Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-65 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Here are eight things in a school lost-and-found box: a mitten, a math textbook, a scarf, a water bottle, a lunch box, a novel, a hat and a thermos. Sort them into three groups and give each group a name."

   Take several answers. Point out that the groups have names that are broader than any single item (things to keep warm, things to read, things to carry food or drinks), and that different students may choose different, equally sensible categories. Explain that grade 8 informative writing asks writers to do the same thing with information: organize it into broader categories, groups of details that share something, so readers can see how the pieces fit. Then introduce today's topic, How Animals Survive Winter. Students read the research notes below and put a check next to each note that explains how an animal survives winter and an X next to any note that does not.

   1Note 1. Winter brings animals three problems at once: cold, short days and less food.

   2Note 2. Migration is a regular journey from one region to another and back, usually with the seasons.

   3Note 3. Monarch butterflies from eastern North America fly up to about 3,000 miles to mountain forests of oyamel fir trees in central Mexico. Millions of them cluster on the branches until spring.

   4Note 4. Summer monarchs live only a few weeks, but the monarchs that fly to Mexico in the fall live for about eight months.

   5Note 5. A ruby-throated hummingbird weighs about 3 grams. Before migrating, it can nearly double its weight by storing fat. Many fly nonstop about 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico.

   6Note 6. Hibernation is a long period of deep inactivity. An animal's body temperature, heart rate and breathing drop far below normal, so it uses very little energy.

   7Note 7. The arctic ground squirrel of Alaska hibernates for 7 to 8 months a year. Its body temperature can fall from about 99°F to about 27°F (about -2.9°C), below the freezing point of water, yet its body fluids do not freeze.

   8Note 8. Torpor is a lighter form of inactivity. Some scientists call the winter sleep of black bears torpor, because a bear's body temperature drops much less than a ground squirrel's.

   9Note 9. In its den, a black bear does not eat, drink, urinate or defecate. In the far north, a bear can stay in its den for as long as seven months.

   10Note 10. Wood frogs spend the winter under leaves on the forest floor. As much as 65 to 70 percent of the water in a wood frog's body can freeze, and its heart stops. Glucose, a sugar, protects its cells until it thaws in spring.

   11Note 11. Black-capped chickadees stay active all winter. In the fall, they hide seeds and insects in many places and return to them later. On cold nights, a chickadee can lower its body temperature by about 12 to 15°F to save energy.

   12Note 12. Honeybees stay in the hive and form a tight winter cluster. They make heat by shivering their flight muscles, and they take turns moving between the warm center and the colder outside of the cluster.

   13Note 13. Snowshoe hares grow a white coat in the fall that blends into the snow. Their large, furry hind feet help them stay on top of deep snow.

   14Note 14. Groundhog Day is celebrated in the United States on February 2.

   15Note 15. Snow is made of ice crystals that form in clouds.

   16Note 16. Interview with a wildlife biologist (invented for this lesson): "Every winter strategy is a trade. Migrating costs energy on the trip, hibernating costs months of the year, and staying active costs food every single day."

2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes

   Teach the words of the standard and leave them on the board:

   • Informative/explanatory text: writing that teaches readers about a topic or explains how something works, without arguing for an opinion.
   • Preview: a sentence in the introduction that tells readers what the sections will cover, in order.
   • Broader category: a group that holds several related details or examples and names what they share. Each category usually becomes one section.
   • Formatting and graphics: headings, tables, charts and diagrams that help readers find and compare information. Multimedia, such as a short video or an interactive map, can help in a digital report.
   • Well-chosen facts: facts that explain the topic, not only ones that are true or interesting.
   • Transition: a word, phrase or sentence that shows how one idea relates to the next. Varied transitions use different words for different relationships (for example, by contrast, as a result, a third group).
   • Domain-specific vocabulary: words that belong to the subject, such as migration, hibernation and torpor, defined at first use.
   • Formal style: careful school language with no slang and no personal opinions about the topic.

   Work through the five examples. Then read the model text aloud, with Table 1, and show Diagram 1 as its plan.

   • Examples or a broader category?

     A student plans a report on how people light their homes and lists: candles, oil lamps, gas lamps, light bulbs, sunlight through windows. Five examples in a row give readers no way to see how they relate.

     Result: Broader categories: Burning a fuel (candles, oil lamps, gas lamps), Using electricity (light bulbs) and Using daylight (windows). Each category names what its examples share, and each can become one section with its own heading.

