Book 1 Read-Aloud The Forest Keeper: The True Story of Jadav Payeng by Rina Singh Rationale for Text Selection: The Forest Keeper: The True Story of Jadav Payeng (750L) is a gorgeous biography written by Rina Singh and illustrated by Ishita Jain. This book fosters motivation and buy-in related to the topic of plants and how they adapt to their environments by telling the story of a child who establishes a bamboo crop in a sandbar (Lupo et al., 2018). When his community in Assam, India, floods, and the plants that lived there are washed away, Payeng proposes planting trees on sandbars and islands as a way to stabilize the environment and prevent future erosion. His requests are initially dismissed, as tribal elders tell him that trees don’t grow on sandbars. Payeng moves forward with his plan anyway, first planting bamboo seedlings, and once those are established in the sandy soil, planting other crops that eventually grow into a forest the size of Central Park. The book received a starred review from the Youth Services Book Review and was awarded the Green Earth Book Award. Both the author and illustrator were born in India, just like the child in the biography. This is Ishita Jain’s debut as a book illustrator, and Youth Services Book Review emphasized that the “vibrant illustrations place the emphasis on the beauty of nature.” Vocabulary Spotlight : Across this book, you’ll spotlight key vocabulary words students will use repeatedly to discuss the inquiry topic. You’ll introduce these words across the read-aloud, and you’ll revisit several of these words during your minilessons and in the Vocabulary Extensions.
Bend I Session 1: Introduce the Topic of Plant Adaptations, and Begin to Read The Forest Keeper, pages 1–22
Focus Standards z Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area . CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.4 z Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse part- ners on grade 3 topics and texts , building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1
BEFORE READING Introduce the new inquiry topic you’ll study during the unit: plants and how they adapt to their habitats. Rally students to recall their prior knowledge about the topic.
“Readers, I’m so excited to dive into a new inquiry with you. Over the next few weeks, during read-aloud time, we’ll be studying plants and the special ways they adapt to their habitats , or the places where they live, to help them survive and thrive. “Take these two plants, for instance.” Project two pic- tures: a cactus and a pine tree. “These two plants look very different, don’t they? A cactus and a pine tree—and they grow in two very different hab- itats. What do you notice about these plants and the places where they each live? Tell your partner.” Preview the first book you’ll study related to your inquiry topic: The Forest Keeper: The True Story of Jadav Payeng , and establish a purpose for reading. “Here’s the first book we’ll read together.” Project the cover. “It’s called The Forest Keeper: The True Story of Jadav Payeng . It’s a biography, a true story, about a young Indian boy, Jadav Payeng.
Consider taking photo- graphs of the plants around your school and sharing these with students as a way to spark talk. Students can point to parts of the photograph and describe what they notice.
habitat: the place where a species lives vegetation: all the plants and trees that grow in a certain area tribal: belonging to a tribe or group of people elders: older or respected members of a tribe or group species: a group of living things
Getting Ready: You will read this book cover to cover. This book does not have page numbers. Regard the first page contain- ing words as page 2 and use that to calculate subsequent page numbers, giving one number to the left page and one to the right, throughout the book. The last page will be 34. It may help to use sticky notes to flag the stopping points as a reminder to discuss. You’ll begin a new Vocabulary Word Wall for this unit. This might be a chart where you collect vocabulary words or a nearby bulletin board. You’ll find printable vocabulary cards on the online resources, or you can make your own. Make sure you can rearrange the words after you add them, because grouping and regrouping words will help kids build vocabulary. You’ll need a way to project photos for Session 1 and the backmatter of the book for Session 2.
“As we read, let’s think about what we’re learning about Jadav’s life, as well as what we’re learning about how plants can adapt to their habitats.” DURING READING Read aloud pages 1–22, pausing along the way to explicitly model comprehension strategies, define key vocabulary, and channel students to answer text-dependent questions. Pause after reading page 2, and then reread the page: “Wow, we just learned a lot on this page. I know this part is about a river in northeast India, and it sounds like something’s happening where the river ‘goes wild,’ but I’m not sure exactly what. “Let’s try the strategy of rereading. Be ready to talk about what’s happening.” Reread page 1, pausing to tuck in definitions for recede (to move back from) and renew (to make and then channel new or fresh again). Then, channel students to talk.
Listen for students to mention how plants in different habitats look different from each other. The cactus in the desert has a thick stem and sharp spikes all over it. Cacti look really differ- ent from pine trees that grow in thick wooded forests and that have needles for leaves and cones.
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GRADE 3 • Unit 2 • Let’s Gather
Unit 2 • Book 1 • The Forest Keeper: The True Story of Jadav Payeng
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