Adaptations
Students will create a program that informs others about various animals’ adaptations in their
environments.
Ecosystems
Day 1




How do living things survive?
Look at ecosystem photos, & observe plants,
animals & habitats. What would like to know more
about?
Assessment: T – Chart: I Notice… / I Wonder…
What makes informational media good?
Watch an informational video & wonder how it was
put together.
Assessment: T – Chart: Its says/shows… / I like
it because…
Day 2
What do living things need from a place?
 Habitat Box (Creating a Sense of Place p. 38)
 Assessment: Sketch
 Animal Homes ~ Choral Reading
In what ways do informational media entice readers?
 Use multi - media to gather information about
ecosystems
 Assessment: Box & T - Chart
 When browsing books we notice how
expository nonfiction texts are organized &
designed to entice readers
 Writers “try – on” ideas by brainstorming
subtopics they’d include in a particular
nonfiction texts
 Ecosystems Everywhere (Ellen Halloran)
Day 3
What do living things need from a place?
 Habitat Pictures (Creating a Sense of Place p. 38)
 Assessment: I Used to Think… / Now I Know…
 The World of Animals ~ Choral Reading
In what ways do informational media entice readers?
 Use multi - media to gather information about
ecosystems
 Assessment: T – Chart ~ Wow! / I Learned…
 Value places in the text that draw you in
 Nonfiction writers gather information & ideas
pertaining to each subtopic that we expect to
address
 A House for Hermit Crab (Eric Carle)
Day 4
What do living things need from a place?
 Hula Hoop Habitats (Creating a Sense of Place p.
39)
 Assessment: Observations
 Desert ~ Choral Reading
In what ways do informational media entice readers?
 Use context clues to figure out words
 Assessment: Flip Chart: Plants / Animals /
Others
 Nonfiction readers often come across words
they do not know. They know that authors
provide clues about the meaning of the word
 Look back at the tentative categories &
reorganize chapters as you see fit
 Sierra(Diane Siebert)
Day 5





What do living things need from a place?
Assessment:
Rain forest ~ Choral Reading
How do we know what we are reading about?
Read nonfiction texts about ecosystems to
determine the topic & main idea
Assessment: Flip Chart: Plants / Animals /
Others
 Identify the subject & locate clues that will
reveal how you can best read the text
 Writers collect information organized by
category
Cave (Diane Siebert)
Ecosystems & Adaptations
Day 6






How do living things survive in a place?
Adaptation Walk (Creating a Sense of Place p.43)
Missing Adaptations (Creating a Sense of Place
p.43)
Assessment: Sketch
How do we know what we are reading about?
Read nonfiction texts about ecosystems to
determine the topic & main idea
Assessment: Flip Chart: Plants / Animals /
Others
 Determine the main idea of a passage
 Elaborate on some facts by adding more
detail, or your own voice to facts you got
from your research
Mojave (Diane Siebert)
Day 7





How do living things survive in a place?
Adaptation Examples (Creating a Sense of Place
p.43)
Assessment: Matching plants/animals to habitats
Animal Defenses ~ Choral Reading
How do we know what we are reading about?
Assessment: Project Board w/Tabs
The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor
Plants
Day 8






How do plants adapt to survive?
Seeds in a Jar (lab)
Assessment: Table
Green Plants ~ Choral Reading
In what ways is information dispersed in
informational media?
read plant nonfiction & determine the main idea
w/supporting details
Assessment: Picture Frame Book
 Figure out the overarching idea of a selection
by noticing as you read from one paragraph to
another whether the 2 paragraphs continue to
build on one main idea
 Paragraphs are used to chunk together main
ideas & supporting details
Our Tree Named Steve (Alan Zweibel)
Day 9






How do plants adapt to survive?
Plant Basics (Creating a Sense of Place p.87)
Assessment: Compare / Contrast Chart
Parts of a Plant ~ Choral Reading
In what ways is information dispersed in
informational media?
Read plant nonfiction & determine the main idea
w/supporting details
Assessment: Picture Frame Book
 To help find the main idea, figure out the
relationship b/t the who & what
 Plan what you want to teach & what
information / evidence you will use to teach it
The Great Kapok Tree (Lynne Cherry)
Day 10






