Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 Cosmic Quest: guided reading teaching sequence: using an on-screen web-based text to support reading development This session uses the Cosmic Quest website as an on-screen reading resource: www.childrensmuseum.org/cosmicquest/spacestation/index2.html. © Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Used with Kind Permission. (The websites referred to in these materials existed at the time of publication. As website material is sometimes updated, teachers should check the website material carefully before using it and adapt the teaching sequence to accommodate any changes.) You need a computer and digital projector or large display, and live Internet access to use the web pages for teacher demonstration during the session. Children need access to computers individually or in pairs for the independent reading activity using the website. You can use saved web pages rather than a live connection for children’s independent reading, but this would restrict their ability to navigate widely across the site, should you intend to ask them to search for information rather than directing them to particular screens. Overview The Cosmic Quest website includes three main areas of information and activity. The first two menu options, Living in space and the Field guide to the universe, can be used as shared texts, to provide a useful introduction to demonstrate and discuss reading comprehension strategies prior to the guided reading session described below. This guided reading session uses the third section of the website, Expedition to the north magnetic pole, as content. Expedition to the north magnetic pole could be used effectively in a guided reading session to support a number of objectives and reading curricular targets for Years 5 and 6. It is particularly appropriate for supporting development of comprehension (at literal, deductive and interferential levels) and reader response in the context of a complex multi-layered text. However, as in any other text, it can and should also be used to support the development of word and graphic knowledge, grammatical awareness and an appreciation of how a particular text works in terms of its purpose and audience. Curriculum targets related to all or any of these may well become particularly prominent while the teaching adult is supporting/assessing individual children during the independent reading stage of the session. As an interactive text it will also add value in terms of: engaging and motivating children to read and discuss; extending reading experience to include multimedia ICT texts; encouraging radial reading and the orchestration of information from different sources. The teaching and learning strategies used for guided reading with this text should, in many ways, parallel the use of a book. In order to be used effectively, Page 1 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 it is preferable that each child in the guided reading group has direct, independent control of a computer displaying the text. This is probably best achieved using: some of the machines in a computer suite; a cluster of computers; a small set of portable computers. Note: Where only one shared version of the text is available (single monitor, projection screen or interactive whiteboard) the text can still be used, but in a shared-reading rather than a guided-reading context. Session notes Cosmic Quest: Expedition to the north magnetic pole This is a suggested general structure only. It can and should be varied to meet particular learning needs. The focus and questioning need to be adapted to match the children’s individual or group reading target(s). You need to familiarise yourself with the way the text works on screen before using it with children. Summary resources for the more detailed teaching points below are included, for easy reference during the lesson. Introduction Explain that the site includes information about life in another dangerous environment where people have to work hard to survive. From the Cosmic Quest website (www.childrensmuseum.org/cosmicquest/spacestation/index2.html), use the menu to select Expedition to the north magnetic pole. Display the first screen and read the text below the photograph. Tell the group that there are five key questions you wish them to answer and that the information to answer them can be found by navigating and reading this online text. Display the questions, for example, on a flipchart or whiteboard, from the resource ‘Key questions – strategy check Word file’ or give the children copies. Key questions: When does the mission take place? How many people are there in the team? Which of the latest inventions in technology does the team use to help them navigate to the Magnetic North Pole? What is special or different about this particular mission? How successful is the mission? Activate prior learning Remind the group that they have already learned that the information needed to answer a question is not always written obviously in the lines of the text. Sometimes they have to dig deeper, using a range of comprehension strategies to come up with an answer. Page 2 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 Invite the group to summarise their learning about the different kinds of comprehension strategy they have already learned during shared reading, or summarise for them if necessary: LITERAL, DEDUCTIVE, INFERENTIAL Tell the children that you are going to show them how to check which strategies they are using when they read to find information. Model the strategy Pose each of the five key questions in turn and read aloud from the on-screen text as you identify the evidence needed, deduce the information needed or use inference to work out the answer. Drag the cursor to highlight words and phrases as you refer to them and clarify what evidence you are using to answer each question. Each time you decide on your answer to a question, use the following sequence to make your thinking process evident by speaking aloud. Model the way that you check which comprehension strategy you use each time. How do I obtain that information? 