BLM #2 — Write about Getting Dinner
Name:
Getting Dinner
Date:
Directions: Write a paragraph about one of the animals in Getting Dinner.
Step 1: Plan for writing: Choose an animal. Place the name of the animal in the
circle. Think of some things you have learned about the animal. Write
each thing on one of the lines coming from the circle..
Step 2: Then write to tell your reader about the animal.
Put details from circle in your paragraph.
Step 3: Use the Editor’s Checklist to make sure your paragraph is ready
for your readers.
Plan
Summary
Science Curriculum Standard
This book explores various ways animals in the natural world
find, catch, and eat their prey.
Life Science: Animals:
Writing Craft
Features
Text Features
and Structures
Comprehension
Decoding and
Phonics Features
Using comparisons, alliteration,
using varied definition forms,
question-ending technique.
Table of contents, index,
glossary, headings,
labeled photos
Decscription, contrast,
comparison
Making predictions,
making text-to-selfconnections, visualizing
through comparisons
Cross-check text to text,
scanning
Blends gr, ch, fl
Compound words
Choose one of the Teaching Points based on your diagnosis
of the group’s needs from prior writing and reading sessions.
Activate background knowledge and set a purpose for
reading during the discussion about the teaching point. The
teaching point will determine the purpose of the reading. Here
is a description of several teaching points for Getting Dinner
Animal Name
• Writing Craft — Initiate a discussion about, or review, the
concept of comparisons as explored previously in Shared
Reading. Tell the group, “Readers want to visualize.
Writers help them by comparing new things to
things they think their readers know.” Have students
look at the comparison on page 7. “Eagle talons are
articulated. That means they bend and move like our
hands and fingers. Ask students to demonstrate with their
hands. Direct students to look for other comparisons as they
read the book.
Write
• Scanning for gr, ch, fl blends—Write the words gripping,
flapping, and chewing on a small white board that students
can keep in front of them as they read. Have your students say
the words aloud, placing special emphasis on the initial
blends. Then have them scan the book to find these (and
perhaps other) gr, ch, fl words before they begin reading.
Editor’s Checklist
o My paragraph tells about one animal from Getting Dinner.
o I wrote three details about the animal I chose.
o I read each sentence and put a period at the end of each one.
o I started each sentence with a capital letter.
• Comprehension — Connecting text-to-self. Ask students to
look through the book and at the pictures. Ask them to state
what they what they anticipate the book is about. Ask them to
think about how they eat. Write a list of eating action words
that students suggest people eating or drinking (start the list
for them).
TN_SP_Getting Dinner
• Animals eat other animals for food.
• Animals have features that help them live in their different
environments.
Teaching Points for Guided Writing and Reading
Start of Guided Session
1-800-380-2289
© 2004 May be reproduced for classroom use.
FLUENT
READERS FOR WRITERS
Reading
Level
Fluent Level I
Drinking and eating words for humans
chewing
tasting
sipping
swallowing
Direct students to look for the action words that tell how
animals eat as they read the book.
During Reading
Observe students as they read independently. If students
are struggling, provide just enough support with appropriate
strategies or skills to help the child to continue reading
independently.
Address comprehension problems as they arise. Encourage
students who are having comprehension problems to crosscheck by using the photo or by using the book’s glossary. For
instance, if a student is stuck on the meaning of ‘nocturnal,’
say, “Put your bookmark at this page to keep your
place, and let’s check the Glossary. Can you find that
word? Read the word’s definition to me.” Then have
the student return to the nocturnal page and ask, “Does
nocturnal make sense here?”
Writing After Reading
Strategy: Create imagery to help the reader visualize.
