The lesson begins with a review of reading strategies students have been using already in their work and the collaboration goal of noticing the thinking of others and integrating it into our own thinking. Students independently explore the text to introduce the book to themselves.  After a short discussion of the table of contents, the students read and the introduction and Chapter 1, marking Very [...]

Session 2 is similar to Session 1. Students read additional parts of the text independently away from the group, marking Very Important Points with sticky notes. During the lesson, students discuss the text, integrating information, making judgements about important parts of a text, and synthesizing information within and across the text.

Session 3 extends the work begun in Sessions 1 & 2, as students continue integrating information, making judgements about important parts of a text, and synthesizing information within and across the text. Students begin to consider how their growing understandings and concerns from reading this text can impact personal decisions they make which in turn affect the lives of orangutans in the rainforests. [...]

Reading Ahmad’s Journey begins with students silently read the first four pages of Chapter 1 to begin thinking about what is revealed through what characters say, do, and think and how characters interact with others, revealing the relationships between characters. After noticing the asterisks on page 7, which indicate a change in point-of-view in the story, students read the rest of chapter 1 silently and [...]

Students discuss Chapters 2-4, continuing to think about what is revealed through what characters say, do, and think and how they interact with others (the relationships between characters). They also begin to evaluate the motivations of the characters as revealed through character actions and decisions. After noticing the multiple points-of-view in the text, students work to understand how the different parts of texts align and [...]

The lesson offers students an opportunity to revisit, summarize, and extend their thinking about the key concepts of the two paired texts. Students return to themes from earlier discussions, considering decisions people make which affect the lives of orangutans in the rainforests.