Reading Grade 5 Informational Texts

1. Show only the three section headings: What a coral is; How a reef grows; Why reefs turn white.
2. Ask pairs to predict each section's structure from its heading. Expected: a definition; a sequence or process; cause and effect.
3. Model a note shape for each in the three boxes: definition — "is a… made of… with…"; sequence — numbered steps; cause and effect — arrows.

“The heading tells you what kind of notes to take before you read a word. A "why" heading wants arrows.”

1. Display section 1, What a coral is: "A coral may look like a plant or a rock, but it is an animal. Each coral is made of hundreds of tiny animals called polyps, each no bigger than a pea, with a ring of tentacles around its mouth. Inside the polyps live microscopic algae. The algae use sunlight to make food and pass most of it to the coral; in return, the coral gives the algae shelter. The algae also give corals their colors."
2. Write a too-short note: "coral – animal. algae – food." Close the text and ask: what do algae give coral, and what does coral give algae? The note cannot say who gives food to whom, or that coral gives shelter.
3. Repair it: "Coral = animal, made of many pea-sized polyps. Algae live inside → make food from sunlight → give it to coral. Coral → gives algae shelter. Algae = coral's color." Answer the question again from the note.
4. Display section 2, How a reef grows: "Each polyp builds a hard cup of limestone under itself. When it dies, new polyps grow on top. Over many years these cups pile up into a reef. Many reef-building corals grow only about a centimeter a year, so a tall reef may be centuries old." Note it as numbered steps plus the speed.
5. Display section 3, Why reefs turn white: "When sea water stays too warm for weeks, the algae become harmful to the coral, and the coral pushes them out. Without its algae, the coral loses its color and its main food supply. This is called bleaching. If the water cools soon enough, the algae can return; if it does not, the coral may starve." Note it as an arrow chain with a fork: warm water → coral pushes out algae → white + no food = bleaching → cools: algae return / stays warm: coral may starve.
6. Say the standard: notes are good when they work without the text, and short enough to be worth having.

“Close the book. If your notes cannot answer the question, the notes are not finished. That is not a failure — it is the moment to fix them.”

1. Students reread all three sections independently and complete their own notes in the three boxes, in their own words.
2. Text closed. Ask four questions; students answer from notes only: (1) What do algae and coral give each other? (2) Why can a tall reef be centuries old? (3) What happens, in order, when the sea stays too warm? (4) Can a bleached coral recover?
3. Expected: (1) algae give food from sunlight, coral gives shelter; (2) corals grow only about a centimeter a year; (3) coral pushes algae out, loses color and food — bleaching; (4) yes, if the water cools soon enough.
4. Students mark any answer their notes could not give, reopen the text, repair that note and write in the margin what was missing.

1. Students complete the printable reading page alone, reading the passage themselves.
2. Before answering, they write a one-line note per paragraph, then answer the questions from the notes.

1. Ask two students: which note did you have to repair, and what was missing? Typical answer: "I wrote algae – food, but not that coral gives shelter back."