Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-70 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Project two sentences about the same event, a garden spider laying the spokes of its web. The first was written for this page; the second is from a 1912 translation of a French naturalist.

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Sentence A: 'The spider runs back and forth from the middle of its web to the edge, adding one spoke each time.' Sentence B: 'Still with the same sudden movement, she rushes from the circumference to the centre; she starts again backwards and forwards, makes for the right, the left, the top, the bottom [...].' Which sentence is harder to read? List two things that make it harder, and one thing Sentence B tells you that Sentence A does not."

   Collect answers and name what makes a science text hard: technical terms (circumference, centre), long sentences that pack several actions together, processes that are hard to picture without a drawing, and a writer who mixes observations with his own feelings and jokes. Point out that Sentence B is harder but also richer: it shows how fast and how unevenly the spider moves. RST.6-8.10 sets a goal for the end of grade 8: reading science and technical texts in the grades 6-8 text complexity band (the range of reading difficulty expected in those grades) on one's own, with real understanding. Today students learn four moves for science texts, watch them modeled, try them with a partner, and then use them alone, all on how spiders build with silk.

2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes

   Part 1: Four moves for science texts. Show Diagram 1 and hand out the moves as a card: Preview it (what kind of science text this is, who wrote it and when, and whether the writer watched, tested or read about the topic), Sketch it (draw each part or step as it is described), Define it (work out each technical term from the words around it, and watch for everyday words used with a science meaning), and Check it (separate what the writer observed from opinions, jokes and guesses, then state the main idea). The table below shows how the supports come off from one passage to the next.

   Supports for each passage (Yes = given). Each passage has fewer supports than the one before.

   Support	Source 1 (modeled)	Source 2 (pairs)	Source 3 (alone)	Source 4 (homework)
   Teacher thinks aloud	Yes	No	No	No
   Glossary of terms	Yes	No	No	No
   Finished sketch (Diagram 2)	Yes	No	No	No
   Partner	No	Yes	No	No
   A prompt for each move	Yes	Yes	No	No
   Context note	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
   Move-names card	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
   Supports given	6 of 7	4 of 7	2 of 7	0 of 7

   Part 2: The modeled passage. Read the context note aloud: Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915) was a French naturalist who spent decades watching insects and spiders in his own garden in the south of France. He wrote about them in a long series of books, and this chapter, first printed in French in 1905, describes the garden spiders he calls "Epeira," which spin round webs. The web starts as a rough frame of threads among the branches, with one thread across the middle marked by a white dot of silk. Source 1 begins there. Glossary: hunting-snare (a trap for catching prey), transversal (running across), erratically (without a regular pattern), unremitting (never stopping), surplus (the amount left over), niggardly (stingy with money or things), teazles (combs out fibers, an old spelling of "teasels"), diligence (steady, careful work). Think aloud through the passage one move at a time, then show Diagram 2 as the finished sketch.

   1The time has come to weave the hunting-snare. The Spider starts from the centre, which bears the white signpost, and, running along the transversal thread, hurriedly reaches the circumference, that is to say, the irregular frame enclosing the free space. Still with the same sudden movement, she rushes from the circumference to the centre; she starts again backwards and forwards, makes for the right, the left, the top, the bottom; she hoists herself up, dives down, climbs up again, runs down and always returns to the central landmark by roads that slant in the most unexpected manner. Each time, a radius or spoke is laid, here, there, or elsewhere, in what looks like mad disorder.

   2The operation is so erratically conducted that it takes the most unremitting attention to follow it at all. The Spider reaches the margin of the area by one of the spokes already placed. She goes along this margin for some distance from the point at which she landed, fixes her thread to the frame and returns to the centre by the same road which she has just taken.

   3The thread obtained on the way in a broken line, partly on the radius and partly on the frame, is too long for the exact distance between the circumference and the central point. On returning to this point, the Spider adjusts her thread, stretches it to the correct length, fixes it and collects what remains on the central signpost. In the case of each radius laid, the surplus is treated in the same fashion, so that the signpost continues to increase in size. It was first a speck; it is now a little pellet, or even a small cushion of a certain breadth.

