National Reading Program (NRP)_GRADE6.pptx

National Reading program

1. National Reading Program

2. Activate Prior Knowledge: Begin by discussing what students know about seals in general. Encourage them to share any experiences, facts, or stories they might be familiar with. Use a KWL (Know, Want to Know, Learned) chart on the board to assess and document their prior knowledge. Build Vocabulary: Introduce key vocabulary words from the story, such as "proboscis," "blubber," "harem," and "molting."

3. Engage students in a vocabulary-building activity like a word wall, where they can write definitions, draw illustrations, or create sentences using the new words. Generate Interest: Show images or short videos of southern elephant seals in their natural habitat. Discuss the uniqueness of these creatures and ask open-ended questions to spark curiosity.

4. Enhance Comprehension: Divide the story into manageable sections and assign each section to small groups or individuals. Provide guided reading questions for each section to focus on comprehension. Encourage students to annotate the text, noting interesting facts, unknown words, or questions they may have.

5. “World’s Largest Seal”

6. In the freezing ocean waters of Antarctica, the planet’s largest seals make their home in a frozen world. These giants are southern elephant seals, and they can grow as long as the length of a car and weigh as much as two cars combined. The name “elephant seal” comes from both the males’ enormous size and from their giant trunk-like nose, called a proboscis.

7. Females do not have a proboscis, and they are much smaller. A thick layer of blubber keeps southern elephant seals warm in their icy habitat. The seals are clumsy on land, but in water they’re graceful swimmers and incredible divers. They can easily dive 1,000 to 4,000 feet to hunt for squid, octopus, and various kinds of fish. Elephant seals are able to stay underwater for 20 minutes or more.

8. The longest underwater session researchers observed was an amazing two hours! When they return to the surface to breathe, it’s onl y for a few minutes. Then they dive again. While elephant seals spend most of their time swimming, they also gather on beaches in groups called colonies. One reason they come to land is to give birth and breed. Males arrive before females. They battle for dominance, deciding who will have large harems of females. Raising their enormous bodies, the males inflate their snouts and bellow.

9. Usually , these confrontations end quickly. However, sometimes only a physical battle can settle the matter. These fights can be bloody, but permanent injury is rare. Females arriving on land give birth to a single pup they’ve been carrying since the previous year. Newborns weigh about 90 pounds. The mother nurses her pup for a little over three weeks. After this, she breeds with a dominant male and then returns to the sea to feed. Her pup now weighs well over 200 pounds and is on its own.

10. If it survives, it too will enter the sea within a couple of months. A second reason elephant seals come to land is to molt. When they molt, they shed old skin and fur and new skin and fur grows. A smaller species, the northern elephant seal, lives in the Pacific Ocean, dispersed from Mexico’s Baja California to Alaska. Both northern and southern elephant seals were once hunted nearly to extinction. However, under legal protections both have made incredible comebacks.

11. Practice Reading Skills : Implement reading strategies such as choral reading, where the whole class reads a passage together.   Conduct paired reading, where students take turns reading aloud with a partner.   Include reading comprehension exercises that require students to identify main ideas, details, and infer meaning from the text.

12. Promote Engagement : Integrate multimedia elements, like additional videos or pictures, to enhance understanding. Facilitate class discussions about the seals' behaviors, habitats, and the impact of human activities on their population.

13. Reinforce Comprehension: Review key concepts from the story through a brief quiz or discussion. Assign a writing activity where students summarize the life cycle of southern elephant seals. Encourage Reflection: Have students reflect on what they found most interesting or surprising about the story.

14. Extend Learning : Provide additional resources or articles related to marine life and conservation efforts. Assign a project where students create informative posters or presentations about elephant seals, incorporating both text and visuals.

15. Antarctica Exploration: Begin with a brief class discussion about Antarctica. Show images and videos to give students a visual context for the freezing ocean waters and the unique environment.

16. Seal Facts: Share some interesting facts about seals, especially focusing on the southern elephant seals. Discuss their size, features, and habitat to pique students' interest.

17. Predictions: Ask students to make predictions about what they think the story might involve. Encourage them to share their ideas with a partner or in small groups.

18. Independent Reading: Provide each student with a copy of the "World’s Largest Seal" story. Allow them dedicated time to read silently, absorbing the details.

19. “World’s Largest Seal”

20. In the freezing ocean waters of Antarctica, the planet’s largest seals make their home in a frozen world. These giants are southern elephant seals, and they can grow as long as the length of a car and weigh as much as two cars combined. The name “elephant seal” comes from both the males’ enormous size and from their giant trunk-like nose, called a proboscis.

21. Females do not have a proboscis, and they are much smaller. A thick layer of blubber keeps southern elephant seals warm in their icy habitat. The seals are clumsy on land, but in water they’re graceful swimmers and incredible divers. They can easily dive 1,000 to 4,000 feet to hunt for squid, octopus, and various kinds of fish. Elephant seals are able to stay underwater for 20 minutes or more.

22. The longest underwater session researchers observed was an amazing two hours! When they return to the surface to breathe, it’s onl y for a few minutes. Then they dive again. While elephant seals spend most of their time swimming, they also gather on beaches in groups called colonies. One reason they come to land is to give birth and breed. Males arrive before females. They battle for dominance, deciding who will have large harems of females. Raising their enormous bodies, the males inflate their snouts and bellow.

23. Usually , these confrontations end quickly. However, sometimes only a physical battle can settle the matter. These fights can be bloody, but permanent injury is rare. Females arriving on land give birth to a single pup they’ve been carrying since the previous year. Newborns weigh about 90 pounds. The mother nurses her pup for a little over three weeks. After this, she breeds with a dominant male and then returns to the sea to feed. Her pup now weighs well over 200 pounds and is on its own.

24. If it survives, it too will enter the sea within a couple of months. A second reason elephant seals come to land is to molt. When they molt, they shed old skin and fur and new skin and fur grows. A smaller species, the northern elephant seal, lives in the Pacific Ocean, dispersed from Mexico’s Baja California to Alaska. Both northern and southern elephant seals were once hunted nearly to extinction. However, under legal protections both have made incredible comebacks.

25. Reading Aloud: As an alternative, consider reading the story aloud as a class, taking turns or having volunteers read paragraphs. This can help struggling readers follow along .

26. Note-Taking: Encourage students to jot down interesting facts or questions that arise while reading.

27. Discussion Groups : Divide students into small groups to discuss the key points of the story. Each group can share their findings, ensuring everyone has a comprehensive understanding.

28. Question and Answer Session: Allow students to ask questions about the story. Address any uncertainties and reinforce important concepts.

29. Visualization Sharing: Have students share the mental images they created while reading. This can be done through drawings, short written descriptions, or verbal communication.

30. Summarization: Ask students to summarize the main points of the story in a few sentences. This can be done individually or collaboratively.

31. Conservation Discussion: Lead a brief discussion on the conservation efforts mentioned in the story and why it's important to protect these seals.

32. Reflection Journal: Have students write a short reflection on what they learned, found interesting, or any questions they still have about the world's largest seals.