Grade 3 Learning Objectives for “Transpiration”

2.1 Use Strategies and Cues

Use prior knowledge

• Share ideas developed through interests, experiences and discussion that are related to new ideas and information
• Identify the different ways in which oral, print and other media texts, such as stories, textbooks, letters, pictionaries and junior dictionaries, are organized, and use them to construct and confirm meaning

Use comprehension strategies

• Use grammatical knowledge to predict words and sentence structures when reading narrative and expository materials
• Apply a variety of strategies, such as setting a purpose, confirming predictions, making inferences and drawing conclusions
• Identify the main idea or topic and supporting details in simple narrative and expository passages
• Extend sight vocabulary to include predictable phrases and words related to language use
• Read silently with increasing confidence and accuracy
• Monitor and confirm meaning by rereading when necessary, and by applying knowledge of pragmatic, semantic, syntactic and graphophonic cueing systems

Use textual cues

• Use headings, paragraphs, punctuation and quotation marks to assist with constructing and confirming meaning
• Attend to and use knowledge of capitalization, commas in a series, question marks, exclamation marks and quotation marks to read accurately, fluently and with comprehension during oral and silent reading

Use phonics and structural analysis

• Apply phonic rules and generalizations competently and confidently to read unfamiliar words in context
• Apply word analysis strategies to segment words into parts or syllables, when reading unfamiliar words in context
• Associate sounds with an increasing number of vowel combinations, consonant blends and digraphs, and letter clusters to read unfamiliar words in context

2.2 Respond to Texts

Experience various texts

• Choose a variety of oral, print and other media texts for shared and independent listening, reading and viewing experiences, using texts from a variety of cultural traditions and genres, such as nonfiction, chapter books, illustrated storybooks, drum dances, fables, CDROM programs and plays
• Tell or write about favourite parts of oral, print and other media texts
• Identify types of literature, such as humour, poetry, adventure and fairy tales, and describe favourites
• Connect own experiences with the experiences of individuals portrayed in oral, print and other media texts, using textual references

Construct meaning from texts

• Connect portrayals of characters or situations in oral, print and other media texts to personal and classroom experiences
• Summarize the main idea of individual oral, print and other media texts
• Discuss, represent or write about ideas in oral, print and other media texts, and relate them to own ideas and experiences and to other texts
• Make inferences about a character’s actions or feelings
• Express preferences for one character over another

Appreciate the artistry of texts

• Identify how authors use comparisons, and explain how they create mental images

2.3 Understand Forms, Elements and Techniques

Understand forms and genres

• Identify distinguishing features of a variety of oral, print and other media texts
• Discuss ways that visual images convey meaning in print and other media texts

Understand techniques and elements

• Include events, setting and characters when summarizing or retelling oral, print or other media texts
• Describe the main characters in terms of who they are, their actions in the story and their relations with other characters
• Identify ways that messages are enhanced in oral, print and other media texts by the use of specific techniques

3.1 Plan and Focus

Focus attention

• Identify facts and opinions, main ideas and details in oral, print and other media texts

3.2 Select and Process

Use a variety of sources

• Find information to answer research questions, using a variety of sources, such as children’s magazines, CDROMs, plays, folk tales, songs, stories and the environment

Access information

• Use text features, such as titles, pictures, headings, labels, diagrams and dictionary guide words, to access information
• Locate answers to questions and extract appropriate and significant information from oral, print and other media texts

3.3 Organize, Record and Evaluate

Record information

• Record facts and ideas using a variety of strategies; list titles and authors of sources
• List significant ideas and information from oral, print and other media texts

3.4 Share and Review

Share ideas and information

• Organize and share ideas and information on topics to engage familiar audiences

4.1 Enhance and Improve

Expand knowledge of language

• Explain relationships among words and concepts associated with topics of study

4.3 Present and Share

Demonstrate attentive listening and viewing

• Rephrase, restate and explain the meaning of oral and visual presentations
• Identify and set purposes for listening and viewing

5.1 Respect Others and Strengthen Community

Appreciate diversity

• Retell, paraphrase or explain ideas in oral, print and other media texts

1. Classify a variety of animals, based on observable characteristics; e.g., limbs, teeth, body covering, overall shape, backbone.

6. Demonstrate awareness that animals require different habitats in order to meet their basic needs of food, water, shelter and space.

8. Identify examples of environmental conditions that may threaten animal survival, and identify examples of extinct animals