Scott Foresman Reading Street

SKILLS

STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT

Draw Conclusions Ask Questions

Test

Selection Test:
Unit 2
Benchmark Test: Unit 3

Reteach/
Review

TE: 3.1 79; 3.2 271b, DI•56; 3.3 289, 353b, 363, DI•54; 3.5 243b, DI•55

PB: 3.1 26, 93, 97, 106, 123, 127, 128, 136; 3.2 83, 87, 88

Practice

TE: 3.2 250–251, 3.3 330–331, 3.5 220–221

Introduce/
Teach

Draw Conclusions

	Understand how to draw conclusions.
	Ask questions to draw conclusions.

INTRODUCE

Write the following on the board: Gilda always wears her red sweater on Monday. Gilda is not wearing her red sweater today. Ask students what the information tells us about what day of the week it is (or isn't). (It isn't Monday because Gilda isn't wearing her red sweater.)

Have students read the information on p. 250. Explain the following:

As you read, think about the details and facts in a selection. Use what you already know about the topic to help you draw conclusions about the selection. Then check your conclusions to see if they make sense.
Asking yourself questions about why things happen or why characters say and do things can help you draw conclusions too.

Use Skill Transparency 10 to teach draw conclusions and ask questions.

TEACH

STRATEGY After reading aloud
the first two paragraphs, model
asking questions.

MODEL Whenever I'm reading
and I don't understand
something, or something

sounds strange, I stop and ask myself a question about it; for example, Why would someone leave the adobe bricks in the sun?

SKILL Model using the facts and
details and what you already
know to draw a conclusion
that answers your question.

MODEL The facts in the
selection tell me that adobe is made of clay, water, dirt, and

straw. That means it's wet when it's put into the molds. I know that the sun in the desert is hot. I bet the adobe is left in the sun so it will dry and harden into bricks.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

STRATEGY Students should

stop and ask themselves questions whenever they don't understand something. They might be confused by the information at the end of paragraph 2.

SKILL Students should

use facts and details in the selection and what they know about the sun to draw conclusions

WRITE Have students complete

steps 1 and 2 of the Write to Read activity. You might consider using this as a whole class activity.

then… use Practice Book 3.1 p. 93 to provide additional practice.

If… students are unable to complete Write to Read on
p. 250,

Draw Conclusions

Available as Skill Transparency 10

A conclusion is a decision you reach after
you think about details and facts.

As you read, think about the details and
facts and use what you already know to
draw conclusions about characters and
the things that happen.

Draw Conclusions

Strategy
Ask Questions

Skill
Draw Conclusions

Strategy This is a
good place to ask
a question, such
as, “Why would I
leave the bricks in
the sun?”

Conclusion

What You
Already
Know

Fact or
Detail

Strategy: Ask Questions

Active readers ask themselves questions
as they read. As you read, ask why certain
things happen or why characters act as
they do. The answers may not be given in
a sentence, but you may be able to draw
conclusions about them.

Adobe is a kind of brick. Adobe bricks
have been used to build desert houses for many
years. You can see adobe houses in the desert
Southwest of our country.
To build a house of adobe, you need clay.
Add water and dirt to the clay. Let it stand for
a day or two. It will become soft. Then, mix in
a little straw to make a paste. This will hold the
brick together. Next, put the paste into molds.

Each mold is made of pieces of wood put
together in the shape of a brick. Then leave the
bricks in the sun for about two weeks.
Once you have made the bricks, you can
build your house. Add a roof, and your house
is done! You will be warm in the winter and
cool in the summer.

Skill Then you can
use the details you have just read and what you already
know about the sun
to draw the conclusion that the sun will
harden the bricks.

1. Read “How to Build an
    Adobe House.” Make a     graphic organizer like the
    one above. Draw a
    conclusion about laying
    adobe out in the sun.

2. Use the information in “How
    to Build an Adobe House” and
    what you know to write a
    conclusion about the kind of
    weather needed to make adobe.



	Close
	Access Content Beginning/Intermediate For a Picture It! lesson on drawing conclusions, see the ELL Teaching Guide, p. 65. Advanced Before students read "How to Build an Adobe House," explain what adobe is, and discuss how they think a house made out of such material might look and where and why these such houses were built. Draw Conclusions Work separately with students who are having trouble grasping the skill. Provide additional examples such as the one in the introduction; for example: Martha baked a peach pie. It disappeared from the pie plate. The dog had pie crumbs on his nose. Ask students what they can conclude about what happened to the pie. Discuss how they used the facts and their own knowledge to arrive at the conclusion. Practice Book 3.1 p. 93 with \| without Answers