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Monitor Progress
Word and
Selection Reading
If… students have difficulty reading multisyllabic words in the selection,
then… have them look for and read meaningful parts in the words or have them chunk words with no recognizable parts.
If… students have difficulty reading along with the group,
then… have them follow along as they listen to the AudioText.
What Is a Weed?
DAY 4
ROUTINE
A Day’s Work
Group Time
Strategic Intervention
1
2
Practice Retelling
REVIEW STORY ELEMENTS Help students identify the main
characters and the setting of A Day’s Work. Then guide them in using the Retelling Cards to list story events in sequence. Prompt students to include important details.
Retelling CardsRETELL Using the Retelling Cards, have
students work in pairs to retell A Day’s Work. Monitor retelling and prompt students as needed. For example, ask:
  • What else happened in this story?
  • How was the problem solved?
  • What is the author trying to tell us or teach us?
If students struggle, model a fluent retelling.
Read “What Is a Weed?”
BEFORE READING Read the genre information on p. 194. Point out that students can use e-mail to communicate with friends and family members. They can also use e-mail to ask questions about things they want to know more about. Ask students about their experiences
with e-mail.
Read the rest of the panel on p. 194. Have students identify the To:
box and the message in the e-mail. What do you see two lines below
the To: box? (the Subject: box) How is the message like a regular
letter? (It has a greeting, a body, and the writer’s name.) Discuss
with students the reply e-mail on p. 196 and the Web pages on
pp. 196–197.
DURING READING Have students read along with you while tracking the print or do a choral reading of the selection. Stop to discuss difficult vocabulary, such as foliage, spiny, and purslane.
AFTER READING Have students share their reactions to the selection. Then guide them through the Reading Across Texts and Writing Across Texts activities, prompting if necessary.
  • What kinds of information did Francisco learn about gardening?
  • How can Francisco use the information he learned in his next job as a gardener?
ROUTINE
DAY 4
1
2
Advanced
Read “What Is a Weed?”
CRITICAL THINKING/SOLVE PROBLEMS Have students read
pp. 194–197 independently. Encourage them to think critically and in terms of problems and solutions. For example, say:
  • The title of the selection is “What Is a Weed?” Is this question really answered?
  • How could you find the answer to that question?
AFTER READING Have students meet with you to discuss Reading Across Texts. Have students do Writing Across Texts independently.
Extend Genre Study
RESEARCH Have students use e-mail to do more research about weeds. Provide them with e-mail addresses of science teachers at your school or your local middle or high school who are willing to receive and respond to such e-mails. Have them do research to find the e-mail addresses of others in the field, such as owners of nurseries, radio hosts of gardening shows, or newspaper gardening columnists.
WRITE Have students write short reports on the results of their e-mail research. Ask them to include a list of the e-mail addresses they wrote to, the questions they asked, and a summary of the information they learned. Encourage them to share their reports with the class.