LESSON 7 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Black Bears
by Sarah Jane Brian
Fountas-Pinnell Level Q
Nonfiction
Selection Summary
Black bears are not always black. Surprisingly, they come in white,
brown, cinnamon, and even blue-gray. These massive, naturally shy
prowlers of the forest can eat anything. Humans who feed them can
be attacked. People who go into, or live in, bear country need to
understand the bear—for their own good and that of the bear.
Number of Words: 1,272
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Nonfiction
• Second-person narration; one to three paragraphs per page
• Organized by topic, information on bears, contact with people
• Facts about the black bear
• Tips on keeping safe in bear country
• Black bears are naturally shy but can be dangerous.
• We must protect forestland for black bears.
• People need to learn how to live peacefully with black bears.
• Informal language and clear presentation
• Many descriptive details
• Some complex sentences; inverted order; introductory phrases
• Many short, simple sentences for emphasis; sentences beginning with but, and, and so
• Names and terms associated with the black bear: prowl, bluff charge, cubs, bounding,
bear-proof, Yellowstone National Park
• Primarily one- or two-syllable words
• Most words are accessible
• Photographs in support of text
• Illustration of bear’s paw print
• Thirteen pages of text, eleven with photographs and captions
• Six section, or chapter, headings
• Bulleted list
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Black Bears
by Sarah Jane Brian
Build Background
Build on students’ prior knowledge by asking questions such as the following: Have you
ever seen a live black bear? What do you know about black bears? Do you think they are
dangerous to humans? Read the title and author and talk about the cover photograph.
Tell students that the book is nonfiction, so they may expect to find facts and information
about black bears.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and nonfiction features. Help with
unfamiliar language so they can read the text successfully. Give special attention to target
vocabulary. Here are some suggestions:
Page 2: Have students read the chapter head and photo caption. Ask: What is the
chapter about? Why do bears roam around on the prowl? What are they searching
for? Look closely at the bear in the photo.
Pages 2–4: Discuss the photos and captions. Suggested language: Try picturing
two hikers. They stride up to their campsite. What they see makes them frantic—
black bears raiding their food supply! One bear wheeled around and spotted them.
It began lunging at them. What do you think happened? What would you do?
Pages 5–8: Have students preview the chapter headings, photos, and captions.
Ask: What kind of information do you think you’ll find in this chapter? What
surprising information did you already learn just by reading the photo caption on
page 6? What else would you like to know?
Now turn back to the beginning and read to find out what black bears are really like
and why people need to know more about them.
Target Vocabulary
bounding – leaping at a fast pace,
p. 10
lunging – moving forward
suddenly, p. 2
strained – worked as hard as
possible, p. 2
checking – limiting or
controlling, p. 10
picturing – forming a mental
image, p. 3
stride – the length of one’s steps,
p. 2
frantic – wild with worry, p. 4
romp – energetic playing, p. 6
wheeled – to spin around quickly,
p. 2
shouldered – placed a weight on
one’s shoulders, p. 9
Grade 5
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Read
Have students read softly while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Visualize Strategy
pictures of what they are reading.
and to form mental
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: Based on what you have read, what do you think people should
know about the black bear?
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
• Black bears will eat almost
anything.
• A main reason black bears are
doing well today is because they
can eat anything.
• Photos and captions supply
details not included in the text.
• Bears can hurt or kill people, but
bear attacks are rare.
• Black bears live in the forest, can
climb trees, and hibernate during
the winter.
• Thinking of bears as dangerous
creates danger for both people
and bears.
• Feeding bears is harmful, not
helpful, to them.
• The author’s purpose is to tell
how to “keep black bears safe”
and “keep yourself safe.”
• A bulleted list summarizes what
the author wants readers to
remember.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to work in partners and choose a passage from the text to
read aloud. Remind them to observe punctuation marks and to read exclamations
with enthusiasm.
• 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 Tell students that short words are sometimes combined to
make a longer, compound, word. The shorter words give clues to the meaning of the
compound word. Compounds from the text include campsites (page 4), beekeepers,
beehive (page 7), backpacks, birdfeeders (page 9), and Yellowstone (page 13).
Grade 5
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Writing about Reading
Vocabulary Practice
Have students complete the Vocabulary questions on BLM 7.1.
Responding
Have students use their Reader’s Notebook to complete the word builder chart on page 15.
