Welcome to the NEW WR News Edition 4-6 Online Teaching Center! Here you'll find all the information you've come to rely on from your Teacher's Guide, now in a convenient online format.
Click the tabs above to access article background information, reproducible skills pages, and additional resources. The boxes at right will take you to subscriber-only content, including interactive digital editions, archives, and your teacher's guide in printable
PDF format.
The Teaching Center for each issue will be available two weeks before the issue date.
Please feel free to contact us at wrnews@weeklyreader.com with any questions, comments, or concerns.
Go to the Teaching Center for "Vroom!," February 17.
Click here for the answer key.
In This Issue
In this issue, your class will read about an ancient route known as the Dinosaur Freeway, and the animal footprints experts recently found along the path. Students will also learn about the creatures that made the tracks millions of years ago.
News Brief: Scientists uncover the secret of a meat-eating plant.
News Debate: Should kids call adults Mr. and Ms.?
Info Zone: Examine common techniques used in political ads.
Your Turn: WR News chats with the star of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.
Brain Builders: Cool Creatures (Read a Chart)
Encourage students to enter Weekly Reader’s Student Publishing Contest for a chance to win $500 and a trip to Washington, D.C. Click here for more information.
Click here to download the second of two reading assessments to share with students.
Download the tracking guide here.
Common Core State Standard
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Concepts of Comprehension©
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
Drawing Conclusions is when you figure out what a text means by using what you already know and information from the text. Reinforce this skill with the work sheet on page 3.
National Standards
SOCIAL STUDIES (NCSS)
Cover: The Dino Express
• Time, continuity, and change
• People, places, and environments
Page 2: Picture of the Week
• Science, technology, and society
Page 6: Campaign Secrets
• Culture
SCIENCE (NSES)
Page 2: Watch Out, Worms!
• Characteristics of organisms
LANGUAGE ARTS (NCTE/IRA)
Teacher’s Guide (page 4)
• Use written language for a purpose.
Varied Reading Levels
Students’ reading levels aren’t all the same, so WR News varies in difficulty.
• Find an easier version of the cover story in this issue’s digital edition at www.weeklyreader.com.
• Try “Watch Out, Worms!” on page 2 with more advanced readers.
• Share “Plant Protector” on page 7 with struggling readers.
Online Exclusives
Digital Edition: an exciting multimedia version of the cover story, with videos, slide shows, and interactive features
News Quiz: a weekly news scavenger hunt based on the issue
Coming in the Next Issue: March 9, 2012
Deep Trouble: Experts have a plan to keep a famous city from sinking.
TEACHING THE COVER STORY
The Dino Express
Experts discover dinosaur footprints along an ancient route.
Before You Read
Ask students: When did dinosaurs live? Where on Earth did they roam? What might dinosaurs have left behind that could help scientists study them today?
Vocabulary
ambush: to attack
lumber: to walk heavily
migrate: to move from one area to another
paleontologist: a scientist who studies dinosaurs
Background
• Where is the Dinosaur Freeway? The site runs from northeast Colorado, near Boulder, to east-central New Mexico, near Tucumcari. Parts of the freeway run into western Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. The tracks that scientist Martin Lockley and his team recently discovered were located in the John Martin Reservoir in Bent County, in southeastern Colorado.
• What else do scientists know about the freeway? The route has thousands of footprints from about 1,400 individual creatures. The dinosaurs may have traveled the path in herds by age. Almost half the tracks found at the southern end of the freeway are from younger dinos. However, there are hardly any tracks from younger dinosaurs at the northern end.
• Where did the crocodiles live? They lived in the Western Interior Seaway. That was a shallow sea that covered the central United States during the Cretaceous Period. The body of water ran from north to south, splitting what is now North America into two sections. The Dinosaur Freeway was a coastal plain on the seaway’s west side. A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast. It was a perfect place for crocs to slither out of the water and attack dinosaurs as they walked by.
Think Critically
Tell students that dinosaur freeways have been discovered in other parts of the world. Then ask: Why might similar species travel together in packs?
Extend the Lesson
Ask each student to choose a creature from the Cretaceous Period to research. Then have each student sketch a picture of and write a one-page report about the animal he or she chose.
Web Resource
Find kid-friendly dino facts and games at www.kidsdinos.com.
Lexile rating: 890L
Back to Main Page
TEACHING THE NEWS BRIEF
Watch Out, Worms!
Scientists Identify a plant that eats roundworms.
Before You Read
Ask: How do most plants get energy? Have you ever heard of plants that eat worms?
Vocabulary
carnivorous: meat-eating
hypothesize: to make a prediction that can be tested
Background
Why is it unusual for a plant to have leaves underground? Leaves usually absorb sunlight to make food by photosynthesis. The energy from the sunlight helps the plant combine water and minerals with carbon dioxide. That creates food the plant can use to grow bigger or repair itself.
Think Critically
In what types of environments might scientists discover similar meat-eating plants? Why?
Extend the Lesson
Have each student choose and research a type of carnivorous plant, such as the Venus flytrap or the tropical pitcher plant. Then have each student create a written report or a poster describing his or her plant. The projects should include what the plants eat and how they catch their prey.
Web Resource
Find carnivorous plant facts and photos at www.botany.org/carnivorous_plants.
Back to Main Page
TEACHING THE INFO ZONE
Campaign Secrets
Examine common techniques used in political ads.
Tip: After reading the Info Zone, have each student create his or her own fictional campaign ad, using at least two of the techniques from the article.
Before You Read
Ask: Have you seen any political advertisements recently? What do you remember from them?
Vocabulary
slogan: a phrase used to attract attention
technique: a method
Background
What are other techniques used in political advertising? Some candidates use symbols, such as the American flag, or groups, such as U.S. veterans, to set a certain mood or theme. Others use fear tactics; they might suggest bad things, such as war, will happen if they are not elected.
Think Critically
How else can voters learn about candidates, besides reading and watching campaign ads?
Extend the Lesson
Show students how different techniques can turn the same recording into a positive or a negative ad by visiting tinyurl.com/pbs-tricks. Then watch some current campaign ads as a class. Ask: Which techniques do you recognize? Which are most effective?
Web Resource
Explore historical campaign advertisements and related teaching materials at www.livingroomcandidate.org.
Back to Main Page
Click on each image to download a PDF of that activity. Click here for the answer key.
Use this activity to help students learn how to draw conclusions.
Help students learn how to take notes by sharing this activity.
Back to Main Page
Grades 4 to 6 Teaching Centers and Issue Dates, 2011-2012
Senior Managing Editor: Clara Colbert
Senior Editor: Brooke Ross
Senior Associate Editor: Rebecca Zissou
Contributing Editor: Laura McClure Anastasia
Senior Group Art Director: Jeff Talbot
Senior Art Director: Claudia Ramirez
Associate Art Director: Raquel Hernandez
Designer: Nicole Hocutt
Manager, Copy Editing: Kim Paras
Senior Copy Editor: Sarah Chassé
Copy Editor: Troy Reynolds
Manager, Photo Department: Julie Alissi
Multimedia Researcher: Carrin Ackerman
Production Designer: Richard Gore
Operations Manager, Manufacturing: Christine DiLauro
Vice President, Operations: Marcia Smith
Senior Vice President, Editorial: Ira Wolfman
The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer: Robert E. Guth
Executive Vice President, RDA: Lisa Sharples
Contact Us
Back to Main Page
