LESSON 10 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Alaska’s Natives
by Colin Chamberlain
Fountas-Pinnell Level T
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
The history of Alaska’s settlement goes back about 15,000 years.
Using the Bering Land Bridge, migratory people created separate
groups that adapted to Alaska’s severe climate. Over time, their way
of life has changed, but the culture of Alaskan Natives has survived.
Number of Words: 1,390
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Nonfiction
• Third-person continuous narrative organized in nine chapters
• Underlying structures include description, problem/solution, and cause/effect
• How Alaska was settled
• Issues facing indigenous people of Alaska
• Alaska lore and traditions, past and present
• There are many hardships of life in Alaska.
• Traditions and lore help create unique cultures.
• Native Alaskans have faced and overcome discrimination and adapted.
• Straightforward description with little or no figurative language
• Some complex sentences contain embedded, dependent clauses
• Some unfamiliar foreign words, such as the names of native Alaskan groups: Aleut
• Cultural terms explained in text or captions, such as potlatch
• Some multisyllable words, such as abundance, heritage, sophisticated
• Color photographs, historical black-and-white photographs, and illustrations with
captions.
• Fourteen pages of text, with graphics or photographs on most pages
• Table of contents, easy-to-read chapter headings, photographs, captions, graph, map, and
native designs
• About 9 to 17 lines of text on many pages
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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Alaska’s Natives
by Colin Chamberlain
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of Alaska and Alaskan history to visualize the selection.
Build interest by asking a question such as the following: What do you know about
different native groups living in Alaska? Read the title and author and talk about the cover
photograph.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and nonfiction features. Help with
unfamiliar language so they can read the text successfully. Give special treatment to target
vocabulary. Here are some suggestions:
Pages 2–3: Have students look at the table of contents. Ask: What might the
chapter ”Shelter From the Storm”be about? On page 3, have students locate the
Bering Strait on the map and read the caption. The text says that people from
Asia used the Bering Land Bridge about 15,000 years ago to settle Alaska, which
they found teeming with wildlife. What does it mean for a land to be teeming with
wildlife?
Page 4: The text explains that different groups formed as people spread
throughout Alaska. Why might different groups have developed different traditions
and knowledge, or lore?
Page 6: Explain that Alaskan Natives altered materials to create tools. Ask: What is
sophisticated about the tool in the picture?
Page 9: Read the first sentence of the last paragraph: People often carved totem
poles for a potlatch. Read the caption and point out that captions can give clues
about information in the text.
Now turn back to the beginning of the text and read to find out how life has
changed and remained the same for Alaska’s natives.
Target Vocabulary
abundance – a lot, or more than
enough, of something, p. 5
altered – changed or adjusted,
p. 6
concept – a basic or general
notion, idea, or thought, p. 7
cultural – having to do with a
group’s beliefs, practices, arts,
laws, and ways of living, p. 13
Grade 6
heritage – all of the things people
inherit from their families,
including traditions and
objects, p. 13
lore – the collected knowledge,
traditions, and beliefs of a
person or group of people, p. 4
retains – holds onto or keeps
something inside, p. 14
sophisticated – complex, or
having many details or pieces,
p. 6
teeming – full of things, often
living things, p. 3
lush – thick with greenery and
plant life, p. 11
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Question Strategy
about a text before, during, and after they read.
and to ask questions
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the selection.
Suggested language: What did you learn about Alaska or Alaskan history that
surprised you?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Alaska was first settled about
15,000 years ago by migratory
people.
• Using natural resources
responsibly and fully resulted in
a satisfying, sustainable way of
life for Alaska’s natives.
• Native designs along the edges
of the spreads convey traditional
Alaskan artwork.
• Alaska’s natural resources
afforded its people a way to work
together and build a rich culture.
• Changes occurred in the
nineteenth century with the
arrival of gold prospectors.
• The various groups that settled
different regions of Alaska
developed unique languages,
traditions, and ways of life
reflective of their locations.
• The map and graph show how
weather and location affected the
settlement of Alaska.
• Photographs with captions show
examples of Alaskan culture and
history.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text to use for a readers’
theater. Remind them to adjust their reading rate as necessary, such as with a dense
page of text on page 12.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students 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 students that some words derive from Greek or Latin
roots. For example, lantern (p. 6) is derived from a Greek word, lampein, meaning
“to shine.”
Grade 6
3
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Writing about Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Have students complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 10.1.
