UNIT 08: Food for Thought
92
UNIT 08 OPENER
Preteach: Instructional Terms
© 2006 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Writers of persuasive text use words to inform and influence
readers. The text may contain emotionally charged words that
encourage the reader to agree with the writer. Ask: Have you ever
tried to talk your parents into letting you do something? When
students have responded, point out that they probably used
persuasive words to influence their parents' decision, and that these
words are like those they will encounter in persuasive text.
Promotional pamphlets are one type of persuasive text that is used to
promote, or advertise, a product or an idea.
Scope and Sequence
at a Glance
Genre: Persuasive Text
Title: Food for Thought
Cross-Curricular Connection: Math
Comprehension Strategy: Paraphrase
Comprehension Skill: Recognize
Statements of Fact and Opinion
Emphasize that a statement of fact is true and based on evidence
that can be proved. A statement of opinion is based on someone's
personal view. On the board, write the following:
Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues
(Analogy Types: Synonyms and
Antonyms)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends four servings of fruit
and five servings of vegetables every day.
Fruits and vegetables always taste good, so I think it is easy to eat
the recommended amount every day.
Decoding Support: VCCCV Words with
Division VC/CCV as in dolphin and VCC/
CV as in laughter
Explain that the first sentence is a statement of fact; it is based on
evidence that can be proved. Display a copy of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture's food pyramid to show students. Point out that the
second sentence is a statement of opinion, and it is not based on
evidence that can be proved. Circle the words always and I think.
Explain that the writer used these words to encourage the reader to
agree that eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables
is easy because fruits and vegetables taste good. The words I think
help the reader recognize this statement as an opinion. Point out that
putting persuasive text in their own words can help identify facts and
opinions.
Explain that to paraphrase means to restate the writer's main ideas
and supporting details in simpler language. Using context clues can
help to paraphrase unfamiliar words. Context clues include
analogies based on synonyms and antonyms. Recognizing that
words in the text are synonyms with similar meanings or antonyms
with opposite meanings can help students determine the meaning of
an unfamiliar word in an analogy. Explain that an analogy is a
statement that compares two pairs of words, with the relationship
between the first pair of words being the same as the relationship
between the second pair of words. If the words in one pair are
synonyms, then words in the second pair will also be synonyms.
Students can reason that any unfamiliar word in this analogy will be a
synonym for its counterpart. Give these examples: Happy is a
synonym for joyful as gloomy is a synonym for depressed; up is an
antonym for down as happy is an antonym for sad.
DESTINATION READING
Summary of Reading Passage
Food for Thought
This selection is about the process and purpose of
planting and growing a school garden. Students can
then using the crops to cook their school lunches
through the Thoughtful Gardens for School program.
Lexile: 1030
Word Count: 878
UNIT 08: Food for Thought
93
UNIT 08 OPENER (CONT.)
Learner Vocabulary
Introduce the lesson's vocabulary words by reading the following
sentences aloud. After you read each sentence, repeat the
vocabulary word, and read its definition.
compost Noun. (1) Mixture of decayed organic material used as
fertilizer. Verb. (2) Turn into a mixture of decayed organic material.
(1) Using good, rich compost will help Grandma's vegetable
garden thrive.
(2) Trash such as leaves, orange peels, apple cores, and bread
crusts should compost well.
discard Verb. Throw away or cast aside.
Discard any leftover paper scraps in the recycling bin.
enthusiastic Adjective. Extremely excited or interested.
Jordan waved to the enthusiastic crowd as he circled the bases.
ownership Noun. State of possessing something. When Jenna
purchased her own home, she felt a sense of pride in ownership.
sow Verb. [pronounce as verb, to rhyme with "so"] (1) Plant seeds.
sow [pronounce to rhyme with "cow"] Noun. (2) Adult female pig.
© 2006 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved.
(1) Farmers in the valley had sown crops such as corn and
wheat.
(2) The sow gave birth to six tiny, squealing piglets.
transform Verb. Make a great change in condition or appearance.
A good architect can transform a dumpy shack into a beautiful
palace.
Quick Connect Activities
Bring into the classroom several types of gardening tools, as well as
gardening magazines and books. Have these available for students.
