A Highway for the Ages History’s Amazing Cloth Hunza: The ... · PDF filemanufacture,...

A Highway for the Ages History’s Amazing Cloth

Hunza: The Land That Time Forgot

Building a 21st-Century Silk Road

Reading Objectives• Comprehension: Evaluate fact and

opinion; Use text features to locate information

• Tier Two Vocabulary: See book’s Glossary• Word study: Word origins• Analyze the genre• Respond to and interpret texts• Make text-to-text connections• Fluency: Read with varied speed/pacing

Writing Objectives• Writer’s tools: Strong lead• Write an informational text using writing-

process steps

Related Resources• Comprehension Question Card• Comprehension Power Tool Flip Chart• Using Genre Models to Teach Writing• The Ever-Changing Human Brain; Right

Brain, Left Brain: Two Sides Are Better Than One; It’s all In Your Mind: Keeping Your Brain Healthy (Level V/60)

While you are meeting with small groups, other students can:• read independently from your classroom library• reflect on their learning in reading response journals• engage in literacy workstations

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

Unit-at-a-Glance

Day 1 Prepare to Read

Day 2 Read “A Highway for the Ages” and “History’s Amazing Cloth”*

Day 3 Read “Hunza: The Land That Time Forgot” and “Building a 21st-Century Silk Road”*

Day 4 Reread “Building a 21st-Century Silk Road”*

Day 5 Literature Circle Discussion/Reinforce Skills*

Level X/60

Teacher’s Guide: informaTional TexTs

®

™

• Post this chart in your classroom during your informational texts unit. Say: As we read informational texts this week, we will come back to this anchor chart. We will look for how these features appear in each informational text we read.

• Ask students to turn to pages 5–7. Say: The Silk Road began in the second century B.C.E. Let’s read about the Silk Road.

• Have a student read aloud the background information while others follow along.

• Say: The Silk Road was 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers) long. What can you infer, or tell, from this? Allow responses. Prompt students to understand that very few people would have traveled the entire route.

Introduce the Tools for Readers and Writers: Strong Lead• Read aloud “Strong Lead” on page 4.• Say: Writers of nonfictional texts know that a strong

lead, or opening paragraph, is vital. Not only must the lead grab readers’ attention, it must motivate them to keep reading. The informational texts in this book have strong leads. Let’s practice recognizing their characteristics so we can identify strong leads in the articles we read.

• Distribute BLM 1 (Strong Lead). Read aloud the paragraph with students.

• Model Identifying Strong Lead: This lead begins with a quote. The quote introduces the topic and grabs readers’ attention by using the words of someone both knowledgeable and famous.

• Ask students to work with a partner or in small groups to answer the questions about the lead and to write their own strong lead.

• Bring the groups together to share their findings. Point out that although a direct lead may be more explicit about the topic to be covered in an informational text, an indirect lead is often more engaging.

• Ask the groups to read the strong leads they wrote. Use the examples to build students’ understanding of how and why writers use strong leads. Remind students that the author’s lead can effect whether readers continue to read an informational text.

• Ask groups to hand in their leads. Transfer student-written leads to chart paper, title the page “Strong Lead,” and post it as an anchor chart in your classroom.

four informational texts about the silk road

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Prepare to ReadBuild Genre Background• Write the word genre on chart paper. Ask: Who

can explain what the word genre means? (Allow responses.) The word genre means “a kind of something.” Skiing and snowboarding are two different kinds of snow sports. Each has its own characteristics that we can use to identify the sport. In the same way, we can identify kinds, or genres, of literature by their characteristics. As readers, we pay attention to the genre to help us comprehend. Recognizing the genre helps us anticipate what will happen or what we will learn. As writers, we use our knowledge of genre to help us develop and organize our ideas.

• Ask: Who can name some literary genres? Let’s make a list. Allow responses. Post the list on the classroom wall as an anchor chart.

• Draw a concept web on chart paper or the chalkboard. Write Informational Texts in the center circle of the web.

• Say: Informational texts are one example of a literary genre. Think of any informational texts you know. How would you define what an informational text is?

• Turn and Talk. Ask students to turn and talk to a classmate and jot down any features of an informational text they can think of. Then bring students together and ask them to share their ideas. Record them on the group web. Reinforce the concept that all informational texts have certain common features.

Introduce the Book• Distribute the book to each student. Read the title

aloud. Ask students to tell what they see on the cover and table of contents.

