Meet Dino Sue!
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LESSON 17 TEACHER’S GUIDE Meet Dino Sue! by Conchita Gomez Fountas-Pinnell Level L Nonfiction Selection Summary Hunting fossils in the summer of 1990, Sue Hendrickson discovered the remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex. Workers removed the bones and reconstructed the T. rex at the Field Museum in Chicago. The dinosaur was named Sue in honor of Sue Hendrickson. Number of Words: 394 Characteristics of the Text Genre • Nonfi ction Text Structure • Five sections with headings • Dates used to sequence events • Flashback to discovery of dinosaur bones Content • Dinosaurs and fossils • Passage of time • Museums Themes and Ideas • Dinosaur fossils hold clues about life millions of years ago. • Dinosaur fossil retrieval and reassembly takes painstaking, time-consuming work. • Museums offer the public a chance to see dinosaur fossils. Language and • Clearly written Literary Features • Meaning provided through integration of photos with text. Sentence Complexity • Variety in sentence length and complexity • Questions (Where did she come from? How did she get there?) Vocabulary • Scientifi c name: Tyrannosaurus rex, T. rex • Place names that may be unfamiliar: Chicago, South Dakota Words • Words with suffi xes (slowly, careful, nearly, smaller) Illustrations • Color photos • Illustrations in process chart Book and Print Features • Section headings • Captions with additional information • Process chart and fact list © 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. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. 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Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format. 3_307862_BL_VRTG_L17_MeetDinoSue.indd 1 11/11/09 11:40:11 PM Meet Dino Sue! by Conchita Gomez Build Background Help students use their knowledge of dinosaurs. Build interest by asking a question such as the following: What do you think would happen if a person found dinosaur bones buried in rock? Read the title and author and talk about the cover photo. Tell students that this book is nonfi ction so the words and photos will give information about the topic. 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: Pages 2–3: Explain that this book tells about a woman who found dinosaur bones that were assembled to become Dino Sue, a popular museum exhibit. Suggested language: Turn to pages 2 and 3 of this book. Look at the photo. What kind of skeleton do you see displayed in this museum? This is a dinosaur skeleton that is nicknamed Sue. Page 4: Explain that Sue Hendrickson was hunting fossils when she found the remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex. Connect the words fossils and remains. Why would Sue only be able to fi nd the remains of T. rex? Look at the photo. What kind of bones do you see? Page 5: Call attention to the chart. How do the pictures help you understand what the word buried means? Look at the last picture and tell how the bones are buried. Pages 6–7: How will the workers go about uncovering the bones? Why must they work at the location where the bones have been found? Why do you think the dinosaur is named Sue? Now turn back to the beginning and read to fi nd out more about Dino Sue. Target Vocabulary buried – something covered or fossils – parts or traces of things skeletons – what humans hidden, often underground, that lived long ago, such as and many animals rely on p. 5 bones or footprints, p. 4 to support their bodies and clues – facts that help solve a location – the place where protect their organs, p. 9 problem or mystery, p. 10 something is found, p. 6 uncovering – digging up evidence – facts or signs that prove – show that something is something, p. 6 show something is true, p. 10 true, p. 10 fi erce – wild, strong, or remains – n. things that are left dangerous, p. 9 over, p. 4 Grade 3 2 Lesson 17: Meet Dino Sue! © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 33_307862_BL_VRTG_L17_MeetDinoSue.indd_307862_BL_VRTG_L17_MeetDinoSue.indd 2 77/29/09/29/09 55:20:23:20:23 PPMM Read Have students read Meet Dino Sue! silently while you listen to individual students read. Support their problem solving and fl uency as needed. Remind students to use the Visualize Strategy and use text details to picture what is happening as they read. Discuss and Revisit the Text Personal Response Invite students to share their personal responses to the book. Suggested language: Which part of the book did you fi nd most interesting? What other information would you like to learn about Dino Sue? 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 • Sue Hendrickson was hunting • Dinosaur fossils hold clues about • Section headings prepare the fossils when she found the life millions of years ago. reader for the text that follows. bones of a T. rex. • Removing the bones from rock • Photos and captions provide • Workers in the fi eld dug out the and putting them together takes information about the text. bones. careful, time-consuming work. • An illustrated process chart • Workers in the museum put the • Placing dinosaur bones in shows the steps involved in a bones back together. a museum gives people the dinosaur becoming a fossil. chance to see the bones and • People can visit Dino Sue in the • A fact list gives statistics about learn about dinosaurs. Field Museum in Chicago. Dino Sue’s age, size, and bones. © 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. Choices for Further Support • Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text to read aloud. Remind them to make their voice rise and fall, based on whether they are reading questions or statements. • 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 they can take apart longer words and read them syllable by syllable. For example, the word museum on page 2 can be broken down into these parts: mu-se-um. Repeat for the words visitors, vis-i-tors; dinosaur, di-no-saur; Tyrannosaurus, ty-ran-no-saur-us; skeleton, skel-e-ton; and scientists, sci-en-tists. Grade 3 3 Lesson 17: Meet Dino Sue! © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 3_307862_BL_VRTG_L17_MeetDinoSue.indd 3 11/11/09 11:40:23 PM Writing about Reading Vocabulary Practice Have students complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 17.1. Responding Have students complete the vocabulary activities on page 11. Remind them to answer the Word Teaser on page 12. (Answer: clues) Reading Nonfi ction Nonfiction Features: Process Chart and Fact List Remind students that nonfi ction has many features to help readers understand important information. A process chart and a fact list are two of these features. Explain that a process chart describes the steps in how something happens. Have students turn to page 5. Point out that this process chart has both text and illustrations. The ellipses in the sentences show the passage of time. What process does this chart explain? How does the chart help you learn more about how fossils are formed? Have students look at the fact list on page 10. Point out that rather than including all this information in complete sentences, the author has chosen to write the facts in a list. Explain that the brief, listed details make it easy for the reader to see the information at a glance. Have students identify an activity (such as visiting the museum, hunting for fossils, digging up dinosaur bones) and create their own process chart outlining steps involved in the activity. Writing Prompt: Thinking About the Text Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Assessment Prompts • Tell one word that best describes the workers who uncovered Dino Sue’s bones. Use evidence from the text to support your thinking. • On page 9, fi nd the word that means almost the same as whole. • On page 10, the word evidence means _____________________________________. Grade 3 4 Lesson 17: Meet Dino Sue! © Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company 3_307862_BL_VRTG_L17_MeetDinoSue.indd 4 11/11/09 11:40:33 PM English Language Development Reading Support Help students prepare and rehearse something they can share about the text.