Also bring into class a garden pot with soil and vegetable seeds for
students to examine. Have students guess how each tool is used.
Then, demonstrate how the tools are used to cultivate the soil, plant
the seeds, and care for the vegetable as it grows.
Destination Journal
Have students answer these questions in their journals: What
vegetable or fruit would you like to grow in a garden? How does
knowing math help when you are cooking food from a garden?
Book Lists
Books of the Same Genre
Students who enjoy this genre may choose from
these selections for further reading connected to
creating this kind of genre.
Advertising by Bess Milton. 2004. Scholastic.
(Below-level students.) This book contains easily
accessible information on the American pop
culture. Lexile: 930
Words at Work by Susan Benjamin. 1997.
Perseus Publishing. (On-level students.) This
book explains how to structure business writing
to save time and increase its power. Lexile: 990
Advertising by Susan Wake. 1990. Garrett
Education Corporation. (Above-level students.)
This book examines the purposes, methods, and
forms of advertising; it also shows readers how
they can make their own advertisements.
Lexile: 1010
Books with Related Themes
Students who are fascinated by food and
gardens may find these books intriguing.
Peppers, Popcorn, and Pizza: The Science of
Food by Celeste A. Peters. 2000. Raintree
Steck-Vaughn. (Below-level students.) This
book introduces the scientific aspects of food,
including how the body uses fuel. Lexile: 880
Growing a Kitchen Garden by Natalie Lunis.
2003. Benchmark Education Company. (Onlevel students.) This book describes how to grow
a garden for your kitchen. Lexile: 980
Food by Anne Schraff. 2006. Artesian Press.
(Above-level students.) This book contains
information about different types of food.
Lexile: 1040
UNIT 08: Food for Thought
LESSON 1 PLANNER
Genre Study
Assess students' prior knowledge of persuasive text by asking them
to create a list of written materials that urge readers to take an action
or agree with a belief. Write the responses on the board. Students
may mention ads for products, political spots, editorials in
newspapers and magazines, and mail order catalogs. Guide students
to add promotional pamphlets to the list. Then, supply students with
the following characteristics of persuasive text in promotional
pamphlets:
• Promotional pamphlets take an informal stand on an issue.
• They play on readers' emotions.
• They suggest solutions in an attempt to solve a problem and
cause a change.
• They try to influence readers to agree with the writer.
Provide students with pamphlets from several different businesses.
Include health care pamphlets, such as those advocating proper diet
and nutrition or oral hygiene. Have students highlight the areas that
influence readers to agree with the pamphlet's writer or sponsoring
organization.
© 2006 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Build Background
The subject of the slide show is garden programs and good nutrition
at King Middle School, Berkeley, California, where students grow
vegetables and cook their own lunch foods, using their math skills in
the process. Ask: What conditions do plants need to grow?
Students may suggest warmth, seeds, nutrients, soil, and water.
Write these words on the board. Ask students whether anyone has
grown a garden or helped an adult grow a garden. Ask volunteers to
tell about their gardening experiences.
Lead students to discuss the types of fruits and vegetables that can
be grown in a local garden. Explain that many people who live in the
country grow gardens in their yards, and people who live in cities may
plant vegetables in neighborhood gardens or in containers on
balconies or decks.
Ask: How did the students at King Middle School use math while
cooking their lunch from the foods they grew in their garden?
Point out that cooking requires careful measurement of ingredients. If
students want to make larger quantities of a food than those in the
original recipe, they will need to multiply to determine how much of
each ingredient is needed. They may have to divide the listed
amounts if they are making a smaller amount.
DESTINATION READING
94
Lesson 1: Genre and Vocabulary Study
Learning Objectives
• Recognize distinguishing features of
persuasive texts, including pamphlets.
• Recognize the author's purpose in
writing persuasive texts, including
pamphlets.
• Learn the meanings of grade-level and
content vocabulary words in context.
• Use context clues to determine the
meaning of synonym and antonym
analogies.
• Complete synonym and antonym
analogies to determine the meaning of
a word.