How do plants adapt to survive?
Plant Match (Creating a Sense of Place p.45)
Assessment: Observation
Growth of a Tree ~ Choral Reading
In what ways is information dispersed in
informational media?
read & view plant nonfiction & determine the main
idea w/supporting details
Assessment: Picture Frame Book
 Chunk the text using headings & subheadings
 Use touchstone texts to see how authors use
illustrations & diagrams as teaching tools
Desert Giant (Barbara Bash)
Day 11




How do plants adapt to survive?
Assessment: Plant Diagram
In what ways is information dispersed in
informational media?
read & view plant nonfiction & determine the main
idea w/supporting details
Assessment: Picture Frame Book
 Retell texts using box & bullet notes in ways
that reconstruct the author’s main ideas &
supporting information
 Writers use nonfiction text features to
further teach their readers or support their
angle
Be a Friend to Trees (Patricia Lauber)
Animals
Day 12






How do animals adapt to survive?
Animal Cracker Biomes (www.abcteach.com)
Assessment: Graph
Sea Creatures & Underground Creatures (2
groups)
In what ways can we make information our own?
Read & view animal nonfiction & synthesize
information
Assessment: 4 – Door Book
 Nonfiction readers use text features to make
sense of the text
 Use topic sentences to begin each new
category of information & consider whether
the sequence of your categories makes sense
Animal Adaptations (Erin Fry)
Day 13





•
How do animals adapt to survive?
Animal Needs (Creating a Sense of Place p.69)
Assessment: Sketch &/or Bird Nest
Birds, Bugs, Reptiles, Amphibians, Mammals (5
groups)
In what ways can we make information our own?
Read & view animal nonfiction & synthesize
information
Assessment: 4 – Door Book
 Readers section text into meaning – chunks, &
add your own thinking to what you just read
– Back up your statements with evidence & w /
personal commentary to elaborate on facts &
ideas
The Polar Bear & the Jaguar (Sneed B. Collard
III)
Day 14





How do animals adapt to survive?
Animal Olympics (Creating a Sense of Place p.43 45)
Assessment: Compare / Contrast
Penguins, Fish (2 groups)
In what ways can we make information our own?
Read & view nonfiction texts about animals &
synthesize information
Assessment: 4 – Door Book
– Readers push their thinking by looking at
what the information is telling them, but not
saying
Informational texts teach important
information to readers & need to be clear &
accurate
The Mud Flat Olympics (James Stevenson)
–
•
Day 15



How do animals adapt to survive?
Assessment: Animal Costume / Puppet / Figurine
In what ways can we make information our own?
Assessment: Personal Narrative from Animal’s
Point of View
 Readers stop at the end of a text they’ve
read to reflect on what they have learned.
Oil Spill (Melvin Berger)
Day 16



How do animals adapt to survive?
Assessment: Animal Costume / Puppet / Figurine
In what ways can we make information our own?
Assessment: Personal Narrative from Animal’s
Point of View
Old Beaver (Udo Weigelt)
Informational Video
Day 17





How do we create enticing informational media?
Organize group’s information
Assessment: Storyboard & Scanned Documents
Review notes & decide which information to share
about ecosystem & plants
Assessment: Voice – Over Draft of ecosystem &
plants
Pond (Gordon Morrison)
Day 18
How do we create enticing informational media?
Animal performances
Assessment: Video Recording
Review notes & personal narratives, & decide what
to share on video
 Assessment: Voice – Over Draft for animals
 The Magic School Bus Hops Home



Day 19





How do we create enticing informational media?
Organize group’s information in media format
Assessment: Movie Maker
Revise, & practice all drafts
Assessment: Audio Recording / Pod Cast
Welcome to the River of Grass (Jane Yolen)
Day 20
How do we create enticing informational media?
Put on the final touches for video (audio, music,
transitions, title page, closing credits, etc.)
 Assessment: Informational Video
 The Arctic (Catherine Guigon)