• Ask students to turn to pages 2–3. Say: This week we are going to read informational texts that will help us learn about this genre. First we’re going to focus on this genre as readers. Then we’re going to study informational texts from a writer’s perspective. Our goal this week is to really understand this genre.

• Ask a student to read aloud the text on pages 2–3 while others follow along. Invite a different student to read the web on page 3.

• Point to your informational texts web on chart paper. Say: Let’s compare our initial ideas about informational texts with what we just read. What new features of this genre did you learn? Allow responses. Add new information to the class web.

Day 1

©2011 benchmark education Company, llC. all rights reserved. teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. no other part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.isbn: 978-1-4509-3055-0

3four informational texts about the silk road

©2011 benchmark education Company, llC

Reflect and Review • Turn and Talk. Write one or more of the following

questions on chart paper. What is a literary genre, and how can understanding

genres help readers and writers? What did you learn today about the informational

text genre? How can readers recognize a strong lead? Ask partners or small groups to discuss their ideas

and report them back to the whole group as a way to summarize the day’s learning.

Before ReadingIntroduce “A Highway for the Ages” and “History’s Amazing Cloth”• Reread the informational texts anchor chart or

the web on page 3 to review the features of an informational text.

• Ask students to turn to page 8 and page 12. Ask: Based on the titles and graphic features, what do you predict these informational texts might be about? Allow responses.

• Invite students to scan the text and look for the boldfaced words (commodity, Zoroastrianism, caravanserais, anthropologists, cultivation, manufacture, sericulture). Say: As you read, pay attention to these words. If you don’t know what they mean, try to use clues in the surrounding text to help you define them. We’ll come back to these words after we read.

Set a Purpose for Reading• Ask students to read the informational texts,

focusing on the genre elements they noted on their anchor chart. They should also look for characteristics of a strong lead and think about how the author’s use of a strong lead makes them want to read on to learn more about the topic.

Read “A Highway for the Ages” and “History’s Amazing Cloth”• Place students in groups based on their reading

levels. Ask students to read the informational text silently, whisper-read, or read with a partner.

• Confer briefly with individual students to monitor their understanding of the text and their use of fix-up strategies.

Management TipAsk students to place self-stick notes in the margins where they notice characteristics of a strong lead or features of the genre.

After ReadingBuild Comprehension: Evaluate Fact and Opinion• Lead a student discussion using the “Analyze

the Information in the Articles” and “Focus on Comprehension” questions on page 16. Then, use the following steps to provide explicit modeling of how to evaluate fact and opinion in an informational text.

• Explain: We learned yesterday that an informational text seeks to accurately inform

Day 2

Management Tips• Throughout the week, you may wish to use

some of the reflect and review questions as prompts for reader response journal entries in addition to turn and talk activities.

• Have students create genre study folders. Keep blackline masters, notes, small-group writing, and checklists in the folders.

• Create anchor charts by writing whole-group discussion notes and mini-lessons on chart paper. Hang charts in the room where students can see them.

©2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLCFOUR INFORMATIONAL TEXTS ABOUT THE SILK ROAD

BLM 1

Name _________________________________________________ Date ___________________

Strong LeadDirections: Read the lead. Then answer the questions.

“I have not yet found somebody who has told me they’ve seen the Wall of China from Earth orbit.” These words were spoken by Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon. His words refute a popular legend that the 8,851-kilometer (5,500-mile) wall is the only human-made object visible to the naked eye from space.

1. Is this lead direct, indirect, or both? Explain.

________________________________________________________________

2. Does this lead make you want to read on? Explain why or why not.

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

3. What would you expect to learn if you read the rest of this article?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

The lead is indirect.

Possible answer: The lead makes me want to read

Possible answer: I would expect to learn more

on because it describes an interesting “controversy” about the Great Wall of China.

about the Great Wall in both ancient and modern times.

readers. Authors of informational texts use facts, which can be proven, and opinions, which can be supported but not proven. For example, the author says that silk and glass were two products traded on the Silk Road. We can prove this fact by checking reference books. The author also says that the Silk Road and the camel were the most important means of international exchange in history until computers were invented. This is the author’s opinion. The author can support the statement with evidence, but she cannot prove it. As readers, being able to distinguish fact from opinion helps us make our own judgment about the information’s value.

• Distribute copies of BLM 2 (Evaluate Fact and Opinion) and/or draw a chart like the one below.

