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AFTER READING
OBJECTIVES
  • Formulate an inquiry
    question that is connected to this week’s lesson focus.
  • Effectively and efficiently
    find, evaluate, and
    communicate information
    related to an inquiry
    question using electronic
    sources.
New Literacies
Synthesize
Analyze
Communicate
Navigate/Search
Identify Questions
Day 5
Day 4
Day 3
Day 2
Day 1
OBJECTIVES
  • Review terms and ideas
    related to a thesaurus.
  • Use a thesaurus to find
    synonyms and
    antonyms.
Practice Book
Practice Book 3.1 p. 120
with | without Answers
NEW LITERACIES
Internet Inquiry Activity
EXPLORE MYTHOLOGY
Use the following 5-day plan to help students conduct this week's Internet inquiry
activity that explores mythology. Remind students to follow classroom rules when
using the Internet.
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 4
DAY 3
Identify Questions Discuss the lesson focus question: How do people explain
nature in order to understand it? Brainstorm ideas for specific inquiry questions
about nature and mythology. For example, students might want to find out how
people long ago explained things we now have scientific explanations for, such
as the Milky Way galaxy. Have students work individually, in pairs, or in small
groups to write an inquiry question they want to answer.
Navigate/Search Remind students how to begin a simple Internet search using a
search engine. Define what a search engine is and how a search engine works.
Encourage students to use student-friendly search engines. The information on
these sites is easier to locate and to understand. Have students compile a list
of sites to analyze on Day 3.
Analyze Have students explore and analyze information from the Web sites they
identified on Day 2. Tell them to scan and analyze information for credibility,
reliability, and usefulness. They can print out and then highlight relevant information.
Synthesize Have students synthesize information from Day 3. Remind them that when they synthesize, they pull together the relevant ideas from different sources to develop answers to their inquiry questions.
Communicate Have students share their results. They can use a word processing program to write a short summary of a myth or pourquoi tale.
DAY 5
RESEARCH/STUDY SKILLS
Thesaurus
TEACH
Ask students what kind of reference source can be used to find words that
have similar meanings. Show a thesaurus (in both book and electronic form, if
possible) as you discuss these ideas.
  • A thesaurus is a book of synonyms—words that mean the same or almost the same as another word.
  • In a print thesaurus, you usually look up the word for which you want synonyms. The thesaurus might give a list of synonyms with different meanings. Make sure you choose the synonym with the correct meaning. A dictionary can help.
  • Many word processing programs have a thesaurus. You can highlight a word on the screen and click on thesaurus under the Tools menu. You will get a list of different meanings for the word. Click on the meaning you want, and a list of synonyms will come up.
Have students select two or three sentences from the Student Edition. Using a thesaurus, they should rewrite the sentences, replacing a word or words with synonyms. To prepare students for the activity, discuss these questions.
 
Thesaurus
 
1. What do you do if the word you
look up has several meanings? (find the most appropriate meaning)
2. How could you find a synonym for
the word myth? (look it up in a print thesaurus or highlight the word in a word processing program and use the electronic thesaurus)
 
 
 
 
 
ASSESS
As students use a thesaurus, check that they select the correct meaning and the most appropriate synonym.
For more practice or to assess students, use Practice Book 3.1, p. 120.