Water Wise: Fire, Drought and Insects—Oh My! K-1 Reading Standards for Informational Text Integration of Knowledge and Ideas K.RI.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts). 1. RI.7 Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas. 2-3 AZ Writing Standards Text Types and Purposes 2. W.3 Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure. 3. W.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations. c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order. d. Provide a sense of closure. Research to Build and Present Knowledge 4-5.W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research Apply grade 4 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., "Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to 4-5 AZ Writing Standards Activity: Share this article with your young readers, explaining to them that this article is all about the life cycle of trees. Paraphrase and check for understanding as you read. Ask your class to tell you how old they are. How do they know this? Show your students the illustration of the tree cookie. Point out the illustration of the “tree cookie” under the Activity! Ask your students to guess at what it is. Considering the article that you have just shared with them, why do they think this is an appropriate picture for the article? Why do your students think it is called a tree cookie? Work together to answer the three questions posed. Supply your students with brown and black crayons and drawing paper. Can your students draw their own illustrations of a tree cookie? Direct your students to count the rings of their drawings and write the age of their tree on the paper. Activity: Ask students to imagine themselves as a very old tree. How many rings do you have? Are your rings wide or narrow? Have you lived through any droughts or floods? Do you have any scars? What major weather events have you seen during your life? Write a story telling your life as a tree. Illustrations would be a great addition to these stories. You may even consider having your students write these stories in comic strip format! Activity Remind your class that not all research takes place online. After reading this article with your class, explain that you are inspired to take them on a science walk. Provide each of your students with their own nature journal and a pencil (a spiral notebook will work great) As you explore the outdoors, ask students to classify what they see. support particular points in a text"). Apply grade 5 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., "Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point[s]"). 6-8 Speaking and Listening Standards Comprehension and Collaboration 6-8.SL.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. 6th grade -Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion. 7th grade- Pose questions that elicit elaboration and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant observations and ideas that bring the discussion back on topic as needed. 8th grade - Pose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others' questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations, and ideas. How do the trees and plants differ? As they go, consider asking them to sketch the trees they see. Then, write down where the trees are located. Suggest that they label parts of the trees, collect leaves, pay attention to and describe the details they notice. Upon returning from this adventure, discuss what they have seen and how it relates to the article you read. Activity Give each of your students a copy of this article to CLOSE read. Ask them to write down observations, questions, and comments in the margins as they read. Bring your class together in small discussion groups of four or five. Give these groups time to share their findings. Remind students to ask questions of one another and dig further into the ideas which are shared. Are there any points which your group has found of particular interest? What thoughts were shared on that point? Did you refer back to the text as you worked together? Provide each group with a piece of chart paper and markers. Instruct the groups to create a poster that best sums up the thoughts that were shared. Allow your class to be creative. Illustrations, diagrams, thought bubbles, etc…are all acceptable forms of expression. Each group can share their findings with the class.