LESSON 4 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Changing the Past
by Charles J. Wood
Fountas-Pinnell Level Y
Science Fiction
Selection Summary
The year is 2222 and ants are invading the World Headquarters of the
United Earth Federation. A stranger travels back in time from 3222.
He educates scientists about past mistakes that destroyed the balance
of nature and helps scientists avoid an impending catastrophe.
Number of Words: 3,387
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Science fiction
• Five chapters and an epilogue
• Time and location identified in Chapter 1 and epilogue
• Ants and ant colonies; insecticides
• Extinction and loss of native species
• Climate change
• All animals have roles in the ecosystem.
• Eradicating any species throws off the balance of nature.
• Scientists can avoid mistakes by studying the past.
• Futuristic setting
• Characters speak in a serious academic tone
• Figurative language, including frequent metaphors and similes
• Instances of interrupted dialogue
• Some long sentences covering two to three lines of text
• Amplifying information set off by dashes for emphasis
• Scientific terms not defined in text: genetic mutations, entomologist, specimen
• Vocabulary that some students may not be familiar with: tsunami, quivering
• Vocabulary related to the future: hover-chair, communication module, digi-monitor
• Many multisyllable words such as hypothesized, entomologist, administrative
• Words with affixes such as dehydration, uncharacteristic, genetic
• Illustrations that support and clarify information in text
• Seventeen pages of dense text, about half with illustrations
• Chapter numbers and headings
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Changing the Past
by Charles J. Wood
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of science fiction and the theme of time travel to
visualize the text. Build interest by asking a question such as the following: What kinds of
time travel might you expect to find in a science fiction story? Read the title and author
and talk about the cover illustration. Tell students that this science fiction story is set over
two hundred years in the future in the city of Madrid, Spain.
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:
Pages 2–3: Have students read the date and location information in the chapter
headings, and the first sentence on page 2. Explain that soldiers is a metaphor for
the ants that are invading the world capital. Suggested language: To combat the
ants, the authorities have tried high-pitched sounds and even infrared lasers. Ask:
What makes a laser infrared?
Page 4: Notice the highlighted words. The text says one hypothesis for the
infestation is that the ants are searching for food. What does it mean to
hypothesize? Read the last sentence on page 4: “Over a thousand pounds of
crushed fruit was placed throughout the city, per your instructions, and now it’s
like a tsunami of insects out there!” Ask: What’s a tsunami?
Page 6: Direct students to the italicized sentence, and the dialogue that
follows: What on earth were these ants looking for? “Dr. Harrington, find me an
entomologist—today”. Ask: Why does General Lopez call for an entomologist?
Now turn back and read from the beginning to find out what happens in the city of
Madrid when armies of ants overrun the city.
Expand Your Vocabulary
dehydration – loss of water, p. 13
entomologist – a person who
studies insects, p. 5
hypothesized – supposed, p. 4
Grade 6
infestation – quantity of
something large enough to be
harmful, p. 4
infrared – invisible radiation
wavelengths, p. 3
2
intervals – amounts of time
between two events, p. 17
mutations – alterations or
changes, p. 8
surveillance – close observation,
p. 10
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Monitor/Clarify Strategy
and to notice if
parts of the text are not making sense as they read. Remind them to figure out the parts
that are confusing before reading further.
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the story.
Suggested language: Do you think the story posed interesting environmental questions?
Why or why not?
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
• In the year 2222, ants are
attacking the United Earth
Federation in Madrid.
• All animals have a role in Earth’s
ecosystem; extinction of species
throws off the balance of nature.
• Time and setting information
is provided in some chapter
headings.
• A time-traveler from the distant
future educates scientists about
how saving the ants will save
Earth’s ecosystem.
• Everyone should be concerned
about conserving water.
• Illustrations support the science
fiction genre.
• We can avoid making mistakes
in the future by studying the
past.
• Science fiction includes futuristic
inventions that add to the story
setting.
• Radio signals used for wireless
communication interfere with the
ants’ ability to communicate.
© 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 scene or scenes from the story to act out for a
readers’ theater. Encourage them to pay close attention to the characters’ tone and
inflection in order to accurately convey the dramatic tension of the situation.
• 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 recognizing nouns that are
formed by adding –ion to verbs, using examples from the text. Point out the words
extinct and extinction on page 8. Identify the verb, the noun, and the suffix. Point out
the following words and discuss the spelling changes that occur when adding the
suffix –ion to the verb form: hallucination (p. 10), generation (p. 12), dehydration
(p. 13).
