Reading in Depth
This article goes on to talk about how humans were the only species that understood the concept of zero. Over the years other animals have been added to that list such as dolphins, primates, and a few birds. Bees are now being added to that group after much testing.
I will use word sorts and a turn an talk method with this article for the assessment. I would bold words that the students may not understand in the article and make them my vocabulary words (i.e abstract, complex, neurons, decades, etc). I would have my students take two highlighter colors and use them to highlight the bold words. One color meaning it is a new word, the other being they are familiar with it or have heard it before. At the end of the article, they will turn and talk with a partner. Students will talk to a student next to them about the words they highlighted, it might be a teaching moment for the students with their peers about words that they may know or have heard depending on the group. The students will be prompted to discuss the article with a partner and talk about what they learned, found interesting, and possibly what they do not understand.
These two methods are a good way to guide students in a productive matter in dissecting any article, book, or future documents they are going to be reading. The teacher will be observing students as they are interacting with the text and their peers. At the end of the lesson, the teacher will have all the students gather and go over the questions they were prompted to talk with their peers about. Students are more likely to share in a group setting something they have already discussed, it takes away the fear factor of sharing personal thoughts or ideas. The discussion and notes taken will lead me to make decisions about the next day’s lesson.
Grand Challenge — Unlocking Mysteries of the Universe
Standard — RI.3.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
