LESSON 13 TEACHER’S GUIDE
What School Was Like Long Ago by Ella Powell
Fountas-Pinnell Level K Informational Text Selection Summary Schools of long ago in Athens were both similar to and different from schools today. Athens was an important city that helped form our culture. In Athens, girls could learn at home, but boys were taught at school where they learned the alphabet, languages, writing, poetry, music, law, and sports.
Number of Words: 499
Characteristics of the Text Genre Text Structure
Content Themes and Ideas
Language and Literary Features Sentence Complexity Vocabulary
Words Illustrations Book and Print Features
• Informational Text • Schools in ancient Greece are introduced via comparison/contrast with schools today. • Basic information about Athens is presented. • Text organized around categories of transportation, clothing, school subjects, and teaching methods • History and importance of Athens • Description of school and student life in ancient Athens • Ancient Greek and modern schools are alike and different. • School is both work and fun. • Long ago, girls could not go to school. • Clear language • Description but no figurative use of language • Mostly short, simple sentences • Words related to Greek culture, some of which might not be familiar to English language learners: Athens, Ancient Greek Empire, wax block, flute, harp, Olympic Games • Target vocabulary words highlighted in text • Multisyllabic words, some of which might be challenging for English language learners: important, community, famous, transportation, alphabet, languages • Map with labels • Cartoon-like illustrations support the text • Twelve pages of text, illustrations on every page • Variation in placement of text • Captions and labels on photos that clarify text
© 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. Permission is hereby granted to individual teachers using the corresponding (discipline) Leveled Readers to photocopy student worksheets from this publication in classroom quantities for instructional use and not for resale. Requests for information on other matters regarding duplication of this work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Attn: Contracts, Copyrights, and Licensing, 9400 SouthPark Center Loop, Orlando, Florida 32819. Printed in the U.S.A. 978-0-547-30431-1 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 Mifflin 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.
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What School Was Like Long Ago
by Ella Powell
Build Background Help children think about life today and how it might be different from life long ago. Build interest by asking questions such as the following: What do you think schools were like a very, very long time ago? Read the title and author and talk about the cover illustration.
Front-Load Vocabulary Some everyday words may be unfamiliar to English learners. Before reading, check understanding of the following words: writers, teacher, sharp tool, music, sports, homework. Introduce the Text Guide students through the text, reading the captions, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Call their attention to any important labels. Here are some suggestions: Page 3: Explain that this book gives information about what school was like for some children long ago. It tells about schools thousands of years ago, in a city called Athens in ancient Greece. Suggested language: Turn to page 3. The caption says: This boy from long ago needs to wake up and go to school. This is something you need to do every school day, too. How can you tell that this takes place long ago? Page 4: Explain that the map shows the ancient Greek Empire and the city of Athens. Ancient means very, very old. The arrow points to Athens. Athens was a community in ancient Greece. What is the name of our community? Page 5: Read the final sentence: The books are part of our culture. Cultural Support: Explain that many of our ideas, music, and books began with ancient Greek culture. History, laws, and poetry are part of culture, too. Page 8: Draw attention to the illustration and read the caption. This is the Greek alphabet. Do any of the letters look familiar? Which ones do you recognize? Page 11: What are these students doing? Music was an important subject in Greek schools. What are some important subjects in our school? Now turn back to the beginning of the book and read to learn how schools in ancient Athens were like or different from our school.
Target Vocabulary community – a group of people who live in the same area, p. 4
lessons – things to be learned or taught, p. 6
culture – a people’s ways of living, p. 5
special – something different from all others, p. 13
languages – the ways people speak and write, p. 8
subjects – topics of study, such as science and music, p. 11
Grade 2
2
transportation – a way of moving something or someone from one place to another, p. 7 wear – v. to have something on your body, p. 7
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Read
Have children read What School Was Like Long Ago silently while you listen to individual children read. Support their problem solving and fluency as needed. Remind children to use the Analyze/Evaluate Strategy feel about the text, and why.
and tell how they
Discuss and Revisit the Text Personal Response
Invite children to share their personal responses to the book. Suggested language: How do you think you would like school in Athens? Explain your answer.
Ways of Thinking As you discuss the text, help children understand these points: Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Athens had schools long ago.
• Schools are important in all places and times, and in a few basic ways they have not changed.
• The author includes many details about school and learning in ancient times.
• The schools differed from ours: boys only, different clothes, everyone walked, wax tablets instead of paper and pencils. • The schools were like ours, too: teachers, homework, and subjects like language, music, sports, poetry.
• Children need to go to school to understand their culture. • Today we believe girls should have the chance to go to school, too.
