Classroom Resource

Avalanche!

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Science

Grade(s)

2

Overview

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can be used to provide information regarding geologic events that happen over a short period of time, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson. This learning activity includes a StepRead: StepReads are less complex versions of the original article. StepRead1 (SR1) is less complex than the original article, and StepRead2 (SR2) is less complex than SR1. This will allow the teacher to use this learning activity with students of varying ability levels.

English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 2

ELA21.2.4

Orally answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about a text or conversation, using complete sentences to provide key ideas and details.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.2.4

Vocabulary

  • Orally
  • Who, what, when where, why, and how questions
  • Complete sentences
  • Key ideas
  • Key details

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Key ideas and details should be included when answering questions.
  • Complete sentences, which contain a subject and a predicate, should be used when answering questions.
  • Who, when, and where questions will have a concrete, objective answer.
  • What, why, and how questions may have a more abstract, subjective answer.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Orally answer questions about a text or conversation using complete sentences that provide information about key ideas and details.
  • Orally answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about a text or conversation with appropriate key ideas and details.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • When answering who, what, when, where, why, and how questions they should provide key ideas and details from a text or conversation to demonstrate their comprehension.
  • Speaking in complete sentences helps them clearly communicate their message and their understanding.
Science (2015) Grade(s): 2

SC15.2.8

Make observations from media to obtain information about Earth’s events that happen over a short period of time (e.g., tornados, volcanic explosions, earthquakes) or over a time period longer than one can observe (e.g., erosion of rocks, melting of glaciers).

Unpacked Content

UP:SC15.2.8

Vocabulary

  • Earth events/natural phenomena
  • Earthquake
  • Flood
  • Tornado
  • Volcanic explosions
  • Glaciers
  • Erosion
  • Landslides
  • Weathering

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Earth events and the results of those events may occur slowly or rapidly.
  • Some events are much longer than can be observed.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Make observations and obtain information from multiple sources to provide evidence about Earth events.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Eart's events may change the Earth slowly or rapidly.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Crosscutting Concepts

Stability and Change
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 2

ELA21.2.R3

Expand background knowledge and build vocabulary through discussion, reading, and writing.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.2.R3

Vocabulary

  • Background knowledge
  • Vocabulary
  • Discussion

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Relating experiences through discussions, writing, and reading will help build background knowledge and improve vocabulary.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Connect new concepts to prior experiences to increase background knowledge through discussions, reading, and writing.
  • Construct the meaning of words through discussions, reading, and writing.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Background knowledge can increase by relating experiences to new ideas, topics, and words while participating in discussions, reading, and writing.
  • Vocabulary will increase by constructing the meaning of words while participating in discussions, reading, and writing.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 2

ELA21.2.20

Use grade-level academic and domain-specific vocabulary to gain meaning from text.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.2.20

Vocabulary

  • Academic vocabulary
  • Domain-specific vocabulary

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Academic vocabulary is language that is more formal than spoken language.
  • Domain-specific vocabulary refers to words that are used specifically in school subject areas, like math, science, and social studies.
  • Vocabulary knowledge can be used to comprehend text.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Use knowledge of second grade-level academic and domain-specific vocabulary words to accurately comprehend text.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Learning the meaning of academic, domain-specific vocabulary words will help them comprehend text in a variety of subject areas.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 2

ELA21.2.22

Use content knowledge built during read-alouds and independent reading of informational and literary texts by participating in content-specific discussions with peers and/or through writing.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.2.22

Vocabulary

  • Content knowledge
  • Read-alouds
  • Independent reading
  • Informational text
  • Literary Text
  • Content-specific discussions
  • Writing

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Content knowledge is information learned about a specific subject.
  • Content knowledge can be learned by listening to read-alouds or independently reading.
  • Informational text is nonfiction text, and literary text is fictional.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Build content knowledge from listening to text read aloud and from independently reading.
  • Use content knowledge learned from read-alouds and independent reading in content-specific discussions with peers.
  • Use content knowledge learned from read-alouds and independent reading in writing.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Content-specific discussions with peers can demonstrate the content knowledge they learned through read-alouds or independent reading.
  • They can produce writings that demonstrate knowledge of content-specific information.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 2

ELA21.2.30

Read and comprehend literary and informational texts.

Unpacked Content

UP:ELA21.2.30

Vocabulary

  • Comprehend
  • Literary texts
  • Informational texts

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Comprehension is understanding text that is read.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Read and comprehend literary (fictional) and informational (nonfiction) text.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • They can read literary and informational texts and use comprehension skills to understand what they have read.
Link to Resource
https://www.readworks.org/article/Avalanche!/5d32024b-e787-429a-94bc-bae13f89bc…

CR Resource Type

Learning Activity

Resource Provider

ReadWorks.org
Accessibility

Accessibility

Audio resources: includes a transcript or subtitles
License

License Type

Custom

Custom License Type (URL)

https://about.readworks.org/terms-of-use.html

Comments or Notes

ReadWorks is a website that provides K-12 teachers with free literacy resources (About ReadWorks). ReadWorks has literary and informational texts on a variety of subjects and reading skills. You may narrow your search using grade level or Lexile level, making this website a wonderful tool for differentiation. Students will complete their work digitally, and you will provide their score and feedback digitally. This makes it easy to go paperless for this activity.

Prior to implementing this activity, you will need to sign up for an Educator Account on ReadWorks. After setting up an account, create a class from the Class Admin tab, this will provide you with a Class Code to give to students. Next, use the Find Content tab to search for the informational article that will be used during this activity, "Avalanche!" After navigating to the article, click on the blue Assign button to assign it to your class.

Each student will need access to a digital device, such as a tablet or laptop. The first time students enter the website they will need to enter the Class Code that is listed on your Class Admin page. Alternatively, you can print the article and corresponding questions for students, if digital devices are not available. The teacher could also complete this activity by projecting the article and questions for the whole class to view.

Approved Date

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