Sylvia Earle and the Deep Ocean
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LESSON 13 TEACHER’S GUIDE Sylvia Earle and the Deep Ocean by Antonio Hattingh Fountas-Pinnell Level T Biography Selection Summary For more than forty years, her passion for wildlife has led Sylvia Earle to oceans across the world. The research of this record-setting oceanographer has helped answer questions about Earth’s seas and Number of Words: 1,370 little known deep-sea creatures. As she continues her work, Earle hopes to inspire others to explore Earth’s amazing oceans and to seek out the abundant sea life just waiting to be discovered. Characteristics of the Text Genre • Biography Text Structure • Three chapters divide information by topic: biographical on Sylvia Earle, deep-sea marine life, and future oceanic exploration • Problem/solution: college costs/scholarship and job; tube worm nutrition/bacteria • Enumerated steps: the formation of hot springs Content • Sylvia Earle and underwater diving record • Marine organisms Themes and Ideas • Look for solutions when you encounter a problem. • All people, regardless of gender, should have equal opportunities. • There is much to learn, enjoy, and admire in nature. Language and • Instructive, conversational language and tone Literary Features • Comparison/contrast of marine organisms, such as spookfi sh and coffi nfi sh Sentence Complexity • Simple sentences with complex and a few compound sentences • Declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperative sentences • Internal punctuation: commas, parentheses, dashes Vocabulary • Marine organisms that may be unfamiliar: tube worms, glowing fi sh Words • Some multisyllable words: oceanographer, predators Illustrations • Photos and diagram support text and clarify concepts Book and Print Features • Eleven pages of text, a table of contents and an index • Captions support text and provide additional information. © 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved. 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Printed in the U.S.A. 978-0-547-31047-3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0940 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Miffl in Harcourt Publishing Company retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format. 6_310473_BL_LRTG_L13_SylviaEarle.indd 1 11/5/09 11:59:36 AM Sylvia Earle and the Deep Ocean by Antonio Hattingh Build Background Help students use their knowledge of the oceans and diving to visualize the story. Build interest by asking a question such as the following: Why might the ocean be fun to explore? Read the title and author and talk about the cover illustration. Note the table of contents. Tell students that this story is a biography, so the author tells about events in another person’s life. Introduce the Text Guide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions: Page 4: Explain that this is a story about Sylvia Earle, a famous oceanographer, or ocean explorer and scientist, who has loved wildlife since she was a child. Suggested language: Turn to page 4. Read sentences 3 and 4 in paragraph 2: In 1964, a group of scientists invited her on a trip to the Indian Ocean. At the time, it was unusual for women to go on scientifi c trips. Ask: Why do you think there were few female participants? What does this say about Sylvia Earle? Page 5: Read the sentences: In 1979, Earle did something no one had done before. Earle had set a record for the deepest sea walk ever! Ask: What idea does this detail support? Page 8: Have students look at the diagram of the three ocean zones. Explain that ocean zones are determined by the amount of sunlight they receive. The Sunlight Zone receives the largest amount of sunlight so it is the warmest zone. Point out the diagram. Ask: Which zone likely has the coldest water? Why? Now, go back to the beginning and read to fi nd out more about Sylvia Earle’s life and deep-sea mission. Target Vocabulary affi rmed – declared or confi rmed equivalent – having the prime – prepare it or make it to be true, p. 10 same meaning or value as ready culmination – the highest or last something else sacrifi ced – gave something up point of a process expanse – a vast, open area of for the sake of something else deduced – reasoned out, or water, land, or sky inferred, from clues, p. 9 frigid – extremely cold, p. 7 durable – tough participants – those who take part in activities, p. 4 Grade 6 2 Lesson 13: Sylvia Earle and the Deep Ocean © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 6_310473_BL_LRTG_L13_SylviaEarle.indd 2 11/16/09 6:35:15 PM Read Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their understanding of the text as needed. Remind students to use the Monitor/Clarify Strategy and to notice what isn’t making sense in order to understand the confusing parts of the biography. Discuss and Revisit the Text Personal Response Invite students to share their personal responses to the story. Suggested language: What did you fi nd most surprising about Sylvia Earle’s accomplishments? Ways of Thinking As you discuss the text, help students understand these points: Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text • Because she had always loved • Determination and education • The author weaves biographical wildlife, Sylvia Earle studied help you accomplish your goals. and scientifi c information to sea life in college. show how important oceans are • All people, regardless of gender, to Sylvia Earle. • Earle has explored the world’s should have equal opportunities. oceans, set records, and helped • The scientifi c details help readers • It is important to protect oceans create a two-person submarine. understand the content. and sea life. • Earle has worked to educate • The narrator directly addresses others about oceans and sea readers to persuade them to act creatures and the threats to explore and save oceans. humans pose to them. © 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. Choices for Further Support • Fluency Invite students to participate in choral reading. Remind them to pause at internal punctuation marks, such as commas, parentheses, and dashes, to set off this information from the rest of the sentence and improve comprehension. • Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go back to the text to support their ideas. • Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples from the text. Remind students that syllables and morphemes are different word units. While a syllable is a single vowel sound (or jaw drop when spoken) within a word, a morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a word. For example, the word oceanographer (page 3) contains fi ve syllables (o-shu-nah-gruh-fur) but only two morphemes: ocean and grapher. Invite students to distinguish between morphemes and syllables in other words in the story. Grade 6 3 Lesson 13: Sylvia Earle and the Deep Ocean © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 6_310473_BL_LRTG_L13_SylviaEarle.indd 3 12/8/09 10:56:08 PM Writing about Reading Critical Thinking Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 13.7. Responding Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill. Target Comprehension Skill Main Ideas and Details Remind students that details about the same topic work together to support a main idea. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using this a “Think Aloud” like the one below: Think Aloud The narrator says that, as part of her role with the National Geographic Society, Sylvia Earle tells people about the wonders of the sea and reminds them that global warming and pollution can damage or kill fi sh and other ocean life. List these details to support the idea that Earle wants people to help save the oceans. Practice the Skill Have students share an example of another biography in which details show how a real- life person pursues a mission to help the environment or wildlife. Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings. Assessment Prompts • The author probably wrote this biography to ________________________________________________________________. • What is the meaning of deduced on page 9? • How would you describe the narrator’s tone in the last paragraph of the selection? Grade 6 4 Lesson 13: Sylvia Earle and the Deep Ocean © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 6_310473_BL_LRTG_L13_SylviaEarle.indd 4 11/16/09 6:38:37 PM English Language Development Reading Support Pair advanced and intermediate readers to read the selection softly, or have students listen to the audio or online recordings.