QuickFact: The Edible
Schoolyard
The Edible Schoolyard at King Middle School in
Berkeley, California, began in 1995 when Alice
Waters, a Berkeley restaurant owner, and Neil
Smith, King's principal, started the project. Their
goal was to create a program that allowed
students to tend a garden and then cook, serve,
and eat the crops from it. Waters and Smith
wanted the project to become an integral part of
the curriculum, so math skills and science are
used and reviewed in various phases of the
program.
UNIT 08: Food for Thought
LESSON 1 PLANNER (CONT.)
95
Lesson 1: Genre and Vocabulary Study
Vocabulary Strategy: Analogies: Synonyms
and Antonyms
Analogies based on synonyms and antonyms are context clues that
can be useful to students as they encounter unfamiliar words. An
analogy compares two pairs of words, with the relationship between
the first pair of words being the same as that between the second pair
of words. Students who understand the structure of these analogies
can recognize that an unfamiliar word used in an analogy is a
synonym or an antonym of a known word in that group. Give students
these examples:
• Courage is to bravery as bashfulness is to shyness.
Courage is similar in meaning to bravery, and bashfulness is
similar in meaning to shyness. This analogy is based on synonyms, or words that have similar meanings.
• Forget is to remember as ancient is to contemporary.
Forget is the opposite of remember, and ancient is the opposite
of contemporary. This analogy is based on antonyms, or words
that are opposite in meaning.
© 2006 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Differentiated Instruction
ELL: The vocabulary strategy may be challenging for English
language learners. To ensure that students grasp the relationships in
analogies using synonyms and antonyms, have them use a dictionary
to find the meaning of each word in the analogy. Then ask students to
translate the analogies into their first languages, in which the
synonym or antonym relationships may be clearer for them.
Special Needs: Suggest that students create flashcards of analogies
having synonym and antonym relationships. Have students write an
analogy on the front of each card and the type of relationship,
synonym or antonym, on the back of the card. Have student pairs
take turns quizzing each other with the flashcards. For students with
visual impairments, have a partner read the analogy aloud.
Above-level Students: Provide students with a list of analogies
based on synonyms and antonyms, and have students use the
analogies in writing a humorous one-page story about a fictional
gardening experience. Invite volunteers to share their stories with the
class.
Quick Connect Activities
On the board, write several analogies based on synonyms and
antonyms, omitting the last word in each. Invite students to supply the
last word. You may want to begin with these: up/down and in/out,
round/circle and square/rectangle, and so on.
Destination Journal
Have each student create a pamphlet to
persuade classmates to take an action or accept
an idea. If students need help in getting started,
suggest that they persuade other students to join
a club, try out for a sports team, volunteer for a
community service project, or participate in an
interesting hobby.
Lesson Resources:
Assessment Toolkit
Check the Practice and Apply activities in this
lesson for results you can assess.
Before students take the lesson tests provided in
the courseware, check their confidence in the
skills:
• Have students list the characteristics of
persuasive texts found in promotional
pamphlets. Then distribute sample
pamphlets and have pairs of students
identify each characteristic.
• Have students write three analogies based
on synonyms and three based on
antonyms.
• Have student pairs write analogy quizzes
based on synonym and antonym
relationships. Have each pair trade quizzes
with another pair to take the quizzes. Then
have the two pairs discuss the results.
UNIT 08: Food for Thought
LESSON 2 PLANNER
96
Lesson 2: Comprehension Skill and Strategy
Comprehension Skill: Fact and Opinion
Remind students that facts are statements that can be proved true.
Opinions are statements of belief, feeling, or judgment that can be
supported but not proved. The courseware explains that students can
often recognize opinions by looking for certain words. Remind
students that opinions that seem to be facts should be checked
before students accept them. To recognize opinions, students should
look for the following:
• adjectives, such as worst and best, that express judgment
• opinion words, such as think or believe
• words such as always, never, every, all, and none, which are so
broad that the information can rarely be proved
• strongly stated opinions that sound like facts because they seem
reasonable
If a statement cannot be verified as fact, it is probably the writer's
opinion masquerading as a fact. Explain that some opinions are more
reliable than others. For example, a lawyer's opinion about issues of
law is more reliable than that of someone who is not trained in that
field.
