LESSON 6 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Whales of the World
by John Stewart
Fountas-Pinnell Level U
Informational Text
Selection Summary
Whales are large mammals that live in the ocean. There are two
groups of whales called baleen and toothed. Dolphins are toothed
whales. All whales have special features that help them survive in
the water.
Number of Words: 1,498
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
• Two sections, each six pages, separated by “Dolphins” header on p. 9
• Baleen and toothed whales: blue, gray, sperm, narwhal, and dolphin
• Facts about where whales live and what they eat
• Whales are mammals and fall into two groups.
• Whales use special features to survive.
• As an endangered species, whales need to be protected by humans.
• Clearly written in descriptive language
• Longer complex sentence structures with embedded clauses and phrases
• Sentences with parenthetical references
• Complex and compound sentences
• Italics for technical terms
• Technical vocabulary relative to whales: blubber, baleen, blowhole, echolocation
• Longer descriptive words: breathtaking, murkiest
• Many multisyllable words, some of them challenging, such as compensate, mechanism,
echolocation
• Photographs/illustrations with captions and labels
• Twelve pages of text, easy-to-read headings, and photographs/illustrations on most pages
• Sidebars
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Whales of the World
by John Stewart
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge about marine life to visualize the text. Build interest
by asking questions such as the following: How do you know that whales are mammals?
How are they different from fish? Read the title and author and talk about the cover
photograph. Tell students that this book is informational text, so they will learn many
interesting facts about whales.
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 4: Direct students to the second sentence and the term gestation. Suggested
language: The text says the infant whale can swim from the moment it is born.
How does the whale gestation period compare to the human gestation period?
Page 7: Direct students to the important specific whale records sidebar and ask
why the author included the sidebar. Suggested language: Why do you think the
author included this information about the largest and farthest-traveling whales?
Page 9: Read the heading and explain that dolphins are a kind of whale.
Suggested language: Dolphins are toothed whales. Why do you think dolphins are
classified as whales?
Pages 10–11: Have students look at the photograph of the group of dolphins
leaping out of the water. Suggested language: The text explains that dolphins
exhale and breathe while arcing. Ask: What kind of shape does an arc make?
Now turn back to the beginning of the text and read to find out about whales and
dolphins.
Expand Your Vocabulary
arcing – moving or seeming to
move in a curved path, p. 11
compensate – to serve as
or provide a substitute or
counterbalance, p. 11
Grade 5
gestation – the period of
development in the uterus
from conception until birth;
pregnancy, p. 4
lagoons – shallow bodies
of water, especially ones
separated from a sea by
sandbars or coral reefs, p. 7
2
mechanism – a system of parts
that operate or interact like
those of a machine, p. 13
spiraling – taking a spiral form or
course, p. 8
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
problem solving and fluency as needed.
Remind students to use the Question Strategy
as they read to better
understand the similarities and differences among the different kinds of whales and
dolphins
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: What did you learn about large whales that you didn’t know before?
Why do sperm whales need to live in deep water?
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
• Whales are mammals that live
in the water, use blowholes to
breathe, and have blubber to
stay warm.
• Many other animals have special
features that help them survive
in the world.
• The labeled pictures of toothed
whales and baleen whales help
readers visualize the difference
between the two groups of
whales.
• There are two groups of whales.
They are baleen whales and
toothed whales.
• Dolphins are toothed whales
that live in large groups and
communicate with clicks and
whistles.
• Even though animals do not look
similar, they can belong to the
same species.
• Learning about what animals
need to survive helps people
protect them from harm.
• The author includes many
interesting details about what
whales look like, where whales
live, and how whales find food.
• The specific whale records
sidebar on pages 7–8 describes
whales with special qualities.
© 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
pausing and using the appropriate stress during reading. Remind students to
pause after punctuation and use a louder tone to stress italicized terms to be
emphasized (breach, blubber).
• 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. Have students define the word migrate based on its use
on page 7. Ask students if they can name a word that shares a root with migrate
(emigrate).
Grade 5
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 6.9.
