nonfiction article of the week - amazon web servicesplastic+previewrs.pdf · teacher’s guide a...

by Erin Cobb with Adrienne Zembower

© erin cobb imlovinlit.com

Nonfiction Article of the Week4-3: The Problem With Plastic

Table of Contents

Terms of Use 2

Table of Contents 3

List of Activities, Difficulty Levels, Common Core Alignment, & TEKS 4

Digital Components/Google Classroom Guide 5

Teaching Guide, Rationale, Lesson Plans, Links, and Procedures: EVERYTHING 6-9

Article: The Problem With Plastic 10-11

*Modified Article: The Problem With Plastic 12-13

Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice w/Key 14-15

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions w/Key 16-17

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article 18-20

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity w/Answer Bank w/Key 21-22

Activity 5: Skill Focus -Main Idea & Details; Summarizing w/Key 23-26

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – Video Clip w/Key 27-28

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key 29-32

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key 33-36

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge

Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice*

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions*

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article**

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity w/Answer Bank**

Activity 5: Skill Focus - Main Idea & Details; Summarizing**

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – Video Clip “9/11: The First News Reports”

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key**

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key**

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge

Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice*

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions*

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article**

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity w/Answer Bank**

Activity 5: Skill Focus – Main Idea & Details; Summarizing

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – Video Clip “9/11: The First News Reports”

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key**

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key**

ELAR.6(F)

ELAR.6(F)

ELAR.6(F)7(C)

ELAR.6(F) 7(C)

ELAR.6(G)7(D)

ELAR.12(D)(F)

ELAR.6(G)7(D)

ELAR.6(G)7(D)

RI.4.1

RI.4.1

RI.4.1

RI.4.1

RI.4.2

RI.4.7

RI.4.1, 4.2

RI.4.1, 4.2



Teacher’s Guide

Activities, Difficulty Levels, and Common Core Alignment

Activities, Difficulty Levels, and TEKS Alignment (2017)



Teacher’s Guide

Instructions for Google Classroom Digital Components

All student activities are available in digital format compatible with Google Classroom. They are available in two formats: Google Slides and Google Forms.

Google SlidesFirst, I have made all student pages available in Google Slides format. Students can simply add text boxes to any area they wish to type on. To access the Google Slides for this article, copy and paste the link below into your browser. *Note that you’ll need to make a copy of the folder or slide before you can use it.*

LINK OMITTED IN PREVIEW FILE

Google FormsI have made the assessments available in Google Forms. Here, they are self-grading, and I have set them all up with answer keys so they are ready to go for you. You’ll need to find these two files in your download folder to use Google Forms. The first file contains the links to the Forms, and the second file is explicit instructions for use. Look inside the Google Forms folder.



Teacher’s Guide

A Couple of Options for Teaching Article of the Week UnitsHere are my favorite suggestions for organizing these units with your schedule.*Please note that thumbnails show article 6.1 and activities.

Option A: Quickie UnitSimply complete all lesson activities in order OR pick and choose the activities you want to complete in order.

Time Needed: 2-3 fifty-minute class periodsPros: Super flexible; perfect filler around your other units; makes it easy to assign easier components for homework; ideal no prep sub plans if you have to be out for 2-3 days in a row.Cons: Fitting them all in around everything else you’ve got to do.

Option B: Daily ModelUse as a class starter or specific routine in yourclassroom everyday at the same time.

Time Needed: 15-20 minutes/day, 5 days/weekPros: IDEAL for block scheduling when you need to always change it up; Great way to fit nonfiction articles in with what you’re already doing.Cons: There are 25 total articles for each grade level, so some weeks you’ll need to skip the articles (I’d skip when doing projects, novels, during short weeks, and plan to finish up right before testing); May be difficult to commit to something rigid like this if you’re a type B teacher like myself ;)

Here’s how the daily model works:

Monday: Read article & complete basic comprehension activityTuesday: Text evidence activityWednesday: Skills focus activity (based on one key skill for each article)Thursday: Integrate information (other sources)Friday: Assessment

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday



Teacher’s Guide

WalkthroughI have discussed here how I use each activity and included hints and links to help you, too. Feel free to take or leave what you like. Even if you don’t plan to do every activity, I still recommend reading through this section to get the most out of these activities. Looking for a schedule to follow? Check the previous page for two suggested scheduling options.

