Instructional Sequence
Unit Name:
Habitats – Unit 3
Lesson:
4
Number of days:
5-7 Days
Text(s):
At Home in the Coral Reef
Written Communication
Objectives: Students will write a ‘Diary of the Planula’ chronicling the planula’s journey and identifying why each location wasn’t or was a suitable place
for the planula to settle. The diary will be written from the point of view of the planula. This activity will be completed in small groups.
Writing Standards:
W 4.2, W 4.8, W 4.9, W 4.10
Task
Purpose
Audience
Create a “travel timeline” of the
journey of the planula. (See attached
sample)
To identify where the planula traveled
and label why each spot wasn’t or was
suitable
Self
Students will turn the notes they took
on the timeline into complex or
compound sentences on index cards. (1
index card per location)
To create compound/complex
sentences using conjunctions to
sequence the travel. (Ex. “I traveled to
the crest, however it was too rough to
settle there” or “When I traveled to the
crest, I realized it was too rough to
settle there.”
Editing
Teacher
Peer edit sentences with other groups
to check for correct usage of
punctuation, spelling and grammar.
Culminating Activity: Students will create a class
mural depicting the travels of the planula. Each
spot will be labeled using an adjective as to why
the spot was not suitable for the planula. They
will use their index cards as the labels for their
murals.
Small groups
Oral Communication
Objectives:
Students will present a mural to the class using the first person point of view of the planula. The mural will describe the travels of the planula in the coral
reef and explain why it does and/or doesn’t settle in different locations.
Speaking and Listening Standards:
SL 4.1, SL 4.2, SL 4.4, SL 4.5, SL 4.6
Comprehension and Collaborative - activities/structures:
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas – activities/structures:
Academic Language:
Compare, contrast, timeline, planula, complex sentences, compound sentences, mural, conjunctions, label, sequence, first person account, third person
account
Reading
Objectives:
Describe the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts or information in a text or part of a text.
Reading Standards:
RI 4.5
Text Dependent Questions
Question
Compare and contrast the characteristics of soft coral
polyps and hard coral polyps. How are they alike and
different?
Answer
Alike: All of the polyps use tentacles to catch food. They all
have connected skeletons. Different: Soft coral polyps have
skeletons that move. They have eight tentacles. Hard coral
polyps have solid skeletons. They have 12 or more
tentacles.
Which sentence in the second paragraph on page 619 states The first sentence explains the main idea. The other two
the main idea? Explain your answer.
sentences provide examples of animals that are hard to see
because they hide in either the grass or the sand.
Compare the features of the crest and the lagoon on page
619.
Are there more similarities because the lagoon and its’
shore near the mangrove trees or more differences? (page
621)
Explain why the planula cannot live in the water near the
bay? (page 622)
On page 623, what is the author’s message to her readers?
Ways they are alike: In both places, animals of various
kinds are looking for food. Neither place is a good place for
the planula to live.
There are more similarities. Both places are busy because
they are home to many kinds of animals. There’s a lot of
food in both places.
The water is too shallow and too hot.
The author is letting us know that people have an effect on
the plants and animals of the ocean. The words ‘smothers’,
‘poison’, and ‘careless’ show that the author thinks that
harming the creatures in the ocean in wrong and that
pollution is a serious problem. The author is persuading
the reader to care about the animals that live in the sea.
Scaffolds
English Learners
Special Needs/Other Differentiation
http://www.cabnr.unr.edu/nres/news_story.aspx?StoryID=750