BLM 1 Home/School Connections: 1. Make Text-to-World Strategy Connections Look at a packaged food you have in your home. Analyze what is in it and the vitamins and other nutrients it contains. Jot down other facts you know about this food or type of food. Draw a conclusion about the healthfulness of the food based on the evidence. Bring your ideas to school to share with the class. 2. Make Text-to-Text Strategy Connections Find an atlas, or collection of maps, at home or online. Choose a map and observe facts about a place or region using details of a map and its key. Use this evidence to draw a conclusion about the place or region. Bring the map to school and share your facts and conclusion. 3. Make a Strategy Connection to Math Make a survey about the most popular television show for kids. Ask your classmates to answer the questions on your survey. Make a graph to compare the votes for the top three shows. Share your results and tell your class what conclusion you draw from the evidence. 4. Make a Strategy Connection to Science Choose a topic you have studied in science. Read a magazine article about this topic in a science magazine for children. Jot down facts that you learn about the topic. Then write a conclusion that you draw based on the facts. 5. Make a Chart Work with a family member to list four facts or examples that tell about your neighborhood. Decide what conclusion you can draw from this evidence. Record your evidence and conclusion on a chart. Sign your name and your family member s name to your chart. Bring your chart to class to share. 6. Think and Write About the Strategy Think about how learning about drawing conclusions has helped you become a more strategic reader. Write about how and when you use this strategy to help you understand what you are reading.
BLM 2 Making Movies Nick and his friend Hannah enjoy making movies. They write and review every script. They visit second-hand stores looking for the best costumes, and they spend weekends finding neighborhood kids to star in their movies. But Nick and Hannah do not make movies all by themselves. Nick s mom reads every movie script and makes corrections. Hannah s mom drives the kids to the second-hand stores and helps select costumes. Both fathers build movie sets, and Hannah s dad films the movies. Even their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Clark, helps by making flyers advertising the movies. Finished movies show on Saturday afternoons in Nick s living room. Guests enjoy popcorn, drinks, and a great movie. Nick and Hannah think moviemaking is a great hobby. Clues: Nick and Hannah write and review every script. They visit second-hand stores looking for costumes. They spend weekends finding neighborhood kids to star in the movies. Conclusion: Making movies takes a lot of work. Clues: Nick s mom reads every movie script and makes corrections. Hannah s mom drives the kids to the second-hand stores and helps select costumes. Both fathers build movie sets, and Hannah s dad films the movies. Conclusion: Nick and Hannah could not make movies by themselves. 2010 Benchmark education company, LLc CAP108 Grade 4 Fiction Poster 2 B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y
BLM 3 Danger on a Mountain 2010 Benchmark education company, LLc CAP109 Grade 4 Nonfiction Poster 3 B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y Imagine a place where deep cracks in the ice open and close without warning, avalanches occur unexpectedly, and oxygen is short in supply. Does this sound like somewhere you d like to visit? Many say yes to this question. They pack their bags, travel to the Himalayan Mountains, and climb Mount Everest. Reaching Everest s peak is not easy. Climbers face some of the coldest weather in the Northern Hemisphere. The bitter temperatures have led to frostbite and powerful winds have blown climbers right off the mountain. Oxygen is a problem for climbers, too. Only one-third the amount of oxygen at sea level is available at the top of Mount Everest. Between avalanches, frostbite, wind, lack of oxygen, and other dangers, why would anyone want to climb Mount Everest? In the words of British climber George Mallory, Because it s there. Evidence: Conclusion: Photo credits: Photo A, Photo B: Galen Rowell/Corbis
BLM 4 Wise Words Proverbs are wise, old sayings that come from around the world. At first glance, proverbs may seem to be very different from country to country. However, when you discover the meaning of the different sayings, you see that people are more alike than they may appear at first. Here s an example. A Russian proverb says, If you chase two rabbits, you will catch neither. An Arabic proverb says, He who carries two melons in one hand is sure to drop at least one of them. In Africa, people say, You cannot hold on to two cows tails at once. True, you may never chase a rabbit or hold on to a cow s tail. But you can still learn from these proverbs. They all mean that it s best to focus on one task at a time. Trying to do two things at once often means doing both poorly. Grade 4 B e n c h m a r k e d u c a t i o n c o m p a n y Nonfiction Poster 4 Illustration: Bill Ledger 2010 Benchmark education company, LLc CAP109 GR4_DrawConc_pstr.indd 4 3/19/10 12:13:14 PM
BLM 5 Wise Words: Comprehension Questions Directions: Use information from the poster to answer questions 1 4. 1. What can you conclude about all people from the evidence in this passage? A They all get food by farming or hunting. B They find colorful but true ways to sum up life lessons. They all are clever storytellers. C 2. Which sentence offers evidence that all people share similar experiences? A Proverbs appear to differ greatly from country to country. B Proverbs often mention wild or tame animals. Proverbs from different lands often give the same advice. C 3. Why are proverbs that were created ages ago still useful to people? A People still eat rabbits, melons, and milk today. B People today do not have the imagination needed to write proverbs. C People still have the same basic nature and make the same mistakes. 4. Why are most proverbs short, with colorful situations and language? A Short, colorful proverbs can easily be taught to children and will be remembered. B These qualities make the proverbs easy to write down on the odd scrap of paper. They are easily translated into different languages. C
BLM 6 Constructed Written Response: Text Clues and Evidence What I Already Know My Conclusion Writing Checklist I identified three or more clues in the passage. I listed what I already know about the topic. I connected the clues to what I already know. I wrote a conclusion that makes sense and is based on evidence and what I know.