These lessons and activities were designed to meet the needs of fourth graders during the first half of the school year. The articles, activities, questions, and assessments will become increasingly rigorous and challenging as we progress through the year.

Activities 1-2• *There are no higher order thinking questions

included here – only basic, literal comprehension.• These activities are designed to be completed on

an either/or basis, meaning your students should only complete one of them, not both.

• Use Activity 1 for a quick cold-read assessment or after you’ve read the article together. I use these to hold students accountable for reading carefully. I recommend having students complete activity 1 without the article as long as they’ve just read the article (so not the next day), unless you’re providing a testing accommodation.

• Use Activity 2 for an open-ended option for the same exact questions. Students may have a harder time answering this one without the article, so choose this one if you want students to use the article but still prove that they’ve understood the content.

Note: Answer key included but not shown.

Article Modified Article



Teacher’s Guide

Activities 3-4• Again, these activities are either/or, so choose

one or the other but not both.• Activity 3 requires students to annotate text

evidence in the article and includes an article annotation key.

• Activity 4 requires students to choose text evidence from a bank at the bottom. This format prepares students to choose from and distinguish between pieces of text evidence on a state assessment. I recommend mixing it up and going back and forth between these among units until your students are proficient at both methods.

Activity 5• This activity is focused around the main

skill for this article: RI.4.2 – Main Idea and Details and Summarizing

• Complete answer keys included, as always.

Activity 6• This activity requires students to integrate information

from another source or media. • Here, students view a 6-minute video clip about the

first news reports from 9/11. Students will answer questions about the video using general comprehension and inferencing.

• View the video clip: https://youtu.be/n4SmwBFbhEM

• Backup: https://drive.google.com/file/d/171J2a4_D6Kog0pxzVU2Sy-E1-wYji4tC/view?usp=sharing

Activity 3

Activity 4

Activity 5

Activity 6

https://youtu.be/n4SmwBFbhEM

https://drive.google.com/file/d/171J2a4_D6Kog0pxzVU2Sy-E1-wYji4tC/view?usp=sharing



Teacher’s Guide

Activities 7-8• Skills assessments should ALWAYS be given

with access to the text. ALWAYS. This is always the case on standardized tests, and hey, in real life too, right?!

• What’s the best way to make sure your students are prepared for the state assessment? Assess them regularly with that format. I always let my students practice for the first few before I start counting them for a grade, and I always use the basic comprehension assessment (activity 1 or 2) as an easy grade so it levels the playing field.

• Activity 7 is the regular assessment.• Activity 8 is the modified assessment. The

modified assessment offer students only two answer choices instead of four. Note that only the multiple choice portion of the modified test is different from the original. Simply put, only page one is different. Complete keys included as always (not shown).

• In a hurry? I always include only multiple choice questions on the first page in case you’re in a hurry and need to skip the open-ended portion of the test. I don’t recommend skipping regularly but every now and then, I need a grading break.

Self-grading Google Forms assessment always included for: • Activity 1 (Comprehension Quiz)• Activity 7 (Skills Test)• Activity 8 (Modified Skills Test)

Google Forms assessments always included!

Activity 7

Activity 8

first became aware of environmental issues like pollution. People realized that plastic does not biodegrade, or break down, like other materials do. Hundreds of years after we are finished with plastic, it will still linger in our landfills and oceans. Still, these concerns did not slow the production of plastic. In fact, the amount of plastic produced around the world since 1975 has sextupled, or multiplied by 6.

Because of these changing opinions, the plastic industry had a solution: recycling. However, this has not stopped most plastics from ending up in landfills or the environment. Plastic is very difficult to recycle. This is because there are many different types of plastic. Plastic must be separated by type before it can be recycled. Some single items are made of more than one type of plastic. This makes separating plastics expensive, difficult, and often impossible. Worse, some types of plastic can’t be recycled at all.

But Mother Earth isn’t the only living thing being degraded by plastic. Plastic is harming people and animals, too. Over a million marine animals are killed each year because of plastic debris in the ocean. Ocean animals can be trapped in plastic items such as bags and nets. Animals often mistake plastic items for food. Scientists have found plastic items, still intact, inside the stomachs of dead animals.