• Model: When I evaluate fact and opinion, I think about each statement the author makes and decide whether it is something I could prove. In “History’s Amazing Cloth,” the author says that silk became a form of currency. I know this is a fact because I can check its accuracy through research. At the end of the article, the author says, “. . . who knows what new extraordinary uses they [scientists] will discover for this amazing thread.” I know this is an opinion because it is a prediction about the future and contains the clue word amazing.

• Guide Practice. Work with students to evaluate facts and opinions in the articles. Then, ask students to discuss the role of opinions in an effective informational text.

• Have students keep BLM 2 in their genre studies folder.

©2011 benchmark education Company, llCfour informational texts about the silk road

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that tell me what to look for in the book. What words in this question do you think will help me? (Allow responses.) Yes, I’m looking for the words anthropologists, believe, silk, and first produced. On page 12, I read, “Most anthropologists believe that silk was first produced in China around 2700 B.C.E.” This sentence answers the question.

• Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Find It! questions.

Focus on Vocabulary: Word Origins• Explain/Model: Read aloud “Word Origins” on

page 4. Say: The origin or history of a root word or word part can help you understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word. For example, the author of this article says that Capua is 209 kilometers from Rome. If you know that kilo comes from the French word for thousand, you can figure out the meaning of kilometer. Sometimes readers can learn a lot about an unfamiliar word by analyzing its origin.

• Practice. Ask students to use a dictionary to identify the origins of words in the articles, such as journey, from the Old French word journée, meaning “day’s work or travel,” and scientist, from the Latin word scientia, meaning “to know.” Discuss the meanings of the current words compared to the meanings of the original words.

• Say: Let’s find the boldfaced words in this informational text. What can you do if you don’t know what these words mean? (Allow responses.) Besides looking in the glossary and dictionary or looking for clues in the text, you can look for word origins with which you are familiar.

• Ask students to work with a partner to complete the “Focus on Words” activity on page 17 using BLM 3 (Focus on Word Origins). Explain that they should look in a dictionary to find the origin, history, and definition of each boldfaced word.

• Transfer Through Oral Language. Ask groups of students to share their findings. Then challenge them to brainstorm other words that have a connection to the history of the boldfaced word (for example, hospitable: hospital, hospitality). Encourage all students to contribute their ideas to a discussion of the related meanings of the sets of words.

• Ask students to save their work in their genre studies folders to continue on Days 3 and 4.

Reflect and Review • Turn and Talk. Ask partners or small groups to

reread the “Features of an Informational Text” web on page 3 and decide whether all of these features are present in “A Highway for the Ages” and “History’s Amazing Cloth.” Ask groups to share and support their findings.

Day 2 (cont.)

Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment• Remind students that when they answer questions

on standardized assessments, they must be able to support their answers with facts or clues and evidence directly from the text.

• Use the Comprehension Question Card with small groups of students to practice answering text-dependent comprehension questions.

• Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Find It! questions. The answer to a Find It! question is right in the book. You can find the answer in one place in the text.

• Model: Read the second Find It! question. Say: When I read the question, I look for important words

Facts Evidence Opinions Evidence

A Highway for the Ages

The roads crossed huge deserts and icy mountain ranges.

fact that can be proven

By far the most important commodity was silk.

by far, most important

History’s Amazing Cloth

By the fifteenth century, Europeans were making their own silk.


From the time silk was created, it was a fabulous sight.

fabulous



Before ReadingIntroduce “Hunza: The Land That Time Forgot” and “Building a 21st-Century Silk Road” • Ask students to turn to page 18. Say: Today we

are going to read “Hunza: The Land That Time Forgot” and “Building a 21st-Century Silk Road.” The second informational text is written in a different format from the other articles we read. Notice how in the margins there are notes to you, the reader. The first time we read the texts, we will read to understand the articles, focusing on the main ideas and details. Tomorrow, we will read the second article like a writer and think about the notes in the margin as a model for how we can write our own informational text.

• Say: Let’s look at the titles and graphic features of these informational texts. What do you predict they might be about? Give students time to share their predictions.

• Ask students to scan the text and look for the boldfaced words (hospitable, xenophobic, centenarians, gerontologists, transformation, conservation). Ask: What do you notice about these words? Why do you think they appear in boldfaced type? Allow responses. Encourage students to notice that all the words contain a root that is part of other words they may know.

• Say: As you read, try to figure out the meanings of these words. Look for word origins that you recognize. Think about other words you know that share a root or word part with the boldfaced word. After we read, we will talk about how you used word origins to figure out word meanings.

