Building Skills
Grammar
Past -and present-tense verbs
Have students turn to page 4 and name the verbs used on this page. Write started and was on the board. Point out that these are past-tense verbs that describe something that has happened in the past. Now have students turn to the next page. Have them name the verbs while you list them on the board: is, has, can affect, have, carry, put, etc. Explain that these verbs are not past tense. Ask them why they think the tense has changed. Tell students that often, nonfiction texts use a kind of present tense called "timeless present tense." This means that the action is not just happening in the present, but it is something that always happens. Every time Buzz removes the honey, he needs to lift out the honeycomb and put it on the truck. This is what he has done in the past, what he does today, and what he will do tomorrow. Have students analyze and discuss the rest of the verbs in the book.
Suffixes -y and -ly
Write the word cloudy on the board. Ask students what the root word is and write cloud next to cloudy.
Say: Cloud is the noun in the sentence "I can see a cloud." When I add -ly to the word cloud, I make an adjective, for example, "It is a cloudy day." The word cloudy describes what the day is like.
Write the word easily on the board and ask students to tell you the root word. Write easy next to easily.
Say: Easy is an adjective that describes something. When I add -ly to easy, I have to change the y to i. I make an adverb that tells how something is done, for example, "the bees are easily riled up."
Have students turn to page 13 to look for a word with -ly ending (originally). Ask them whether the word is an adjective or an adverb and what it describes.
Give students worksheet 2 and have them add -y to the first group of words to make new adjectives and -ly to the second group of words to make adverbs. They should use the new words in sentences.
Word Work
Compound Words
Write the word honeycomb on the board. Ask students what two words make up this word. Explain that this is an example of a compound word where two words are used together to make a different word. Challenge students to find other examples of compound words in the text: anymore, afternoon, springtime, outside, beeswax, wintertime, summertime, beehive, honeybees, hardworking. Use the word afternoon to model how you can use the meanings of the two smaller words to understand the meaning of the larger word. Point out the word two-week on page 5 and explain that sometimes, a hyphen joins two words to form one word. In this case, it forms an adjective that describes how long the delay is.
Targeted Vocabulary Words
Discuss the vocabulary with students. Explain that reports and other nonfiction will often include specialized vocabulary about the topic.
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