Target Skill™ Lesson: Use the word like to make
comparisons
Review, Getting Dinner and help students create a list of
the comparisons used:
• like the strainer in your kitchen sink
• sip like a seahorse
• slurp like a flamingo
• strong beaks like jackhammers
• like other grazing animals
Using Readers for Writers photo-cards: Model a
comparison about something in the picture using the word
like. Example: The goat is chewing grass like we chew
gum. His eyes are dark like black marbles. Then
encourage the students to say a comparison about
something in their picture to a partner. Next, provide a
written model of such a sentence. (The next time you do this
lesson, show a student sample from this lesson.) If students
require additional support, write several frames on the board
and have students fill in the blanks. For example:
The __________runs fast like a cheetah.
Susie _______________ like a fish.
Ask students to write, with your guidance, several sentences
of their own about the animals or people in their photo
cards, using the word like to make comparisons. Example:
The turtle’s shell is as hard as my lunch box. Students
use literacy centers and the textless take-home booklets for
further opportunities to practice the skill.
(Time: 20-30 minute guided session)
BLM #1 — Getting Dinner
Whole-Class Writing Lesson
Strategy: Help readers with new science words.
Target Skill™ : Use definitions
Using Readers for Writers photo-cards: Introduce the
concept of definition in informational writing. Tell students,
“Writers help their readers by defining words. They can do it
in the text. Where else? Yes, in the glossary. Let’s look at the
way writers give definitions in the text.
Look at page 7 in Getting Dinner: Eagles use their claws,
called talons, to grab their food. And, Eagle talons
are articulated. That means they can bend and
move. This author has used the word, ‘called’ and the
expression, That means…. to define the word in the text.
Model how to use a definition. “ Here’s my example: My
cat is a calico. What if some your readers don’t
know what a calico cat is? I can define it. My cat is
a calico cat. That means she has three colors.”
Name:
Date:
Directions: Read the example on the chart. Then follow these steps.
Step 1: Write the names of household pets in column 1.
Step 2: Write what each pet eats in column 2.
Step 3: Write words that tell how they eat in column 3.
Type of pet
Guinea pigs
What they eat
How they eat
alfalfa, vegetables,
Bite off pieces with front
some guinea pig food
teeth; chew with back teeth.
Now encourage students to say something about an animal,
object, or person in their photos or something they know,
using a the phrase, That means….. Then ask students to
write, with your guidance, several sentences using a definition
once. Ex: The insect has a thorax. That means a chest.
Repeat this lesson often and use student samples to illustrate.
Ask your students to find definition in their independent
reading. Students should use literacy centers and the textless
take-home booklets for further opportunities to practice the
writing craft skill.
(Time: 35 minute, writing workshop period.)
Science Connection
Comprehension After Reading:
Connecting Text-to-Self
Add a second column to the list of action words you created
as a before-reading activity. Ask students to list words that
tell about animals eating and drinking. Help them find
similarities between the two columns.
Drinking and eating
words for humans
Drinking and eating
words for animals
chewing
tasting
sipping
swallowing
chewing
chomping
tearing
grazing
cracking
sipping
slurping
(Time: one guided reading session of 20-30 minutes.)
Review Getting Dinner for those who have not have read
it. Focus on the various ways animals find, catch, and eat
their food. Use your discussion as a springboard to a
discussion of how domesticated animals “get their dinner.”
Ask students to form small groups and work together to
brainstorm a list of household pets they have or know about.
Have them discuss what the animals eat and how they eat it.
For example: Guinea pigs eat alfalfa, vegetables, some
fruit, and guinea pig food. They crunch, munch,
crush, and chew. Later, have students work on their own to
complete the BLM tilted What’s for Dinner?
(Time: one whole-class science period)
Further Reading and Resources
• Animals Eating: How Animals Chomp, Chew,
Slurp, and Swallow by Pamela Hickman
• Who Eats What? by Patricia lauber
• www.enchantedlearning.com
Assessment
Use the two BLMs to assess your students’ understanding of
the information presented in Getting Dinner and their
ability to make connections between the text and their
own lives.
1-800-380-2289
© 2004 May be reproduced for classroom use.
