Scott Foresman Reading Street

Reader Response

Open for Discussion Personal Response

MODEL I think the most exciting part was when the Russian ship was trying to get the whales to follow it out of the frozen bay. I liked it because I really wanted to know what was going to happen.

Comprehension Check Critical Response

Answers will vary, but students
should mention that music will
solve the story's problem. Author's Purpose
Answers will vary, but students
should mention that both
humans and nature depend on
each other for survival.
Generalize
Possible response: The dogs
brought her to the whales
when they were stuck in the bay. Answer Questions
Singing, whistles, rock and roll, folk music, and classical music
Vocabulary

Look Back and Write For test practice, assign a 10–15 minute time limit. For assessment, see the Scoring Rubric at the right.

Retell

Have students retell A Symphony of Whales.

then… use the Retelling Cards and the Scoring Rubric for Retelling on p.375 to
assist fluent retelling.

If… students
have difficulty
retelling the
selection,

Check Retelling

Check Retelling Have students use illustrations and other text features to guide their retellings. Let students listen to other retellings before attempting their own. See the ELL and Transition Handbook.

Write Now

Look at the Prompt Explain that each sentence in the prompt has a purpose.

Sentence 1 presents a topic.
Sentence 2 suggests students think about the topic.
Sentence 3 tells what to write—a news story.

Strategies to Develop Sentences

Have students

write three sentences of different lengths.
revise long, wordy sentences.

NO: There was a storm and it blew

down trees and it caused power

outages.

YES: The storm blew down trees and

caused power outages.

For additional suggestions and rubric, see pp. 379g–379h.

Writer's Checklist

Focus Do all sentences stick to the news story and give important information?
Organization Are ideas in order? Do transitions such as then show connections?
Support Do details tell who, what, when, where, why, and how?
Conventions Are verb tenses, punctuation, and spelling correct?

Reader Response

Online Student Edition Snapshot Response with answer key (pdf)

Open for Discussion What did you think was the most exciting part of the story? Why was that part exciting?

The author begins his story with Glashka hearing music inside her head. How does that beginning get you ready for the rest of the story? Think Like an Author

Think about the lives of the villagers and the lives of the whales. What does that say about how people and nature are connected? Generalize

At the end of the story, Glashka tells the sled dogs that they are good dogs. Why does she believe they are good dogs? Answer Questions

The list words symphony and melody are related to music. What other words from the story could you include in that group? Vocabulary

Look Back and Write The old ones talk about "other music." What is the "other music," and why is it important? Use story details to support your answer.

Meet author Steve Schuch on page 410 and illustrator Wendell Minor on page 421.

A Symphony of Whales describes an
event in a small village that could be the subject of a real-life news story.
Think about an event that took place in your town or neighborhood.
Now write a news story about that event
that answers the 5 Ws and How.

Prompt

Using different
kinds and lengths
of sentences helps
make a news story
clear and interesting.

Use the model to help you write your own
news story.

Different
kinds and
lengths of
sentences
make writing
flow.

Questions who,
what, when,
where, why,
and how are
answered at
beginning of
news story.

Narrative Retelling

Connections

Makes connections and generalizes beyond the text

Makes connections
to other events, stories, or experiences

Makes a limited connection to
another event,
story, or experience

Makes no connection to another event, story, or experience

Author's
Purpose

Elaborates on author's purpose

Tells author's purpose with
some clarity

Makes some connection to
author's purpose

Makes no connection to author's purpose

Characters

Describes the main character(s) and
any character development

Identifies the main character(s) and gives some information about them

Inaccurately identifies some characters or gives little information about them

Inaccurately
identifies the characters or gives no information
about them

Setting

Describes the time and location

Identifies the time
and location

Omits details of time or location

Is unable to identify time or location

Plot

Describes the problem, goal, events, and ending using rich detail

Tells the problem, goal, events, and ending with some errors that do not affect meaning

Tells parts of the problem, goal, events, and ending with gaps that affect meaning

Retelling has no sense of story

Selection Test To assess with A Symphony of Whales, use Selection Tests, pp. 53–56.

Fresh Reads for Differentiated Test Practice For weekly leveled practice, use pp. 79–84.

Retelling Plan

Week 1 Assess Strategic Intervention students.
Week 2 Assess Advanced students.
Week 3 Assess Strategic Intervention students.
This week assess On-Level students.
Week 5 Assess any students you have not yet
checked during this unit.

Use the Retelling Chart on
p. TR16 to record retelling.

Look Back and Write

Top-Score Response A top-score response uses details from the story to tell what the old ones mean by “other music” and why it is important.

Example of a Top-Score Response The beluga whales will not follow the ship out to sea. Glashka listens to the whales and tells the old ones what she hears. The old ones realize that Narna wants to hear the music whales and humans once shared. Narna wants to hear this “other music.” They play some rock music for the whales. This doesn’t work. Then they play some folk music. This doesn’t work. The whales finally follow the ship when they hear classical music.

For additional rubrics, see p. WA10.