LESSON 23 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Plants of the Redwood Forest
by Joanne Mattern
Fountas-Pinnell Level O
Informational Text
Selection Summary
Redwoods are the largest of the many kinds of trees and plants that
grow in a redwood forest. Each is connected to other plants and
animals and has its own special role in the food chain.
Number of Words: 913
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Informational text
• Third-person narrative in seven chapters, with information organized by plant species
• Text and pictures work together to present facts.
• Location of redwood forests
• Characteristics of various trees
• Resources trees provide to animals and people
• The redwood forest is home to a variety of trees and wildlife.
• Tree bark, nuts, and berries are part of the food chain.
• People, animals, and plants are connected.
• Clear language with conversational tone
• Exclamations amplify important information
• Short, declarative sentences, compound sentences, and long, complex sentences
• Typographical features: dashes, exclamations, parentheses
• Technical words related to trees and plants, such as conifer, spores, nutrients
• Context helps define some vocabulary words: the forests get moisture from the rain
• Pronunciation in text for some terms: conifer (KAHN-uh-fur)
• Compound words, such as gooseberries, huckleberries, redwood
• Color photographs, a map, and charts support the text
• Twelve pages of text, with illustrations on most pages; captions and labels
• Table of contents, chapter title with each new text segment
• Sidebar, chart, diagram, and map
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Plants of the Redwood Forest
by Joanne Mattern
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge about forests to visualize the text. Build interest by
asking questions such as the following: Have you ever walked in a forest? What attracted
your attention? Read the title and author and talk about the cover photograph. Tell
students this is an informational text, so they will find many facts and examples about
trees and plants in the Redwood forest of California.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 2: Remind students that informational books list chapter headings in a table
of contents.
Suggested language: Read the table of contents. Notice the first chapter title:
“A Wet and Wonderful World.” What do you think you will learn about in the first
chapter?
Page 3: Have students read aloud the sentence with the highlighted word. Point
out the space between the trees in the picture. Ask: What do you think dense
means?
Page 4: Draw students’ attention to the map and the map caption and key. Say: The
map shows redwood forests in California. Ask: According to the key at the top of
the map, what do the dark green and light green colors stand for?
Page 5: Have students find the word conifer and its pronunciation in paragraph 2.
Ask them to read the complete sentence aloud.
Page 13: Call attention to the word independent in the third paragraph. Explain
that Leather ferns are not independent. They grow on another plant and are
dependent on that other plant. What is the meaning of independent?
Now turn back to the beginning and read to find out about redwood forests and the
special trees and plants that grow there.
Target Vocabulary
civilized – of a society that is
advanced and has reasonable
laws
continent – one of the main
landmasses of Earth
customs – the traditions and
common ways of behaving in
a society
Grade 4
dense – with parts packed
together closely, p. 3
opportunities – chances for a
person to do something
evaporate – to change from
liquid to gas
resources – an available supply
of something that can be used
when needed, p. 6
independent – not reliant, p. 13
moisture – tiny drops of water in
the air or on a surface, p. 4
2
shallow – not deep, p. 13
Lesson 23: Plants of the Redwood Forest
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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 Monitor/Clarify Strategy
and to use text
clues as they read. Have them share details they notice that let them make connections
and understand the plants of the redwood forest.
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: What was the most surprising thing you learned about redwood
forests? What tree or plant did you find especially odd or interesting? Why?
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
• Redwoods and other trees and
plants supply food and habitats
for animals and birds.
• Trees, plants, animals, and
people are all interdependent.
• Photographs, maps, and
charts aid visualization and
comprehension.
• Trees supply lumber for humans.
Needles from fir trees can be
boiled for tea.
• Plants, animals, and people are
linked in a food chain.
• Chapter headings guide readers
through the text.
• Illustrations frame page design
highlight and reinforce content.
• Each tree and plant has its own
kind of leaf, seed, flower, or
berry.
© 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 and demonstrate phrased
fluent reading. Remind them to use any cues provided by parentheses, exclamations,
or dashes to make their reading livelier and to convey the author’s meaning clearly.
• 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 longer words are often formed from
shorter, familiar words. Examples include: redwood, gooseberries, blackberries, and
huckleberries.
Grade 4
3
Lesson 23: Plants of the Redwood Forest
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 23.7.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book using their Reader’s
Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the
comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Text and Graphic Features
Remind students that in informational books,
text and graphic features help the reader organize information and picture what the text
describes. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like
the one below:
Think Aloud
The map on page 4, shows where redwood forests are located along the
Pacific coast. The diagram on page 9 shows the parts of a plant. The
purpose of these graphic features is to aid understanding.