   4We shall see presently what becomes of this cushion whereon the Spider, that niggardly housewife, lays her saved-up bits of thread; for the moment, we will note that the Epeira works it up with her legs after placing each spoke, teazles it with her claws, mats it into felt with noteworthy diligence. In so doing, she gives the spokes a solid common support, something like the hub of our carriage-wheels.

   • Preview it: before paragraph 1

     What does the source line tell a reader before reading Source 1 closely?

     Result: It is an observation account: a naturalist describing what he watched, in his own voice ("we will note"). It was written in French and translated into English, printed in 1912, so some words are British or old ("centre," "teazles"). It comes from the middle of a chapter on building the web, so expect steps in order and some words the chapter already used, such as "signpost."

   • Sketch it: paragraphs 1-3

     What should a quick sketch of paragraphs 1-3 show?

     Result: An irregular outline for the frame, a dot in the middle for the signpost, and straight lines from the dot to the outline for the spokes. Paragraphs 2 and 3 add one route: out along a spoke that is already there, along the frame "for some distance," then back. That thread is "too long," so the spider shortens it and it becomes a new, straight spoke. Diagram 2 shows the finished sketch.

   • Define it: three terms the text explains

     What do "circumference," "radius" and "signpost" mean in Source 1?

     Result: Fabre defines "circumference" himself: "that is to say, the irregular frame enclosing the free space." In math, a circumference is the curve around a circle; here it is a rough outline of threads. "A radius or spoke" pairs the math word with the wheel word, so a radius is one thread from the center to the frame. The "signpost" is the white dot at the center; paragraph 4 adds a comparison, "something like the hub of our carriage-wheels."

   • Check it: observation or opinion?

     Sort two phrases: "in what looks like mad disorder" and "the signpost continues to increase in size."

     Result: The second is an observation: Fabre watched the dot grow from "a speck" to "a little pellet" to "a small cushion." The first is his impression; the words "looks like" warn the reader. Calling the spider "that niggardly housewife" is a joke about her saving leftover thread, not a scientific claim.

   • Check it: the main idea of Source 1

     Write one sentence for the main idea, then test it against the last paragraph.

     Result: Main idea: the spider lays each spoke by running between the center and the frame in no regular order, and the leftover thread she adds to the center builds a cushion that holds all the spokes together. Test: the last paragraph says the cushion gives "the spokes a solid common support," so the main idea fits. "The spider runs in every direction" is too narrow: it leaves out why.

   Teacher tip. Draw your sketch live while you think aloud, and change it when paragraph 3 corrects your first picture. Let students see you leave "teazles" half understood: the sentence's point, that the spider works the cushion into felt, does not depend on it.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Give pairs this context note and the move card with prompts, but no glossary and no finished sketch: This is another book by Jean-Henri Fabre, written for young readers as a set of evening talks. Uncle Paul explains nature to his nephews and niece. Here he describes how a garden spider stretches the first thread of its web across a stream. Pairs try each move before they ask for help. Circulate and hear from each pair at least once.

   1“An epeira has found a good place for hunting: the dragon-flies, or blue and green damsel-flies, come and go from one tuft of reeds to another, sometimes going up, sometimes down the stream. Along its course are butterflies also, and horse-flies, or large flies that suck blood from cattle. The site is a good one. Now, then, to work! The epeira climbs to the top of a willow at the water’s edge. There it matures its plan, an audacious one, the execution of which seems impossible. A suspension bridge, a cable which serves as support for the future web, must be stretched from one bank to the other. And observe, children, that the spider cannot cross the stream by swimming; it would perish by drowning if it ventured into the water. It must stretch its cable, its bridge, from the top of its branch without changing place. Never has an engineer found himself in such difficulties. What will the little creature do? Put your heads together, children; I am waiting for your ideas.”