Writing After Reading
Strategy: Create imagery to help the reader visualize.
Target Skill™ Lesson: Use the word like to make
comparisons
Review, Getting Dinner and help students create a list of
the comparisons used:
• like the strainer in your kitchen sink
• sip like a seahorse
• slurp like a flamingo
• strong beaks like jackhammers
• like other grazing animals
Using Readers for Writers photo-cards: Model a
comparison about something in the picture using the word
like. Example: The goat is chewing grass like we chew
gum. His eyes are dark like black marbles. Then
encourage the students to say a comparison about
something in their picture to a partner. Next, provide a
written model of such a sentence. (The next time you do this
lesson, show a student sample from this lesson.) If students
require additional support, write several frames on the board
and have students fill in the blanks. For example:
The __________runs fast like a cheetah.
Susie _______________ like a fish.
Ask students to write, with your guidance, several sentences
of their own about the animals or people in their photo
cards, using the word like to make comparisons. Example:
The turtle’s shell is as hard as my lunch box. Students
use literacy centers and the textless take-home booklets for
further opportunities to practice the skill.
(Time: 20-30 minute guided session)
BLM #1 — Getting Dinner
Whole-Class Writing Lesson
Strategy: Help readers with new science words.
Target Skill™ : Use definitions
Using Readers for Writers photo-cards: Introduce the
concept of definition in informational writing. Tell students,
“Writers help their readers by defining words. They can do it
in the text. Where else? Yes, in the glossary. Let’s look at the
way writers give definitions in the text.
Look at page 7 in Getting Dinner: Eagles use their claws,
called talons, to grab their food. And, Eagle talons
are articulated. That means they can bend and
move. This author has used the word, ‘called’ and the
expression, That means…. to define the word in the text.
Model how to use a definition. “ Here’s my example: My
cat is a calico. What if some your readers don’t
know what a calico cat is? I can define it. My cat is
a calico cat. That means she has three colors.”
Name:
Date:
Directions: Read the example on the chart. Then follow these steps.
Step 1: Write the names of household pets in column 1.
Step 2: Write what each pet eats in column 2.
Step 3: Write words that tell how they eat in column 3.
Type of pet
Guinea pigs
What they eat
How they eat
alfalfa, vegetables,
Bite off pieces with front
some guinea pig food
teeth; chew with back teeth.
Now encourage students to say something about an animal,
object, or person in their photos or something they know,
using a the phrase, That means….. Then ask students to
write, with your guidance, several sentences using a definition
once. Ex: The insect has a thorax. That means a chest.
Repeat this lesson often and use student samples to illustrate.
Ask your students to find definition in their independent
reading. Students should use literacy centers and the textless
take-home booklets for further opportunities to practice the
writing craft skill.
(Time: 35 minute, writing workshop period.)
Science Connection
Comprehension After Reading:
Connecting Text-to-Self
Add a second column to the list of action words you created
as a before-reading activity. Ask students to list words that
tell about animals eating and drinking. Help them find
similarities between the two columns.
Drinking and eating
words for humans
Drinking and eating
words for animals
chewing
tasting
sipping
swallowing
chewing
chomping
tearing
grazing
cracking
sipping
slurping
(Time: one guided reading session of 20-30 minutes.)
Review Getting Dinner for those who have not have read
it. Focus on the various ways animals find, catch, and eat
their food. Use your discussion as a springboard to a
discussion of how domesticated animals “get their dinner.”
Ask students to form small groups and work together to
brainstorm a list of household pets they have or know about.
Have them discuss what the animals eat and how they eat it.
For example: Guinea pigs eat alfalfa, vegetables, some
fruit, and guinea pig food. They crunch, munch,
crush, and chew. Later, have students work on their own to
complete the BLM tilted What’s for Dinner?