   • An introduction that previews the categories

     Topic: sending messages over long distances. First try: This report is about communication. There are lots of kinds. It names the topic but gives readers no map.

     Result: Revised: People have sent messages over long distances by carrying them, by sending signals such as smoke or flags, and by using electricity. This report explains each method in turn. The preview names three categories in the order the sections will follow.

   • Well-chosen facts

     For the section on staying active, a writer has three facts: chickadees hide seeds in the fall; chickadees are named for their chick-a-dee-dee-dee call; red foxes have long, bushy tails.

     Result: Only the first fact explains how an animal stays active in winter, so it is well-chosen. The other two are true and about animals, but they do not explain winter survival, so they stay out of the section.

   • Varied transitions for different relationships

     Repetitive: Also, bears slow down. Also, wood frogs freeze. Also, chickadees stay active. The same word hides three different relationships.

     Result: Varied: Black bears, by contrast, slow down less. The wood frog goes further than either mammal. A third group of animals neither leaves nor sleeps. By contrast shows a difference, goes further shows a step up, and a third group signals a new category.

   • Precise, domain-specific words

     Vague: Some animals kind of shut down their bodies for a long time in winter. A reader cannot tell how, or for how long.

     Result: Precise: In hibernation, a long period of deep inactivity, an animal's body temperature, heart rate and breathing drop far below normal. Hibernation is a domain-specific word, and the sentence defines it at first use.

   On the second reading of the model text, students highlight each category name in one color, each example in a second color, and each transition in a third. Ask: Which notes did the writer leave out, and why? Why does the wood frog appear in the same section as the bear, not in a section of its own?

   1For animals in much of North America, winter brings three problems at once: cold, short days and little food. Animals meet these problems in many different ways, but the solutions can be sorted into three broad categories. Some animals leave, some slow their bodies down, and some stay active and find ways to keep warm and fed. This report explains each category in turn, with examples from butterflies to bears, and ends by comparing what each strategy costs. Table 1 sums up the three categories.

   2Leaving: Migration
   The first category is migration, a regular journey from one region to another and back, usually with the seasons. Migrating animals trade a long, tiring trip for a place with milder weather and more food. Monarch butterflies from eastern North America, for example, fly up to about 3,000 miles to mountain forests of oyamel fir trees in central Mexico, where millions of them cluster on the branches until spring. Birds migrate as well. A ruby-throated hummingbird weighs about 3 grams, yet before migrating it can nearly double its weight by storing fat, the fuel for a nonstop flight of about 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico.

   3Slowing Down: Hibernation and Torpor
   Animals that stay behind must face the cold directly. One solution is to slow the body down. In hibernation, a long period of deep inactivity, an animal's body temperature, heart rate and breathing drop far below normal, so it uses very little energy. The arctic ground squirrel of Alaska is an extreme case. Its body temperature can fall from about 99°F to about 27°F, below the freezing point of water, and yet its body fluids do not freeze. Black bears, by contrast, slow down less. Because a bear's body temperature drops much less than a ground squirrel's, some scientists call its winter sleep torpor, a lighter form of inactivity. Even so, a bear in its den does not eat, drink, urinate or defecate, in the far north for as long as seven months. The wood frog goes further than either mammal: as much as 65 to 70 percent of the water in its body can freeze, and its heart stops. Glucose, a sugar, protects its cells until the frog thaws in spring.

   4Staying Active: Resisting the Cold
   A third group of animals neither leaves nor sleeps. Instead, these animals stay active and resist the cold through their bodies and their behavior. Black-capped chickadees, for instance, hide seeds and insects in the fall and return to them in winter. On cold nights, a chickadee can also lower its body temperature by about 12 to 15°F to save energy. Honeybees stay in the hive and form a tight cluster. By shivering their flight muscles, the bees make heat, and they take turns moving between the warm center and the colder outside. Snowshoe hares, meanwhile, grow a white coat in the fall that blends into the snow, and their large, furry hind feet keep them on top of deep drifts.

   5Comparing the Costs
   Although these animals look nothing alike, each strategy is a trade. As one wildlife biologist put it, "Migrating costs energy on the trip, hibernating costs months of the year, and staying active costs food every single day." Seen in these three categories, winter makes sense: the chickadee at the feeder in January, the ground squirrel asleep underground and the monarchs thousands of miles south in Mexico have each paid a different price for the same result, a chance to see spring.