Set a Purpose for Reading• Ask students to read the informational texts,

focusing on the use of main ideas and details to communicate information. Encourage them to notice the author’s strong leads.

Read “Hunza: The Land That Time Forgot” and “Building a 21st-Century Silk Road”• Place students in groups based on their reading

levels. Ask students to read the informational texts silently, whisper-read, or read with a partner.

• Confer briefly with individual students to monitor their understanding of the text and their use of fix-up strategies.

Day 3

Fluency: Read with Varied Speed/Pacing• You may wish to have students reread the

informational texts with a partner during independent reading time, focusing on speed and pacing. Explain that they should read at a pace that matches the “energy level” of the information being presented. For example, on page 11, they might read the sentence about robbers and warring armies quickly and the sentence about caravan movement slowly. They should also slow down to help listeners understand difficult text or to emphasize important points, such as the last sentence on page 11.

Note Regarding This Teacher’s GuideEach book provides an opportunity for students to focus on an additional comprehension strategy that is typically assessed on state standards. The strategy is introduced on page 4 (the third item in the “Tools for Readers and Writers” section) with text-specific follow-up questions found on the Reread pages. Some Reread sections also introduce an advanced language arts concept or comprehension strategy, such as protagonist/antagonist, perspective, or subtitles, because students at this level should be able to consider more than one comprehension strategy per text.

Page Word Word Origins Word History Definition

10 commodity Latin commodus, “convenient,” com-, “with” + modus, “measure”

15th century; Latin to French to English

a product that is traded

10 after founder Zoroaster (628–551 B.C.E.)

1854 Persian religion founded in the 6th century B.C.E. by the prophet Zoroaster

11 caravanserais Persian karwan, “caravan” + saraı, “palace, inn”

1599 inns in eastern countries where caravans rested at night

12 Greek anthrop-, anthropos, “human being” + -logy, “study,” logos, “word”

1593; Greek to Latin to French to English

scientists who study human beings

13 cultivation Latin cultus, past participle of colere, “to till, cultivate” + -ion

about 1716 preparation of land for the raising of crops

13 manufacture Latin manu factus, “made by hand”

1567 to make something from raw materials by hand or machine

14 sericulture Latin sericum, “silk” + cultus, “cultivation”

about 1854; Latin to French to English

production of raw silk by raising silkworms


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• Guide Practice. Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Look Closer! questions.

Focus on Vocabulary: Word Origins• Ask students to work with a partner to complete the

“Focus on Words” activity on page 29 using BLM 3, which they started on Day 2. Have groups of students share their findings.

• Transfer Through Oral Language. Invite pairs of students to read aloud the paragraph in which each target word is used. Encourage them to use vocal and facial expressions to express the author’s tone. Audience members should listen carefully, identify the target word, and offer its definition.

After ReadingBuild Comprehension: Evaluate Fact and Opinion• Say: Yesterday we evaluated facts and opinions in “A

Highway for the Ages” and “History’s Amazing Cloth.” Today’s informational texts also include facts and opinions. How can you identify a fact? An opinion? What important facts and opinions does the author use to get across her main points? Allow responses. As students share their analyses, synthesize their responses into a whole-group chart like the one here.

Day 3 (cont.)

Facts Evidence Opinions Evidence


In eastern literature, there are tales of a place called Shangri-La.


Some people believe that Hunza was the inspiration for Shangri-La.

some people believe


Since 1992, the Grand Sunday Bazaar has been held every day.


It looks like Kashgar has entered the twenty-first century.

looks like

• Discuss Evaluating Fact and Opinion Across Texts. Lead a discussion using the following questions. How are the proportions of facts to opinions similar or different in the four articles? Do the opinions in the articles help you better understand the facts? Why or why not?

What kinds of strong leads does the author use in the articles? How do the leads get you interested in reading the articles?

Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment • Use the Comprehension Question Card with small

groups of students to practice answering text-dependent questions.

• Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Look Closer! questions. The answer to a Look Closer! question is in the book. You have to look in more than one place, though. You find the different parts of the answer. Then you put the parts together to answer the question.

• Model: Read the first Look Closer! question. Say: I will show you how I answer a Look Closer! question. This question asks me to identify cause and effect. I know because it has the clue word effects. Now I need to look for other important information to find in the book. What information do you think will help me? (Allow responses.) Yes, I’m looking for information about the Kashgar market at the beginning of the twenty-first century. On page 23, I read that some booths contain electronics: radios, TVs, and CD players; others have used motorcycles; still others display small appliances and even kitchen sinks. I have found the answer in the book. I looked in several sentences to find the answer.