   [...]

   2“Animals often have more intelligence than we,” continued Uncle Paul; “the epeira will prove it to us. With its hind legs it draws a thread from its spinnerets. The thread lengthens and lengthens; it floats from the top of the branch. The spider draws out more and more; finally, it stops. Is the thread long enough? Is it too short? That is what must be looked after. If too long, it would be wasting the precious silky liquid; if too short, it would not fulfil the given conditions. A glance is thrown at the distance to be crossed, an exact glance, you may be sure. The thread is found too short. The spider lengthens it by drawing out a little more. Now all goes well: the thread has the wished-for length, and the work is done. The epeira waits at the top of its branch: the rest will be accomplished without help. From time to time it bears with its legs on the thread to see if it resists. Ah! it resists; the bridge is fixed! The spider crosses the stream on its suspension bridge! What has happened, then? This: The thread floated from the top of the willow. A breath of air blew the free end of the thread into the branches on the opposite bank. This end got entangled there; behold the mystery. The epeira has only to draw the thread to itself, to stretch it properly and make a suspension bridge of it.”

   1. Preview it. Prompt: who is speaking in the passage, and who is listening? How is this kind of science text different from Source 1? Teacher note: Uncle Paul speaks to children ("And observe, children"), so the text is a science explanation told as a story, with questions for the listeners ("What will the little creature do?"). Source 1 is Fabre's report of his own watching.
   2. Sketch it. Prompt: draw the stream, the willow and the thread at three moments: floating, caught, and stretched tight. Teacher note: the free end floats from "the top of the willow," a breath of air blows it "into the branches on the opposite bank," and the spider draws it tight to make "a suspension bridge."
   3. Define it. Prompt: work out "suspension bridge," "audacious" and "entangled." Teacher note: the text gives "a cable which serves as support for the future web" right after "A suspension bridge," so the bridge is a thread hung from both ends; "audacious" is paired with a plan that "seems impossible," so it means very bold; "entangled" is what the free end does once it is blown "into the branches," so it means caught and twisted.
   4. Check it. Prompt: find one sentence that reports what happens and one that is Uncle Paul's imagination. Teacher note: "A breath of air blew the free end of the thread into the branches on the opposite bank" reports the event. "A glance is thrown at the distance to be crossed, an exact glance, you may be sure" imagines what the spider thinks; the passage itself later explains that the wind did the work.

   End with a quick poll: which move did your pair need most? Many pairs choose Check it, because the passage asks questions and answers some of them in the spider's imagined voice. Tell students that for the next passage they get a two-sentence context note and the move names only.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Each student reads alone, with the move-names card and no prompts or glossary. Context note: B. Lindsay wrote Stories of the Universe: Animal Life, a short book that sorts animals into their main groups, in 1902. This paragraph comes from the chapter on arthropods, the animals with jointed legs and a hard outer covering. Students sketch as they read, circle every term they worked out, and write a one-sentence main idea. Collect the main ideas: they show who is ready to read without support. The quiz uses this passage.

   1The mention of terrestrial forms would naturally bring us to the discussion of the true Insects. In the Arthropoda we for the first time meet with terrestrial animals except in scattered instances, and the true Insects are the largest and most important group of these. There are, however, various creatures belonging to the Arthropoda which are neither Crustacea nor yet Insects. Among these is the familiar spider, an "insect" in popular language, but not so described by the zoologist. Among other differences, the true spiders have eight legs, whereas the true insects have only six. Fig. 19 shows a typical spider; the eight jointed legs are attached to the thorax ("breastplate"); with the latter the head is united. The abdomen, as in insects, is formed by the fusion of several segments, and has no legs, but it has, however, out of sight, the spinning legs or "spinnerets," out of which the thread of the spider's web is spun. The venom of the spider is not a fable; spiders have poison-glands with ducts which open on the tops of the cheliceræ. They dispose of their prey by sucking it; they do not swallow solid food. [...] There are, however, spiders which build their nests under ground; and in this case the nest may be conveniently furnished with a lid, which can be pushed up when the animal wishes to come out. Fig. 20 shows the nest of the Trap-door Spider, so called from the construction of its nest.

