20 teacher’s guide living in trees · lesson 20 teacher’s guide living in ... themes and ideas...

Number of Words: 1,328

L E S S O N 2 0 T E A C H E R ’ S G U I D E

Living in Treesby Alexandra Behr

Fountas-Pinnell Level QInformational TextSelection SummaryAround the world, people live, work, vacation, and play in tree houses. In Papua New Guinea, native people called the Kombai live in homes as high as 100 feet off the ground. In Central American rainforests, scientists study the forest canopy from tree house camps. Tree house hotels in South Africa, India, and Washington State offer guests a sky-high view. Children’s tree houses provide a place to have fun.

Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Permission is hereby granted to individual teachers using the corresponding (discipline) Leveled Readers to photocopy student worksheets from this publication in classroom quantities for instructional use and not for resale. Requests for information on other matters regarding duplication of this work should be addressed to Houghton Miffl in Harcourt Publishing Company, Attn: Contracts, Copyrights, and Licensing, 9400 SouthPark Center Loop, Orlando, Florida 32819. Printed in the U.S.A. 978-0-547-30618-6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0940 15 14 13 12 11 10 09

If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Miffl in Harcourt Publishing Company retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited.

Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format.

Characteristics of the Text Genre • Informational Text

Text Structure • Multiple topics that represent subtopics of the main topic: tree houses• Organized into sections by type of tree house

Content • Around the world, tree houses serve a variety of purposes.• Tree houses are common to people of many cultures.• Tree houses provide places for people to live, work, vacation, and play.

Themes and Ideas • Viewing the landscape from high in the air gives people a new way of looking at the world.• Studying an environment in great detail can lead to new knowledge.• Scientists have invented creative ways to study nature in inaccessible places.

Language and Literary Features

• Author talks directly to the reader (second person): You walk through a city park.• Clearly written

Sentence Complexity • Longer and more complex sentence structures, some with more than 15 words• Multiple items in series, divided by commas: That’s how it produces so many seeds,

fruits, leaves, fl owers, and nuts.• Items separated by ellipses: You might guess it’s a spider monkey … a tree frog … a

parrot …a colony of ants …or perhaps a snake, quietly waiting.Vocabulary • Concepts/words not defi ned: local resources, larvae, habitats, bamboo

Words • Challenging names: Papua New Guinea, Central America, South Africa, Mount Rainier• Open and closed compound: tree house, lightweight, understory, hot air balloon

Illustrations • Photographs with captions bearing extra information • Globe showing location of Papua New Guinea • Diagram of rainforest layers

Book and Print Features • Thirteen pages of text; section headings that indicate content© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

3_306186_AL_LRTG_L20_LivinginTree.indd 1 11/2/09 9:50:18 PM

Expand Your Vocabulary

boar – a male pig, p. 5canopy - the uppermost

spreading layer of a forest, p. 8lemurs - various tree-dwelling

primates that are active at night, p. 9

observatory - a place providing a wide view, p. 13

resort - a place providing recreation and entertainment especially to vacationers, p. 13

starchy - containing, consisting of, or resembling starch, p. 5

tapir - any of several plant-eating hoofed mammals of tropical America and southeastern Asia, p. 7

understory - the layer between the forest canopy and the ground cover, p. 7

Living in Trees by Alexandra Behr

Build BackgroundAsk students to share what they know about tree houses. Build interest by asking questions such as the following: Have you ever been in a tree house? What could you see from that place? Read the title and author and talk about the cover photograph. Do you think someone could live in this tree house? Tell students that this book is informational text, so the words and photos will give factual information about how people live and work in trees.

Introduce the TextGuide students through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary. Here are some suggestions:

Pages 3–4: Direct attention to the globe and read the call-out and label with students. Point out that Papua New Guinea is very close to the equator. Suggested language: Parts of the world near the equator are very hot. The tree house on page 4 is in New Guinea. Why do you think people in hot places might live in tree houses?

Page 7: Have students study the diagram, and read the labels with them. Did you know that a rainforest has different layers? What do you see on the fl oor of the rainforest? How is the understory—the next layer—different? What is the understory under?

