Closer Reading For Deeper Learning Grades 3-5 Wisconsin State Reading Association February 5, 2015 Carol Jago cjago@caroljago.com
A Bat Is Born By Randall Jarrell A bat is born Naked and blind and pale. His mother makes a pocket of her tail And catches him. He clings to her long fur By his thumbs and toes and teeth. And then the mother dances through the night Doubling and looping, soaring, somersaulting Her baby hangs on underneath. All night, in happiness, she hunts and flies Her sharp cries Like shining needlepoints of sound Go out into the night and, echoing back, Tell her what they have touched. She hears how far it is, how big it is, Which way it s going: She lives by hearing. The mother eats the moths and gnats she catches In full flight; in full flight The mother drinks the water of the pond She skims across. Her baby hangs on tight. Her baby drinks the milk she makes him In moonlight or starlight, in mid-air. Their single shadow, printed on the moon Or fluttering across the stars, Whirls on all night; at daybreak The tired mother flaps home to her rafter. The others are all there. They hang themselves up by their toes, They wrap themselves in their brown wings. Bunched upside down, they sleep in air. Their sharp ears, their sharp teeth, their quick sharp faces Are dull and slow and mild. All the bright day, as the mother sleeps, She folds her wings about her sleeping child. 2
Readers Theater Script: A Bat Is Born Reader #1: Reader #2: A Bat Is Born by Randall Jarrell A bat is born naked and blind and pale. Reader #3: His mother makes a pocket of her tail and catches him. He clings to her long fur, by his thumbs and toes and teeth. Reader #4: And then the mother dances through the night, doubling and looping, soaring, somersaulting Her baby hangs on underneath. All: All night, in happiness, she hunts and flies Reader #1: Her sharp cries like shining needlepoints of sound go out into the night and, echoing back, tell her what they have touched. Reader #4: She hears how far it is, how big it is, which way it s going: She lives by hearing. Reader #3: The mother eats the moths and gnats she catches in full flight; in full flight the mother drinks the water of the pond she skims across. Her baby hangs on tight. All: Her baby drinks the milk she makes him in moonlight or starlight, in mid-air. Reader #2: Their single shadow, printed on the moon Or fluttering across the stars, whirls on all night; at daybreak the tired mother flaps home to her rafter. All: The others are all there. Reader #1: They hang themselves up by their toes, they wrap themselves in their brown wings. Reader #4: Bunched upside down, they sleep in air. Reader #3: Their sharp ears, their sharp teeth, their quick sharp faces are dull and slow and mild. All: All the bright day, as the mother sleeps, she folds her wings about her sleeping child. 3
LANGUAGE STUDY From A Bat Is Born Their sharp ears, their sharp teeth, their quick sharp faces Are dull and slow and mild. Text-dependent questions 1. Why didn t Randall Jarrell just write Their ears, teeth, and faces are dull, slow, and mild.? What is lost? 2. What difference does the adjective sharp make? Why do you think he repeated the word? 3. What effect does the second and have on the line? (Slows the reader down, echoes second line of the poem Naked and blind and pale. ) From Bat Loves the Night Now she unhooks her toes and drops into black space. With a sound like a tiny umbrella opening, she flaps her wings. Bat is flying. Text-dependent questions 1. What does the verb drops tell you about where the bat starts her flight? 2. Why is the adjective black important here? 3. What does the simile like a tiny umbrella help you to do? 4
CROSS TEXT COMPARISON Over bushes, under trees, between fence posts, through the tangled hedge she swoops untouched. Bat is as at home in the darkness as a fish is in the water. She doesn t need to see she can hear where she is going. Text-dependent questions 1. What does the verb swoops suggest to you about the bat s movement? 2. How is a bat in the darkness like a fish in water? 3. Find lines in the poem A Bat Is Born that describe similar bat facts. RESEARCH TASK Choose an animal whose habits you would like to learn more about. Research your animal and come to class prepared to present what you have learned. Make a list of your sources of information. Other ideas Write a poem about your animal Create a book about your animal Read your classmates poems and books 5
From My Life with the Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall Every morning I got up when I heard the alarm clock at 5:30 a.m. I ate a couple of slices of bread and had a cup of coffee from the Thermos flask. Then I set off, climbing to where I thought the chimps might be. Most often, I went to the Peak. I discovered that from this high place I had a splendid view in all directions. I could see chimps moving in the trees and I could hear if they called. At first I watched from afar, through my binoculars, and never tried to get close. I knew that if I did, the chimps would run silently away. Gradually I began to learn about the chimps home and how they lived. I discovered that, most of the time, the chimps wandered about in small groups of six or less, not in a big troupe like the baboons. Often a little group was made up of a mother with her children, or two or three adult males by themselves. Sometimes many groups joined together, especially when there was delicious ripe fruit on one big tree. When the chimps got together like that, they were very excited, made a lot of noise, and were easy to find. Eventually I realized that the chimps I watched from the Peak were all part of one group a community. There were about fifty chimps belonging to this community. They made use of three of the valleys to the north of the Kakombe Valley (where our tent was) and two valleys to the south. These valleys have lovely sounding names: Kasakela, Linda, and Rutanga in the north, Mkenke and Nysanga in the south. From the Peak I noted which trees the chimps were feeding in and then, when they had gone, I scrambled down and collected some of the leaves, flowers, or fruits so they could be identified later. I found that the chimps eat mostly fruits but also a good many kinds of leaves, blossoms, seeds, and stems. Later I would discover that they eat a variety of insects and sometimes hunt and kill prey animals to feed on meat. During those months of gradual discovery, the chimps very slowly began to realize that I was not so frightening after all. Even so, it was almost a year before I could approach to within one hundred yards, and that is not really very close. The baboons got used to me much more quickly. Indeed, they became a nuisance around our camp by grabbing any food that we accidentally left lying on the table. 6