Practice the Skill
Encourage students to share examples of another book that uses text and graphics
features to illustrate the text or supply new information.
Writing Prompt: Thinking About the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when
they think about the text, they reflect back on the text. They should notice and evaluate
language, genre, literary devices, and how the text is organized.
Assessment Prompts
• One purpose of the author’s in writing this text is to _________________________.
• The “Drink Up!” sidebar on page 6 tells about _____________________________.
• Why do some plants grow on others?
Grade 4
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair advanced and intermediate readers to read the selection softly,
or have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Remind them that each of the
plants of the redwood forest has its own kind of leaf, seed, flower, or berry.
Vocabulary Explain that common names of many plants tell about the plant’s
appearance or characteristics. Examples: black oak trees (page 7) have black trunks; the
leaves of stinging nettle plants (page 11) are covered with hairs that sting and scratch.
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 the selection about?
Speaker 1: Look at the map and tell the
name of the national park.
Speaker 1: Which plants in the
forest do not grow from seeds,
and how do they grow?
Speaker 2: redwood forests
Speaker 1: Where are most located?
Speaker 2: It is Redwood National Park.
Speaker 2: Northern California
Speaker 1: What animals like to eat
huckleberries?
Speaker 1: What is the title of the
second chapter in the table of
contents?
Speaker 2: Deer, elk, chipmunks, bears,
and birds all eat huckleberries.
Speaker 2: Ferns do not grow
from seeds. They grow from
spores on the bottom of their
leaves.
Speaker 1: Where do conifer
seeds grow?
Speaker 2: the Douglas Fir
Speaker 2: They grow inside the
cones that grow on conifer trees.
Lesson 23
BLACKLINE MASTER 23.7
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
Plants of the Redwood
Forest
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text Look at the drawing on page 9. What
do you think is the purpose of a plant bud?
The plant bud uses the water from the roots and food produced in the leaves, and
it grows into a flower.
2. Think within the text Why is the redwood forest the perfect
home for ferns?
Redwood forest are very wet, and ferns need a lot of moisture to grow.
3. Think beyond the text Some plants in the redwood forest
are not helpful. What other harmful plants do you know?
I know about poison ivy, which can make you itch if you touch it.
4. Think about the text Why do you think the author includes
so many text and graphic features?
I think graphic features can explain certain ideas and facts more clearly than
regular text can.
Making Connections Many different plants and animals live in a redwood
forest. What kinds of plants and animals live near your house?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Critical Thinking
9
Grade 4, Unit 5: Change Is All Around
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5
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Lesson 23: Plants of the Redwood Forest
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Name
Date
Plants of the Redwood Forest
Thinking About the Text
Think about the question below. Then write your answer in one or two
paragraphs.
Remember, when you think about the text, you reflect back on the text. You
notice and evaluate language, genre, literary devices, and how the text is
organized.
The author opens the book by welcoming you to the redwood forest. She
ends the book by reminding you that the forest is filled with many plants
besides redwoods, each having a special role. What do you notice about the
chart on page 14? How is the content on the chart organized? Why is the
end of the book an appropriate location for this chart? How does it help you
understand the plants of the redwood forest?
Grade 4
6
Lesson 23: Plants of the Redwood Forest
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Lesson 23
BLACKLINE MASTER 23.7
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
Plants of the Redwood
Forest
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text Look at the drawing on page 9. What
do you think is the purpose of a plant bud?
2. Think within the text Why is the redwood forest the perfect
home for ferns?
3. Think beyond the text Some plants in the redwood forest
are not helpful. What other harmful plants do you know?
4. Think about the text Why do you think the author includes
so many text and graphic features?
Making Connections Many different plants and animals live in a redwood
forest. What kinds of plants and animals live near your house?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 4
7
Lesson 23: Plants of the Redwood Forest
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Student
Lesson 23
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 23.11
Rivers of
Plants
• LEVEL
the Redwood
L
Forest
Plants of the Redwood
Forest
Running Record Form
LEVEL O
page
7
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
The California black oak is often found in the redwood forest.
The crown, or top, of these oak trees is very large. Crowns
provide shade and shelter for redwood seedlings that grow
underneath them.
Groups of black oaks can be very crowded and dense. Usually,
all the black oak trees in an area are the same age.
8
Every spring, buds appear on the oak tree. Each bud will open
and a flower will appear. In time, the flowers will produce
seeds.
An oak tree’s seeds are called acorns. It takes about two years
for an acorn to develop on an oak tree.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/102 ×
100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Behavior
Error
Substitution
0
Self-corrects
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 4
0
Insertion
Code
cut
cat
cut sc
Error
1
cat
0
the
1
cat
1413945
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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