Unit 1 West Indian Manatees
Let's talk Work in pairs. What do you know about manatees? What would you like to know? Think of three questions. Draw a KWL chart like this one and fill in the first two columns. K W
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What I know
What I want to know
What I learnt
Reading Read the passage to see if it answers your questions.
Make a KWL chart by creating a three-column table.
West Indian Manatees Manatees are aquatic mammals, related to the elephant. They are fascinating creatures.
Introduction
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It is said that manatees have often been mistaken for mermaids, although it is hard to imagine how this can be. Manatees have rough, grey-brown, bristly skin and thick whiskers, whereas mermaids are said to be beautiful young women. Manatees look more like seals than mermaids. Manatees are herbivores, which means they only eat plants – usually sea grass. They are also called ‘sea-cows’ and, like cows, they spend a lot of time eating vegetation. They eat up to 15 per cent of their body weight a day which is rather like you eating 200 heads of lettuce! Manatees spend their days eating, resting and travelling as well as playing with other manatees. They are very agile creatures and play with other manatees by rolling, performing somersaults and body surfing. Manatees don’t sleep for long periods like we do. Instead, they take short naps throughout the day and night. They have no
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Development of ideas
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natural predators so it is safe for them to sleep on the sea floor but they can’t stay there long as they have to surface to breathe. These water-loving mammals breathe through their nostrils. They normally come to the surface to breathe every three to five minutes. When very active, however, they surface as often as every 30 seconds. Their nostrils close up when they are underwater. Manatees have been known to stay underwater for 15 to 20 minutes when they are resting.
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West Indian manatee habitat
• The KWL chart is a useful comprehension strategy. Use it with a range of expository texts to help students to develop the skills of summarising text. It is also useful for getting students to construct questions. CR Tell students they may use Creole in pair and group discussion with peers. Remind them to use Standard English when they present their ideas to the class. • Help students to develop a range of comprehension strategies in relation to all of their reading, such as drawing conclusions, making inferences, identifying main ideas and observing cause and effect.
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