Build Background

• Involve students in a discussion about snakes. Create a KWL chart on the board and fill in the first column with things students know about snakes.
• Pose the statement that rattlesnakes are nothing but a deadly nuisance and should be destroyed. Ask students to give their opinions about the statement.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Strategy: Ask and answer questions

• Give students their copies of the book and have them preview the front and back covers and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers and offer ideas as to what kind of book this is and what it might be about. Model how to ask questions during the preview.
• Have students turn to the table of contents. Remind students that the table of contents gives them an overview of what the book is about. Each chapter head provides an idea of what they will read in the book. Model using the table of contents to ask questions about the book. Then ask students to share questions they have about the book based on the covers and table of contents. Record your questions and the students’ questions in the second column of the KWL chart.
• Think aloud: I see the second chapter is about where rattlers live. This makes me wonder if rattlers are found in our area. I’ll write that question in the second column of the chart. I also want to know if baby rattlers are poisonous. I’ll add that question to the chart, too.
• Have students preview the rest of the book, looking at photos, captions, and sidebar text. Have them add any questions to the chart.
• Students should use a variety of strategies while reading. Click here for tips on teaching reading strategies.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Remind students of the strategies they can use to work out words they don’t know. For example, they can use what they know about letter and sound correspondences to figure out the word. They can look for base words, prefixes, and suffixes. They can use the context to work out meanings of unfamiliar words.
• Model how to apply word-attack strategies. Point out a word in bold, such as the word cold-blooded on page 7. Have students follow along as you read the sentence in which it is found. Model how they can use the context to figure out the meaning of this word. Point out the words this means in the second sentence and tell them that this is a clue that the text is going to provide a definition of the word. Read the second sentence and ask students what the word cold-blooded means.
• Remind students that they should check whether words make sense by rereading the sentence.
• For additional teaching tips on word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to see if their questions from the KWL chart are answered. Tell students that they may stop reading at any point to volunteer a new question. Allow students to raise their hands and offer questions for the chart as they read.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read the introduction. Ask students if they have new questions. Write any questions on the KWL chart. Ask if any of the questions on the chart have been answered. Put a check by any of these questions.
• Tell students to read the rest of the book, keeping in mind any questions they have.

    Tell students to make a small question mark in their books beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

Reflect on Reading Strategies

• Ask students what words they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they might read these words using word-attack strategies and context clues.
• Have students share any other questions they had while they were reading. Discuss how asking and answering questions when reading helps keep the reader actively involved in the meaning-making process.
• Have students review the questions on the KWL chart. Put check marks next to those that were answered. Have students reference the text to provide answers to place in the third column.

Comprehension: Identify main idea and supporting details

• Model: Explain that every author has a main idea in mind for a book when he or she writes. In addition, the author has a main idea for each chapter. The headings of the chapters often provide clues as to what the main idea of the chapter is. Model by turning to page 19 and discussing the paragraph. Point out that often, the main idea of a section or paragraph is in the first sentence. Read the first sentence out loud and point out that all of the other sentences in the paragraph are details that support the idea that rattlers are biting in self-defense.
• Check for understanding: Have students skim the third chapter, and ask them what they think the main idea of that chapter might be based on the heading and the text.
• Discussion: Have students reread the introduction. When they have finished, ask them what they think the author is trying to tell them about rattlesnakes in this section of the book. Help them understand that this part of the text is called persuasive text, meaning that the author wants the reader to think about things a certain way. The author wants the reader to look at rattlesnakes with an open mind and understand that they do a lot of good. Ask students what they think the main idea of the introduction is.
• Independent practice: Have students fill in the Main Idea worksheet and determine the main idea of each chapter listed on the chart. Discuss their responses. As you discuss the main ideas, help students understand that the author is providing facts about rattlesnakes in some parts of the book and explaining how something happens in other parts of the book. Ask if they can identify the parts that explain something (how rattlers move and how rattlers hunt).
• Extend the discussion:

    Instruct students to use the last page of their book to write about how the book changed any of their ideas about rattlesnakes.

Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage: Identify words that tell where or how (adverbial phrases)

• Explain to students that writers often use groups of words to tell where or how something happens. These phrases are important in a report because they clarify information about the topic. These phrases are called adverbial phrases because they work like adverbs to modify verbs.
• Have students read the first sentence, and ask them how rattlers strike. Have them underline the words with a deadly bite.
• Next, have them turn to page 6 and find phrases that tell where these snakes are found, such as in almost every state, in the deserts.
• Explain that these phrases begin with words such as in, on, under, with, and out.
• Have students practice identifying "where" and "how" phrases with the Adverbial Phrases worksheet.

Vocabulary: Suffixes -tion, -ion

• Write the word hibernation on the board. Ask students what the base word of hibernation is. When they say hibernate, write it on the board.
• Tell students that hibernate is a verb that tells what snakes do, and use it in an oral sentence: Rattlers hibernate in winter.
• Explain that when we add the suffix -ion to the word hibernate, we create a noun. To add the suffix, we need to drop the e and add -ion.
• Explain that sometimes we need to add other letters plus -ion when we add the suffix. Write the following words on the board and have students discuss what letters have been added or dropped to create the new words: add/addition; adopt/adoption; consult/consultation; reserve/reservation.
• Give students the Suffixes worksheet.

Vocabulary: Read and understand content words

• Have students work in pairs to find words in the book that are specifically related to the concept of rattlers. Have students share the words they found and discuss the word meanings.
• Give students the Contents Word worksheet and have them complete the puzzle using the content words from the text.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their books independently or with a partner. Partners can take turns reading in the book.

Home Connection

• Give students their books to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. 

Debate/Speaking

• Ask half of the students to take the negative side of the statement posed prior to reading: that rattlers are a deadly nuisance and should be destroyed. Have the other half take the affirmative side.
• Give each side a few minutes to prepare its argument. Then have the two groups defend their points of view in a discussion. After about five minutes, have the two groups change sides and argue for the opposite point of view.

Writing

• Have students write a story about an encounter with a snake in the desert.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• identify the main ideas and details of the selected chapters.
• recognize phrases that tell where or how and understand their purpose.
• make new words by correctly adding the suffixes -ion and -tion.

Comprehension Checks

• Retelling Rubric