Teacher's Resource - Nelson Education

OR
FOR THOSE STUDENTS WHO
NEED ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
The tops of the trees make up the roof
of the forest, called the canopy. Most of
these trees are about 40 metres tall.
A few even taller trees, called emergents,
poke their heads above the canopy.
Beneath the canopy is the understorey.
In this shady area, small trees, shrubs,
and climbing plants compete for the light.
Little sunlight passes through the
understorey down to the forest floor. It is
damp and warm, so leaves and twigs
rot quickly. Funguses are important
decomposers that live on the forest floor.
Decomposers break down the leaves
and release nutrients (chemicals that help
other plants grow). Creatures such
as termites, earthworms, and
spiders search the floor
for food.
NEL 47
Differentiated Instruction: ESL/ELL
Introducing Key Vocabulary and Content Concepts
Preview the key vocabulary and content concepts by using the following
activities:
• Introduce key vocabulary by sketching a tree and labelling the key
concepts (canopy, understorey, forest floor). Then draw a rotting log.
• Print and review the key vocabulary from pages 44 and 45 (rotting log, decay,
feeders, recyclers, nutrients, plants, animals). Point to the words and then to
your drawing and use the term visualize. Print visualize on the board.
• Read “In a Rainforest” aloud in chunks, pointing to the text and then to
your sketch and the printed vocabulary. Summarize by saying “I
visualized as I read.” Check understanding by asking the students to
point to the canopy and to the rotting log.
• Ask students to create their own sketches of the rainforest, including
some creatures. Encourage them to label their creatures and to use their
drawings to describe the rainforest orally.
• Have them participate fully in the visualizing lesson with the other students.
DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:
GUIDED PRACTICE
1. Read the first paragraph on
page 46 to students. Ask:
• What has the writer done to
help you visualize the
rainforest (compared a
rainforest to a tall building)
Sketch a tall building to help
students relate the rainforest to
the image described in the
Student Book.
2. Read the heading The Canopy,
on page 47, then ask students to
read the text under it. Ask:
• What makes up the roof of
the rainforest (the tops of trees)
3. Make a comparison to a
structure known to students
that is about 40 m high, such
as a building of about 10 to 12
stories.
4. Read the heading The
Understorey, then ask students
to read the text under it. Ask:
• What makes the understorey
so shady (lots of trees above,
shrubs and plants are crowded
together)
Refer back to the sketch you
drew and show where the
understorey would be.
5. Read the heading The Forest
Floor, then ask students to read
the text under it. Ask:
• When you make a picture in
your mind, what do you see
on the forest floor (fallen
trees, rotting leaves, insects,
funguses)
• How does this mental picture
remind you of what you
learned in “Life in a Rotting
Log” (it reminds me that there
is life among dead things on the
forest floor)
Refer back to your sketch and
show where the forest floor
would be.
➜ CONTINUED
NEL In a Rainforest 25