Project the glossary on p. 32. “Oh, look! Here it is— chlorophyll . Let’s read the definition and think about how it helps us understand this part even better.” Read aloud the definition. “Ok, so it sounds like chlorophyll is some kind of substance, or thing, inside the leaves of a plant, and plants use it during photosynthesis. How does that fit with what we’re learning in this part? Hmmm. Do you agree that it sounds like chlorophyll is really important for photosynthesis, because it helps take in sunlight so that the plant can make the food it needs to eat? “Readers, I hope you are noticing that by studying the text features closely, in this case, the bolded key words, we begin to better understand this part. Whenever you’re reading nonfiction, it’s important to remember that everything on a page matters. Reading involves pulling things together, whether you are pulling together the letters in a word to make that word or pulling together the paragraphs and diagrams and words in a glossary to make knowledge.” ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT Channel partners to continue studying the section, considering how the words and graphics fit together. Coach students as they work, and then summarize what students learned. “Botanists, we’re not done learning from this part. There’s still a big diagram filled with captions and bolded key words. Will you study the diagram closely with your partner, and then talk together about how the diagram fits with the paragraphs? Get started, and I’ll coach you.” Coach students as they work. “A lot of you pointed out that this diagram helps you understand how photosynthesis works. You said that you now understand that during photosynthesis, there’s a gas called carbon dioxide that goes into the plant through little holes in the leaves, and then, those little holes in the leaves let oxygen out—oxygen that we end up breathing. How important!” LINK Restate the teaching point, and send students off to read and reread their plant books with special attention to text features. “Today you’ve learned something that will be important to remember always. When you’re reading a nonfiction book, the text features—diagrams, photos, captions and key words and the rest—are SO important. Study everything the author includes on the page to learn as much as you can. “As you head off, continue to research your plant topics. Take a second before you read to remind yourself of what readers do before reading in order to learn as much as possible. Can you recall what you’ll do to get ready to read? Say what you recall to yourself, and then
We suggest you add the word chlorophyll to your Vocabulary Word Wall that you’ve started with students during read-aloud and vocabulary.
Coaching to Support Synthesizing within the Text • “Talk about how the text features and the paragraphs fit together.” • “What more are you learning in this part? How does it add to what you’ve already learned? Try saying, ‘I already learned… Now I am learning…’” • “Let’s study this diagram together. We can read the labels and captions closely, and then discuss how each part fits with the para- graphs.”
Here, you provide an oppor- tunity for retrieval practice, a central part of the science of learning (Roediger et al., 2014; Carey, 2014). In order to remem - ber something, you must try to remember it and then check to see what you remembered and what you forgot. Retrieval prac- tice is meant to be low-stakes and quick.
check back with the chart to make sure you remembered everything. “Once you have a plan, head off to your treehouse to start researching!”
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Session 5 • Learn From the Text and the Text Features
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