Grade 6
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 4.9.
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
Story Structure
Remind students that stories include details about
characters, setting, and plot and that paying attention to these details makes reading
stories more enjoyable. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think
Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
The problem is that an army of dehydrated ants is invading Madrid. The
stranger from the future determines that radio signals used for wireless
communication are interfering with the ants’ ability to communicate
information about sources of water. As a solution, he sends a radio
signal that leads the ants to water. Add these as the problem, event, and
solution that reveal the story structure.
Practice the Skill
Have students share examples of problems, events, and solutions in other stories they
have read.
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
• What does the word disperse mean in the third paragraph on page 3?
• What is the author’s purpose in writing about the subject of insecticides?
• What can the reader conclude from information in the Epilogue about Madrid in 2322?
Grade 6
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.
Vocabulary The story includes an example of figurative language. Point out the simile
like a tsunami of insects on page 4. Discuss the visual comparison that the author is trying
to create for readers.
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: When does the story begin?
Speaker 1: Why couldn’t the ants
communicate?
Speaker 1: In addition to the dates
in the headings, what details
indicate that this is science
fiction?
Speaker 2: in 2222
Speaker 1: Who arrives to help the
scientists?
Speaker 2: a stranger from the future
Speaker 1: Where does the story take
place?
Speaker 2: Madrid, Spain
Speaker 2: Radio frequency blocked
their communication.
Speaker 1: How do readers know that
the problem was solved?
Speaker 2: When the stranger returns a
hundred years later, he sees fountains
of water and just one ant trail.
Speaker 2: The characters use
inventions such as hover-chairs,
digi-monitors, and a time-warp
conduit.
Lesson 4
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.9
Date
Critical Thinking
Changing the Past
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text When and where does this story take place?
In 2222 and 2322 at the United Earth Federation Headquarters.
2. Think within the text Who is the main character of this story, and
what is her problem?
General Lopez is the main character. Ants are invading Earth’s
capital.
3. Think beyond the text Why do you think General Lopez resists
listening to Wyler?
Maybe she is worried because he looks different from everyone else.
She has never met someone from the future, so maybe she doesn’t
know whether she can trust him.
4. Think about the text Do you think the author comes up with a good
solution to the problem in the story? Why or why not?
Yes. Time travel cannot really happen, but it can in a science
fiction story. I thought it was a clever solution.
Making Connections In this story, the solution to the problem comes from
a person in the future who travels back in time. Think of another story
you have read about the future. Which story do you like better, and why?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Critical Thinking
11
Grade 6, Unit 1: Finding Your Voice
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Name
Date
Changing the Past
Thinking About the Text
Think about the questions 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 notice and evaluate language, genre, literary devices, and how the text
is organized.
On page 12, the newly arrived stranger tells Dr. Harrington and Professor
Prentice, “My name is Walter Wyer. From the distant future, I have traveled
to assist you in your quest to save the ants.”
Why does Walter Wyer talk about saving the ants? Why doesn’t the author
instead have Walter Wyer say, “I am here to help save you from the ants”?
What does Walter’s statement suggest is the real problem of the story?
What would Walter Wyer say it is to “save” a species? Use examples from
the text to support your ideas.
Grade 6
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Lesson 4
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.9
Date
Critical Thinking
Changing the Past
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text When and where does this story take place?
2. Think within the text Who is the main character of this story, and
what is her problem?
3. Think beyond the text Why do you think General Lopez resists
listening to Wyler?
4. Think about the text Do you think the author comes up with a good
solution to the problem in the story? Why or why not?
Making Connections In this story, the solution to the problem comes from
a person in the future who travels back in time. Think of another story you
have read about the future. Which story do you like better, and why?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 6
7
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Student
Lesson 4
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.13
Changing the Past • LEVEL Y
page
5
Changing the Past
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
She looked down at her desk – it was now covered with ants!
She let out a surprised gasp and swiveled suddenly in her
hover-chair. The chair tipped to one side, causing General
Lopez to fall to the floor.
6
A torrent of ants immediately surrounded her. Most were dark
brown, but some were black or yellow. Six pairs of legs moved
each ant with precision and efficiency. Some continued past
her, heading into the main UEF administrative area. Many
others began exploratory crawls upon her feet and legs.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/88 × 100)
%
Behavior
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 6
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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