Applying RA Strategies to Content Area Instruction

Applying RA strategies to Content Area Instruction

Building a Content Specific RA Lesson

Directions: Select a piece of information text from your content area and develop a Reading Apprenticeship Lesson that follows the format below.
Use page 34 of your binder for a list of tools to embed into your lesson.
All lessons will be shared on the web, so please include the text of your article or web link.

Links to Content Specific Articles:

On line Magazines and Newspapers
Scholastic News
National Geographic Kids Magazine
Sports Illustrated for Kids
Time
People
New York Times Learning Network
Detroit Free Press
Detroit News
Leveled Reading Sites
Window on the Universe
Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids

Website to Assess Readability

OKAPI!

Title of Article:

Article by Beth Geiger. Top-of-page image by © Sagel and Kranefeld/Corbis. "Thirsty Planet" appears in the October 2010 issue.

Subject:

Informational Texts: Science

Grade: Sixth Grade

Pre Reading

Anticipation Activity:

NGM 2010

A quick look at what's inside the April 2010 special water issue of National Geographic, from cover to cover.

Summary of Text:

The information in the article describes how water is an essential resource in our world. The article describes specific areas in our world where the planet lacks this vital resource. The article describes the need for people, plants, and animals to have clean water to use. Also, this article describes many facts regarding water and its importance to our world.

Genre:

Science

Description of how the text is written:

The text is written in an informational format with added vocabulary for understanding

Vocabulary:

Vapor – A visible exhalation, as fog, mist, steam, smoke, or noxious gas, diffused through or suspended in theair: the vapors rising from the bogs.

Condenses –To reduce to another and denser form, as a gas or vapor to a liquid or solid state.

Evaporates – To change from a liquid or solid state into vapor; pass off in vapor.

During Reading

I will be using Guided Highlighted Read and Talking to the Text reading strategies.

Post Reading

Closing Activity:

Students will respond in writing in their journals and log the number of words in their Writing Tracker log.

Thirsty Planet

Each day, the villagers of Marsabit, Kenya, gather at the "singing well." They sing as they draw water from a well. With little water to spare, each can fill just one large jug.

The Wonder of Water

Water covers 70 percent of Earth's surface. So why do the people of Marsabit struggle to get enough of it? We can't use most of Earth's water. Nearly 97 percent is salty or otherwise undrinkable. Another two percent is locked up in glaciers and ice caps. That leaves only one percent. People, plants, and animals depend on that one percent of fresh water.

Each drop of water is always on the move. The water we drink is a liquid. It can also be a solid or a vapor. No matter what state of matter it's in, all water is connected. It constantly moves through an endless cycle above, on, and through Earth.

For example, when the sun beats down on the ocean, water evaporates. It rises into the sky as vapor. The vapor forms clouds. Later, the vapor condenses and falls as rain or snow. Next thing you know, you've got an indoor recess! The rain and snow soak into schoolyards, soccer fields, and lawns. Water seeps into creeks and rivers. Then it flows back into the ocean.

Quenching the Thirst

Water has been recycled like this for millions of years. The amount of water on our planet never changes. There is the same amount now as there was when Earth formed. The water that drips from your faucet today could be the same water that dinosaurs drank long ago.

All living things need water to survive and that includes plants. In some plants, roots suck up water from the ground. In other plants, leaves and stems take in water. On a hot summer day a thirsty birch tree can sop up 300 liters (80 gallons) of water from the ground. That tree can then release almost the same amount into the air as water vapor.

In dry places, plants must make every drop count. A desert cactus's leaves store water. Some plants become dormant, or "hibernate" during extremely dry times. When rain finally falls, they burst back to life in an explosion of color. Plants use water to spread their seeds, too. Rivers and oceans are seed superhighways.

The moving water can take plant seeds to far-away places. Some plants make seeds like coconuts that float. They have a woody, waterproof covering. This lets them bob along in salty water for long periods. When they reach a new island, they can take root.

A Little at a Time

Where there's water, animals can't be far behind. Water helps animals take in nutrients and get rid of waste. It helps them keep cool on hot days. If water is hard to find, animals must conserve, or save, water.

A camel can go without drinking water for a long time—sometimes as long as six months. It also saves water by not sweating. How? A camel can change its body temperature during the hottest part of the day. This keeps it from overheating. Because it does not need to sweat to cool itself down, it saves water.

Camels are not the only animals that have unique water ways. The kangaroo rat seldom drinks water. Instead, it gets water from the plants it eats.

Watery Homes

Animals don't just crawl, walk, slither, or fly to water. Many live in it. These fresh-water habitats are key to their survival, and that of many other animals.

Some, like most fish, can only live in water. They don't have lungs to breathe air. So they would die if they didn't have a watery home.

Others such as frogs, toads, and many insects spend part of their life cycle in the water. Take the poison arrow dart frog.

This frog lives in the rain forest. When tadpoles hatch, they wriggle onto their mother's back. She carries them high up into a tree. She looks for a special type of plant that grows on the side of the tree. When she finds it, she puts each tadpole in a tiny pool of water that forms between the leaves of that plant. These high-rise swimming pools keep the tadpoles safe from predators. In eight weeks, they become frogs and hop down from the treetops.

Still other animals eat the creatures that live in fresh-water habitats. Without them, these animals could starve.

Putting it to Use

You need water, too. You drink it. You use it to bathe, flush, wash, and garden. At home, every American uses about 380 liters (100 gallons) of fresh water on average every day. Europeans use about half of that. In the Marsabit village in Kenya where people rely on wells and do not have indoor plumbing, each person must get by on as little as 19 liters (5 gallons) each day.

People use even more water to make things. Your desk, pencil, even this magazine are made using water.

Growing food uses the most water of all. It takes 117 liters (31 gallons) to grow one pound of potatoes. Livestock like cows need even more water. It takes 2,400 liters (630 gallons) to "grow" one hamburger! That's not even counting the wheat to make the bun or the tomatoes to make the ketchup.

Water, Water Everywhere

With so many demands on our fresh water supply, do we have enough? Although Earth is not running out of fresh water, it is not always there for people when and where it's needed. Some places have too much water. Other places don't have enough.

Just six countries have half of the world's supply of fresh water. The people of Greenland have more than enough water. Only 60,000 people live there. Each one has access to millions of liters of water each day.

Yet people in places like the Marsabit village struggle to get the water they need. In some parts of the world, people have to walk many kilometers each day to find water. The water must then be carried back to their homes. Often this water is dirty and drinking it can make people sick.

Making it Count

To solve some of these problems, people are getting creative. Some merry-go-rounds in Africa are used to pump water. Kid power brings clean water from under the ground.

Elsewhere, people carefully conserve water. For some Australians, using it twice is nice. Their shower water doesn't just go down the drain. Instead, they collect it in buckets. Then they use it to water their plants. Can you think of ways to conserve, too? If everyone saves a little, we can all save a lot.

Learn more about fresh water here.

Article by Beth Geiger. Top-of-page image by © Sagel and Kranefeld/Corbis. "Thirsty Planet" appears in the October 2010 issue.