B O U T- R E A D I N G T E M P L A T E

Map the Argument Name:

  Date:

Title: 

Argument

Specific claims

SUPPORTING DETAILS Evidence

Reasons

Facts

Causal relationships

Analogies

Examples

Evaluation

Available for download at http://resources.corwin.com/evidencebasedwriting-nonfiction Copyright © 2017 by Leslie Blauman. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Teaching Evidence-Based Writing: Nonfiction by Leslie Blauman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, www.corwin.com. Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book.

176  Section 6    Words and Structure

GRA B & GO

E X CERPT S TO W RITE A B OUT

Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow XXDirections: Read the lead to the book and think about what the author’s argument is. What is

the author’s purpose? What is her perspective? Highlight where you find clues to those questions and annotate your thinking.

The Lead: Hidden “I am an innocent human being.”

—Mary Mallon

Early on a damp March morning in 1907, Mary Mallon answered the knock at the servants’ entrance of a New York brownstone house. She took one look at the visitors and lunged at them with her sharp fork. As they flinched, she ran toward the kitchen. Mary knew why they were there. A few weeks earlier, a well-dressed man with a mustache had shown up, accusing her of outrageous and horrible things. Later, he followed her. Cornered her at her friend’s home. Acted as though he had the right to stick her with a needle and steal her blood. Yesterday, a woman in a tailored suit and stiff collar had come to the kitchen. She claimed to have the authority to do exactly that . . . and more. The woman refused to take Mary’s “no” for an answer. Now she was back with the police. Mary was sure that this time, if they caught her, they wouldn’t let her go. She should have disappeared when she had the chance. They had no right to threaten her or touch her body. Even if she was only a cook, Mary wasn’t going to let them do it. Picking up her skirts, she fled past the kitchen and down the hall. Where could she hide? Mary headed for the backdoor. Frantically, she scanned the snow-covered yard for a hiding place, but she saw nothing. Policemen were looking for her inside the house and out on the street. She was trapped. A high wooden fence separated the backyard from the house next door. If she could just get over that fence and into the neighbor’s yard. . . . A wooden chair pushed up against the fence would do the trick. Thank Almighty God she had friends who would help. Would say that they had no idea where she’d gone. Would point out a small outside closet under the neighbor’s front steps. Would pile some ash cans against its closed door after she climbed in. Mary shut the door behind her and crouched down. She didn’t know it, but she wasn’t alone in that cramped, cold closet. Deep inside her body, billions of deadly microorganisms were hiding, too. . . . (Continued) Lesson 24    Delineate the Argument and Specific Claims  177

GRA B & GO

(Continued) The fates of three people collided at that New York City brownstone. The three had been born within four years of each other and had taken different paths to reach the middle of their lives. In late winter 1907, those lives changed forever. For George Albert Soper, determined to establish his reputation, the event would add another triumph to boost his career. For Sara Josephine Baker, attempting to make her mark in a male-dominated and often corrupt city government, it would bolster her efforts to gain respect and responsibility. For Mary Mallon, struggling to support herself in an adopted country, her encounters with both of them would lead to a notoriety that has lasted for more than a century. The world would remember who she was long after it had forgotten the other two. These three people were brought together by a dreaded scourge that left behind shattered dreams, broken hearts, and painful death.

TYPHOID FEVER. XXNow that you’ve finish the lead, write what you think the author’s argument or claims are.

  XXRead the end of the story and see whether the author provides evidence to support the claim.

Highlight evidence and annotate your thinking.

The Rest of the Story: Typhoid in the Twenty-First Century “Typhoid fever can be prevented.” —Centers for Disease Control and Prevention In the United States, the public health battle against typhoid fever was a success. Water filtration, chlorination, and improved sewage disposal greatly reduced the number of victims. In 1900, about 31 of every 100,000 Americans died of typhoid fever. By 1940, the rate had dropped to only 1 out of 100,000. Today, death from typhoid is rare. . . . About 80 percent of these people caught the bacteria during a trip outside the country. Most had been to India, Bangladesh, or Pakistan, where the vast majority of the world’s cases occur. Parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and south and east Asia also have high typhoid rates, particularly in urban slums. Typhoid spreads easily where human waste contaminates drinking water and food. As many as 2.5 billion people worldwide live without basic sanitation, with a billion of them routinely defecating on open ground. Nearly 800 million have no access to clean water. In these areas, people tend to wash their hands less often and without the soap that helps remove bacteria. . . .

178  Section 6    Words and Structure

GRA B & GO

(Continued)

Hope for the Future Scientists are studying the DNA sequence of Salmonella typhi’s genome to find weaknesses that they can use to fight typhoid fever. Clues may lead to better diagnostic tests, antibiotics, treatments, and vaccines. Other researchers are trying to understand how typhoid bacteria remain in a carrier’s body without causing symptoms. The work is challenging because Salmonella typhi doesn’t cause disease in other animals, and certain experiments on humans would be unethical. Projects in developing countries are aimed at protecting the water supply from contamination and purifying it by chlorination. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, these sanitation improvements could take years to achieve. Someday, research and public health efforts may succeed in eradicating typhoid fever. When that happens, Salmonella typhi will no longer inflict pain and suffering on communities the way it did in Ithaca more than a hundred years ago. And no one will ever become a “Typhoid Mary” again. XXWrite about reading: What was the author’s argument or claim? What evidence was provided?

