LESSON 4 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Community Teamwork
by Joanne Mattern
Fountas-Pinnell Level O
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
It takes the effort of many people to improve a community. There are
different ways everyone can help make their community better. Young
people can work together with adults to make a difference.
Number of Words: 1,101
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 narrative divided into seven short chapters
• Community teamwork
• Community projects
• Fundraising
• There are many different ways to improve your community.
• People must work together to make a difference.
• Conversational language
• Descriptive language
• A mix of short and complex sentences
• Many sentences begin with introductory clauses such as All over the United States
• Quotes
• Some computer terms, many of which should be familiar: Internet, Web page, e-mail
• Multisyllable words, such as littered, important, organizations
• Color photographs
• Diagram
• Twelve pages of text
• One full photo page, photographs on most pages with 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.
978-0-547-30795-4
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.
4_307954_BL_VRTG_L04_CommntyTeamwork.indd 1
1/5/10 11:14:37 PM
Community Teamwork
by Joanne Mattern
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of their community to visualize the selection. Build
interest by asking questions such as the following: What improvements are needed in
your community? How do you think you could help in making those improvements? Read
the title and author and talk about the cover photograph. Explain that teamwork is very
important in making a difference in a community.
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 attention to target
vocabulary. Here are some suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that this selection is about how people in a community can work
together to make their community a better place.
Suggested language: Turn to page 2 of this book. This is the table of contents.
The table of contents tells us what the different chapters of the book will be about.
Look at the first chapter. The title of the first chapter is “People Power.” Ask: What
do you think this title means?
Page 5: Explain that people often suspect that there is a problem in their
community.
Page 7: When a community problem has been detected, people should try to find a
way to assist in finding a solution.
Page 9–10: Point out that the selection contains some technical vocabulary, such
as Internet, e-mail, and Web page.
Pages 11–14: Explain to students that each new project completed in a community
must start with a plan. There are many steps that must take place prior to starting
any new project. Point to the picture on page 14 and tell students that they can
work as a team to help their community. The author speculates that everyone can
contribute to raise money for a project.
Now turn back to the beginning of the selection and read to find out how teamwork
can make a difference in a community.
Target Vocabulary
assist – to help someone, p. 7
burglaries – when people break
into buildings and steal things,
p. 5
favor – an act of kindness, p. 11
innocent – to do nothing wrong,
p. 14
scheme – a plan to get
something done, p. 4
misjudged – to form an incorrect
idea, p. 7
speculated – made guesses,
p. 14
prior – before, p. 11
suspect – to surmise to be true
or probable, p. 5
regretfully – to be sorry, p. 8
Grade 4
2
Lesson 4: Community Teamwork
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
4_307954_BL_VRTG_L04_CommntyTeamwork.indd 2
7/30/09 9:23:07 AM
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 Analyze/Evaluate Strategy
questions to analyze and evaluate the text’s meaning.
and to ask
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the selection.
Suggested language: Did the book give you any ideas on how to help your community?
What information did you find the most interesting?
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
• It takes teamwork to make a
difference in a community.
• There are many different ways to
improve your community.
• The diagram helps reader to
visualize one aspect of the text.
• There are many ways to
complete community projects.
• People must work together to
make a difference.
• The photos contain a lot of
useful information.
• Fundraising is a very common
way to find the money to
complete a community project.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to participate in choral reading. Suggest that they try to read
in a tone, at a volume, and with an expression that would be appropriate if they were
giving a presentation at a city council or a town hall meeting.
• 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 to form the plural form of some words
that end in –y, they must drop the –y and add –ies, as in community / communities.
Provide other examples, such as sanctuary, baby, and fairy.
Grade 4
3
Lesson 4: Community Teamwork
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
4_307954_BL_VRTG_L04_CommntyTeamwork.indd 3
11/4/09 8:08:21 AM
Writing about Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Have students complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 4.1.
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: misjudged)
Reading Nonfiction
Nonfiction Features: Table of Contents and Diagrams Remind students that nonfiction
has many features to help readers find and understand important information. A table
of contents and diagrams are two of these features. Explain that a table of contents tells
readers what the chapters of the book will be about. Have students browse the table of
contents in this book before reading the book as a good way to preview the book before
reading the main text.