Humans also ingest plastic. Scientists are just beginning to study how and why

microplastics are in our bodies. These are tiny pieces of plastic debris that are also in our food, water, and air. The University of Newcastle in Australia says that the amount of microplastics each of us consumes in a week is equal to the size of a credit card.

As we wait for the government to act, there are things we can do ourselves to reduce plastic pollution. First and most importantly, stop using disposable plastics when you can. Plastic items that are only meant to be used once are so wasteful! These include disposable bottles, bags, silverware, straws, and lids. Second, stop buying and drinking bottled water. Use a water filter instead. And carry your water in a container that you can use over and over again. Recycle whenever possible. And support new laws that outlaw single-use plastics.

You Can Help

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic waste. They are found in many items, including makeup, clothing, and plastic food containers. Now, these tiny toxins are inside all of our bodies.



Informational Text

For items 1-3, you’ll be citing textual evidence to support what the text says explicitly.

1. Find the sentence that tells you the name of the inventor of plastic.

Highlight it in blue.

2. Find the sentence that tells you what plastic replaced in cars. Highlight it in green.

3. Find a sentence that tells specific ways that plastic is harming animals.

Highlight it in purple. (There are multiple possible answers.)

Finding Text EvidenceFind each piece of text evidence in the article and highlight OR underline it with the color specified.

Skill: Text Evidence

For items 4-6, you’ll be citing textual evidence to support inferences drawn from the text.

4. Find a sentence that tells us that recycling is not a solution to the plastic problem.

Highlight it in orange.

5. Find a sentence that tells you that there is plastic inside your body right now.

Highlight it in yellow.

6. Find the sentence that tells you that lawmakers can help with the plastic problem.

Highlight it in pink.

Activity 3



Informational TextSkill: Text Evidence

Activity 3



Informational Text

1. Read this paragraph from the article. Underline the sentence that states the main idea of the paragraph.

2. Now, identify 2 details from the paragraph that support the main idea you underlined.

Write them in your own words in the table below.

3. Find the detail from this section that explains why there was a need for a new type of

material in the first place. _________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

4. Find the detail from this subsection that describes how World War II affected the amount

of plastic being made. ____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

5. Complete the graphic organizer below using details from the article.

I. Main Idea & DetailsUse the article to answer the questions and complete the graphic organizers.

Skill: Main Idea & Details; Summarize

You can help to reduce plastic waste.

Activity 5

The popularity of plastic continued after World War II. Companies began using plastic in place of steel in cars. Plastic took the place of paper in packaging. New types of plastic were waterproof, resistant to bacteria, and lightweight. The promises and possibilities of plastic seemed too good to be true.

Details That Support the Main Idea

1.

2.

Read the subsection The History of Plastic again. Then, find each sentence or detail in the article.

Stop using disposable plastic items.



Informational Text

7. You can summarize nonfiction by using the same 6 questions every time. In the spaces provided, answer each question about the article. Keep your answers simple. Then, in the space provided below, combine that information to write a brief summary of the section.

Skill: Main Idea & Details; Summarize

Activity 5

Who/What?

Why?

Where?

When? How?

Is Doing What?

Plastics

are polluting the Earth

today (and since its

invention)

environment, oceans, people,

animals

People make and use too

much plastic.

The problem is getting worse

and worse every day.

II. SummarizingUse the article to answer the questions and complete the graphic organizers.

6. Match each main idea on the left with its subsection on the right.

Plastic is damaging the environment, oceans, animals, and people.

Plastic seemed like a wonderful invention that solved many problems.

The History of Plastic

Problematic Plastic

You Can Help

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Sample Answer: Plastics are polluting the Earth. They are damaging our

environment, oceans, animals, and people. Today, we are still making and

using too much plastic, making the problem worse.



Informational Text

Integrate InformationView the video, “Here’s Why Plastic Is SO MUCH Worse Than You Think!” Then, complete the graphic organizers below with details from the video. You’ll likely need to view the video more than once.

Skill: Integrate Multiple Media Sources

Activity 6

Plastic is bad for the turf (land).

Plastic can take up to 1,000 years to break down.

Plastic is bad for the surf (oceans).

You can help the plastic problem.

nonfiction article of the week - amazon web servicesplastic+previewrs.pdf · teacher’s guide a...

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