Reflect and Review • Turn and Talk. Ask partners or small groups to

discuss the following questions and report their ideas to the whole group. Do you think the Asian Highway is a good idea? Why or why not? Think of a transportation or communication development that transformed the world. Why was it so important?

Fluency: Read with Varied Speed/Pacing• You may wish to have students reread the informational

texts with a partner during independent reading time. Have them focus on varying the speed and pacing of their reading. Ask students why they might read the last paragraph of page 18 at a faster pace than the paragraphs on page 19. Point out that reading the lists of foods and dancers’ actions on page 18 at a faster pace emphasizes the colorful excitement of the scene, while the details on page 19 require a slower reading for comprehension. Model reading at these paces and then have students practice reading the same passage.


18 hospitable Latin hospit-, hospes, “host”

about 1570; Latin to French to English

welcoming to guests

18 xenophobic Greek xenos, “stranger” + -phobos, “fearing”

1922 (xenophobe) afraid of foreigners

19 centenarians Latin centenarius, “of a hundred”

about 1841 one that is 100 years or older

19 gerontologists Greek geronto-, gero-n, “old man” + -logy, “study,” logos, “word”

1903 (gerontology)

scientists who study aging

23 transformation Latin trans-, “so as to change” + forma, “form” + -ation

15th century act or process of changing one thing into another

©2011 benchmark education Company, llC four informational texts about the silk road

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Before ReadingSet a Purpose for Rereading• Have students turn to page 22. Say: Until now, we

have been thinking about informational texts from the perspective of the reader. Learning the features of informational texts has helped us be critical readers. Now we are going to put on a different hat. We are going to reread “Building a 21st-Century Silk Road” and think like writers. We’re going to pay attention to the annotations in the margins. These annotations will help us understand what the author did and why she did it.

Reread “Building a 21st-Century Silk Road”• Place students in groups based on their reading

levels. Ask students to read the informational text silently or whisper-read.

• Confer briefly with individual students to monitor their understanding of the text and annotations.

After ReadingAnalyze the Mentor Text• Explain to students that the text they have just read

is a mentor text. A mentor text is a text that teaches. This text is designed to help them understand what writers do to write an informational text and why they do it.

• Read and discuss each mentor annotation with students. Encourage them to comment on the writer’s style, organization, factual support, and use of literary techniques such as strong leads.

Practice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment • Use the Comprehension Question Card with

small groups of students to practice answering text-dependent questions.

• Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Prove It! questions. The answer to a Prove It! question is not stated in the book. You have to look for clues and evidence to prove the answer.

• Model: Read the first Prove It! question. Say: I will show you how I answer a Prove It! question. This question asks me to use a graphic feature to interpret information. I know because it mentions a map. Now I need to look for other important information in the question. What information do you think will help me? (Allow responses.) Yes, I need to find the countries of Bangladesh and Pakistan on the map on page 26. I see that both countries have borders with India—Bangladesh to the east and Pakistan to the west. I have located the clues I need to answer the question.

• Guide Practice. Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Prove It! questions and support students’ text-dependent comprehension strategies.

Analyze the Writer’s Craft• Ask students to turn to page 30. Explain: In the

next few days, you will have the opportunity to write your own informational text. First, let’s think about how the author wrote “Building a 21st-Century Silk Road.” When she developed this text, she followed certain steps. You can follow these same steps to write your own informational text.

• Read steps 1, 2, and 3. Say: The first thing you’ll do is decide on a topic. Authors choose a topic that interests them and that they will enjoy researching. Then they narrow it to an aspect of the topic that they can cover well in a short article. The general topic of “Building a 21st-Century Silk Road” is the Asian Highway, but the author narrows her focus to several specific issues surrounding the building of the highway. What are some general topics we might choose? How can we focus those topics? (Allow responses. Write down students’ ideas on chart paper.) Now let’s write each of our focused topics as a question we want to answer. Write down questions students suggest and select one as a class.

• Read step 4. Say: Now that we know what our focus is, we need to gather accurate, reliable information that answers our focus question. What are some possible resources we could use to find appropriate information? List resources students suggest. Discuss Internet safety and techniques for finding reliable information.

