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S T U D E N T G U I D E

8 Questions for Autumn Peltier

What problem is activist Autumn Peltier working to address, and why?

View this lesson at ThinkCERCA

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Table of Contents

Vocabulary Building

  • Map a Word

Direct Instruction Guide

  • Cornell Notes: Writing about Social Studies

STEP 1: Connect

  • Finding Your Purpose for Learning
  • Think-Pair-Share

STEP 2: Read

  • Pause and Reflect
  • Test Prep Strategy: Context Clues (Optional)

STEP 3: Engage with the Text

  • Highlight and Annotate

STEP 4: Summarize

  • Write a Summary

STEP 5: Build an Argument

  • Collaborate: Share your argument builder

STEP 6: Create your CERCA

  • Peer Editing Activity
  • Writing Reflection

Throughout the guide, look for the laptop icon to find steps to complete online!

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Optional Extensions

  • Inquiry to Research: Asking Questions of the Text
  • Inquiry to Research: Writing Biographies
  • Roundtable Discussion: Sharing Additional Research Findings, Learnings, and Experiences

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SYNONYM (SIMILAR OR LIKE WORD)

ANTONYM (OPPOSITE WORD)

PICTURE OF�VOCABULARY WORD

SENTENCE USING VOCABULARY WORD

VOCABULARY WORD

PART OF SPEECH

V O C A B U L A R Y B U I L D I N G

Map a Word

Choose a word from the vocabulary list that is linked in the lesson. Write the word in the box below. Then fill in the other boxes on this page.

Completing this process will help the word "stick" in your memory!

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D I R E C T I N S T R U C T I O N G U I D E

Cornell Notes: Writing about Social Studies

What are the four areas of social studies?

The four areas of social studies are...

What techniques can be used in writing about social studies?

Writing techniques include…

What are primary and secondary sources?

Primary and secondary sources are...

Why is it important to cite sources?

Citing sources is important because…

Take notes on the lesson using the organizer below:

Watch the Direct Instruction lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com

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D I R E C T I N S T R U C T I O N G U I D E

Cornell Notes: Writing about Social Studies (continued)

Summarize and Reflect

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

Record your summary here:

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S T E P 1 : C O N N E C T

Finding Your Purpose for Learning

When you've finished reading the overview, answer the following questions in the space below:

What more would you like to learn about why she chose to speak out on this issue? What would you like to know about the importance of water to life? What would you like to find out about the idea of human rights?

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Read the Topic Overview provided at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 1 : C O N N E C T

Think-Pair-Share

  1. Think: On your own, think about your experiences related to the topic.

  • Pair & Share: With a partner, group, or a trusted listener, share the parts of your response that you feel comfortable sharing.
  • Reflect: If time permits, reflect on your experience. What ideas did others share that you hadn't considered? How were your ideas alike?

Complete the writing activity in Step 1: Connect at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 2 : R E A D

Pause and Reflect

When you’ve finished reading, go back and find the questions in the text marked “Pause and Reflect.” These questions will 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:

Read the text for this lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 2 : R E A D

Test Prep Strategy: Context Clues

When you read, you might come across words that you don’t know. When this happens, look at the words and phrases around that word. You can use these “context clues” to figure out what new words mean!

Practice using context clues. Review the bold words in the passage. Then, predict what you think each word means based on its context. Finally, go to the “Vocabulary” link to compare your definition to the dictionary definition.

Vocabulary Term

Your Definition

Dictionary Definition

Example: Narrator

A person who tells a story

The person telling a story

Refer to the reading and vocabulary for this lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com.

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S T E P 3 : E N G A G E W I T H T H E T E X T

Highlight and Annotate

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

  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. The evidence you highlight will be available when you begin building your draft in the next step.

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

Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to complete Step 3: Engage with the Text.

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S T E P 4 : S U M M A R I Z E

Write a Summary

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.

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.

  1. ��Use the sentence stems provided to summarize the text.

Your summary should:

  • Be brief
  • Include the main idea and key details
  • Represent these ideas fairly and accurately �
  • 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?

Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to complete Step 4: Summarize.

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S T E P 5 : B U I L D A N A R G U M E N T

Collaborate: 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.

Share

Listen

What problem is activist Autumn Peltier working to address, and why?

What problem is activist Autumn Peltier working to address, and why?

1.

2.

3.

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S T E P 6 : C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Peer Editing Activity

  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 peer or peers 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 Step 6 to create your CERCA at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 6 : C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Writing Reflection

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…

The strongest areas of this piece of writing are…

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

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Optional Extensions

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

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Asking 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.

Approaches

Example

Questions about the author

Who and what are these pieces about?

Questions about the audience, purpose, and occasion of the text

Why were they written?

Questions about civics, economics, geography and history

Why is there a difference between the quality of water provided to different communities in Canada and the U.S.?

Questions about concepts and ideas

How can we make sure that the human rights of all people are respected?

Questions about self and community reflections

How can I help take better care of the planet?

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Asking Questions of the Texts (continued)

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

Approaches

Questions

Questions about the author

Questions about the audience, purpose, and occasion of the text

Questions about civics, economics, geography, and history

Questions about concepts and ideas

Self and Community Reflections

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Writing Biographies

Background

From ancient times to the present, people have enjoyed reading biographies. This literary genre focuses on telling a person’s life story, and typically includes details such as:

  • When and where the person was born
  • People and experiences that shaped the person’s early life
  • A career summary
  • Major accomplishments
  • Explanation of why the person is considered important
  • Quotes
  • Additional facts
  • Timelines
  • Primary sources (for example: letters, articles, journals)
  • Interviews

Research

Choose a historical or contemporary figure of interest to research. Find at least three sources about this individual. As you read each source, take notes on the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” of their life. Compare what is presented in each source.

After you complete your research, as yourself: were you able to locate all of the elements of a biography listed above? If not, what information was hard to find or missing?

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Writing Biographies (continued)

Write

Take the information from your notes, and write your own biography of this individual. Add text features that you think will capture the reader’s attention, such as photos or illustrations, captions, and timelines.

Share

Plan to share your biography with a family member, friend, or neighbor. Before you share it, ask them what they know about the individual you researched. Follow that by asking if there’s anything they’d like to know about this person. Then, have them read the biography that you wrote. After they’ve finished, discuss what they learned from it.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R O U N D T A B L E D I S C U S S I O N

Sharing Additional Research Findings, Learnings, and Experiences

Roundtable discussions offer you the opportunity to share what you’ve learned, as well as to ask questions and learn from others. Come to the discussion prepared to share your key findings. Use the organizer on the next page.

How the discussion works:

  1. Choose a group leader who will help lead the roundtable discussion, and select a member of the group to go first.
  2. Go around the group, allowing each participant to share a quick review of their their key findings.
  3. When not presenting, take notes, summarizing key findings of your peers. Snap silently to show gratitude, appreciation, or interest!
  4. After each presenter, take a moment for participants to ask questions or summarize what they just heard. Each participant should ask at least one question or summarize what someone else presented at least once during the discussion.
  5. When complete, the presenter “passes the mic” to the next presenter.

Remember, it’s important to value dialogue and appreciate different perspectives. Learning from and understanding people who think differently or have different experiences is part of the process of growth! You don’t have to agree to learn from another perspective!

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R O U N D T A B L E D I S C U S S I O N

Discussion Notes

Your Key Findings

What interested you about the topic in the first place?

What was your most striking finding?

What questions were raised by your experience?

Presenter

Questions and Learnings from Peers

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