Level K/20
The Earth on Turtle’s Back
Fiction Teacher’s Guide
Skills & Strategies
Anchor Comprehension Strategy
•• Analyze Story Elements
Content Vocabulary
•• Words associated with Earth’s natural
features
Grammar/Word Study
•• Adverbs that tell where and when
•• Suffix -ful
Summary
•• Native Americans told a legend that
explains how the planet Earth formed
from a small lump of dirt placed on a giant
turtle’s back.
Theme: People and Their
Environment
Social Studies Concept: People
can change and affect their
physical environment. People
create places to live that reflect
their ideas, wants, and needs.
B
e n c h m a r k
E
d u c a t i o n
C
o m p a n y
Small-Group Reading Lesson
Before Reading
Connections
I have read
legends
before.
I can
connect
Paul Bunyan
to this story.
Build Background Knowledge
• Help students recall a familiar legend, such as the story of Johnny
Appleseed. As a group, retell the story. Have students brainstorm a list
of the characters and events in this legend and any other legends they
have heard or read. Record their ideas on a chart titled “Legends.”
Discuss what they would expect to find when they read a story that is a
legend.
Model Making Text-to-Text Connections
ell
Support Tips
for English-Language Learners
Build Background Knowledge
If English-language learners are not
familiar with the legend the native
speakers suggest, read the story to
them to make sure they have a sense
of the characters, setting, and events
in a legend. Point out the pictures of
the characters when brainstorming
characters and events.
Build Vocabulary and
Language Patterns
As students preview the book,
discuss the phrase lost her balance
on page 7. Demonstrate what balance
is by placing a book on one end on
your desk and then pushing the book
on one side until it falls over. Explain
that just as the book lost its balance
and fell, the chief’s wife fell into the
hole when she lost her balance.
Point out the word nervous on page
15 and discuss its meaning. Offer
examples of situations that might
make a person nervous, such as
riding a roller coaster or speaking in
front of a group. Then let students
offer their own examples.
2
The Earth on Turtle’s Back
• Display the cover and read the title. Say: I have read legends before. I
know that legends often explain how things in nature came to be. For
example, the legend of Paul Bunyan explains how the Grand Canyon was
formed. I can use what I know about legends to help me read and
understand this story.
• Ask students if the cover and title remind them of any stories they have
read before.
Preview the Book
• Show students the table of contents and read the headings. Ask: What
do you think you will read about in this book? Do the title and chapter
headings make you think of other books you have read?
• Preview the illustrations and encourage students to describe what they
see and to make connections to other stories they have read.
•Introduce language you feel may be difficult for students. For example,
for page 2 you might point to each animal in the picture and ask: Is this
animal a bird, a fish, or a mammal?
Model Reading Strategies
• Point out the word falling on page 5 and ask students what strategies
they could use to read the word.
• Suggest the following strategy: You could divide the word into its base
word and ending: fall and -ing. Then you could put the two parts together.
Finally, you could reread the sentence to see if the word makes sense.
Set a Purpose for Reading
• Ask students to read the book to find out what this legend explains.
Remind them to use what they already know about legends to help
them as they read.
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Teachers may photocopy the reproducible pages for classroom use. No other
part of the guide may be reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-4108-1579-8

During Reading
Monitor Student Reading
• Have students put self-stick notes next to words they have trouble
with.
• Observe students as they whisper read. Intervene as necessary to
guide them to use appropriate strategies to read difficult words.
After Reading
Reflect on Reading Strategies
• Ask students how other legends they have read were like this legend.
Reinforce that connecting a new story to similar stories they have read
will help them understand the new book better.
• Ask students to share words they found difficult to read, and ask what
strategies students used to read them. Use these words, and any words
you noticed students having difficulty with, to model appropriate
reading strategies. Reinforce that students should always check
whether the words they are reading are making sense.
Discuss Concepts
• Talk with students about legends and why people create and pass
down legends. Ask: Why do you think people tell legends? Why do you
like to read legends? What can you learn about a group of people by
reading their legends?
• Have students compare this Native American legend with a legend
they are familiar with that has a European or an American
background, for example, the legend they discussed in the Build
Background section of the lesson. Have them point out features that
are the same and different. Ask: What does each legend explain?
How does the legend explain that? Why do you think these stories
were important to the people who made them?
Extend Concepts
• Find legends from different cultures to read to students and then
place them in the library or reading center for students to revisit on
their own.
• Have students create their own imaginative explanation for a natural
event, such as why birds fly, why spiders make webs, or why trees
turn colors in fall. Have them draw a picture that shows their
explanation. Let students share their “legends” with the group.