• The illustrations help to show what real children of long ago did. • The introduction and conclusion focus on comparing schools of the past and present, and stress the idea that some things were the same and some were different.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support • Fluency Invite children to choose a passage from the text to read orally. Challenge them to do their best to quickly and automatically solve most words in the text in order to make their reading smooth and natural. • Comprehension Based on your observations of the children’s reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind children 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 children that –s or –es at the end of a word changes it to mean “more than one.” The words subjects, songs, and strings on page 11 are examples. Have children search the text for singular nouns and change them to plural, and for plural nouns and change them to singular. Grade 2
3
Lesson 13: What School Was Like Long Ago
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Writing about Reading Critical Thinking Have children complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 13.10.
Responding Have children complete the activities at the back of the book. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill Author’s Purpose Remind children that looking at details in a text will help them figure out the author’s purpose, or reason for writing. Model the skill, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below: Think Aloud
The author says that students studied the Greek alphabet. She includes details about how students learned poems about important people, and learned to play instruments like the flute and the harp. I think the author included all these details because her purpose was to teach readers what students did in schools of long ago.
Practice the Skill Have children write one sentence telling why they think the author included the map with labels on page 4.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text Have children write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use what they know and their own experience to think about what happens in the text.
Assessment Prompts • What sentence on page 4 helps the reader understand the meaning of the word community? • Complete this sentence in your own words: This selection is mostly about ________________________________________________________________.
Grade 2
4
Lesson 13: What School Was Like Long Ago
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English Language Development Reading Support Give English learners a “preview” of the text by holding a brief small-group discussion with them before reading the text with the entire group. Or have children use the audio or online recordings. Cognates Point out the many English-Spanish cognates used in the text, such as student/estudiante; study/estudiar; community/comunidad; culture/cultura; transportation/ transportación; alphabet/alfabeto; poem/poema. Oral Language Development Check children’s comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches their English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the child. Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: What does this book tell about?
Speaker 1: Where were the schools in this book?
Speaker 1: How were the schools like schools of today?
Speaker 2: schools long ago
Speaker 2: The schools were in Athens [ancient Greece].
Speaker 2: They had teachers and students. Students learned to write and read. They had music and sports.
Speaker 1: Who went to the schools? Speaker 2: boys
Speaker 1: How did the students write? Speaker 2: They carved letters into wax with a sharp tool.
Speaker 1: How were the schools different from today? Speaker 2: Girls could not go. There were no papers, pencils, or books.
Lesson 13
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 13.10
Think About It
School Long Ago Think About It
Read and answer the questions.
1. Where did girls learn long ago in Athens? Where did boys learn? (JSMTMFBSOFEBUIPNF#PZTMFBSOFEBUTDIPPM
2. What are two things boys learned in school? "OTXFSTXJMMWBSZ1PTTJCMFSFTQPOTFTUIFBMQIBCFU MBOHVBHFT QPFNT NVTJD
3. What do you think would have been the best part of going to school in Athens long ago? Why? "OTXFSTXJMMWBSZ1PTTJCMFSFTQPOTF*UIJOLUIFTQPSUT XPVMEIBWFCFFOUIFCFTUQBSUCFDBVTF*MJLFUPQMBZTQPSUT
Making Connections How is your school like school long ago in Athens? How is it different? Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook. Read directions to children.
Think About It
Grade 2, Unit 3: Tell Me About It
¥)PVHIUPO.JGGMJO)BSDPVSU1VCMJTIJOH$PNQBOZ"MMSJHIUTSFTFSWFE
Grade 2
5
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Name
Date
What School Was Like Long Ago Thinking Beyond the Text Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one paragraph. Imagine you were a boy in ancient Greece. What would you like about your school? What would you not like? Or imagine you were a girl in ancient Greece. What would you like or not like about learning at home?
Grade 2
6
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Lesson 13
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 13.10
Date
Think About It
School Long Ago Think About It
Read and answer the questions.
1. Where did girls learn long ago in Athens? Where did boys learn?
2. What are two things boys learned in school?
3. What do you think would have been the best part of going to school in Athens long ago? Why?
Making Connections How is your school like school long ago in Athens? How is it different? Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook. Grade 2
7
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Student
Lesson 13
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 13.14
What School Was Like Long Ago • LEVEL K page
3
What School Was Like Long Ago Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Self-Correction Rate
This is a story about what school was like a very long time ago. Some things about schools long ago are the same as your school. Some things about schools long ago are different from your school.
4
This story is about a city called Athens. The city of Athens began a long time ago. People today think that Athens was a very important community of people. People today want to learn all about Athens.
5
Athens was important because famous people lived there. Many of the important people were writers. Comments:
(# words read correctly/89 × 100)
(# errors + # Self-Corrections/ Self-Corrections)
% 1:
Read word correctly
Code ✓
cat
Repeated word, sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
— cat
cat
Grade 2
Behavior
Error 0 0 1
8
Substitution
Code cut cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc cat
0
Insertion
the
1
Word told
T cat
cat
Error
1413779
Behavior
1
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