• Read step 5. Say: Before you’re ready to write, you must organize your information. Let’s list our main points and put them in a logical order. Then we’ll decide what facts, examples, and other evidence we will use to support each main point and how we’ll introduce and conclude our article. Model choosing an appropriate text structure and creating an outline for the informational text.

• Read step 6. Say: You should write at least one paragraph for the introduction, one paragraph for each main point, and one paragraph for the conclusion. Each paragraph should have a main idea and supporting details. Model writing a body paragraph that includes a main idea and supporting details. Then, work as a group to write additional body paragraphs for the informational text. When the body is complete, help students create a strong opening paragraph, or lead, and strong conclusion.

Day 4

Analyze & SynthesizePractice Text Comprehension Strategies for ELA Assessment • Use the Comprehension Question Card with

small groups of students to practice answering text-dependent questions.

• Say: Today I will help you learn how to answer Take It Apart! questions. To figure out the answer to a Take It Apart! question, you must think like the author.

• Model: Read the first Take It Apart! question. Say: This question asks me to think about the author’s purpose. I know because it says, “Why does the author.” Now I need to look for other important information in the question. What information do you think will help me? (Allow responses.) Yes, I need to look for a description of a celebration on page 18. The description is vivid, so it provides a strong lead that gets readers interested in what they will be reading. Thinking about the author’s purpose for this description helped me figure out the answer.

• Use the Flip Chart to help you develop other Take It Apart! questions.

Summarize & Make Connections Across Texts• Engage students in a discussion about the

informational texts in this book. Invite a different student to summarize each article. Encourage other students to add their ideas and details.

• Ask students to turn to the inside back cover of the book. Say: Good readers think about how literary works are related. We know, for example, that all of these informational texts share certain features. They all have a specific topic and focus. They all include facts about the topic. What else do they have in common? (Allow responses.) Today we will think about elements in all four articles. We will think about how these elements are alike and different and what we can learn from them.

• Ask students to work individually or in small groups to complete BLM 4 (Make Connections Across Texts).

• Class Discussion or Literature Circles. Facilitate a whole-class discussion or keep students in their small groups for a literature circle discussion. If you choose to conduct literature circles, share the rules for good discussion below. Each group should discuss and be prepared to share its ideas about the following prompts. What do the topics of all the informational texts have in common? How is the author’s purpose similar or different in all the informational texts? Which article’s main points did you find most interesting? Why?

• Tell students that at the end of their discussion, you will ask them to share the important text-to-text, text-to-world, and text-to-self connections they have made.

Build Comprehension: Use Text Features to Locate Information• Explain: Authors often include text features in their

books. These include special pages, such as a table of contents and glossary, as well as titles, subheads, boldfaced words, and captions within the text. Text features are easy to distinguish from the main text by their location and by the font, size, and/or color of the words. As readers, we pay attention to these features because they help us locate important information in the text.

• Model: If I want to reread information about current problems in constructing the Asian Highway, I can use the table of contents to find the title and page number for the correct article. (“Building a 21st-Century Silk Road,” page 22) Next, I can look for a subhead that indicates a discussion of the problems. (“Controversies Over Construction,” page 25) When I come to the bold faced word transformation on page 27, I can look in the glossary to see what it means. If I want to find out what the photograph on page 27 shows, I can read the caption. (Tibetan gazelles) All of these text features help me locate the information I need.

• Guide Practice. List the following text features on the board: table of contents, title, subhead, caption, boldfaced word, and glossary. Ask pairs of students to find one or more examples of each text feature in the book and discuss what type of information they can locate using that text feature.

Reflect and Review • Ask and discuss the following questions.

How is thinking about an informational text as a reader different from thinking about an informational text as a writer? How is it similar? What new words have you added to your vocabulary this week? Which is your favorite? Which of the informational texts you’ve read this week do you find most interesting? Why? How can you use a strong lead as a writer?

Fluency: Read with Varied Speed/Pacing• You may wish to have students reread the

informational texts with a partner during independent reading time. Have them focus on their speed and pacing. Discuss with students whether they would use a slower or quicker pace when they read the paragraph on page 22 and how they would change their pace when they read the first paragraph on page 23. Remind them that they want to read at a pace that matches what the text says and helps listeners understand the text. Help students see that the different content of the two paragraphs would affect their reading speed and pacing.


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Day 4 (cont.) Day 5

Reinforce SkillsIf time permits, choose from the following activities to reinforce vocabulary and fluency.