   Table 1 (part of the model text): Three ways animals survive winter

   Category	What the animal does	Examples	Main cost
   Leave (migration)	Travels to a region with milder weather and more food	Monarch butterfly, ruby-throated hummingbird	Energy for the trip
   Slow down (hibernation, torpor)	Lowers body temperature, heart rate and breathing	Arctic ground squirrel, black bear, wood frog	Months of inactivity
   Stay active (resist the cold)	Keeps warm and fed through body and behavior	Black-capped chickadee, honeybee, snowshoe hare	Food every day

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs complete the map of the model text below. For each paragraph, they name its category (or its job), list the notes it uses, and copy the transition that links it to the paragraph before. Circulate and ask pairs which notes never appear in the model text, and why.

   Map of the model text (pairs fill in the last three columns)

   Paragraph	Heading	Category or job	Notes used	Transition from the paragraph before
   1	(introduction)
   2	Leaving: Migration
   3	Slowing Down: Hibernation and Torpor
   4	Staying Active: Resisting the Cold
   5	Comparing the Costs

   Next, pairs read the weak draft below on the same topic. They list its problems in four columns: organization (categories or a list?), facts (relevant and well-chosen?), transitions, and style. They do not rewrite it yet; that happens in Activity 3.

   Animals do lots of stuff in winter. Some go south, like monarchs. Bears sleep. Chickadees are super cute and they eat seeds. Frogs freeze which is crazy. Also bees. Groundhog Day is February 2 so groundhogs matter too. Some birds fly really far. Anyway animals are awesome at winter and that is the end.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Each student plans a short informative text on a new topic, How People Keep Food from Spoiling, using the homework fact sheet in the Closure section. They sort the relevant facts into three or four broader categories, give each category a heading, and write one introduction of two or three sentences that previews the categories in order. The plan must name one graphic that would help readers, such as a table that compares the methods. Collect the plans to check the categories before the homework.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) Name the three broader categories in the model text. (2) Painted turtles spend the winter underwater at the bottom of ponds, barely moving. Name the section where this fact belongs and explain why. (3) Copy one transition from the model text and name the relationship it shows.

   The homework fact sheet below is also used for questions 13, 14 and 19 of the quiz.

   1Fact 1. Food spoils when microbes, tiny living things such as bacteria, molds and yeasts, grow in it. Many microbes grow fastest in food that is warm and moist.

   2Fact 2. People have dried fruit, meat and fish in the sun and wind for thousands of years. Drying removes the water that microbes need.

   3Fact 3. Salt draws water out of food. Salt cod and salt pork were common foods on long sea voyages.

   4Fact 4. Jam keeps for a long time because its large amount of sugar leaves little water for microbes to use.

   5Fact 5. Cold slows the growth of most microbes. Food safety agencies advise keeping a home refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or colder.

   6Fact 6. Clarence Birdseye noticed that fish frozen quickly in the Arctic cold of Labrador tasted fresh when thawed. Quick freezing makes smaller ice crystals, which do less damage to food. His frozen foods first went on sale in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1930.

   7Fact 7. In 1810, the French government gave Nicolas Appert a prize of 12,000 francs for his method of preserving food: sealing it in glass bottles and heating the bottles in boiling water. This was the beginning of canning.

   8Fact 8. In the 1860s, the French scientist Louis Pasteur showed that gently heating wine killed the microbes that spoiled it. The process, later used for milk, is called pasteurization.

   9Fact 9. Pickles keep because vinegar is an acid, and many microbes cannot grow in acid.

   10Fact 10. In fermentation, helpful microbes change the sugars in a food into acid. Sauerkraut is cabbage preserved this way.

   11Fact 11. Popcorn pops because the water inside each kernel turns to steam and bursts the hull.

   12Fact 12. Comment from a food scientist (invented for this lesson): "Every method of keeping food takes away something a microbe needs: water, warmth or a safe place to grow."

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 1 of the model text, what does the preview tell readers?

   AThat animals in Mexico survive winter more easily than animals in Alaska BThat the report will explain three categories in turn, then compare what each costs CThat the writer thinks migration is the best way to survive winter DThat the report will describe each of the ten animals one at a time, in alphabetical order

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A student's notes for a report on how animals defend themselves list porcupine quills, a skunk's spray, a turtle's shell, an octopus's ink and an armadillo's bony plates. Which is the best name for a broader category that holds the turtle and the armadillo?

   ATurtles and their close relatives BAnimals that spray or squirt CAnimals with hard body armor DAnimals that live in water

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does the writer place the wood frog in the Slowing Down section instead of giving it a section of its own?

