Letters Home from Yosemite Written and Illustrated by: Lisa Halvorsen Visit the Author

Summary Yosemite National Park is an amazing place. In one visit, you can see giant trees, towering mountains, and interesting wildlife.

Study Skills Genre: Narrative Nonfiction Comprehension Skill: Main Idea Comprehension Strategy: Graphic Organizers Comprehension Review Skill: Fact and Opinion Vocabulary: Suffixes

Genre: Narrative Nonfiction Narrative nonfiction tells the story of real people, places, or events. The narrator, or teller of the story, presents information in sequence. Notice this sequence as you read about Yosemite National Park.

Comprehension Strategy – Graphic Organizers TE 112 Using a graphic organizer can help you to understand what you read. Examples of graphic organizers are webs, charts, and diagrams. A sequence chart can help you see the sequence of an article and often you can fill these charts in as you read.

Comprehension Skill Review – Fact and Opinion TE 125 A fact is a statement that can be proved true or false. Statements of opinion tell about a person’s beliefs, feelings, or way of thinking that cannot be proved.

Vocabulary Strategy Suffixes –ist and -ive Te 114 You can use suffixes to help figure out the meaning of words. The suffix –ist can make a word mean “one who is an expert in____,” as a biologist, an expert in biology.

Vocabulary Strategy Suffixes –ist and -ive Te 114 The suffix -ive can make a word mean “’tending or inclined to_____,” as in active, which means tending to act.”

Question of the Week TE 66m How does Yosemite reflect the unique qualities of the West?

Vocabulary- Say It! glacier impressive naturalist preserve slopes species wilderness

glacier a great mass of ice moving very slowly down a mountain or along a valley

a person who studies living things naturalist a person who studies living things

able to have a strong effect on the mind or feelings impressive able to have a strong effect on the mind or feelings

to keep from harm or change; protect preserve to keep from harm or change; protect

species a set of related living things that share certain characteristic and that can be interbred

and that goes up and down at an angle slopes and that goes up and down at an angle

a wild region with few or no people living in it wilderness a wild region with few or no people living in it

Denali Nation Park in Alaska has more than 6 million miles of wilderness.

Denali Nation Park in Alaska has more than 6 million miles of wilderness.

More than 650 species of flowering plants live in Denali!.

More than 650 species of flowering plants live in Denali!.

The park was established to preserve the land and the plants and animals.

The park was established to preserve the land and the plants and animals.

That’s what the naturalist on the guided tour told us about this park.

That’s what the naturalist on the guided tour told us about this park.

We skied up the lower slopes of Mt. McKinley.

We skied up the lower slopes of Mt. McKinley.

We could see a giant glacier looking like a huge field of ice.

We could see a giant glacier looking like a huge field of ice.

The glacier was a very impressive sight.

The glacier was a very impressive sight.

The sequoia tree is the largest species of tree in the world.

The sequoia tree is the largest species of tree in the world.

Day 2 - Question of the Day Why did Congress establish Yosemite as a national park?

Letters Home from Yosemite p. 118-119 Reread p. 119, paragraph 2. What is the main idea and one supporting detail? Based on what you have read, what can you conclude about the author? Give reasons to support your answer.

Letters Home from Yosemite p. 120-121 How is a visit to Yosemite today different from when the first tourists arrived? How is it similar? Use word structure to identify the base word for impressive on p. 121 and then give its meaning.

Letters Home from Yosemite p. 122-123 Determine the main idea and supporting details on p. 122, paragraph 1. Why do you think the author includes the names of several giant sequoias on p. 122?

Day 3 - Question of the Day – How does the author support her opinion that Yosemite is “one of the most awesome places on Earth?

Letters Home from Yosemite p. 124-125 Which sentences in the first paragraph under the heading Glacier Point are statements of opinion? How can you tell? The photograph on p. 125 shows El Capitan. Use it to draw a conclusion about the people who climb El Capitan?

Letters Home from Yosemite p. 126-127 What does the author mean that “all together” Yosemite Falls are the highest in North America? What causes more water to go over Yosemite Falls in the spring and early summer than near the end of summer? What important ideas and details have you learned about the physical features of Yosemite?

Day 4 - Question of the Day - Review What might prompt someone to write a song like “This Land is your Land?

Review Questions How can you tell this was written to inform? What is one way Yosemite is a unique place? What are some impressive wonders in Yosemite?

Review Questions What is the “time” setting of this story? How did the author organize this story? Why do you think she did that? What attraction did the author go see right after Glacier Point?

Postcard TE 87g-h A postcard is a brief message, with a picture on one side, sent by mail to friends or family. Often a post card gives detail about a place you are visiting on vacation and describes your feelings about being there.

Writing Assignment Pretend that you are on vacation. Write a postcard to a friend or family member describing where you are. The place can be real or imaginary.

Spelling Words Long u Sounds cruise juice scooter afternoon threw smooth mood flute huge usual

Spelling Words Long u sounds curfew duty humor confuse groove pupil excuse cruel bruise truth

CHALLENGE influence aluminum nutrition accumulate igloo

Weekly Fluency Check - Phrasing TE 133a Phrasing helps to keep related words group together. Phrasing makes sentences easier to understand. Practice reading page 120 using groups of words in phrases to make it easier to understand.

Research/Study Skill – Print Sources TE 133L Print sources include textbooks, trade books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, atlases, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, pamphlets and other printed sources. Think about the purpose of each source when doing research.

Research/Study Skill – Print Sources TE 133L To find information in a print source, think about its organization. The table of contents, index, or headings show what information the sources includes and how it is organized.

Research/Study Skill – Print Sources TE 133L As the teacher shows you several types of print sources, decide what the purpose of each is. How is it organized?

Fun Stuff Yosemite for Kids Photographs of Yosemite Spelling List