Reinforce Vocabulary: Word Origins Game Show• Place students in groups of four.• Appoint one student in each group be the

moderator. The moderator should use the vocabulary charts to ask the other students to identify a word based on clues about its origin. For example, “Which word comes from the Greek word xenos meaning ‘stranger’?”

• The first student to raise his or her hand may answer the question. After one student answers two questions correctly, he or she is out of the game. The other two students must compete until both have answered two questions correctly.

• After all three students have answered two questions correctly, the first student to do so may serve as moderator and continue the game.

Reread for Fluency: Oral Reading Performance• Discuss with students the emotions portrayed in

the informational texts. • Say: Even though an informational text

contains mostly facts, it may depict emotions such as excitement or anger. For example, in the introduction to “A Highway for the Ages,” Marcus Avellinus and Wun Li are thrilled and proud about their finds. When you read these parts aloud, you can demonstrate your understanding of these emotions through your expression. This helps your listeners better appreciate the text.

• Invite individual students to read a section of one of the informational texts that expresses strong feelings, using vocal expression to dramatize the emotion.

• Encourage students to have fun with their readings and to make them as dramatic as possible.

• As a whole class, discuss each reader’s interpretation. Think about alternate ways to interpret the author’s words.

Review Writer’s Tools: Strong Lead• Ask students to look for other examples of strong

leads in titles from your classroom library or the school’s library. Each student should select one title at his or her independent reading level. Ask students to read pages specifically to find an example of a strong lead.

• Invite students to share their examples with the class. Encourage students to discuss how the strong leads grab their attention. Point out that not all students will have found examples in the books they chose. Strong leads are not a tool all writers use all of the time.

• While each small group of students discusses the book, confer with individual or small groups of students. You may wish to revisit elements of the genre, take running records, or model fluent reading skills.

Rules for Good Discussion• Pay attention to the person who is talking and do

not interrupt him or her.• Think about what others are saying so you can

respond and add to their ideas.• Allow and encourage everyone in the group to speak.• Be respectful of everyone’s ideas.



Topic Main Points Author’s Purpose

Graphic Features


history of the Silk Road

Europeans and Asians traded goods that were transported on the Silk Road.

to inform illustration, map, photographs


history of silk and how silk is made

Silk was first produced in China. It is made by silkworms.

to inform photographs


people who live in the Hunza Valley in Pakistan

In Hunza, people often live to be 100 because of healthy habits.

to inform photographs, maps


const-ruction of a network of 83 routes across Asia

The Asian Highway has improved trade among the Asian countries.

to inform photographs, maps

Day 5 (cont.)

Write an Informational Text• Use the suggested daily schedule to guide students

through the steps of process writing. Allow approximately 45 to 60 minutes per day. As students work independently, circulate around the room and monitor student progress. Confer with individual students to discuss their ideas and help them move forward. Use the explicit mini-lessons, conferencing strategies, and assessment rubrics in Using Genre Models to Teach Writing for additional support.

• Before students begin planning their informational texts, pass out copies of BLM 5 (Informational Text Checklist). Review the characteristics and conventions of writing that will be assessed. Tell students that they will use this checklist when they complete their drafts.

• This daily plan incorporates the generally accepted six traits of writing as they pertain to informational texts.

Days 6–7: Plan • Ask students to use BLM 6 (Informational Text

Planning Guide) to brainstorm the topic and focus, record facts from research, and organize information for their informational text.

• Encourage students to refer to the “Features of an Informational Text” web on page 3 and to the steps in “The Writer’s Craft” on pages 30–31 of the book.

• Confer with individual students and focus on their ideas.

Days 8–9: Draft • Tell students that they will be using their completed

Informational Text Planning Guides to begin drafting their fables.

• Say: Remember that when writers draft their ideas, they focus on getting their ideas on paper. They can cross things out. They can make mistakes in spelling. What’s important is to focus on organizing your information logically and developing main ideas with supporting details. You will have an opportunity to make corrections and improvements later.

• Confer with students as they complete their drafts. Use the Informational Text Checklist to draw students’ attention to characteristics of the informational text genre that they may have overlooked. Focus on how students have organized their ideas and the voice of the writer.

• Pair students for peer conferencing.

Days 10–11: Edit and Revise • Based on your observations of students’ writing,

select appropriate mini-lessons from Using Genre Models to Teach Writing.

• Remind students to use the Informational Text Checklist as they edit and revise their informational texts independently.

• Confer with students, focusing on sentence fluency, word choice, and conventions.