© 2006 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Comprehension Strategy: Paraphrasing
Remind students that paraphrasing is one way to ensure that a
reader has understood what a writer has written. The purpose of a
paraphrase is to restate the writer's ideas in simpler, more accessible
terms. Main ideas and supporting details are included in the
paraphrase, but any difficult or complex words are simplified.
In the courseware, students are shown how to paraphrase by
substituting simpler synonyms for difficult words and restructuring or
reordering words in complicated sentences.
Differentiated Instruction
ELL: Distribute pamphlets or other persuasive writing to students.
Have them highlight any unfamiliar words and then use a dictionary to
find the words' meanings. Have students paraphrase any paragraph
that contains highlighted words, substituting a simple definition for
each highlighted word.
Special Needs: Use different pamphlets as you work with students to
help them identify which parts of the text are facts and which are
opinions. Have students circle words that help them recognize
opinion.
Above-level Students: Invite students to write a pamphlet that
promotes an issue in which they believe.
DESTINATION READING
Learning Objectives
• Recognize that persuasive text
includes both facts and opinions.
• Distinguish between facts and
opinions in persuasive text.
• Identify opinions stated as facts in
persuasive text.
• Recognize paraphrasing as a strategy
to improve reading comprehension.
• Recognize use of synonyms and
changed word order as techniques for
paraphrasing.
• Identify the best paraphrases of
persuasive texts.
Assessment: Toolkit
Check the Practice activities in this lesson for
results you can assess.
Before students take the lesson tests provided in
the courseware, check their confidence in the
skills:
• Distribute copies of written materials from
newspapers or magazines in which writers
have stated opinions as fact. Have pairs of
students locate and highlight these
statements.
• Have each student write five statements of
fact and five statements of opinion in
random order. Then have students
exchange their statements with a partner,
who should identify which statements are
facts and which are opinions.
• Provide students with a paragraph, and tell
them to paraphrase the content.
UNIT 08: Food for Thought
LESSON 3 PLANNER
Story Summary
Food for Thought is a persuasive pamphlet that promotes school
gardening. The pamphlet explains that students who have school
gardens feed their bodies and their minds through growing,
preparing, and eating healthful foods.
Learning Objectives
• Read a persuasive text to build
vocabulary, fluency, and
comprehension.
Thoughtful Gardens for Schools, Inc., provides school-garden kits of
different sizes for a fee. The gardening kits "provide the perfect
solution for school administrators looking for a healthful, affordable,
and long-lasting program to build school spirit and community." For
lunch, students can eat the foods they grow. They may add
"cucumbers and alfalfa sprouts in their sandwiches, tomatoes and
pumpkins as side dishes, and strawberries as dessert."
• Paraphrase while reading a persuasive
text to improve comprehension.
From the Thoughtful Gardens for Schools Guidebook, students learn
to organize teams for age-appropriate responsibilities in planting and
growing the crops, such as watering, weeding, and fertilizing.
Information is also given about when to plant various crops. The
guidebook is found in the kits, which have a starting cost of $179.
Other items in the kits include seeds and tools.
• Demonstrate comprehension of a
persuasive text.
Some schools begin with a one-acre garden, but less space will also
work. Space may be found in the corner of the schoolyard, the
playground, or even a nearby vacant lot. Students, teachers,
administrators, and parents become involved with all parts of the
garden—planning, composting, preparing land, planting, tending,
harvesting, and preparing the food for meals. Thoughtful Gardens for
Schools even provides lesson plans for cooking classes.
© 2006 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved.
97
Lesson 3: Summary and Journal Writing
A school garden "can feed the minds (and mouths) of several
generations of students" as siblings and friends pass along their
knowledge to younger students. The people at Thoughtful Gardens
for Schools believe that "a student garden is the greatest example of
a school's power to bring education, family, and community together."
Destination Journal
Ask students to write a journal entry on this topic: You have read that
students "who have school gardens feed their bodies and their
minds through growing, preparing, and eating healthy foods."
Do you think this statement is a fact or an opinion? Using
examples from the text, explain why the writer presents this
statement as fact. Then ask yourself whether you believe the
statement is true, and explain your answer.
• Distinguish between facts and opinions
while reading a persuasive text.
• Use knowledge of analogies while
reading a persuasive text to learn
unfamiliar words.
