Essential Question:
What are some messages in animal stories?
Comprehension Strategy
Comprehension Skill
*Good readers ask questions when
there are parts of the story they do not
understand.
*Questions can be about why a
character acts a certain way or why an
event takes place.
*The theme is the central message or
lesson that an author wants readers
to understand.
*Authors do not usually state the
theme. If you pay close attention to what
the characters do and say you
can figure out the theme.
Theme
Ask and Answer Questions
Folk Tale
* They are passed down
from generation to
generation.
*They are based on the
traditions or beliefs of a
people or region.
*They often contain
lessons.
* They often use animal
characters to symbolize
or represent a human
quality.
Common/ Proper Nouns
*A common noun names
any person, place, or thing.
*A proper noun names a
specific person, place, or
organization (Tom, New
York, Forest Lake).
attracted
dazzling
fabric
greed
honest
requested
soared
trudged
Prefixes
unblock
imperfect
unborn
indirect
unchain
incorrect
unload
illegal
unlock
overact
recall
overheat
relearn
subway
resell
premix
rewash
preplan
rewind
supersize
Root Words
*This is the simplest form
of a word. The root word
can help you figure out
the meaning of a longer
word.
Essential Question:
How do animal characters change
familiar stories?
Comprehension Skill
Comprehension Strategy
Theme
Ask and Answer Questions
* To identify the theme, you need to pay
*Good readers approach a drama with
questions and develop new questions as
they read.
*What is the story about?
*What problem does the main
character have?
*Will he or she solve it…if so, how?
*How does the setting affect the plot?
Drama
*A drama has a list of
characters and is written
in dialogue.
*A drama is divided
into parts called acts or
scenes.
*A drama includes the
setting and stage
directions.
Singular/ Plural Nouns
*A singular noun names
one person, place, or thing.
*A plural noun names
more than one person,
place, or thing.
attention to the characters’ words and
actions.
*You must think about what happens as a
result of these actions.
*Then use the information to think about
what message the author wants to get across
to the reader.
annoyed
attitude
commotion
cranky
familiar
frustrated
selfish
specialty
Digraph
thirty
sketched
width
ketchup
northern snatch
fifth
stretching
choose
rush
touch
whine
chef
whirl
chance
bring
pitcher
graph
kitchen
photo
Context Clues
Antonyms
*Sometimes the author
will use an antonym,
another word or phrase
that means the opposite of
the unfamiliar word.
Essential Question:
How are all living things connected?
Comprehension Strategy
Comprehension Skill
Summarize
*When you summarize, you retell the most
important details in a paragraph or section of
a text.
*Once you identify the most important
details, you retell them in a logical order in
your own words.
* Remember to leave out unimportant details.
Narrative Nonfiction
*It tells a true story
about an event.
*It presents information
in sequence, or the
order in which the
events actually
occurred.
*It can include text
features such as
headings, charts, and
graphs.
Irregular Plural Nouns
* An irregular noun is a noun
that becomes plural by
changing its spelling in other
ways then adding an “s” or
“es” to the end of the word.
Main Idea and Key Details
*To find the main idea, review the key
details the author presents, and decide
which details are the most important.
*Then decide what the details have in
common, or how they are connected…
this will help determine the main idea!
Three Letter Blends
crumbled
droughts
ecosystem
extinct
flourished
fragile
imbalance
ripples
shred
shriek
shrimp
shrink
script
screw
screech
straighten
straps
strand
sprout
sprawl
sprang
splashing
splotch
thrill
throb
throat
thrift
through
Context Clues
Sentence Clues
*To figure out the meaning
of an unfamiliar word, use
the words, phrases, and
sentences near it for clues.
Essential Question:
What helps an animal survive?
Comprehension Skill
Comprehension Strategy
Summarize
Main Idea and Key Details
*After reading a passage, identify the most
important details.
*Retell those details in your own words.
*When presenting a summary remember
to use your own words and leave out your
opinion.
* The main idea is the most important
point that the author makes in a text
or section of a text.
*Key details give important information
to support the main idea.
Informational Text
Expository
*Expository text gives
important facts about a
topic. Topics include a
real person, an actual
event, a real place, or a
real thing.
*They may include text
features such as
photographs, diagrams,
and time lines.
Possessive Nouns
*A possessive noun shows
ownership
*To form the possessive of a
singular noun, add an
apostrophe and an “s”.
r-Controlled Vowels
camouflaged
dribbles
extraordinary
poisonous
pounce
predator
prey
vibrations
dart
guard
award
backyard
argue
spark
target
smart
charge
carpet
warp
door
fort
morning
stork
cord
worn
stormy
core
bore
Prefixes
A prefix is a word part that is
added to the beginning of a
word to change the meaning
of the word. Common prefixes
include un (not), re (again),
and dis (opposite of).
Essential Question:
How are writers inspired by animals?
Comprehension Strategy
A sk and Answer Question
*Good readers ask questions when
there are parts of the story they do not
understand.
*Questions can be about why a
character acts a certain way or why an
event takes place.
Poetry
*Lyric poetry expresses
the thoughts and
feelings of the poet. It
often has end rhymes.
*Haiku uses three short
lines to describe a scene
or a moment. The first
and third line has five
syllables and the second
line has seven syllables.
Combining Sentences
* Sentences can be
combined by joining two
nouns in the subject.
*Use “and” to join the
nouns.
Ann and Bob like cats.
Comprehension Skill
Point of View
*This is how the speaker of the poem
thinks or feels.
*Sometimes the speaker is a character
in the poem.
*Sometimes the speaker is telling about
the characters or events in the poem.
brittle
creative
descriptive
outstretched
metaphor
simile
rhyme
meter
Suffixes
sickly
shapeless
hardly
ageless
quickly
illness
slowly
goodness
carefully
spotless
wonderful painless
beautiful weakness
graceful
darkest
spoonful clearest
darkness
thoughtful
Figurative Language
* A simile uses like or as to
compare two unlike things.
*A metaphor compares two
unlike things without
using like or as.
Thank you for downloading “ Wonders Reading Series
Fourth Grade: Unit 2, Lessons 1-5” by Lights, Camera,
Action.
Credits:
 Thistlegirldesign.com
 Scrappindoodle.com
 McGraw Hill Reading –Wonders
CCSS Reading/Language Arts Program