• You may want students to continue their editing and revision at home.

Days 12–13: Create Final Draft and Illustrations • Ask students to rewrite or type a final draft of their

informational text.• Invite students to illustrate their final drafts with

one or more drawings or other graphic features that illustrate specific facts in their informational texts.

• Confer with students about their publishing plans and deadlines.

Days 14–15: Publish and Share• Explain: Authors work long and hard to develop their

works. One of the great joys of writing is sharing it with others. Authors publish their books, make their work available on the Internet, and hold readings. We can share our writing, too.

• Use one or more of the ideas below for sharing students’ work: Make a class display of students’ completed informational texts. Hold a class reading in which students can read their informational texts to one another and/or to parents. Create a binder of all the informational texts and loan it to the library.


©2011 benchmark education Company, llC10

Days 6–15

Features of the Genre Checklist Yes No1. My informational text has a strong lead. 2. The information in my text is accurate. 3. I fact-checked my information. 4. I included graphics to support my information. 5. My informational text includes multiple perspectives so

that I do not sway my readers to think one way. 6. My informational text is logically sequenced. 7. I used subheadings to separate sections in my

informational text. 8. My informational text has a strong ending that keeps

readers thinking. 9. My voice shows through my writing.

Quality Writing Checklist Yes No I looked for and corrected . . .

• run-on sentences • sentence fragments • subject/verb agreement • verb tense • punctuation • capitalization • spelling • indented paragraphs

Informational Text Checklist

1. Decide on a topic._____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

2. Narrow your focus._____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

3. Write a question about your focus._____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

4. Research your focus. Books Newspaper Articles Internet Experts Other Sources

5. Organize your information._____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Main Point Details

Introduction

1st Point:

2nd Point:

3rd Point:

Conclusion

6. Write your informational text.

Informational Text Planning Guide

Directions: Use the steps below to plan your own informational text.


blm 1

Name _________________________________________________ Date ___________________

Strong LeadDirections: Read the lead. Then answer the questions.

“I have not yet found somebody who has told me they’ve seen the Wall of China from Earth orbit.” These words were spoken by Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon. His words refute a popular legend that the 8,851-kilometer (5,500-mile) wall is the only human-made object visible to the naked eye from space.

1. Is this lead direct, indirect, or both? Explain.

________________________________________________________________

2. Does this lead make you want to read on? Explain why or why not.

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

3. What would you expect to learn if you read the rest of this article?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________



Evaluate Fact and Opinion

Name _________________________________________________ Date ___________________

Directions: Use the chart below to evaluate facts and opinions in the informational texts.

blm 2

Facts Evidence Opinions EvidenceA Highway for the Ages




Name _________________________________________________ Date ___________________

Focus on Word OriginsDirections: Write the word origins, word history, and definition of each word below.


blm 3


10 commodity

10 Zoroastrianism

11 caravanserais

12 anthropologists

13 cultivation

13 manufacture

14 sericulture

18 hospitable

18 xenophobic

19 centenarians

19 gerontologists

23 transformation

27 conservation

Make Connections Across TextsDirections: Fill in the chart. Use it to compare and contrast the four

informational texts.


©2011 benchmark education Company, llCblm 4

Topic Main Points Author’s Purpose

Graphic Features





Name _________________________________________________ Date ___________________



Features of the Genre Checklist Yes No

1. My informational text has a strong lead. 2. The information in my text is accurate. 3. I fact-checked my information. 4. I included graphics to support my information. 5. My informational text includes multiple perspectives so

that I do not sway my readers to think one way. 6. My informational text is logically sequenced. 7. I used subheadings to separate sections in my

informational text. 8. My informational text has a strong ending that keeps

readers thinking. 9. My voice shows through my writing.

Quality Writing Checklist Yes No

I looked for and corrected . . .

• run-on sentences • sentence fragments • subject/verb agreement • verb tense • punctuation • capitalization • spelling • indented paragraphs

Name _________________________________________________ Date __________________

Informational Text Checklist

Title ________________________________________________________________________ ______

1. Decide on a topic. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

2. Narrow your focus. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

3. Write a question about your focus. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

4. Research your focus. Books Newspaper Articles Internet Experts Other Sources

5. Organize your information. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Main Point Details

Introduction

1st Point:

2nd Point:

3rd Point:

Conclusion

6. Write your informational text.



Name _________________________________________________ Date ___________________

Informational Text Planning Guide

Directions: Use the steps below to plan your own informational text.

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