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
Cause and Effect
Remind students that they can look for how one event
causes another event to happen. Point out that one effect can have several causes. Model
how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
The text says that dolphins are excellent hunters. That is an effect and
goes in the bottom rectangle. On page 10, the text says that dolphins
are intelligent. That is a cause. You can write it in one of the top squares.
Dolphins are intelligent, and that helps them to be excellent hunters.
Practice the Skill
Have students share other stories with cause and effect relationships about whales.
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
• Instead of a nose with nostrils, a whale has a ________________________________
_________ on top of its head.
• What is the meaning of mechanism on page 13?
• Which sentences on pages 12–13 show that dolphins are intelligent?
Grade 5
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Make sure the text matches the students’ reading level.
Language and content should be accessible with regular teaching support.
Cognates The text includes cognates. Point out English words and their Spanish
equivalents: ocean (océano), animal (animal).
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: What whale has the longest
tooth?
Speaker 1: How does a whale
breathe?
Speaker 2: The Narwhal has the longest
tooth.
Speaker 2: A whale breathes
through its blowhole.
Speaker 1: Are dolphins intelligent?
Speaker 1: How do baleen whales
eat food?
Speaker 2: whales
Speaker 1: What small whale is popular
at aquariums?
Speaker 2: dolphins
Speaker 1: Where do whales live?
Speaker 2: Dolphins are very intelligent.
Speaker 2: Baleen whales strain
water through their baleen to
catch food.
Speaker 2: in the ocean
Lesson 6
BLACKLINE MASTER 6.9
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
Whales of the World
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text What protects whales from the cold, and
how does this make them different from other mammals?
Layers of fat called blubber protect whales from the cold; other
mammals have fur instead.
2. Think within the text Why do scientists rank dolphins as among
the most intelligent mammals?
They can solve problems requiring a great deal of thought. In the
wild, they also communicate and cooperate with each other.
3. Think beyond the text What effect do you think might be causing
the threat of extinction to whales?
overhunting and / or changes to their environment
4. Think about the text What is the author’s opinion of whales?
The author loves whales. You can tell from the positive tone of
the writing, the many examples of all the things they can do, and
the statement that they should be protected from extinction.
Making Connections Have you ever seen a whale in the wild or in an
aquarium? Have you ever seen a museum exhibit on whales? Some of the
most famous stories in literature feature whales. Write about why you think
that whales have always fascinated human beings.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
11
Critical Thinking
Grade 5, Unit 2: Wild Encounters
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5
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Name
Date
Whales of the World
Thinking About the Text
Think about the question below. Then write your answer in two or three
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think about the text, you reflect back on the text.
You should notice and evaluate language, genre, literary devices, and how
the text is organized.
The author includes book and print features such as illustrations,
photographs, and sidebars to help expand on the ideas in this informational
text. Which feature, or features, were most helpful to you in understanding
the text? How did they aid your understanding? Provide page numbers for
particular features that you found useful, and be sure to provide details on
how the features helped your understanding.
Grade 5
6
Lesson 6: Whales of the World
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Lesson 6
BLACKLINE MASTER 6.9
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
Whales of the World
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text What protects whales from the cold, and
how does this make them different from other mammals?
2. Think within the text Why do scientists rank dolphins as among
the most intelligent mammals?
3. Think beyond the text What effect do you think might be causing
the threat of extinction to whales?
4. Think about the text What is the author’s opinion of whales?
Making Connections Have you ever seen a whale in the wild or in an
aquarium? Have you ever seen a museum exhibit on whales? Some of the
most famous stories in literature feature whales. Write about why you think
that whales have always fascinated human beings.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 5
7
Lesson 6: Whales of the World
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Student
Lesson 6
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 6.13
Whales of the World • LEVEL U
page
4
Whales of the World
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
Like other mammals, whales give birth to live young. Different
species have different gestation periods, ranging from ten to
sixteen months. Only one baby whale, called a calf, is born at a
time. Unlike human babies, the infant whale can move on its
own immediately, so it is able to swim from the moment it is
born. However, the calf depends on its mother for
nourishment. The mother whale feeds her baby very rich milk.
The milk’s high fat content helps the baby stay warm in the
cold waters that most whale species prefer.
Whales are mammals, so they are warm-blooded.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/101 ×
100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 5
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414050
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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