Characteristics of the Text Genre Informational Text Text Structure

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1 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 Informational Text Text Structure Content Themes and Ideas Language and Literary Features Sentence Complexity Vocabulary Words Illustrations Book and Print Features 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 fi gurative 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, fl ute, 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 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 Printed in the U.S.A 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.

2 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 fi nal 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 culture a people s ways of living, p. 5 languages the ways people speak and write, p. 8 lessons things to be learned or taught, p. 6 special something different from all others, p. 13 subjects topics of study, such as science and music, p. 11 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 2 Lesson 13: What School Was Like Long Ago

3 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. 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. Schools are important in all places and times, and in a few basic ways they have not changed. Children need to go to school to understand their culture. Today we believe girls should have the chance to go to school, too Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. The author includes many details about school and learning in ancient times. 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. 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. 3 Lesson 13: What School Was Like Long Ago

4 Writing about Reading Critical Thinking Have children complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 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. 4 Lesson 13: What School Was Like Long Ago

5 Read directions to children. 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 2: schools long ago Speaker 1: Who went to the schools? Speaker 2: boys Speaker 1: Where were the schools in this book? Speaker 2: The schools were in Athens [ancient Greece]. Speaker 1: How did the students write? Speaker 2: They carved letters into wax with a sharp tool. Speaker 1: How were the schools like schools of today? Speaker 2: They had teachers and students. Students learned to write and read. They had music and sports. Speaker 1: How were the schools different from today? Speaker 2: Girls could not go. There were no papers, pencils, or books. Name Read and answer the questions. Date Lesson 13 BLACKLINE MASTER School Long Ago 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., Unit 3: Tell Me About It 5 Lesson 13: What School Was Like Long Ago

6 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? 6 Lesson 13: What School Was Like Long Ago

7 Name Read and answer the questions. Date Lesson 13 BLACKLINE MASTER School Long Ago 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. 7 Lesson 13: What School Was Like Long Ago

8 Student Date What School Was Like Long Ago LEVEL K Lesson 13 BLACKLINE MASTER What School Was Like Long Ago Running Record Form page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections 3 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: Accuracy Rate (# words read correctly/89 100) % Self-Correction Rate (# errors + # Self-Corrections/ Self-Corrections) 1: Behavior Code Error Read word correctly cat 0 Repeated word, sentence, or phrase Omission cat 0 cat 1 Behavior Code Error Substitution cut cat 1 Self-corrects cut sc cat Insertion the ˆcat 1 Word told T 1 cat Lesson 13: What School Was Like Long Ago