Genre: Narrative Nonfiction

Instructional Strategy: Scavenger Hunt Group Anchor Chart Project

Scaffolding Framework: The teacher will begin by refreshing the students' memories about the previous activity. Next, the teacher will do a nonfiction "text feature" bookwalk of Ancient Egypt: An Interactive History Adventure (Rev. Ed.). During the bookwalk, the teacher will talk through their thinking process. (Ex. "I see a map inset and it looks like it is a visual aid to show...Let's see what it says in the text; it says, "Only the best pyramid workers are chosen to help build the king's chamber" (p.39). I guess that makes sense..." Use an overhead camera to model how they will complete their own anchor chart. Do two text features at the most and then turn the activity over to the students.

The teacher will post the example where it can be seen by the entire class, and serve as a facilitator and motivator for the remainder of the activity. (A perfect time to make observations, monitor, and evaluate how each group of students works together; and to determine if more instruction is needed.) The teacher will encourage the students to talk it out before asking for help. If help is needed, the teacher will formulate questions that will stimulate their thinking, and remind them that good readers think about their thinking to find a solution (increases metacognitive skills).

Instructional Steps:

1. The students will be working in groups of 3-4 students for this activity.

2. After activating the student's background knowledge, the teacher will pass out a blank anchor chart with a two-page photocopy glued to its center and briefly remind them of their objectives.

3. The students will collaborate to determine what text features their pictures hold, write down the name of the text access feature, and provide a description of what purpose the access feature serves.

4. Afterward, each group of students will present their anchor charts, explain what features they found, and how the they help the reader.

Genre: Expository Nonfiction

Instructional Strategy: Big Discussion, Small Group Reading, Meaningful Communication, Student-Centered Learning

Scaffolding Framework: To activate students' background knowledge, the teacher will start a discussion on how medicine is used today. The teacher will then ask HOTS questions: What are the most common illnesses? How do doctors cure that? How many types of doctors do we have today? How might you become a doctor? Would you trust the mailman to fix your broken leg?

Instructional Steps:

1. After the group discussion, the students will get into their reading groups and take turns reading to one another from pages 36-37 in Everything Ancient Egypt.

2. After each student reads their passage, the student will say which type of text they read (Ex. main body, inset, sidebar, heading, subheading, etc.).

3. Have each group choose a spokesperson to share what part of the text they thought was the most interesting. The teacher will then facilitate a class discussion about what the Ancient Egyptians considered medicine? Discuss how these people treated some illnesses and what the medicines contained.

4. Based on what the students have learned about curing illnesses and poor hygiene, have the students develop “cures” for specific illnesses or illnesses of their choice using the Ancient and Magical Egyptian medicine.

5. At the conclusion of the lesson, ask a new student from each group to report to the class their illness and their chosen prescription.

Genre: Nonfiction

Instructional Strategy: Cubing Activity, Using Text Features to Support Reading Comprehension

Scaffolding Framework: The teacher will begin by refreshing the students' memories about the previous activities. After activating the student's background knowledge, the teacher will have a couple students pass out one cube worksheet per group, a copy of the two pages from See Through History: Ancient Egypt, and a single die to each group. The teacher will choose a group and have them model the activity, as she walks them through the steps. The teacher will function as a facilitator, the students will work with their group members to complete the task.

Instructional Steps:

1. Each group will have two narrators (one for each page), a scribe (to write on the cube), and a discussion leader.

2. The roles will rotate each round, so that all the students have the opportunity to read aloud, write, and roll the die. The activity begins with the student who rolls the lowest number rolling for the first round; and then the roles rotate clockwise for the next round (Ex. Roller, Narrator 1, Narrator 2, and Scribe).

3. The teacher will ask the discussion leader in the group to roll a die to determine which question they answer first.

4. The scribe will read the question that corresponds to the number rolled on the die.

5. The two narrators will work together to decide which subheading the answer will be found under, and take turns reading the passage.

6. The scribe and the roller will participate by listening, and if necessary the scribe will reread the question.

7. When they agree on an answer, the scribe will write the answer in the appropriate square.

8. After the model group has led the class through the first round, and their fellow classmates have all completed one square on their cube, each group will continue to work on the activity with their own group members.

9. Following the completion of the cubes, the teacher will call on each group to share an answer, as well as opening the floor to student led discussions about the answer they chose, if it is different from others.

Genre: Historical Fiction eText

Instructional Strategy: Sketch-to-Stretch

Scaffolding Framework: Students work in small groups to discuss, collaborate, and help each other discriminate between what happened to the characters in the narrative and put into words and images how it made the reader feel. The point of the activity is to help the students move beyond receiving basic knowledge and information through listening. To achieve higher-order thinking skills, the students will need to perform evaluating tasks such as this. The student should have a feeling either way; they should either feel nothing, were merely entertained, or were touched in a deeply personal way. The students will use text, pictures, or diagrams to show, how the story changes their point of view.

Instructional Steps:

1. The students are separated into small groups (three to five students) and will be given fifteen minutes to read to each other.

2. Then, they will discuss their thoughts, impressions, and feelings.

3. Next, students in each group decide what they will be drawing to express the groups thoughts and feelings.

4. The teacher will remind the students they are not drawing what they picture in their heads when they read. Instead, they will be expressing their emotions through their drawings. The teacher uses two pages from the book to model the difference between drawing what you see and drawing from you heart instead.

5. After they have finished their drawing and had class discussion, the material covered during the reading, the students will hang up their work and