Pages 10–11: This section of the book tells how scientists study the canopy of a rainforest which is the top layer where many plants and animals live. Look carefully at both pictures. They show two ways scientists can reach the canopy in order to study it. Why do you think scientists have invented these ways instead of just climbing up the trees?

Now turn back to the beginning of the book and read to fi nd out how people around the world live, work, and play in tree houses.

2 Lesson 20: Living in TreesGrade 3© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company


ReadHave students read Living in Trees silently while you listen to individual students read. Support their problem solving and fl uency as needed.

Remind students to use the Infer/Predict Strategy and to use clues to fi gure out more about the selection.

Discuss and Revisit the TextPersonal ResponseInvite students to share their personal responses to the book. Suggested language: What did you learn about tree houses that you didn’t know before? What information did you fi nd the most surprising?

Ways of ThinkingAs you discuss the text, help students understand these points:

Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text

• Around the world, tree houses serve many purposes.

• Native people in Papua New Guinea live in tree houses for protection from the heat, fl oods, and animals.

• Scientists use tree houses to study the rainforest canopy.

• Tree-house hotels let visitors live close to nature.

• Trees are a natural resource that meets the needs of people in many different ways, including as a place to live and work.

• People in different cultures use trees in similar ways.

• Scientists are challenged to invent new ways to study nature in diffi cult environments.

• The photographs show different kinds of tree houses and the purposes they serve.

• The captions describe what is shown in the photos.

• The section titles give a good idea of what information will be covered.

• The author includes lots of details about the different uses people make of tree houses.

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

Choices for Further Support• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text and demonstrate phrased

fl uent reading. Remind them to use pauses, pitch, and stress to get across the meaning the author intends.

• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go back to the text to support their ideas.

• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples from the text. Remind students that a prefi x at the beginning of a word can change the meaning of a word they know. Point out that the word impossible on page 2 is the word possible with the prefi x im-, which means “not.” Explain that un- is another prefi x meaning “not.” Have students fi nd words with prefi xes that mean “not” on pages 3 (unwanted) and 5 (unexpected).



Writing about ReadingCritical ThinkingHave students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 20.9.

RespondingHave students complete the activities at the back of the book. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.

Target Comprehension SkillMain Ideas and Details

Target Comprehension Skill Remind students that as they read, they can

identify important ideas and details about a topic. Model the skill, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:

Think Aloud

When I read informational text, I look for the most important information about a topic. Then I try to fi nd details that support or add to the main idea. I know that the main idea often is given fi rst. I see that the fi rst sentence on page 7 says: “Rainforests have several layers.” I think that’s the most important, or main, idea in this section. Next, I look for details that support this main idea. The author goes on to describe the forest fl oor, the understory, and the canopy. She includes details that give more information about a rainforest’s layers.

Practice the SkillHave students read the paragraph on page 10 and write the main idea of the paragraph. Then have them write three details about the main idea.

Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the TextHave students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use what they know and their own experience to think about what happens in the story.

Assessment Prompts• Use what you know about compound words to tell the meaning of the word walkways

on page 10.

• What are the paragraphs on page 11 mainly about?

• Use the information given on page 4 to complete this sentence: The reader can tell that the Kombai people ____________________________________________________.



Read directions to students.

Critical ThinkingRead and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text Why do the Kombai build their

homes in trees?

to protect them from fl oods and give them shelter from the heat and insects below

2. Think within the text What kinds of workers live in tree

houses? What do they do there?

Some scientists live in tree houses. They study the rainforest’s canopy.

3. Think beyond the text Would a tree house be a good

home for people in all regions of the earth? Explain.

Possible response: No. Some regions do not have trees. Other regions are so cold

that a tree house would not provide enough warmth.

4. Think about the text What is the main thing a tree

house provides for the Kombai people? What is the main

thing a tree house provides for rainforest scientists?

Tree houses provide shelter for the Kombai people. They provide a place to

work—a kind of laboratory—for the rainforest scientists.

