Sugaring Weather - HMH

Number of Words: 1,449

L E S S O N 9 T E A C H E R ’ S G U I D E

Sugaring Weatherby Roger Morrell

Fountas-Pinnell Level RHistorical FictionSelection SummaryTwelve-year-old Samuel eagerly seizes the opportunity to collect maple sap with his father. When a blizzard makes it impossible for the two to return home, they take refuge in a cave after sheltering their horses in nearby trees. After the storm, father and son arrive home with the fi rst of many barrels of sap they will collect this season.

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Characteristics of the Text Genre • Historical fi ction

Text Structure • Third-person narrative with chronological sequencing of plot events • Detailed episodes help the reader to draw conclusions and make generalizations.

Content • Practice of sugaring, or tapping maple trees to collect their syrup • A blizzard

Themes and Ideas • Help family members with chores and tasks.• Respect the power of nature.• Understanding a way of life of the past

Language and Literary Features

• Sensory language: plop…plop…plop, scorching, slashed, shrieking, howling• Foreshadowing: “I don’t trust this weather.”

Sentence Complexity • Primarily simple sentences, some with compound verbs• Occasional inverted sentence order: Sticking out of the tree trunks were wooden spouts,

called spiles.• Dashes, exclamations, and italics

Vocabulary • Numerous syrup production terms such as tap, sugaring, spiles• Terms associated with an earlier American culture such as sleigh, hitched, harness

Words • Many –ing suffi xes: scorching, exploring, shrieking, clattering, openingIllustrations • Realistic, colorful illustrations support the text.

Book and Print Features • Thirteen pages of text in short paragraphs• Captions set in colorful font

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

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Target Vocabulary

annoyance – something that is irritating, p. 3

bundle – to dress or wrap warmly clammy – cold, sticky, and moist,

p. 6

commotion – a lot of noise and confusion

critical – of great importance, p. 5demolished – completely

destroyed, p. 12

elite – a group of individuals that are the best at what they do

realization – sudden awareness secured – held down tightly, p. 3squalling – loud crying

Sugaring Weather by Roger Morrell

Build BackgroundHelp students use their knowledge of helping out family members to visualize the selection. Build interest by asking a question such as the following: What chore do you like sharing with an adult? Read the title and author and talk about the cover illustration. Tell students that this story is historical fi ction, so although the characters are not real, the events are things that could have happened in the past.

Introduce the TextGuide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions:

Page 3: Point out the illustration of Samuel and Pa talking. Discuss the importance of doing chores for the family once you are old enough. Suggested language: Samuel is discussing the journey he is about to make with his father to collect maple syrup. Ask: Why might his younger sister feel annoyance about not being old enough to help?

Page 5: Point out the illustrations of the large barrel and the small buckets attached to the trees. Explain that Samuel and Pa need to fi ll the large barrel with sap. Ask: Why do you think it is it critical that they work together to get this job done?

Page 6: Read the sentence: The hard work strained their arms and made their skin hot and clammy. Ask: Have you ever done hard work that made you strain or sweat? What kind of work was it?

Page 9: Look at the picture on this page. Ask: What new challenges are Samuel and Pa facing on their trip?

Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to fi nd out how Samuel and Pa go sugaring.

2 Lesson 9: Sugaring WeatherGrade 5© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

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ReadHave students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their understanding of the text as needed.

Remind students to use the Infer/Predict Strategy and to use text clues to fi gure out what isn’t directly stated by the author as they read.

Discuss and Revisit the TextPersonal ResponseInvite students to share their personal responses to the story.Suggested language: Do you think Pa and Samuel made the right decision by hiding out in the cave until the blizzard was over? Why or why not?

Ways of ThinkingAs you discuss the text, help students understand these points:

Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text

• Samuel and Pa go sugaring, and a blizzard forces them to take shelter in a cave on their way home.

• Samuel and Pa return home after the storm with a barrel of maple sap.

• Samuel and his sister Phoebe look forward to more sugaring.

• Sometimes unexpected events change people’s plans.

• Nature can have powerful effects.

• It takes a lot of work to make a houshold run, and that was especially true in the 1800s.

• The realistic pictures help the reader picture the setting of the story.

• The joking exchange of words and gestures between siblings is realistic.

• The author includes many details about sugaring to help the reader understand the process.

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

Choices for Further Support• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage with dialogue from the text to act out or

use for readers’ theater. Remind them to pay attention to exclamation points to show Samuel’s enthusiasm about his day of sugaring.

• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go back to the text to support their ideas.

• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples from the text. Provide students with hints on how to identify syllables. For example, the vocabulary word annoyance (page 3) has three syllables: an noy ance. Point out that often words are divided between repeated consonants in the root word (such as the letter n in annoyance). Similarly, the word clammy (page 6) is divided into two syllables between the repeated m consonant: clam my.



Writing about ReadingCritical ThinkingHave students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 9.7.

RespondingHave students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.

Target Comprehension SkillConclusions and Generalizations

Target Comprehension Skill Remind students that they can draw

conclusions or make generalizations about a character or situation by looking for key details in a story. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:

Think Aloud

Pa and Samuel are in danger of getting lost as the snowstorm increases in intensity. Add that detail to the chart to support the conclusion that snowstorms can be dangerous.

Practice the SkillHave students share an example of another story in which they drew a conclusion or made a generalization.

Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the TextHave students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.

Assessment Prompts• Which sentences on page 6 support the idea that sugaring is long, hard work?

• Ma and Phoebe burst out the front door when they heard the jingling of the harness well past midnight. This action shows that

________________________________________________________________.

• Why so you think the author begins and ends the story with the family sharing a meal?



15

RespondingTARGET SKILL Conclusions and

Generalizations What details tell you that a

storm like the one in the story can be dangerous?

Copy and complete the chart below to answer the

question.

Write About It

Text to Self Do you agree with the generalization

that 7-year-old children are not big enough or patient

enough to go sugaring? Write a paragraph explaining

your opinion.

Conclusion A snowstorm like the one in the story can be dangerous.

Detail ?

Detail ?

Detail Soon, snowfl akes were falling steadily.

Detail ?

5_025452_BL_LRSE_L09_SUGARING.in15 15 11/19/09 12:06:27 AM

Critical ThinkingRead and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text What two things must happen to help sap

fl ow easily from the trees?

2. Think within the text How much syrup does 40 gallons of sap

produce?

3. Think beyond the text What can you conclude about keeping safe

when going sugaring?

4. Think about the text How does the author let us know a

snowstorm is likely to happen while Pa and Samuel are sugaring?

Making Connections Think of a time when you were forbidden to go somewhere or do something that was considered unsafe. Write about the situation. Did you want to go to that place or do that thing in the first place? Were you relieved or upset that you were not allowed?

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Sugaring WeatherCritical Thinking

Critical Thinking© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Lesson 9B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 9 . 7Name Date

9 Grade 5, Unit 2: Wild Encounters

freezing nights and warm days

about a gallon

Possible responses shown.

You should avoid going sugaring in bad weather, dress warmly,

and know where to fi nd shelter if caught in a storm.

Ma says that she doesn’t trust the weather. This tells the reader

that it is likely that there will be a snowstorm.

09_5_246253RTXEAN_L09.indd 9 3/23/09 9:12:21 AM

English Language DevelopmentReading Support Pair advanced and intermediate readers to read the story softly, or have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Remind students that this selection is about working together and staying calm in a crisis.

Cognates The story includes many English-Spanish cognates. Point out the following words and ask students to identify others in the story: cabin (cabaña), Pa (Papá), barrel (barril) and critical (crítico).

Oral Language DevelopmentCheck student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’ English profi ciency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.

Beginning/Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced

Speaker 1: Who goes sugaring?

Speaker 2: Samuel and Pa

Speaker 1: How do they travel?

Speaker 2: in a wagon pulled by horses

Speaker 1: What happens to delay their trip home?

Speaker 2: a blizzard

Speaker 1: Why does Samuel say Phoebe needs patience for sugaring?

Speaker 2: Samuel says Phoebe needs patience because it takes a long time to fi ll a barrel with syrup.

Speaker 1: Why is Samuel nervous in the cave?

Speaker 2: The cave contains bear bones, spiders, and salamanders.

Speaker 1: What helps Samuel recover from the scare of the blizzard?

Speaker 2: The fi re and soup warm Samuel. Telling Phoebe about the blizzard makes it seems like more of an adventure than a scary time.



Name Date

Sugaring Weather Thinking Beyond the Text

Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two paragraphs.

Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal knowledge to reach new understandings.

Think about a time that you kept playing or working outside when you should have stopped. On page 6, Pa says: “We should fill this barrel before we head home.” Was Pa’s decision to keep working until the barrel was full a wise choice? Why or why not? What did he seem to forget about nature?



Critical ThinkingRead and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text What two things must happen to help sap

fl ow easily from the trees?

2. Think within the text How much syrup does 40 gallons of sap

produce?

3. Think beyond the text What can you conclude about keeping safe

when going sugaring?

4. Think about the text How does the author let us know a

snowstorm is likely to happen while Pa and Samuel are sugaring?

Making Connections Think of a time when you were forbidden to go somewhere or do something that was considered unsafe. Write about the situation. Did you want to go to that place or do that thing in the first place? Were you relieved or upset that you were not allowed?

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Sugaring WeatherCritical Thinking

Lesson 9B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 9 . 7Name Date



1414

295

Student Date Lesson 9

B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 9 . 1 1

Sugaring WeatherRunning Record Form

Sugaring Weather • LEVEL R

Behavior Code Error

Read word correctly ✓cat 0

Repeated word, sentence, or phrase

®cat

0

Omission —cat 1

Behavior Code Error

Substitution cutcat 1

Self-corrects cut sccat 0

Insertion the

ˆcat 1

Word told Tcat 1

page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections

8 Pa slowly drove the sleigh out of the grove. The snow fell

faster and more thickly. The wind was picking up, too. Samuel

shivered. He had heard stories about folks getting lost in the

blinding snow of a sudden blizzard. Suddenly, one of the

horses stumbled, causing the others to stumble, too. Pa got

down and steadied them. He called to Samuel over the howling

wind, “It’s too dangerous to go on! We must find shelter!”

Samuel and his father gently but firmly led the horses through

the deepening snow. Samuel could barely make out the shapes

of the boulders and trees.

Comments: Accuracy Rate (# words read correctly/102 ×

100)

%

Total Self- Corrections



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Sugaring Weather - HMH