   AFreezing is an extreme way of slowing the body, so the frog shares that section's category. BThe wood frog is a mammal, just like the arctic ground squirrel and the black bear in that section. CThe writer ran out of room in the Staying Active section. DThe wood frog migrates a short distance to the forest floor.

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The writer left Note 14 (Groundhog Day) out of the model text. What is the best reason?

   AIt is not true, so it cannot be used in an informative text. BIt is true, but it does not explain how any animal survives winter. CIt is about a holiday, and informative texts may not mention holidays. DIt is already covered in the Slowing Down section of the text.

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In the Slowing Down section, what relationship does Even so show?

   AIt gives an example of an animal that hibernates. BIt shows that the bear's torpor causes it to stop eating. CIt admits the bear slows down less, then adds a fact that is still striking. DIt begins a new category, the animals that stay active and resist the cold all winter.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How does the first sentence of the Slowing Down section connect it to the section before?

   AIt repeats the heading of the section before, word for word. BIt sets animals that stay behind against the migrating animals just described. CIt gives the section's first example of hibernation, the arctic ground squirrel of Alaska. DIt defines hibernation before the section begins.

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Choose the transition that best fills the blank: Snow traps air between its ice crystals. ____, a thick layer of snow can insulate small animals that tunnel beneath it.

   AIn contrast BFor example CSimilarly DAs a result

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which word does the model text define as "a lighter form of inactivity"?

   AHibernation BGlucose CMigration DTorpor

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which sentence about honeybees keeps a formal style?

   AHoneybees are honestly the coolest insects around, and their winter trick is totally amazing. BBees basically just hang out in a big pile and shake till spring. CIn winter, honeybees form a tight cluster and make heat by shivering their flight muscles. DYou would not believe how hard bees work to stay warm in winter!

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which concluding statement would best follow from and support the model text?

    AAnimals survive winter by leaving, slowing down or staying active, and each way costs something different. BMany people enjoy watching birds at backyard feeders in winter, and simple feeders are easy to build at home. CMonarch butterflies fly up to about 3,000 miles to central Mexico each fall. DIn my opinion, the wood frog is the most amazing animal in this report.

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Why does the model text include Table 1?

    ATo add facts that do not appear anywhere in the text BTo show the writer's opinion of which strategy works best CTo replace the headings, which the text does not need DTo let readers compare the three categories side by side

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Why does the writer quote the wildlife biologist in the final section?

    ATo add a new category of animals that the report has not explained BTo sum up the comparison of costs that ties the three categories together CTo prove that the biologist disagrees with the rest of the report DTo introduce the topic of winter for readers who skipped the introduction

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Use the homework fact sheet. Which broader category fits Facts 2, 3 and 4 (drying, salting and jam)?

    ARemoving the water microbes need BHeating food to kill the microbes in it CUsing cold DAdding helpful microbes

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Use the homework fact sheet. Which fact should a writer leave out of a text about keeping food from spoiling?

    AFact 5, about keeping a refrigerator at 40°F or colder BFact 9, about why pickles keep CFact 11, about why popcorn pops DFact 1, about what makes food spoil

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Sort these six animals into the model text's three categories, and give one reason for each placement: gray whale (swims from Arctic feeding waters to Mexico's lagoons each winter), little brown bat (spends the winter inactive in a cave, with a very low body temperature), red fox (grows a thicker coat and keeps hunting), arctic tern (flies from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back each year), eastern chipmunk (sleeps in its burrow for days at a time, waking to eat stored food), ruffed grouse (roosts inside snowbanks and keeps feeding all winter).

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write an introduction of two or three sentences for a report titled How Trees Survive Winter. Preview these three categories in order: dropping leaves, protecting needles, and protecting buds.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Join these two sentences into one sentence with a transition that fits, and name the relationship it shows: Little brown bats hibernate in caves where the air stays above freezing. Wood frogs spend the winter under leaves on the forest floor, where they can freeze.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite this sentence in a formal style with precise words: Back in the day, people put a ton of salt on meat and it kinda kept it from going bad.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Use the homework fact sheet. In two or three sentences, explain why organizing the text by broader categories of method (for example, removing water or using cold) works better than organizing it by food (fruit, meat, milk).

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    A report titled Where a City's Water Comes From has three sections: Collecting Water, Cleaning Water and Delivering Water. Write a concluding statement of one or two sentences that follows from and supports this report.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to W.8.2: 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.