5. Closure10 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) Name the move you used most on Source 3 and copy the words where you used it. (2) Rate your reading of Source 3 as "needed help," "used some support" or "read it on my own," and give one reason.

   Teacher note on the science and the language. The passages are quoted exactly as printed in 1909, 1912 and 1917, with the translators' British spellings (centre, teazles). The main science holds up: garden spiders do build a frame, lay spokes to a central hub and start many webs with a bridge thread carried by the breeze, and Lindsay's description of the spider's body still matches what biologists describe. One point needs a note. In Source 2, the spider "glancing" at the distance and finding the thread "too short" is Uncle Paul's imagination: observers today describe the spider letting out silk until the breeze snags it on something. Students may also ask which spiders are dangerous: only a few kinds can seriously harm people. Spiders, mites, ticks and scorpions are grouped today as arachnids. The chapter of Source 2 ends with a religious explanation of the spider's instinct, which is not printed here.

   For homework: students read the passage below on their own, with no card and no context note beyond its source line.

   1The laying of the radii is finished. The Spider takes her place in the centre, on the little cushion formed of the inaugural signpost and the bits of thread left over. Stationed on this support, she slowly turns round and round. She is engaged on a delicate piece of work. With an extremely thin thread, she describes from spoke to spoke, starting from the centre, a spiral line with very close coils. The central space thus worked attains, in the adults' webs, the dimensions of the palm of one's hand; in the younger Spiders' webs, it is much smaller, but it is never absent. For reasons which I will explain in the course of this study, I shall call it, in future, the 'resting-floor.'

   2The thread now becomes thicker. The first could hardly be seen; the second is plainly visible. The Spider shifts her position with great slanting strides, turns a few times, moving farther and farther from the centre, fixes her line each time to the spoke which she crosses and at last comes to a stop at the lower edge of the frame. She has described a spiral with coils of rapidly-increasing width. The average distance between the coils, even in the structures of the young Epeirae, is one centimetre.

   3Let us not be misled by the word 'spiral,' which conveys the notion of a curved line. All curves are banished from the Spiders' work; nothing is used but the straight line and its combinations. All that is aimed at is a polygonal line drawn in a curve as geometry understands it. To this polygonal line, a work destined to disappear as the real toils are woven, I will give the name of the 'auxiliary spiral.' Its object is to supply cross-bars, supporting rungs, especially in the outer zone, where the radii are too distant from one another to afford a suitable groundwork. Its object is also to guide the Epeira in the extremely delicate business which she is now about to undertake.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Preview it: what kind of science text is Source 3?

   AA section of a general science book that sorts animals into groups BA naturalist's diary of watching one garden spider through a summer CA set of numbered instructions for catching and keeping spiders DA story told by an uncle to children, with their questions and replies

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 3 calls the spider "an 'insect' in popular language, but not so described by the zoologist." Why is the word insect in quotation marks?

   ATo show that spiders and insects are really the same animal BTo quote the exact words of a zoologist Lindsay had met CTo mark a name people use for spiders that scientists do not DTo warn the reader that the word is spelled in an old way

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The first two sentences of Source 3 are about insects, not spiders. Why does Lindsay begin there?

   ATo prove that spiders belong to the insect group after all BTo place spiders among the groups closest to them first CTo explain how insects spin the threads of their webs DTo show that insects are more dangerous than spiders

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Define it: in "we for the first time meet with terrestrial animals," what does terrestrial mean?

   ALiving in the sea, like crabs and lobsters BVery large compared with other animals CHaving a hard covering and jointed legs DLiving on land rather than in water

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Split this sentence from Source 3: "The abdomen, as in insects, is formed by the fusion of several segments, and has no legs, but it has, however, out of sight, the spinning legs or 'spinnerets,' out of which the thread of the spider's web is spun." What is its main statement?

