Text Type: Nonfiction/Informational
Page Count: 24
Word Count: 2,022

Book Summary
The next time you pull up your sheets, put on a shirt, or dry yourself off with a fluffy towel, think about how these products were made--some form of weaving produced them all. Weaving Around the World will first tell you all about the history of and mechanics of weaving, from humans' earliest inventions to today's sophisticated mechanized looms. Then, get ready to go on a trip around the world, to find out how artisans and people from the six continents use weaving to create beautiful expressions of their culture and traditions.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Make, revise, and confirm predictions

Objectives

• Use the reading strategy of making, revising, and confirming predictions to understand text
• Identify details to compare and contrast information in text
• Identify and use complex sentences
• Recognize and use content vocabulary

Materials

• Book -- Weaving Around the World (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Dictionaries
• Prediction, compare and contrast, complex sentences worksheets
• Discussion cards

      Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may be completed with paper and pencil if books are reused.)

Vocabulary

• Content words: artisans, backstrap loom, diversity, flat weaves, intermingled, intricate, mechanized, motifs, raised weaves, spinning, shed, textiles, tweed, warp, weft

Build Background

• Ask volunteers to tell about their clothing and what it is made out of. Ask students how they think the fabric was made.
• Show students an arts and craft loom, or a picture of an antique loom. Ask them if they think a classmate's shirt was made on one of these looms.
• Tell students that most fabrics for clothing are indeed produced on a loom, although a more modern and mechanized one than the one you showed them.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Book

• Give students their copy of the book. Guide them to the front and back covers and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage them to offer ideas as to what type of book it is (genre, text type, fiction or nonfiction, and so on) and what it might be about.
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book and author's name).
• Preview the table of contents on page 3. Remind students that the table of contents provides an overview of what the book is about. Ask students what they expect to read about in the book based on what they see in the table of contents. (Accept any answers students can justify.)

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Make, revise, and confirm predictions

• Give students the prediction worksheet. Explain that the guide uses vocabulary from the book. Some of the statements are true and others are false. Have students read the statements and make predictions about whether or not they are true based on what they might already know about weaving. Reinforce that there is no right or wrong answer at this point, but that you want students to think about each statement and make logical predictions based on what they already know. 
• Have students revisit the cover of the book. Ask them if the cover information gives them more ideas about the topic of weaving.
• Have students turn to the table of contents and read the section heads. Have them look at their prediction worksheet and suggest which section might provide information about the statements on the guide.
  Think aloud: There are several statements on the worksheet about different countries. Beginning on page 9, I think I will probably find the information I need to check whether the statements are true or false.
• Have students preview the text boxes, maps, and photo illustrations in the book. Encourage them to comment on and ask questions about what they see.
• As students read, encourage them to use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted strategy presented in this section. For tips on additional reading strategies, click here.