1. Was the answer right there in the text for me to find? Yes? Then it is LITERAL. 2. Did I have to use information in the text to work out the answer for myself? Yes? Then it is DEDUCTIVE. 3. Did I have to read between the lines or use other information that I already have to devise an answer? Yes? Then it is INFERENTIAL. Display the sequence clearly for children to use later when they work independently. There is a separate resource ‘How did I get that information? Word file’. As you work through each of the five key questions, invite the children to join in with the process when you feel they are ready to try out the strategy for themselves. This allows you to: model the strategy; scaffold the children’s first attempts; and then check that they understand what to do. For example: When does the mission take place? Teacher models the complete process. Page 3 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 How many people are there in the team? Teacher models the complete process Which of the latest inventions in technology does the team use to help them navigate to the magnetic North Pole? Teacher invites children to answer the question, then teacher models the checking strategy What is special or different about this particular mission? Children answer the question and try out the strategy check with teacher support. How successful is the mission? Children answer the question and use the strategy check. Teacher information: for each of the key questions above You can use the ‘Key questions – strategy check’ Word file as a reference during the lesson. 1. LITERAL QUESTION When does the mission take place? ANSWER From 22 April to 15 May 2000 From 22 April to 15 May 2000, an international team of four women, nine men and 20 Canadian Inuit dogs begin a three-week expedition to the magnetic North Pole. QUESTION How many people are there in the team? ANSWER There are thirteen people in the team. From 22 April to 15 May 2000, an international team of four women, nine men and 20 Canadian Inuit dogs begin a three-week expedition to the magnetic North Pole. 2. DEDUCTIVE QUESTION Which of the latest inventions in technology does the team use to help them navigate to the magnetic North Pole? ANSWER They do not use any of the latest equipment because their main goal is to reach the magnetic North Pole using only traditional means of navigation. Page 4 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 The goal of this expedition is to navigate to the magnetic North Pole by traditional means using a sextant and an astrocompass. Even though an astrocompass sounds ‘modern’, the sentence tells us that it must be a ‘traditional’ method 3. INFERENTIAL QUESTION What is special or different about this particular mission? ANSWER This mission is different because the team do not use modern technology to help them navigate and they only use skis and dog sleds to travel a long way across the ice and snow. It is special because there is also a scientific aim to find out more about hummocked sea ice. From 22 April to 15 May 2000, an international team of four women, nine men and 20 Canadian Inuit dogs begin a three-week expedition to the magnetic North Pole. The team, led by arctic explorer Paul Schurke, travel more than 250 miles on skis and dogsleds from the Inuit village of Polaris (on Little Cornwallis Island) to the magnetic North Pole, now located near Ellef Ringnes Island. Indianapolis resident Jeff Ward is the team's navigator. The goal of this expedition is to navigate to the magnetic North Pole by traditional means using a sextant and an astrocompass. To accomplish this goal, the team travel over vast stretches of Arctic Ocean ice, braving temperatures as low as –30 °F, whiteouts and other treacherous conditions. In addition, the expedition work in conjunction with the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Labs of Hanover, New Hampshire, to study the mechanism of autopurification of hummocked sea ice. QUESTION How successful is the mission? ANSWER (using the photograph for information) The mission is very successful because the team reaches the magnetic North Pole and they all look pleased and in good health. They must have navigated successfully, which was their main aim, but we cannot tell from the photograph how successful their scientific investigations are. EVIDENCE (using the photograph for information) The caption says, ‘MISSION COMPLETE’ and the team is posed in the way that explorers usually pose when they reach their goal. The team members appear healthy and well cared-for. They are smiling so it is unlikely that there were disasters or serious problems. Page 5 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 They have taken the trouble to hold up the ‘Children’s Museum’ flag for the photograph and they probably would not stop to do that if they were dealing with serious problems at this point in the expedition. Independent reading Tell the group that you would like them to use the same checking strategy as they read independently to find