STUDENT GUIDE

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Restoring Forests

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Why is it important to restore forests?

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Table of Contents

Skills Focus

• Build Your Vocabulary: Frayer Model
• Cornell Notes: Analyzing Connections within Informational Texts

Overview and Connect

• Find Your Purpose for Learning
• Share Your Personal Connection

Read and Check

• Share Your Reflections
• Test Prep Strategy: Prediction (Optional)

Analyze / Engage with the Text

• Highlight and Annotate

Summarize

• Write a Summary

Develop / Build

• Share Your Argument Builder

Draft and Review / Create

• Peer Editing Activity
• Reflect on Your Writing

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Extension Activities

• Activity: Soil Free Germination
• Inquiry to Research: Asking Questions of the Texts

Vocabulary Word:�

NATIVE

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SKILLS FOCUS

Build Your Vocabulary: �Frayer Model — Native �

The Frayer Model helps you learn vocabulary from different angles.

1. Look for the vocabulary word in the center circle of the graphic organizer below.
2. In the “examples” box, list examples or synonyms of the word.
3. In the “non-examples” box, write non-examples or antonyms.
4. Next, add facts and characteristics about the word.
5. Finally, write your own definition, or look one up!�

Frayer Model

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SKILLS FOCUS

Cornell Notes: Analyzing Connections within Informational Texts

Instructions: Take notes on the Direct Instruction lesson using the organizer below. Then summarize and reflect on the next page.

Complete the Direct Instruction lesson online at learn.thinkcerca.com

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SKILLS FOCUS

Cornell Notes: Analyzing Connections within Informational Texts

Summarize and Reflect

In your own words and in complete sentences, write a 3–4 sentence summary of this Direct Instruction lesson. An accurate summary will cover the lesson's central ideas and include important details to support those ideas.

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Record your summary here:

OVERVIEW AND CONNECT

Find Your Purpose for Learning

Instructions: When you have finished reading the Overview for this lesson, answer the following questions in the space below:

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What more would you like to learn about the importance of native plants? What would you like to know about different ways to restore the ecosystem?

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Read the Overview provided at learn.thinkcerca.com

OVERVIEW AND CONNECT

Share Your Personal Connection

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Complete the Connect section for this selection at learn.thinkcerca.com

Instructions:�

1. Think: On your own, think about your experiences related to the topic.
2. Pair & Share: With a partner, group, or a trusted listener, share the parts of your response that you feel comfortable sharing.
3. Reflect: If time permits, reflect on your experience. What ideas did others share that you hadn't considered? How were your ideas alike?

READ

Share Your Reflections

Instructions: During or after you have finished reading, find the questions in the text marked Pause and Reflect. These questions may help you understand the text, or they may help you connect the text to yourself, to other texts, or to the world around you.

Use the space on the left below to answer the reflection questions. Then discuss your answers, noting how they were similar or different.

Record “Pause and Reflect” answers here:

Record discussion reflections here:

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Refer to the Pause and Reflect questions within the Read section of the lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com.

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CHECK

Test Prep Strategy: Prediction

One way to prepare for assessments is to practice looking for the answers in the text before looking at the answer choices. Use prediction strategies as an opportunity to read a text more carefully.

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Read each multiple choice question. In your own words, record your prediction of the correct response in the chart below.

Refer to the multiple choice questions for this lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com.

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ANALYZE / ENGAGE WITH THE TEXT

Highlight and Annotate

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In this step, you will analyze the text closely, then discuss your findings to begin developing reasoning for your argument.

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1. Read the text again, highlighting and annotating important details. ��Follow the prompts provided. The highlighting prompts will help you with the final writing task. ��You will find evidence to support your own argument or informational piece, as well as models of excellence that will help you better understand a writer’s craft in narratives and poetry. The evidence you highlight will be available when you begin building your draft in the next step.

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2. If time permits, pair and share your highlights and annotations with a classmate. Pay close attention to this conversation! Your thinking is important reasoning that you may include in your final draft.

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Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to complete Analyze / Engage with the Text.

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SUMMARIZE

Write a Summary

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Summaries help you process your thinking about a text and are often a great way to start off an argumentative or informational essay. A good summary shows you have knowledge about a topic.

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Practicing summarizing also helps you prepare for the main idea questions posed on many standardized assessments. In addition, summarizing is a helpful skill for working with others, such as when you need to confirm your understanding of what someone else has said. That's a useful skill for all parts of life.

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1. Use the sentence stems provided in the online lesson to summarize the text. Your summary should:
1. Be brief
2. Include the main idea and key details
3. Represent these ideas fairly and accurately �
2. If time permits, pair and share with a classmate. Read each other’s summary, and discuss how they are similar or different. What did you say were the main idea and key details? Were your summaries fair and accurate? Why?

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Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to complete Summarize.

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DEVELOP / BUILD

Share your Argument Builder

When you’ve completed the argument building step, share your results with others, and listen to how they responded to the same question. Ask questions, and give feedback to help strengthen your partners’ reasons and evidence.

Complete Develop / Build to begin building your argument at learn.thinkcerca.com

DRAFT AND REVIEW / CREATE

Peer Editing Activity

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1. Do a self-assessment of your CERCA. Use the online rubric for the lesson on learn.thinkcerca.com, checking each box where you find evidence that you have achieved the criteria.�
2. Next, collaborate with a classmate to read each other’s drafts. Again, use the rubric to evaluate each other’s work.�
3. Share insights into what might make your pieces stronger. Find two positive attributes and one area of growth for each draft you review.�
4. Revise your piece using what you learned from your self-assessment and the feedback from your peers.

Complete your Draft at learn.thinkcerca.com

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DRAFT AND REVIEW / CREATE

Reflect on Your Writing

Before you submit your final CERCA, write a brief reflection describing your experience.

An area for growth for me on this piece or in my writing in general is…

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The strongest areas of this piece of writing are…

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Through self-assessment and/or peer editing, I learned…

Extension Activities

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The following activities can be used as extensions to this lesson.

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OPTIONAL EXTENSION : ACTIVITY

SOIL FREE GERMINATION

Background

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Plants need a lot of things to be able to go through the process of photosynthesis. Many people think one of those needs is soil, but that is actually not true. In this extension activity you will get to watch as plants grow without soil.

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Materials Needed

• Seeds
• Paper towels
• Clear plastic sandwich bags
• Water
• Sunny window

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Procedure

• Gather your materials.
• Dampen your paper towel. It should not be dripping with water.
• Add your seeds to your paper towel.
• Put your paper towel in a clear plastic sandwich bag and close it. (It is okay to leave air in the bag as this allows for the greenhouse effect to occur.)
• Place the plastic bag in a sunny area like a windowsill.
• Check on your plants as they grow! (It usually takes about 5-7 days to see a sprout.)
• Once the seeds develop a root that is a few centimeters long, you can place the plant it in soil and watch it grow.

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OPTIONAL EXTENSION : ACTIVITY

SOIL FREE GERMINATION

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Reflection

In the box below, draw what your seeds looked like when you first placed them in the clear plastic sandwich bag.

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What might the plant be able to use while in the plastic bag? Sunlight? Air? Others?

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One week check-in: In the box below, draw what your seeds looked like a week after you put them in the clear plastic sandwich bag.

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OPTIONAL EXTENSION : INQUIRY TO RESEARCH

Ask Questions of the Texts

As you engage with texts in any subject, you can actively ask questions about the author’s purpose, intended audience, and occasion to understand the message. The table below provides examples.

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OPTIONAL EXTENSION : INQUIRY TO RESEARCH

Ask Questions of the Texts (continued)

Use the table below to record questions about the text you read.

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