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Assessment Tip
To check a student’s reading
strategies, ask him or her to read a
section of the text aloud to you
while other students are whisper
reading. Note whether the student is
using visual, structure, and/or
meaning cues to self-correct and
make sense of the text.
ell
Support Tips
for English-Language Learners
Reflect on Reading Strategies
Note the words English-language
learners are having difficulty with.
Ask them to define or use words to
help you determine whether their
problems relate to unfamiliar
vocabulary or syntax.
Make Fiction-to-Fact™
Concept Connections
If students have read The Everglades,
ask:
• What kinds of legends can you think
of to explain some of the features of
the Everglades? (Encourage students
to use their imaginations to suggest
legends, such as why the Everglades
are wet or why alligators live in the
Everglades.)
• What lessons do you think The Earth
on Turtle’s Back teaches about
protecting the Everglades and other
natural environments? (Students may
say that the story teaches people to
treat animals well, because animals
helped people. One major reason to
protect the Everglades is to protect
its animals.)
The Earth on Turtle’s Back
3
Small Group Reading Lesson
ell
Support Tips
for English-Language Learners
Model
Ask specific questions about the
familiar book to help students
focus on and identify story
elements: Who is this story about?
Where and when does this story
take place? What happens first in
the story? What happens next?
What is wrong in the story? What
needs to be fixed?
Practice and Apply
Pair English-language learners with
native speakers to identify the
story elements in The Earth on
Turtle’s Back and fill in the blackline
master together.
Build Comprehension:
Analyze Story elements
Model
• Hold up a fiction book that students know well. Ask them to tell who is
in the story, where and when it takes place, and what happens in the
story.
• Say: When we read a story, we need to know certain things about the story.
We need to know the characters. The characters are the people or animals
in the story. We need to know the setting. The setting is where and when the
story takes place. We need to know the plot. The plot is the events that
happen in the story. Usually the characters have a problem and they have to
solve the problem. The problem and the solution are part of the plot.
Practice
• Distribute copies of the "Story Elements" blackline master. Have
students write the title of the story on the title line.
• Support students as they describe the setting and name the characters in
the story. Have them write the information in the appropriate boxes on
the Blackline Master. Ask: What problem do the animals have? How does
the story begin? Have students write this information on the chart.
Apply
• Have students work in pairs to complete the chart by recording the
most important events in the plot in order and summarizing how the
characters solve their problem.
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Assessment Tip
Observe whether students can
identify story elements. Note
whether they are able to follow
sequential events, tell characters
apart, and find clues to setting
and story problem and solution. If
students have difficulty, you might
want to provide additional
modeling.
• Have students share their ideas with the group. If some student ideas
conflict, have students refer to the text to confirm or revise their
information.
Title:
The Earth on Turtle’s Back
the water and the sky that existed a long time ago;
Where and when?
the earth that grew up around the turtle’s back
Who?
Chief
Chief’s wife
Animals: swans, beaver,
duck, deer, muskrat, turtle
What is the The chief’s wife cannot live in the water.
problem?
What happens?
1. The chief’s wife has a dream, so the chief digs up the Great Tree.
2. The chief’s wife falls down the hole left by the Great Tree.
3. Two swans save the chief’s wife before she falls into the water.
4. The animals decide the woman needs earth to live on.
5. Several animals try to get earth from the bottom of the hole.
6. The muskrat gets a bit of earth and puts it on the turtle’s back.
7. The earth grows on the turtle’s back; the chief’s wife drops seeds
and the trees grow.
4
The Earth on Turtle’s Back
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC

Writing Mini-Lesson: Describe a Setting
• Reread page 20 while students follow along. Say: The setting of a story
is the time and the place where the events in the story happen. This page
describes Earth. It uses nouns, adjectives, and verbs to tell what the place
looks like.
• Involve students in a discussion about the description of a story’s
setting by asking the following questions:
What nouns tell about the setting? (trees, lakes, rivers, and mountains)
What adjectives and verbs tell about the setting? (adjectives: tall; verbs:
sprouted, formed, and grew)
writing Checklist
As students review their piece of
writing, have them ask
themselves:
• Do I use specific words to
describe the setting in my
story?
• Do my descriptions help
readers picture where the story
takes place?
• Do my setting descriptions help
readers understand and enjoy
the story?
How do all these words help you “see” the setting? (Together the words
provide a vivid, detailed description of the setting that readers can
visualize in their minds)
Do you think it is important to describe the setting of a story? Why?
(The setting is an important story element. It often is closely related
to the characters and their actions. Vivid descriptions of the setting
help readers to better understand and enjoy the entire story.)
• Use other fiction books to show how other writers describe settings.
Discuss with students how the setting descriptions help readers to
better understand the characters and events.
• Write words used to describe settings from the examples on chart
paper to serve as models for students.
• After looking at several examples of setting descriptions, have
students choose those that they think are especially vivid.
