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

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

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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.”

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

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

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

12. a person who studies living things
naturalist
a person who studies living things

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

26. We skied up the lower slopes of Mt. McKinley.

27. We skied up the lower slopes of Mt. McKinley.

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

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

30. The glacier was a very impressive sight.

31. The glacier was a very impressive sight.

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

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

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

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. 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?

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

39. 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?

40. 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?

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

42. 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?

43. 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?

44. 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.

45. 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.

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

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

48. CHALLENGE
influence
aluminum
nutrition
accumulate
igloo

49. 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.

50. 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.

51. 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.

52. 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?

53. Fun Stuff
Yosemite for Kids
Photographs of Yosemite
Spelling List