Making Connections Have you been in a tree house or read a story about a tree house like one of those in Living in Trees? Based on your experience or on what you have read, describe what being in a tree house is like.

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Critical Thinking© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Name Date

Grade 3, Unit 4: Extreme Nature11

Living in Trees

Critical Thinking

Lesson 20B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 2 0 . 9

3_246239RTXEAN_L16-20CT.indd Page Sec4:11 3/7/09 12:04:41 AM user-043 /Volumes/118/HS00117/work%0/indd%0/Critical_Thinking/3_246239RTXEAN_U04L16-20CT

English Language DevelopmentReading Support In Introduce the Text (p.2), use pictures, concrete objects, or demonstrations that will help students understand the concepts and ideas in the text. Don’t ask students to read any text they will not understand.

Idioms The book contains idioms that might be unfamiliar. Explain the meanings of the expressions a cool idea (page 3), bugging you (page 6), bird’s-eye view (page 8), and heart of the rainforest (page 9).

Oral Language DevelopmentCheck student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’ English profi ciency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.

Beginning/Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced

Speaker 1: What is on top of the trees on the cover?

Speaker 2: a house

Speaker 1: Where do most of the animals in the rainforest live?

Speaker 2: high in the trees/ in the canopy

Speaker 1: What kinds of animals live in the rainforest?

Speaker 2: There are monkeys, tree frogs, parrots, snakes, tapirs, and jaguars.

Speaker 1: What are the three layers of the rainforest called?

Speaker 2: They are the fl oor, the understory, and the canopy.

Speaker 1: How do researchers get to the rainforest canopy to study the plants and animals that live there?

Speaker 2: They climb spiral staircases, use cranes, use hot air balloons, and make walkways and tree houses built in the canopy.


3_306186_AL_LRTG_L20_LivinginTree.indd 53_306186_AL_LRTG_L20_LivinginTree.indd 5 7/28/09 4:13:00 PM7/28/09 4:13:00 PM

Name Date

Living in TreesThinking Beyond the Text

Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two paragraphs.

Today, rainforests are in danger. For example, farmers cut down the trees to plant crops. Why do you think scientists have overcome great challenges to study the rainforest’s canopy? Use details from the book in your answer.



Critical ThinkingRead and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text Why do the Kombai build their

homes in trees?

2. Think within the text What kinds of workers live in tree

houses? What do they do there?

3. Think beyond the text Would a tree house be a good

home for people in all regions of the earth? Explain.

4. Think about the text What is the main thing a tree

house provides for the Kombai people? What is the main

thing a tree house provides for rainforest scientists?

Making Connections Have you been in a tree house or read a story about a tree house like one of those in Living in Trees? Based on your experience or on what you have read, describe what being in a tree house is like.

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Name Date

Living in Trees

Critical Thinking

Lesson 20B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 2 0 . 9



1414025Behavior Code Error

Read word correctly ✓cat 0

Repeated word, sentence, or phrase

®cat

0

Omission —cat 1

Behavior Code Error

Substitution cutcat 1

Self-corrects cut sccat 0

Insertion the

cat 1

Word told Tcat 1

page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections

12

13

Okay, you’re tired of canoeing through the swamps.… And

studying the canopy of the rainforest has exhausted you. Now

you just want to relax. What better place to do that than in one

of these amazing tree house hotels!

A tree house hotel in South Africa has a wonderful view of the

forest and a nearby gorge. If you’re more interested in seeing

wild animals, there’s a tree house hotel in Kenya near a wildlife

reserve full of protected animals.

At one tree house resort in India, you have to climb across

rope bridges to get to your treetop hotel room.

Comments: Accuracy Rate (# words read

correctly/101 × 100)

%

Total Self- Corrections

Student Date Lesson 20

B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 2 0 . 1 3

Living in TreesRunning Record Form

Living in Trees • LEVEL QRunning Record FormRunning Record Form


3_306186_AL_LRTG_L20_LivinginTree.indd 8 12/16/09 2:00:31 AM

20 teacher’s guide living in trees · lesson 20 teacher’s guide living in ... themes and ideas...

Documents