Before After Reading Activities Before Reading Building Academic Vocabulary and Background Knowledge Before reading a book it is important to tap into what your child or students already know about the topic This will help them develop their vocabulary increase their reading comprehension and make connections across the curriculum be about in the book’s chapters you might learn about it from this book Why or why not 1 Look at the cover of the book What will this book 2 What do you already know about the topic 3 Let’s study the Table of Contents What will you learn about 4 What would you like to learn about this topic Do you think 5 Use a reading journal to write about your knowledge of this 6 Read the book 7 8 After reading the book complete the activities below In your reading journal record what you learned about the topic and your response to the book topic Record what you already know about the topic and what you hope to learn about the topic Content Area Vocabulary Read the list What do these words mean glucose herbaceous node nutrients phloem seedling tubers wilt xylem After Reading Comprehension and Extension Activity After reading the book work on the following questions with your child or students in order to check their level of reading comprehension and content mastery 1 What are the main tasks that stems do for plants Summarize 2 Could plants survive without stems Infer 3 How are woody stems different from herbaceous stems Asking questions 4 Have you eaten any edible plant stems Which ones Text to self connection 5 What are some reasons that plant stems might wilt or droop Asking questions Extension Activity After reading the book try this activity You’ll need two glasses or jars Add a small amount of water to one jar but leave the other one empty dry Into each jar place one twig one rose with its stem and one fl ower like a tulip or dandelion also with its stem Leave these stems in the jars for a couple of days What are the differences between the stems in the dry jar and those in the water-fi lled jar
duckweed 4 Do you want a caption here sequoia tree
Plants Are Everywhere Picture a potted plant in a windowsill Or an elm tree in your backyard Plants are all around us Plants come in many sizes shapes and colors Huge sequoia trees are hundreds of feet tall But duckweed plants are as tiny as ice cream sprinkles Plants of all sizes usually have the same main parts including roots a stem and leaves fruit stem leaves fl ower roots 5