Remind them to answer the Word Teaser on page 16. (Answer: check)
Reading Nonfiction
Nonfiction Features: Photos and Captions
Remind students that nonfiction has features such as photos and captions that help
readers understand important information. Photos can show examples of what the text
describes, as the photographs in the first chapter show examples of bears on the prowl
for food. In addition, photos contain many details that the text does not have space to list
or describe. They are an important source of information. Explain that photos, like those in
this selection, often add information that is not in the text. Have students look at the photo
on page 8. Ask what information they can learn from the photo (black bear’s food comes
from plants.) Then have students choose another photo in the book and tell what they can
learn from it.
In the same way that photos “tell” about the text, captions tell about the photos. They may
explain what the photos are showing. They also may supply interesting details that are
not in the text. Remind students that they are supposed to read all captions, because they
contain valuable information.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.
Assessment Prompts
• Which words on page 4 help the reader understand the meaning of the word frantic?
• What can the reader tell about varieties of black bears, as described on page 6?
• The chapter on pages 9–11 is mainly about
________________________________________________________________.
Grade 5
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair intermediate and advanced readers to read several paragraphs
of the text aloud and then retell in their own words what they have just read.
Cultural Support English learners may need help with the following terms related to
history and geography presented in the text: grassy plains (page 5), East Coast (page 6),
President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (page 12), and Yellowstone National Park
(page 13).
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: Where do black bears live?
Speaker 1: Why did black bears survive
at the time of the saber-toothed cat?
Speaker 1: Since bears by nature
are afraid of people, why do bear
attacks sometimes occur?
Speaker 2: in the forest
Speaker 1: Why do bears prowl around
campsites?
Speaker 2: to find food
Speaker 1: What rule protects bears in
Yellowstone Park?
Speaker 2: Don’t feed the bears.
Speaker 2: Black bears stayed in the
woods, where they could climb trees.
Speaker 1: What caused some bears in
Yellowstone Park to become problem
bears?
Speaker 2: They became problem bears
because visitors fed them.
Speaker 2: Usually bear attacks
occur because hikers and
campers do not know how to
behave when they are in bear
country.
Lesson 7
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 7.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
Black Bears
Target Vocabulary
Fill in the Feature Map below with synonyms, antonyms, examples,
and non-examples for each Target Vocabulary word listed.
Possible responses shown.
Vocabulary
frantic
checking
shouldered
picturing
Target
Vocabulary
Word
frantic
lunging
lunging
wheeled
strained
Synonym
stride
bounding
romp
Antonym
anxious
pouncing
Example
calm
Non-example
late for class relaxing on beach
retreating
tiger attack
hiding
stride
shouldered
strained
bounding
romp
Target Vocabulary
3
Grade 5, Unit 2: Wild Encounters
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Lesson 7: Black Bears
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First Pass
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Name
Date
Black Bears
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
On page 9, the book says, “When bears get used to getting food from
people, it means big trouble for the bears.” How would you persuade people
not to feed bears? What are some tips on how people can protect both the
bears and themselves in bear country?
Grade 5
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Lesson 7: Black Bears
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Lesson 7
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 7.1
Date
Target Vocabulary
Black Bears
Target Vocabulary
Fill in the Feature Map below with synonyms, antonyms, examples,
and non-examples for each Target Vocabulary word listed.
Vocabulary
frantic
checking
shouldered
picturing
Target
Vocabulary
Word
frantic
lunging
wheeled
strained
Synonym
anxious
stride
bounding
romp
Antonym
Example
calm
Non-example
late for class relaxing on beach
lunging
stride
shouldered
strained
bounding
romp
Grade 5
7
Lesson 7: Black Bears
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Student
Lesson 7
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 7.23
Black Bears • LEVEL Q
page
Black Bears
Running Record Form
Selection Text
2
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
The black bear felt hungry. He sniffed the morning air.
Food smells were coming from a campsite at the edge of the
forest. The bear began to stride toward the tempting smell.
A locked cooler full of food sat on the ground. But the bear
strained for only a moment to open it. One swipe with his
massive paw, and the top popped right off. The bear began
to eat.
Suddenly, two hikers walked into their campsite. Lunging
at them, the bear also let out a deep growl. The hikers wheeled
around and ran away.
But then the scared hikers stopped running and froze.
3
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/104 ×
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
1414129
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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