Grade 5 Module 3A, Unit 1, Lesson 2
Identifying an Author’s Opinions and Evidence:
The Value of Sports in People’s Lives, Part 1
Sampling of Draft AIR Recommended Scaffolds for English Language Learners
Additional Scaffolds for ELLs: Acquiring and Using Vocabulary
Students have access to a glossary that includes words key to understanding the text as well as words that appear frequently
in the text. During close reading, for each boldfaced word in the text, they find the word in their glossary and rewrite it.
Later, they complete a glossary—drawing a picture or writing a word or phrase to help them remember the new word. If
they are a Spanish speaker, they indicate if the word is a cognate.
Words for the passage on p. 11 might include the following: instinct, humanity, survival, skill, competition, flourished,
rules, obey, strategies, enjoyable, accomplishments, responsibility, performance, challenging, value, exercise
(verb), process, stimulate, imagination, curiosity, creativity, development, solve, recognize, antidepressants,
chemicals, and cognitive. The following words appear in the Coxhead Academic Word List: revolutionized,
psychology, author, team, individual, ultimate, academy, physical, monitor, attitude, process, creativity,
research, odds, chemical, seek, process, context, mutual, network, cooperation, gender, ethnicity, isolated,
positive, professional, found, utilization, integration, commission, automatically, designed, and created.1
Phrases for the passage on p. 11 might include the following: negotiate plans, settle disagreements, monitor attitude,
applied to, hands-on, science of play, research claims, averages and odds, energy level, and boost mood.
Word /
Translation
instinct
instinto
humanity
humanidad
Rewrite the
Word
VOCABULARY CHART
English
Example From
Picture or
Definition
Text
Phrase
natural
Some scientists
behavior or claim play is a
natural
way of
instinct—just
acting that
like sleep.
is not
learned
human
That might
beings;
explain why
sports are likely
people
Is It a Cognate?
to be as old as
humanity.
1
The bolded words appear in the Academic Word List
© 2013 American Institutes for Research
Grade 5 Module 3A, Unit 1 – 1
Additional Scaffolds for ELLs: Reading for Key Ideas and Details
In this first close reading, students answer questions about the key ideas and details in the text. During this reading, students
use their glossary to help with word meanings. For each section, the teacher introduces the guiding question(s). Students
then work with a partner to answer the supplementary questions. After answering each question, students should put the
answer into their own words. The teacher reviews the answers with the class. The teacher discusses the guiding question(s)
with the class, and the students respond to the guiding question(s) in writing. Students with lower levels of English
proficiency can be given sentence frames with more or less framing. Below is an example of a highly scaffolded answer
frame for the guiding question. After students answer the guiding question, they should work with a partner to put the
answer into their own words.
WORD BANK
Words and phrases to complete supplementary questions would be inserted here.
GUIDING QUESTION: Why are sports not just a game?
LESSON TEXT EXCERPT Text from page 11 would be inserted here.
Include here the text on p. 11.
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS:
Paragraph 1. Why do we play sports? What do some scientists claim? Why might sports be “as old as humanity”?
We play sports because they are __________. Sports may be “as old as humanity” because play may be a ___________
____________.
Paragraph 2. What evidence is there that sports began as a form of survival?
Prehistoric man ______________ .
What kinds of sports did the Egyptians play?
Egyptians _________ .
How did the Greeks “revolutionize” sports?
Greeks held the __________ .
When did modern sports “come into play”?
In the ___________, modern sports “come into play”?
Where did they come into play?
Modern sports came into play in ________.
Paragraph 3. Why are organized sports considered “serious” play?
Organized sports are considered “serious” play because __________________.
P3. (This is covered through the background passage.)
P4. Play exercises our bodies and our minds. Name some ways that play exercises our minds (see below).
RESPONSE TO GUIDING QUESTION(S):
Why are sports more than a game?
Paragraph .. Play exercises our bodies and our minds. What do we learn to do from sports?
Through sports, we learn to ____________.
What do sports stimulate?
Sports stimulate our _________________.
Sports are important to healthy brain development. Why?
© 2013 American Institutes for Research
Grade 5 Module 3A, Unit 1 – 2
We use _______ during sports to _____________. We use ___________when we follow directions. We use math to
_________________________.
Sports also make us feel better. How do they do this?
Sports raise our ____________, act as _____________, and _________our mood.
Additional Scaffolds for ELLs: Introduce Opinion and Evidence Graphic Organizer
ELLs would benefit from a definition of the words opinion and evidence; They also would benefit from modeling from the
text at hand for examples of an opinion and evidence. Now that ELLs have had an opportunity to grasp the meaning of the
passage, they need considerably less scaffolding for this activity.
Example: Some people have the opinion that (or claim that) sports began as a form of survival. The evidence they provide is
that many of the sports played today require the participants to jump, run, and/or climb. For prehistoric men, these were
things they had to do to survive.
© 2013 American Institutes for Research
Grade 5 Module 3A, Unit 1 – 3