Assessment: Toolkit
Use the Comprehension Quiz to assess
students' understanding of the courseware.
Before students take the lesson tests provided in
the courseware, check their confidence in the
skills:
• After students have read the text, ask them
to write a paraphrase of the pamphlet.
• Have students highlight the statements of
fact in the text in one color and the
statements of opinion in another color.
• Distribute a printout of the reading. Have
students circle the analogies in the text and
identify each one as an analogy based on
synonyms or antonyms.
UNIT 08: Food for Thought
LESSON 4 PLANNER
98
Lesson 4: Comprehension Skill and Strategy
Comprehension Skill: Fact and Opinion
Remind students that when they read, they must distinguish facts
from opinions. Ask: How can you recognize statements that are
facts and statements that are opinions? Review with students that
statements that can be proved are facts and statements that may be
supported but not proved are opinions. Remind students to look for
reliable and convincing facts to support the writer's opinion. Caution
students that sometimes writers state an opinion that sounds like a
fact. Read the following passages aloud and ask students to
differentiate between a statement that is supported by facts and one
that is not.
• Fruits and vegetables are good for you. You should eat them
every day. My friends and I really like strawberries. We think
they taste delicious.
• Fruits and vegetables are nutritious. According to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, to stay healthy, you should eat four
servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables every day.
© 2006 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Comprehension Strategy: Paraphrasing
Review paraphrasing and remind students that when they
paraphrase, they use their own words to restate the writer's ideas.
Paraphrasing makes the passage simpler to understand. Ask: How
would you paraphrase the main idea of Food for Thought?
Students should understand that the main idea of the pamphlet is that
school food gardens provide many advantages for students. Ask:
What details support this main idea? Students should cite these
supporting details:
• Students receive nutritious food from the garden.
• Students learn to organize and work together.
• Students learn to cook nutritious meals.
• Students, teachers, administrative personnel, and family
members work together on a healthful, affordable project that
enriches students' lives.
Remind students that good paraphrases remain true to the content of
the text, so understanding the main points is important. Then,
students can begin their line-by-line paraphrase.
Differentiated Instruction
ELL: Distribute a printout of the passage from the PDF file. Have
students underline the opinions in the reading passage, and then
highlight the facts that support each one.
Special Needs: Distribute a printout of the passage from the PDF
file. To help students distinguish opinion from fact, have them circle
the words and phrases in the reading passage that signal opinion,
such as nothing, fits perfectly, everyone, enthusiastically select. Have
a partner read the text aloud for students with visual impairment.
Above-level Students: Have students paraphrase the reading
passage, and then exchange papers with a partner to edit each
other's work.
DESTINATION READING
Learning Objectives
• Differentiate facts, explicit opinions,
and opinions stated as facts in a
persuasive text.
• Evaluate paraphrases to select the
best paraphrase of a persuasive
text.
• Compose a paraphrase for a
paragraph of persuasive text using
synonyms and changed word order.
Assessment: Toolkit
Check the Practice and Apply activities in this
lesson for results you can assess.
Before students take the lesson tests provided in
the courseware, check their confidence in the
skills:
• Provide students with a persuasive
pamphlet. In a class discussion, have
students give examples of facts, opinions,
and opinions that sound like facts from the
pamphlet.
• Have students explain why it is important to
distinguish fact from opinion.
• Provide students with three short reading
passages, and have them paraphrase the
passages.
99
DESTINATION READING COURSE IV
UNIT 08: Food for Thought
Name: ________________________________________________
Date: _________________________________
Comprehension Skill: Use a T-Chart to Locate Words that Identify Opinion
Statements
Directions: You have learned to separate facts from opinions. The T-Chart below contains signal words that
help you identify opinion statements. As you read, look for opinion statements. Record the statements in the
chart, and underline the signal word or words.
Title:
Signal Words
• Adjectives that express
judgments, such as worst
and best
© 2006 Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, and its licensors. All rights reserved.
• Adverbs that express
judgments, such as words
ending in -ly
• Opinion words such as
think or believe
• General or very broad terms,
such as always, never, and
every, that rarely can be
proved true
• Opinion that sounds like fact
because it is stated strongly
and sounds reasonable
Statements Using Signal Words