Responding
Have students use their Reader’s Notebook to complete the vocabulary activities on page
15. Remind them to answer the Word Teaser on page 16. (Answer: lush)
Reading Nonfiction
Nonfiction Features: Graphics and Photographs Remind students that nonfiction has
many features to help readers find and understand important information. Graphics and
photographs are two of these features. Tell students that graphics are as important as
the text in nonfiction books. They add to what is already explained in the text. Readers
can look at them before reading, during reading, and after reading the page. Graphics
include diagrams, tables, graphs and maps. Within these graphics, there might be other
information to encounter, such as labels, captions, and keys.
Next explain that photographs are another important source of information. They often add
information that is not in the text. Photos can sometimes have a more authentic quality
than illustrations.
Have students turn to page 4 in the text. Ask them what this graph shows (Record cold
temperatures in Alaska compared to other states). Have a volunteer explain what the
numbers signify (degrees Fahrenheit). Have students explain what they can conclude
about Florida’s climate compared with Pennsylvania’s, based on this graph.
Next, have students examine the photograph on pages 6–7. Ask them to identify details in
the photo that support what they read in the text (animal skins hanging to dry; home made
from wood; people dressed warmly). Then discuss with students how this photograph has
a more authentic quality than an illustration of the same scene would. Do they feel more
connected to photographs of real people compared to illustrations? Why or why not?
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.
Assessment Prompts
• How does the author organize information about different native Alaskan groups?
• What is the meaning of the word cultural on page 13?
• The chapter “Big Changes” on pages 12–13 is mainly about
___________________________________________________________________.
Grade 6
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair English-speaking and English language learners so that they
can check their understanding with each other. Have beginning students read the captions.
Remind them that the way of life in Alaska has changed over the years.
Cultural Support Some English language learners may not know the locations of
the states listed on the graph on page 4. Furthermore, they may be unfamiliar with
Alaska’s location relative to the continental United States. Show the location of the states
using a map.
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: How did groups from
northern Asia cross to Alaska?
Speaker 1: How did some native
Alaskans prevent cold air from entering
their homes?
Speaker 1: How did new
industries like mining and oil
drilling affect Alaska?
Speaker 2: They built underground
tunnels as an entrance.
Speaker 2: Rivers and the coasts
were polluted by oil and mining
work. Some wildlife did not
do well. People could not hunt
as easily, and some cultural
traditions were lost, too.
Speaker 2: the Bering Land Bridge
Speaker 1: What did southeastern
Alaskans carve?
Speaker 2: totem poles
Lesson 10
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 10.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
Alaska’s Natives
Target Vocabulary
Fill in an example and a non-example for lore in the
Four-Square Map below. Then create your own Four-Square Maps
for two of the remaining Target Vocabulary words. Possible responses shown.
Vocabulary
lore
teeming
retains
heritage
abundance
altered
concept
Definition
traditions and legends
lush
sophisticated
cultural
Example
legend of Paul Bunyan
tales about Apollo
Sentence
I enjoy studying
Greek lore because I
like myths and heroes.
lore
Target Vocabulary
Non-example
a new story I wrote
a science fiction
novel
3
Grade 6, Unit 2: Common Ground
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
10.01_6_246260RNLEAN_Target Voca3 3
Grade 6
5
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Confirming Pages
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Name
Date
Alaska’s Natives
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
The text describes many ways that native Alaskans developed special skills.
These skills helped them to survive Alaska’s climate. Do you think these
skills will continue to be passed along in the future? Why or why not? What
could affect whether or not these skills are passed along to future
generations? Support your answer with details from the text.
Grade 6
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Lesson 10
Name
Date
Target Vocabulary
BLACKLINE MASTER 10.1
Alaska’s Natives
Target Vocabulary
Fill in an example and a non-example for lore in the
Four-Square Map below. Then create your own Four-Square Maps
for two of the remaining Target Vocabulary words.
Vocabulary
lore
teeming
retains
heritage
abundance
altered
concept
Definition
traditions and legends
Sentence
I enjoy studying
Greek lore because I
like myths and heroes.
Grade 6
lush
sophisticated
cultural
Example
legend of Paul Bunyan
lore
Non-example
a new story I wrote
7
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Student
Lesson 10
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 10.24
Alaska’s Natives • LEVEL T
page
Alaska’s Natives
Running Record Form
Selection Text
3
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
About 15,000 years ago, a group of people in northern
Asia began a long trip. The group hunted, fished, and gathered
plants for food. In need of better food supplies, they began to
move east.
Earth was experiencing an ice age then. Much of its water
was frozen. Ocean levels were low. These low sea levels
created a land bridge, called the Bering Land Bridge. This
bridge connected northern Asia to North America.
The group eventually crossed the land bridge into North
America. This new land was teeming with life. We do not know
what the group named this new land.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/101 ×
100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 6
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414241
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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