Narrative Nonfiction
Big Idea
Nature deserves our respect.
Essential Question
What persuades us to protect the environment?
Target Vocabulary
endangered - threatened; for plants and animals, threatened with extinction
unique - unusual and special in some way
adapted - changed, to survive or fit into new conditions
vegetation - plants found in a particular area
conserving - using only what you need of something and protecting it; not wasting something
restore - to return something to its original state
guardians - people who protect or take care of others
attracted - drew attention and captured interest
regulate - to control
responsibility - a duty or job
Comprehension
Target Skill
Persuasion - authors may include their viewpoint about a topic and will provide reasons to persuade the reader to think or act a certain way. Authors use details and facts to persuade readers.
Target Strategy
Analyze/Evaluate - analyzing and evaluating the text carefully will help you respond to the topic.
Fluency
Adjust Rate to Purpose - good readers adjust their reading rate depending on their purpose for reading. For instance, skimming for facts and reading difficult material require different reading rates. With practice, you can learn how to adjust your rate based on your purpose.
Decoding
Homophones - words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.
Vocabulary Strategies
Prefixes en-, re-, pre-, pro- - "put in/to," "again," "before," "for" or "before." Derived from Latin to change the meaning of a word.
Grammar
Conjunctions - two sentences with the same subject or similar ideas, or with contrasting ideas can be combined using conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions join two words, groups of words or sentences. Some common coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or. When listing things, people or ideas, use a comma after each item and use a conjunction to separate the final two items. Subordinating conjunctions combine two clauses into a complex sentence and make one part of the sentence dependent on the other part. Some common subordinating conjunctions: while, because, although, if, since. If a subordinating conjunction begins a sentence, writers should use a comma after the first part of the sentence.
Writing
Write to Respond
Focus Trait: Ideas - good writers state their opinions or goals clearly. An opinion is an idea based on personal thoughts and feelings. A persuasive paragraph states an opinion and tries to convince readers to take action based on information that supports that opinion. Good writers also give reasons for their opinions and support their reasons with facts and examples.