   AThe abdomen has no legs, but it has spinnerets that spin the thread BInsects also spin their webs from the end of the abdomen CThe spinnerets are hidden out of sight beneath the legs DSeveral segments join together to form the spider's legs

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In the same sentence, what does fusion mean in "formed by the fusion of several segments"?

   ABreaking apart into several smaller pieces BJoining together to make one single part CA hard, shell-like covering on the body DA kind of leg used only for spinning silk

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Sketch it: which sketch matches the spider's body as Source 3 describes it?

   AHead, thorax and abdomen as three parts, with six legs on the thorax BA separate head, a thorax, and eight legs attached to the abdomen CHead joined to the thorax, eight legs on it, spinnerets on the abdomen DOne round body with no parts, and eight legs spaced around its edge

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "They dispose of their prey by sucking it; they do not swallow solid food." What does this sentence tell a reader?

   ASpiders throw their prey away after they catch it BSpiders swallow their prey whole, in one piece CSpiders store their prey in the nest to eat later DSpiders take in their food as liquid, not in pieces

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "Spiders have poison-glands with ducts which open on the tops of the cheliceræ." Using only this sentence, what are the cheliceræ?

   ABody parts with tips through which the venom comes out BThe spinnerets at the end of the abdomen that spin thread CThe eight jointed legs that are attached to the thorax DThe lid of the nest that a trap-door spider pushes up

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Source 3, why is the trap-door spider given its name?

    AIt builds its web across the doorways of houses BIts underground nest has a lid it can push up CIt traps its prey by closing a door of silk on it DIt hides under the doors of barns and sheds

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    What does Lindsay mean by "The venom of the spider is not a fable"?

    ASpider venom appears in many old fables and stories BSpiders have no venom, whatever the fables may say CSpider venom is real, not just a story people tell DOnly the spiders in fables have any venom at all

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Check it: which sentence is the best main idea of Source 3?

    AA trap-door spider builds an underground nest and closes it with a lid BThe true insects are the largest group of animals that live on land CA spider is an insect with eight legs instead of the usual six legs DSpiders are not insects; they have their own body plan, silk and venom

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Check it: which statement from Source 3 mixes a fact that can be checked with the writer's judgment?

    A"the true Insects are the largest and most important group of these" B"the true spiders have eight legs, whereas the true insects have only six" C"They dispose of their prey by sucking it" D"Fig. 20 shows the nest of the Trap-door Spider"

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Four grade 8 students near the end of the year each read a science text on their own. Which student gives the best evidence of meeting RST.6-8.10?

    AReads a grade 4 insect book alone and retells every detail correctly BReads a grade 8 insect text while a teacher explains each sentence CReads a grade 8 insect text alone and explains its main idea DReads only the captions of a grade 8 insect text and copies its terms

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Split this sentence from Source 3: "There are, however, various creatures belonging to the Arthropoda which are neither Crustacea nor yet Insects." Write its main statement in plain words, and explain what "neither ... nor yet" tells the reader.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Define it: work out what "zoologist" and "thorax" mean in Source 3. For each, name the clue you used (word parts, a word the writer adds, or a contrast).

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Check it: name one statement in Source 3 that a reader could check by looking closely at a real spider or a good photo, and one that would need a scientist's tools or a reference book. Quote each and explain.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Compare Source 3 (Lindsay, 1902) with Source 1 (Fabre, 1905). Explain how they differ as kinds of science text, and name one way each is harder to read. Quote each source once.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Reading log: which of the four moves did you need most for Source 3? Copy the words where you used it, explain what you did, and say what you understood afterward.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Source 2 says the spider draws a thread "from its spinnerets" but never says where they are. Using Source 3, explain where the spinnerets are and what else Lindsay calls them. Then explain what a reader of Source 2 alone would not know.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RST.6-8.10: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.