Introduce the Comprehension Skill: Compare and contrast

• Explain that one way to organize information in a book is to compare topics in an attribute chart. Create an attribute chart similar to the compare and contrast worksheet on the board. Write the words Writing and Drawing Tools in the first box. Then write Outside Casing, Color of Writing, and Size/Thickness in the remaining boxes across the top of the chart. Label the boxes down the left side Pencil, Pen, and Marker.
• Show students a pencil, pen, and marker. Explain to them that you have listed several attributes of writing tools so that you may compare them side-by-side. Invite students to assist you in filling in the chart (a pencil has a wooden, yellow outside casing, produces gray writing, is long and thin, and so on). Model how to write each response on the attribute chart.
• Ask students how identifying ways that a pencil, pen, and marker are alike and different helped them understand the topic of Writing and Drawing Tools. Think-aloud: To understand and remember new information in a book, I can think about how information is alike and different. I know that this is one strategy that good readers use, so I'm going to compare and contrast new information as I read. I can use an attribute chart to help me keep track of this information.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Point out the words on the prediction worksheet that may be unfamiliar to students. (Navajo, Guatemalan, African, Scottish, Maori). Explain to students that these are all proper nouns referring to the groups of people they will be reading about. It is not likely that students will be able to determine the meaning or pronunciation of these words from the context, so remind them of the strategies they can use to work out words they don't know. Tell students that they can look at the letter the word begins with and what they know about syllables and vowels (one vowel sound per syllable) to try and sound out the rest of the word.
• Explain to students that particularly long or challenging words will sometimes have a pronunciation guide right in the text. Have them turn to page 20 and read the first sentence. Ask them to put their finger on the word Maori and then look at the letters in parentheses next to it (MOU-ree). These letters explain how to pronounce the word.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read to find out more about the history of weaving and about traditional weaving traditions around the world. As they read remind them to keep in mind the statements on the prediction worksheet.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read page 4. Encourage those who finish early to go back and reread.
• Ask students to then refer to the prediction worksheet. Model how to confirm a statement.
  Think-aloud: On page 4, I read about how our early ancestors could catch more fish with a woven net than with hooks or spears because woven fibers are so strong. The first statement on my prediction worksheet says, Woven fibers are beautiful but not very strong. Before reading, I checked "True" for that statement. I'm going to cross out my original answer and change it to "False" because I now know that woven fibers are indeed strong. I will also write this in the third box of my worksheet.
• Check for understanding: Have students read pages 5 through 8. Then ask them to again refer back to their prediction worksheet to see if any more statements can be confirmed or revised (statements 2 and 3).
• Ask a volunteer to read statement 2 aloud, what his or her original prediction was, and whether the statement was confirmed in this section (yes).
• Pointing out to students the section heading on page 9, Weaving Around the World. Have them take a brief look back at the table of contents to see which countries are listed that they will be reading about. Have students read pages 9 through 11.
• Distribute copies of the compare and contrast worksheet observing aloud how similar it is to the chart you created on the board. Explain that this chart will help students to keep track of the different countries they are going to read about. Model how to fill in the first row with North America, Navajo rugs, women, and No, respectively.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Encourage them to continue checking the statements on their prediction worksheet, and confirming or revising their predictions.

      Have students make a question mark in their book beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. Encourage them to use the strategies they have learned to read each word and figure out its meaning.

       Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their book. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Allow students time to finish their prediction worksheet.
• Think-aloud: As I look back over the statements on the prediction worksheet, I see that most of them were true statements, even though I didn't predict them all to be true. But it's not important that I predicted correctly; reading these statements and making predictions helped me to read more purposefully and will help me to remember this interesting information.
• Ask students to explain how using a prediction worksheet prepared them for reading and helped them understand the text.
• Independent practice: Have students share their make, revised, and confirmed predictions with a partner.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Use students' completed prediction worksheet to review the characteristics of weavers around the world. Ask students to share some observations they have about the similarities and differences of the different cultures.
• Independent practice: Using the compare and contrast worksheet, have students write two comparative sentences on the back of their worksheet, such as: Both the Asante and Maori peoples consider weaving to be a spiritual and religious expression. If time allows, discuss their responses.
• Enduring understanding: For each of the cultures discussed in this book, the author tells us how weaving has a religious, cultural, and historical tradition. After reading this book, do you think it is important that artistic traditions be passed down from generation to generation? Why or why not?