Evaluate whether the evidence was relevant and supported the claim. Note: Gail Jarrow opens her account of a woman infected with typhoid fever with a narrative writing style that makes it all read like a novel. It’s a dramatic opening because Jarrow doesn’t lay all her cards on the table. She deliberately withholds details so that we wonder: Is this woman a criminal? Why are the police involved? Why is she resisting the demands of the people knocking at her door? At the end of this opening, Jarrow fully unfurls her subject matter: Typhoid Mary. Notice the way Jarrow also establishes who she is writing about but declares that her subject has been notorious for more than a century: “The world would remember who she was long after it had forgotten the other two.” This is an effective technique for an opening because it almost corners the reader into reading on by establishing that if you don’t know this story—you should.

Lesson 24    Delineate the Argument and Specific Claims  179

REFERENCES Children’s Works Cited Berne, J. (2013). On a beam of light: A story of Albert Einstein. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. Brallier, J. (2002). Who was Albert Einstein? New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap. Brown, D. (2008). Odd boy out: Young Albert Einstein. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin. Collard, S. (2008). Science warriors: The battle against invasive species. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin. Duden, J. (2000). Avalanche! The deadly slide. Logan, IA: Perfection Learning. Furgang, K. (2003). Everything volcanoes and earthquakes. Washington, DC: National Geographic. The Gettysburg address. (2016). Abraham Lincoln Online. Retrieved from http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/ lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm Giovanni, N. (2005). Rosa. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company. Graham, I. (2009). You wouldn’t want to be on the Hindenburg! A transatlantic trip you’d rather skip. New York, NY: Franklin Watts. Herrera, K. (2016). Death Valley’s super bloom. TIME for Kids. Retrieved from http://www.timeforkids.com/news/ death-valley’s-super-bloom/371806 Higgins, N. (2014). The split history of the civil rights movement. North Mankato, MN: Compass Point Books (Capstone). Jarrow, G. (2015). Fatal fever: Tracking down Typhoid Mary. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek. Kelleher, K. (2007). Rosa Parks: Civil rights pioneer. TIME for Kids Biographies. New York, NY: HarperCollins. Krull, K. (2009). Giants of science: Albert Einstein. New York, NY: Penguin Young Readers Group. Langston-George, R. (2015). The dust bowl. North Mankato, MN: Capstone. Lauber, P. (1986). Volcano: The eruption and healing of Mount St. Helens. New York, NY: Aladdin. Levine, E. (1993). Freedom’s children: Young civil rights activists tell their own stories. New York, NY: Puffin Books. Marrin, A. (2009). Years of dust: The story of the dust bowl. New York, NY: Puffin Books. Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech, August 28, 1963. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/ documents/1951-/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-august-28-1963.php Montgomery, S. (2015). The octopus scientists: Exploring the mind of a mollusk. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Oxlade, C. (2008). Violent skies: Hurricanes. Chicago, IL: Raintree. Parks, R., & Haskin, J. (1992). Rosa Parks: My story. New York, NY: Puffin Books. Pascal, J. B. (2014). What was the Hindenburg? New York, NY: Grosset and Dunlap. Patrick, D. L. (2005). Jackie Robinson: Strong inside and out. New York, NY: HarperCollins. Rupp, R. (2003). Weather! North Adams, MA: Storey. Silvey, A. (2015). Untamed: The wild life of Jane Goodall. Washington, DC: National Geographic. Simon, S. (1993). Weather. New York, NY: HarperCollins. Simon, S. (1998). Volcanoes: All about how they’re formed, where they’re found, why they erupt, and more. New York, NY: HarperCollins. Spilsbury, L., & Spilsbury, R. (2010). Violent volcanoes! Chicago, IL: Heinemann. Tomecek, S. M. (2003). What a great idea! Inventions that changed the world. New York, NY: Scholastic. Treaster, J. B. (2007). Hurricane force: In the path of America’s deadliest storms. New York, NY: Kingfisher Press. Wollard, K. (1993). How come? Every kid’s science questions explained. New York, NY: Workman. Wollard, K. (1999). How come? Planet earth. New York, NY: Workman. Zimbler, S. (2013). Saving cheetahs. TIME for Kids, 3(14).