the answers to some more questions, using other screens in this area of the website. The questions and on-screen texts can be allocated in several ways, depending on the needs of the group. You will need to take into account the type of access the children have to the web pages, whether live Internet access or saved web pages. You will also need to consider whether you wish to include a search element in the activity or whether you want to focus on the use of the comprehension check by allocating a specific screen for each question, to save time. You can choose to allocate one question to each child and direct them to a specific screen in one of the sections below. You can ask children to look for the information they need in a specific section, such as North magnetic pole map, and give them only the relevant question(s) for that section. You can give the group all the questions and ask them to search anywhere in Expedition to the north magnetic pole. If children are working independently on a suite of computers, you can allocate different questions for each child or pair. Key questions: Does anything exciting happen when the team arrive at Resolute Bay? How does the team arrive at King Christian Island? What is the name of the area nearest to the magnetic North Pole? Why is it important for the team to monitor and record the wind conditions? Why do you think Jeff Ward and Paul Schurke are important members of the team? How does the wind help explorers to navigate? There is a separate resource ‘Key questions – independent reading comprehension check Word file’ to use to support this session. Teacher information for each of the questions for independent reading 1. Using the section called Mission highlights. There are four menu options to choose from in this section. Expedition’s arrival North magnetic pole map North pole satellite view North magnetic pole weather Select: Expedition’s arrival (audio) Page 6 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 Note: The sound on this radio transmission from the Arctic is poor quality but the answer to the question below can be clearly heard near the beginning of the clip. Children will probably need to listen to the audiofile more than once. QUESTION Does anything exciting happen when the team arrive at Resolute Bay? ANSWER The only exciting thing that happens is that three of the dogs escape. LITERAL ‘Nothing particularly exciting has happened yet, except that three of the dogs get out … ’ Select: North magnetic pole map QUESTION How does the team arrive at King Christian Island? ANSWER They travel by air. (Reader needs to click map below to see expedition’s progress.) LITERAL (caption on map) April 30th. Flight to King Christian Island. Select: North magnetic pole map QUESTION What is the name of the area nearest to the magnetic North Pole? ANSWER The area is called Cape Isachsen We know that the expedition’s goal is to reach the magnetic North Pole. The map tells us that their goal is achieved at a place called Cape Isachsen, so we can work out that that is the name of the place where they reach the magnetic North Pole. DEDUCTIVE Cape Isachsen: Expedition’s goal achieved! Select: North magnetic pole weather QUESTION Why is it important for the team to monitor and record the wind conditions? ANSWER The team needs to know the wind speed each day because the windchill factor makes such a difference to the temperature they experience. When the air temperature is –12 C, the wind-chill takes the Page 7 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 temperature they experience down to –22. They probably have to make sure that they are going to be safe in such cold conditions. INFERENTIAL Temperature: 11 °F/–12 °C Windchill: –7 °F/–22 °C This is a challenging question because of the level of inference required. 2. Using the section called Profiles QUESTION Why do you think Jeff Ward and Paul Schurke are important members of the team? ANSWER They are important because they both bring skill, knowledge and experience to the team. Between them they have years of experience in this kind of exploration and they are both expert cross-country skiers. In addition, Paul Schurke knows how to navigate using the stars and that is very useful because the team is navigating by traditional means. INFERENTIAL Jeff Ward: scientist and navigator Jeff Ward has more than 33 years of experience in cold-region camping, including two excursions to Denali in Alaska, and multiple experiences in Minnesota, the upper peninsula of Michigan, Canada and the Andes Mountains. Ward has navigated for more than 19 years and taught navigation for the Institute for Marine Technology in Indianapolis and for Ocean Navigator magazine while aboard the Ocean Star schooner from Portland Maine. He is also an intermediate level cross-country skier. Paul Schurke: renowned arctic explorer and expedition leader Along with Will Steger, Paul Schurke led the first confirmed expedition to reach the North Pole by dog-sled without re-supplying in 1986. Since then he has trekked to the geographical North Pole four more times. He has explored vast regions of the Arctic, from Russia to Ellesmere Island in Canada. He is experienced in celestial navigation and is an expert cross-country skier. 