Grammar and Mechanics: Complex sentences

• Review or explain to students that a compound sentence is two or more independent clauses joined together by a coordinating conjunction. An independent clause is a simple sentence -- a sentence that expresses a complete thought -- and always includes a subject and a verb. Review with students a list of coordinating conjunctions (and, nor, but, for, yet, so, and or). Give the following example: I like to weave, but I find it hard to do. Have a volunteer come to the board and circle the coordinating conjunction (but). Ask: What two independent clauses does the word but join? (I like to weave, I find it hard to do).
• Explain to students that a complex sentence is different from a compound sentence. Instead of joining two or more independent clauses, a complex sentence joins a dependent clause to an independent clause. A complex sentence uses joining words called subordinating conjunctions. List for students the subordinating conjunctions: after, although, as, because, before, for, if, once, since, so, than, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, while.
• Explain or review that a dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought.
• Have students turn to page 6 in their book and reread the first sentence (Once people began to experiment, the uses multiplied.) Tell students that the subordinating conjunction is found at the beginning of the dependent clause. Have them circle the dependent clause including the subordinating conjunction (Once people began to experiment). Tell students that this part of the sentence is not a complete thought -- the sentence cannot stand on its own. Have students underline the independent clause (the uses multiplied). Explain that this part of the sentence is an independent clause, or a complete thought. Point out to students that it does not matter, which comes first, the independent clause or the dependent clause. Write the sentence on the board with the independent clause first (The uses multiplied, once they began to experiment.)

       Check for understanding: Have students highlight the following sentence on page 22 in their book: As you go about your everyday life, notice all the woven items you use. Have students circle the dependent clause (As you go about your everyday life) and underline the independent clause (notice all the woven items you use). Ask students to identify the conjunction (As).

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the complex sentences worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Word Work: Content vocabulary

• Create a "word splash" on the chalkboard with all the words from the glossary that pertain to weaving (backstrap loom, flat weaves, motifs, raised weaves, spinning, shed, textiles, tweed, warp, weft).
• Explain to students that these are all vocabulary specific to the topic of weaving. It is unlikely that they would see these words in other books.

      Tell students that when a word is very specific and unique to a topic, the author will often include the definition of the word right in the text. Ask students to turn to page 4. Have them highlight or underline the definitions of warp and weft. Have them compare these with the definitions found in the glossary.
      Have students turn to page 8. Ask them to highlight or underline the definition of spinning (in this case, found in the sentence before the word).
      Check for understanding: Have students continue highlighting or underlining the definitions for the remaining words in the word splash.
      Independent practice: Assign one word to each student. Ask them to write their own definition for their assigned word on the back cover of their book. Have them draw a pencil sketch of their word to illustrate its meaning. If time allows, have students share their definitions.

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently. Additionally, allow partners to take turns reading parts of the book to each other.

Home Connection

• Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. Before reading, have students share the prediction worksheet statements with a family member and ask if they think the statements are true or false.

Informational Writing Connection
Review the text box on page 21 with students. Divide students into pairs and have them choose another culture's weaving tradition to research. Provide books, encyclopedias, or access to the school library and the Internet for them to find out more about their specific culture. Ask pairs to create a poster with the information they found and colorful visuals to accompany their written research.

Visit Writing A–Z for a lesson and leveled materials on informational report writing.

Social Studies Connection
In order for students to gain a sequential perspective, create a large timeline on the board or on chart paper. Start with "0" in the middle, and mark off increments of 1,000 in both directions. Explain to students that "BC" indicates a way of counting years before what we considered Year 1. For example, when we say "in the year 5,000 BC," we have to count backward from zero. Tell students that we count up from zero when we move to the right on the timeline. Make a mark for 2008, and explain that this is where time is now.

Ask students to go back through the text and mark or highlight any dates that are mentioned. As students find dates, have them assist you in locating it on the timeline and labeling it (8,000 BC: first simple loom invented; 1766 BC: Shang period in China, first mechanized loom; 1600: Navajo weaving began; and so on).

Skill Review
Discussion cards covering comprehension skills and strategies not explicitly taught with the book are provided as an extension activity. The following is a list of some ways these cards can be used with students:

• Use as discussion starters for literature circles.
• Have students choose one or more cards and write a response, either as an essay or a journal entry.
• Distribute before reading the book and have students use one of the questions as a purpose for reading.
• Cut apart and use the cards as game cards with a board game.
• Conduct a class discussion as a review before the book quiz.