Diagrams are another important source of information. They often help the reader visualize
the information that is provided in the text more clearly. Have students look at the diagram
on page 9. Ask what information they can learn from the diagram (How one computer can
send out messages to many other computers). Then have students find a section or detail
of text in the book that could be further explained with some type of diagram.
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
• What is the main idea of page 4?
• This selection is mostly about ___________________________________________.
• What words help readers understand the meaning of the word schemes on page 4?
Grade 4
4
Lesson 4: Community Teamwork
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
4_307954_BL_VRTG_L04_CommntyTeamwork.indd 4
11/4/09 8:08:41 AM
English Language Development
Reading Support Pair beginning and intermediate readers to read the text softly, or
have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Remind students that this selection
shows how working together can improve communities.
Cognates The text includes many cognates. Explain the English word and its Spanish
equivalent: assist (asistir), favor (favor), innocent (inocente), and speculated (especular).
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: What is a community?
Speaker 1: What does every community
project start with?
Speaker 1: What does KaBOOM!
provide to communities?
Speaker 2: Every community project
starts with an idea.
Speaker 2: KaBOOM! is an
organization that provides
guidance and information to
communities on how to build
playgrounds.
Speaker 2: where you live
Speaker 1: What is fundraising?
Speaker 2: a way to raise money
Speaker 1: What is the most important
part of any project?
Speaker 2: Fundraising is the most
important part of any project.
Lesson 4
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
Community Teamwork
Target Vocabulary
Vocabulary
assist
burglaries
favor
innocent
misjudged
prior
regretfully
scheme
speculated
suspect
I speculated that the suspect was guilty of the burglaries in the ice
cream parlor because he had hot fudge on his nose.
With a partner, write four sentences below using the Target
Vocabulary words. See how many vocabulary words you can use
in each sentence. Possible responses shown.
1. Regretfully, the scheme to get an extra piece of candy did not work.
2. I owe him a favor, so I will assist him with his homework.
3. It turned out that the suspect was misjudged and was
innocent of the crime.
4. Regretfully, I ate prior to coming here.
5. He decided not to assist with the burglaries.
3
Target Vocabulary
Grade 4, Unit 1: Reaching Out
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
11/6/09 7:29:13 PM
03_4_246246RTXEAN_L04_FR.indd 3
Grade 4
5
Lesson 4: Community Teamwork
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
First Pass
4_307954_BL_VRTG_L04_CommntyTeamwork.indd 5
1/12/10 4:57:46 PM
Name
Date
Community Teamwork
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.
On page 14, the author says “When individuals join together, they are no
longer small and helpless.” Community teamwork makes people feel
powerful and makes important improvements. Why don’t more people get
involved in community work? What do you think could be done to get more
people involved? What would you say to persuade them?
Grade 4
6
Lesson 4: Community Teamwork
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
4_307954_BL_VRTG_L04_CommntyTeamwork.indd 6
7/30/09 9:23:09 AM
Lesson 4
Name
Date
Target Vocabulary
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.1
Community Teamwork
Target Vocabulary
Vocabulary
assist
burglaries
favor
innocent
misjudged
prior
regretfully
scheme
speculated
suspect
I speculated that the suspect was guilty of the burglaries in the ice
cream parlor because he had hot fudge on his nose.
With a partner, write four sentences below using the Target
Vocabulary words. See how many vocabulary words you can use
in each sentence.
1. Regretfully, the scheme to get an extra piece of candy did not work.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Grade 4
7
Lesson 4: Community Teamwork
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
4_307954_BL_VRTG_L04_CommntyTeamwork.indd 7
1/12/10 4:58:36 PM
Student
Lesson 4
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.23
Community Teamwork • LEVEL O
page
Selection Text
3
Community Teamwork
Running Record Form
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
Suppose that a community had no place for children to
play. Or suppose that a neighborhood was littered with trash.
Most people would look at these situations and say,
“Something should be done to fix these problems. But what
can I do to help?” It’s hard for one person to solve a big
problem. Many communities, though, have discovered that
when everybody works together, they can accomplish amazing
things. And students just like you can be an important part of
the process.
All over the United States, people have come up with
4
schemes to improve their communities.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/97 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 4
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414199
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
Lesson 4: Community Teamwork
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
4_307954_BL_VRTG_L04_CommntyTeamwork.indd 8
7/30/09 9:23:11 AM