Rain Forest Module 2A
Unit 1 Lesson 4
Summarizing Informational Text: “Hawaii’s Endangered
Happy Face Spider”
Stephen J. O’Connor
steve@wellsny.com
ccss5.com
Based upon lessons created by Expeditionary Learning
Learning Targets
•
I can explain the gist of the article “Hawaii’s
Endangered Happy Face Spider.”
•
I can determine the meaning of new words from
context in the article “Hawaii’s Endangered
Happy Face Spider.”
•
I can listen actively to my group members while
discussing ideas.
•
I can use my group’s ideas to help me determine
the gist of an article.
Turn and share with a partner what you
think the article is mostly about.
Close Readers
•
Read slowly and carefully
•
Reread several times
•
Break the text into chunks
•
Find main ideas or gists
•
Discuss what was read with others
Close Readers
•
Use context by reading sentences and/or words
directly before or after the unfamiliar word
•
Think about what type of speech the word is (verb,
noun, adjective) and how it connects to/describes other
words in the sentence
•
Break the word into familiar parts and determining
meaning based on what part(s) can be defined easily
•
Look for repeated words, which usually indicates this is
an important word,etc.
On your own, read the chunk of text, focusing
on gist. Choose no more than five key words
that support the main idea, or gist, of what your
chunk was about and write those words in the
second column of the Note-catcher. After this,
discuss the gist of your paragraph with your
group. Then, on your own, write a gist
statement in the third column of the Note-
catcher.
What vocabulary did you find difficult?
Groups of 6
•
Read the chunk to your group
•
Share the key vocabulary
•
Share the gist
•
Others should fill in their note catcher
•
Share out the gist statements about your chunk
of the article
•
As your peers share, listen and take notes in the
3 column note-catcher. What is each chunk
mostly about?
•
Now that you have reread chunks of the text
more carefully, what do you think is the gist of the
whole article?
•
Write your gist statement in the last box
Informational Texts
Learning Targets
•
I can explain the gist of the article “Hawaii’s
Endangered Happy Face Spider.”
•
I can determine the meaning of new words from
context in the article “Hawaii’s Endangered
Happy Face Spider.”
•
I can listen actively to my group members while
discussing ideas.
•
I can use my group’s ideas to help me determine
the gist of an article.
What can we add to our Rainforest KWL
anchor chart in the L– Learned–column
about rainforests?
How was reading closely with a group
different from doing it alone? What helped
or supported your understanding of the
text?
Academic
Word
Synonym
Definition
unique
explanation
one of a kind
resemble
similar
similar to; look like
generally
usually
happens most of
the time
locate
find
find something
Picture
Academic
Word
Synonym
Definition
said
said or wrote
something
symbol
representation
something that
represents
something else
attention
notice
interest
bring notice or
interest in
something
stated
Picture
Scientific
Word
Synonym
Definition
extinction
death of all
remaining
members of
species
predators
animals that eat
other animals
theory
hypothesis,
explanation
Ideas that explain
something
Picture
Imagine that you were the scientist studying the
happy face spider in the rainforest. In your
journal, write a descriptive paragraph about the
spider for people who are not in the rainforest to
see it themselves.