181

Works Cited Beers, K., & Probst, J. (2016). Reading non-fiction. Portsmouth, NH: Heineman. Burke, J., & Gilmore, B. (2015). Academic moves for college and career readiness: 15 must-have skills every student needs to achieve, grades 6–12. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Hattie, J. (2016). Visible learning for literacy, grades K–12: Implementing the practices that work best to accelerate student learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies that work: Teaching comprehension to enhance understanding. York, ME: Stenhouse. Robb, L. (2014). Vocabulary is comprehension: Getting to the root of text complexity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Other Suggested Children’s Books Section 1. Evidence Do Tornadoes Really Twist? Questions and Answers About Tornadoes and Hurricanes by Melvin and Gilda Berger Howling Hurricanes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury Did It All Start With a Snowball Fight? And Other Questions About the American Revolution by Mary Kay Carson Q & A Series from Scholastic Can You Believe? Hurricanes by Sandra Markle Hurricanes Have Eyes but Can’t See and Other Amazing Facts About Wild Weather by Melvin and Gilda Berger Face to Face With Cheetahs by Chris Johns with Elizabeth Carney Chasing Cheetahs: the Race to Save Africa’s Fastest Cat by Sy Montgomery

Section 2. Relationships Shackleton’s Amazing Antarctic Adventure: Trapped by the Ice! by Michael McCurdy Spirit of Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins Countdown to Extinction: Animals in Danger! by David Burnie Teammates by Peter Golenbock Stealing Home: The Story of Jackie Robinson by Barry Denenberg Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson by Sharon Robinson Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki One More Border: The True Story of One Family’s Escape From War-Torn Europe by William Kaplan 182  TEACHING EVIDENCE-BASED WRITING: NONFICTION

Who Was Abraham Lincoln? by Janet Pascal I Am Abraham Lincoln by Brad Meltzer Abraham Lincoln: Great Speeches edited by Roy P. Basler I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World by Martin Luther King, Jr. Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? by Bonnie Bader I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. by Brad Meltzer My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up With the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Christine King Farris

Section 3. Main Idea/Central Idea Can You Believe? Hurricanes by Sandra Markle A Walk in the Rainforest by Kristin Joy Pratt The Great Monkey Rescue: Saving the Golden Lion Tamarins by Sandra Markle The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O’Connell & Donna M. Jackson Kids Discover magazines Will We Miss Them? Endangered Species by Alexandra Wright Can We Save Them? Endangered Species of North America by David Dobson Tornado! The Story Behind These Twisting, Turning, Spinning and Spiraling Storms by Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin

Section 4. Point of View Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama by Hester Bass A Taste of Colored Water by Matt Faulkner Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan Birmingham Sunday by Larry Brimner Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall by Anita Silvey

The Split History of the Civil War by Stephanie Fitzgerald The Split History of the American Revolution by Michael Burgan The Split History of the Battle of Gettysburg by Stephanie Fitzgerald Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story by Ruby Bridges Birmingham Sunday by Larry Dane Brimner Black & White: The Confrontation Between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor by Larry Dane Brimner Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis 10 True Tales: Young Civil Rights Heroes by Allan Zullo If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks by Faith Ringgold Rosa Parks (National Geographic Kids) by Kitson Jazynka

Section 5. Visuals Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting With the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown

Section 6. Words and Structure Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons Weather by Seymour Simon Tornadoes! by Gail Gibbons Tornadoes by Seymour Simon Howling Hurricanes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury “Big News for Bison,” Scholastic News (May 12, 2016) Trapped by the Ice by Michael McCurdy The Honey Makers by Gail Gibbons Animals That Changed the World by Keltie Thomas Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margaret and H. A. Rey by Louise Borden Who Would Win? series by Jerry Pallotta Extreme Earth Records by Seymour Simon Titanic: Voices From the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on the Titanic! by David Stewart The Story of Titanic for Children by Joe Fullman Gentle Giant Octopus by Karen Wallace Encounter by Jane Yolen Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti Tell Them We Remember: The Story of the Holocaust by Susan D. Bachrach I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children’s Drawings and Poems From the Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942–1944 edited by Hana Volavkova Erika’s Story by Ruth Vander Zee Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary by Gail Jarrow Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

REFERENCES  183

BECAUSE ALL TEACHERS ARE LEADERS Sharon Taberski & Leslie Blauman

Janiel Wagstaff & Leslie Blauman

On what the Grades K–2 and 3–5 language arts standards really say, really mean, and how to put them into practice

On 50+ reading and writing lessons per book to boost your instructional potency

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Nancy Boyles

On classroom-ready resources to get close reading right in Grades 3–6

On ready-to-go units and planning tools to ramp up close reading for Grades K–2 and 3–6

Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, & John Hattie

Laura Robb

On identifying the instructional routines that have the biggest impact on student learning

On the classroom structures that create the time and space for students to have productive talk and written discourse about texts

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About the Consultant Leslie Blauman is one of the few author consultants who is still in the classroom. She has been teaching reading and literacy in the Colorado public schools for more than 30 years. Leslie’s classroom is a working model for child and staff development in reading, writing, and critical thinking. While she works with teachers and students in a majority of the states and internationally as a consultant, her heart is in the classroom and she brings this to her writing and her consulting.

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