Reread for fluency
Read aloud sections of The
Earth on Turtle’s Back to model
fluent reading using appropriate
phrasing, intonation, and
expression. Have pairs of
students take turns reading the
pages of the book to each other.
Link to Journal Writing
Have students find a piece of fiction writing in their journals. Have
them note whether they use words to specifically describe a setting. If
not, ask them whether there is a setting that they can describe. If
students don’t have a piece of fiction writing in their journal, ask them
to begin a new piece of writing.
Connect to home
Have students read the take-home
version of The Earth on Turtle’s
Back to family members. Suggest
that they talk about the
explanation the legend gives for
how Earth was created.
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
The Earth on Turtle’s Back
5
Skills Bank
ell
Support Tips
for English-Language Learners
Content Vocabulary
If students have difficulty thinking
of natural features, first point to
relevant details in the pictures,
such as the trees and oceans on
page 20, and ask students to name
them. Then prompt students by
asking specific questions that
describe other natural features:
What are green things that grow in
the ground and that people and
animals eat? What are the huge
bodies of water where whales and
sharks live?
Grammar/Word Study
To reinforce the concept of words
that tell where or when, say simple
sentences using words such as up,
down, before, below, and there:
I told you before. Tom put his book
there. After you say a sentence, ask
a question using where or when:
When did I tell you? Where did Tom
put his book? Help students
recognize that the words they
answer with are the words in the
sentences that tell where or when.
Make a chart showing how base
words and the suffix -ful can be
combined to make new words.
6
Base Word
Suffix
New Word
power
-ful
powerful
wonder
-ful
wonderful
joy
-ful
joyful
care
-ful
careful
color
-ful
colorful
hand
-ful
handful
spoon
-ful
spoonful
arm
-ful
armful
The Earth on Turtle’s Back
Content Vocabulary: Words associated with Earth’s
natural features
• On the board write Earth’s features in the center circle of a word web.
Have students look through the book for words that name Earth’s
natural features, such as trees, lakes, rivers, mountains, and animals.
Write each word in an outer circle of the web.
• Have students brainstorm additional words for you to add to the web,
such as oceans, deserts, plants, and valleys.
• Reread the words on the web and have students explain how the words
they chose are related to the concept.
Grammar/Word Study:
Adverbs that tell where and when
• Reread the second sentence on page 3. Ask: Where do the chief and his
wife live? They live there. Explain that there is a word that tells where.
• Reread the first sentence on page 5. Ask: When did the chief’s wife have a
dream? She had a dream the night before. Explain that the night before is
a group of words, or phrase, that tells when.
• Explain that words that tell where and when, such as there, are called
adverbs. Phrases can also act like adverbs. Adverbs answer questions
about the verbs in the sentences: The chief and his wife live where? The
chief’s wife told the chief about a dream she had when?
• Have students find other words and phrases in the story that tell where
and when, such as a long time ago (page 2), there (page 2), in Skyland
and on the tree’s branches (page 4), One day (page 5), into the hole
(page 7), up and down (page 11), way down, deep in the water (page
11),and on the dirt and onto the ground (page 19).
Grammar/Word Study: Suffix -ful
• Write the word powerful on the board and read it with students. Draw a
line between power and ful. Explain that -ful is a word part that can be
added to the end of some nouns and that it means “full of.” Ask
students what powerful means. (full of power).
• Write the words wonder, joy, care, and color under power on the board.
Have students add -ful to each word, write the new word, and use it in
a sentence.
• Point out the word handful on page 8. Say: This word also has -ful at the
end. But here it means “that is full.” So handful means “a hand that is full
of something.” Write the words spoon and arm under hand on the board.
Have students add -ful to each word, write the new word, and use it in
a sentence.
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Name _______________________________________________________ Date _________________
Story Elements
Title:
Where and when?
Who?
What is the
problem?
What happens?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC
Name _______________________________________________________ Date ___________________
Where and When Words
1. I will take out the trash later.
Where?
When?
2. She twisted her ankle and fell down.
Where?
When?
3. W
e like the park because you can
skate there.
Where?
When?
4. Ryan looked up at the hot-air balloon.
Where?
When?
5. Mateo had seen an elephant before.
Where?
When?
6. W
e will shovel the snow, but first we
must put on boots.
Where?
When?
7. Y
ou can hear barking because dogs
live nearby.
Where?
When?
8. Gina looked everywhere for her cat.
Where?
When?
9. You may have left your gloves here.
Where?
When?
10. I
have an invitation to the party, so I will see you then.
Where?
When?
Directions: Have students circle the word in each sentence that tells where or when. Then have them
circle Where? if the word tells where or When? if the word tells when.
© 2011 Benchmark Education Company, LLC