3. Using the section called Activities QUESTION How does the wind help explorers to navigate? This question is slightly more challenging than others and is useful for discussion as the children need to select where to look, from: Buoyancy of an egg in water, Rock’n’ice, Layered liquids and density, Book list, Websites, Inuktitut words Page 8 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 The most likely source of useful information may seem to be Rock’n’ice but the answer can actually be found in Inuktitut words. ANSWER The prevailing wind makes patterns on the snow and the explorers use these patterns to help them navigate. LITERAL Inuktitut words Upsik (oop-SIK) – wind-beaten snow that shows the pattern of the prevailing wind (satrugi). Expedition team members will use the snow pattern to help with direction and navigation. As children read to find the answers to the questions and use the comprehension check to monitor the reading strategies they are using, make sure that they are able to locate the information they need but focus on discussion about whether they find their answer by reading literally, deductively or inferentially. Plenary Return to the main screen Expedition to the north magnetic pole Ask the children how well the comprehension check works when they are deciding what kind of reading strategies they are using. Some children may be interested in exploring the subtle differences between literal and deductive, or between deductive and inferential in some of the examples. Return to the text Remind the group that they are also learning how to answer questions that make the reader think about the author’s intention when the text is being written. Tell them that they also need to check for this kind of question when they are reading. AUTHORIAL INTENT Go back to the first screen you used on the large display Expedition to the north magnetic pole Give the group one more key question: QUESTION How does the author let us know that this is not a straightforward and easy mission to undertake? Ask the children to decide on their answer by reading the on-screen text once more. Allow a few moments for them to read and think, then ask them to check with a talk partner what the best answer might be. POSSIBLE ANSWER The author chooses words carefully to suggest to the reader that this is a dangerous and difficult mission. Powerful verbs and slightly unusual Page 9 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 adjectives are used deliberately to give extra information about how severe the conditions are for the team. From 22 April to 15 May 2000, an international team of four women, nine men and 20 Canadian Inuit dogs begin a three-week expedition to the magnetic North Pole. The team, led by arctic explorer Paul Schurke, travel more than 250 miles on skis and dogsleds, from the Inuit village of Polaris (on Little Cornwallis Island) to the magnetic North Pole, now located near Ellef Ringnes Island. Indianapolis resident, Jeff Ward, is the team's navigator. The goal of this expedition is to navigate to the magnetic North Pole by traditional means using a sextant and an astrocompass. To accomplish this goal, the team travel over vast stretches of Arctic Ocean ice, braving temperatures as low as –30 °F, whiteouts and other treacherous conditions. travel more than 250 miles on skis and dogsleds The author lets us know that this is a long journey for the team by using ‘more than’. This suggests that even 250 miles would be a long way, but their journey is longer than that. travel over vast stretches The author could have described the Arctic wilderness as ‘big’, ‘wide’ or even ‘huge’. The carefully chosen adjective ‘vast’ gives us a strong impression of the kind of place the team have to travel across. The word ‘vast’ suggests not only how enormous the wilderness is in comparison to the men and women journeying across it; it also gives us a strong feeling that it is deserted as well. braving temperatures The author has managed to tell us two things at once here about the dangers of the journey. We are told in this sentence that the temperatures are very low but the use of the word ‘braving’ also tells us that the cold is something the team have to be brave to put up with. The author has deliberately emphasised the awful cold twice in one sentence. other treacherous conditions This is another example of the author’s careful choice of adjective. The word ‘dangerous’ could have done the job here but the word ‘treacherous’ makes the conditions sound far more frightening. We often refer to a person, such as a villain, as being ‘treacherous’. The author makes us feel almost as if the severe weather and the deserted landscape are out to get the team! Conclude the session by asking the group to make suggestions as to how they can check for questions about AUTHORIAL INTENT when they are reading. Page 10 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006 Cosmic Quest teaching sequence Y5-6 Summarise their ideas and add them to the bottom of the ‘strategy check sequence’ used earlier, e.g. How do I obtain that information? 1. Is the answer right there in the text for me to find? Yes? Then it is LITERAL. 2. Do I have to use information in the text to work out the answer for myself? Yes? Then it is DEDUCTIVE. 3. Do I have to read between the lines or use other information that I already have to devise an answer? Yes? Then it is INFERENTIAL. 4. Do I have to think carefully about what the writer may have intended when choosing the words, sentences, organisation or presentation? Yes? Then it is a question about AUTHORIAL INTENT. Separate resources for use with Cosmic Quest: ‘Key questions – strategy check’ Word file; ‘How do I obtain that information?’ Word file; ‘Key questions – independent reading comprehension check’ Word file. Page 11 of 11 | Keys to learning | Reading on screen | Years 5–6 Ref: 0360-2006DVD-EN © Crown copyright 2006