(Time: one whole-class science period)
Further Reading and Resources
• Animals Eating: How Animals Chomp, Chew,
Slurp, and Swallow by Pamela Hickman
• Who Eats What? by Patricia lauber
• www.enchantedlearning.com
Assessment
Use the two BLMs to assess your students’ understanding of
the information presented in Getting Dinner and their
ability to make connections between the text and their
own lives.
1-800-380-2289
© 2004 May be reproduced for classroom use.
BLM #2 — Write about Getting Dinner
Name:
Getting Dinner
Date:
Directions: Write a paragraph about one of the animals in Getting Dinner.
Step 1: Plan for writing: Choose an animal. Place the name of the animal in the
circle. Think of some things you have learned about the animal. Write
each thing on one of the lines coming from the circle..
Step 2: Then write to tell your reader about the animal.
Put details from circle in your paragraph.
Step 3: Use the Editor’s Checklist to make sure your paragraph is ready
for your readers.
Plan
Summary
Science Curriculum Standard
This book explores various ways animals in the natural world
find, catch, and eat their prey.
Life Science: Animals:
Writing Craft
Features
Text Features
and Structures
Comprehension
Decoding and
Phonics Features
Using comparisons, alliteration,
using varied definition forms,
question-ending technique.
Table of contents, index,
glossary, headings,
labeled photos
Decscription, contrast,
comparison
Making predictions,
making text-to-selfconnections, visualizing
through comparisons
Cross-check text to text,
scanning
Blends gr, ch, fl
Compound words
Choose one of the Teaching Points based on your diagnosis
of the group’s needs from prior writing and reading sessions.
Activate background knowledge and set a purpose for
reading during the discussion about the teaching point. The
teaching point will determine the purpose of the reading. Here
is a description of several teaching points for Getting Dinner
Animal Name
• Writing Craft — Initiate a discussion about, or review, the
concept of comparisons as explored previously in Shared
Reading. Tell the group, “Readers want to visualize.
Writers help them by comparing new things to
things they think their readers know.” Have students
look at the comparison on page 7. “Eagle talons are
articulated. That means they bend and move like our
hands and fingers. Ask students to demonstrate with their
hands. Direct students to look for other comparisons as they
read the book.
Write
• Scanning for gr, ch, fl blends—Write the words gripping,
flapping, and chewing on a small white board that students
can keep in front of them as they read. Have your students say
the words aloud, placing special emphasis on the initial
blends. Then have them scan the book to find these (and
perhaps other) gr, ch, fl words before they begin reading.
Editor’s Checklist
o My paragraph tells about one animal from Getting Dinner.
o I wrote three details about the animal I chose.
o I read each sentence and put a period at the end of each one.
o I started each sentence with a capital letter.
• Comprehension — Connecting text-to-self. Ask students to
look through the book and at the pictures. Ask them to state
what they what they anticipate the book is about. Ask them to
think about how they eat. Write a list of eating action words
that students suggest people eating or drinking (start the list
for them).
TN_SP_Getting Dinner
• Animals eat other animals for food.
• Animals have features that help them live in their different
environments.
Teaching Points for Guided Writing and Reading
Start of Guided Session
1-800-380-2289
© 2004 May be reproduced for classroom use.
FLUENT
READERS FOR WRITERS
Reading
Level
Fluent Level I
Drinking and eating words for humans
chewing
tasting
sipping
swallowing
Direct students to look for the action words that tell how
animals eat as they read the book.
During Reading
Observe students as they read independently. If students
are struggling, provide just enough support with appropriate
strategies or skills to help the child to continue reading
independently.
Address comprehension problems as they arise. Encourage
students who are having comprehension problems to crosscheck by using the photo or by using the book’s glossary. For
instance, if a student is stuck on the meaning of ‘nocturnal,’
say, “Put your bookmark at this page to keep your
place, and let’s check the Glossary. Can you find that
word? Read the word’s definition to me.” Then have
the student return to the nocturnal page and ask, “Does
nocturnal make sense here?”