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A Lesson on Prairie Farmers Grade: Grade 3
Subject: English Language Arts
Created by: Van Nguyen
Lesson Length: 2 hours
Keywords/Tags: Reading, Writing, A Lesson on Prairie Farmers
Lesson Description: The goal of this lesson is to give students the opportunity to use their reading and writing skills to be able to understand the text. Students will answer questions that will guide them to understand the life of a boy and his family living on a prairie and their responsibilities.
Common Core Standards Covered with This Lesson
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4a: Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4c: Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
 
     
     
 
Lesson Content: Reading
Instructions: Please read the following reading passage as many times as needed (aloud and silent) before starting to go through other lesson pages. Understanding the content of this passage is very important since the lesson activities will be all about this content. Feel free to print the passage if needed.

Prairie Farmers

June 10th
Today, we put up a fence. It will keep our cows out of our cornfield. The cows and horses have lots of grass to eat in the prairie. It makes a great pasture. Father says it’s a good place for them. We just have a small farm because it’s hard to plow the ground. But at least we don’t have to cut down trees. 

July 4th
It’s independence day. The corn is very high. The prairie grasses are even higher. I saw so many butterflies today. It was so hot that we went to the creek for the day. 

August 21st
It has not rained for three weeks. I got so tired carrying buckets of water to the squash plants. I wonder how the prairie plants stay green without the rain. 

September 30th
The prairie is very dry. We cleared a path between the prairie and our garden. Mother says that the lightning will catch the dry grass on fire and we need to protect our home. 

October 15th

Mother was right about the fire. The lightning came. The fire burned the whole prairie. All I can see there is burned land. It’s a wonder that the plants can grow back again. 

December 20th 
Our fire went out today. We had to go to the Johnsons’ to get a coal to restart the fire. I’ll be more careful to watch the fire so it does not go out again. 

January 20th

Another snowy day. We are almost out of fire wood. I went with Tom to look for wood. We looked near the creek. Last week we found some branches there. I guess they had floated downstream from some woods. We didn’t find any. We saw some animal tracks on the snow. They were small feet, close together 

February 28th
It rained today. Most of the snow has melted. We went to visit the Johnsons. It took two hours to get there because the trail was so muddy. We almost turned back. Mr. Johnson asked us if we had seen any onions along the way. He told us that Chicago is named after onions. He said that the Potowatomi called it Checagou, which means wild onions. He said that’s because when winter ends the wild onions start to grow and you can eat them. He said it’s a sign spring is here. We looked for wild onion plants along the way back, but we didn’t see any. 

March 15th
Mr. Johnson stopped to see us on his way from Chicago. He had a steel plow. He showed it to us. He told us he had gone all the way to Chicago to get it. He says it’s going to make it easier to cut through the grass so he can plant. He said if we help him with his planting, he will let us use the plow on our farm. 

April 20th
We’ve borrowed Mr. Johnson’s plow. We have cleared the prairie plants from our land. Now we can grow corn on all this land. Father says we’ll sell the corn and be able to buy more animals. This will be a busy summer.
 
     
     
 
Task 1: Vocabulary Activity (40 points)
Instructions: Please complete the following vocabulary activity by choosing the correct meaning of each word selected from the passage and use of each word correctly in a sentence.
Vocabulary Questions
Word/Phrase: Cleared | Tier: 2 | Points: 10
Q1 The author in our story says,"We cleared a path between the prairie and our garden." What does the word "cleared" mean?
A. To remove anything in the way. *
B. To fill the space with objects.
C. Bright.
D. Plant.
Which one of the sentences below uses the word "cleared" correctly?
A. It was a clear, bright day.
B. The dog cleared the floor of all toys so the baby could crawl through. *
C. The water looked peaceful and clear.
D. The man did not give clear instructions
Word/Phrase: Floated | Tier: 2 | Points: 10
Q2 The author in the story says,"I guess they had floated downstream from some woods." What does the word "floated" mean in this sentence?
A. Sank to the bottom.
B. Flying.
C. Rest on the surface of water. *
D. Singing.
Which one of these sentences below uses the word "floated" correctly?
A. The leaf floated down the river. *
B. The boy liked root beer floats.
C. The apple floated from the tree and hit the boy on the head.
D. The balloon floated through the air.
Word/Phrase: Checagou | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q3 The author in the story says,"He said that the Potowatomi called it Checagou,..." What does the word "Checagou" mean?
A. A country.
B. An animal.
C. A tribe.
D. Wild onions. *
Which one of the sentence below uses the word "Checagou" correctly?
A. The Potowatomi called a place Checagou. *
B. The Checagou ate onions.
C. A checagou is useful for building houses.
D. The checagou was dying.
Word/Phrase: Chicago | Tier: 3 | Points: 10
Q4 The author in the story says,"Mr. Johnson stopped to see us on his way from Chicago." What does the word "Chicago" mean in this sentence?
A. An animal.
B. A place. *
C. A fruit.
D. A person.
Which one of the sentences below use the word "Chicago" correctly?
A. The boy came from a place called Chicago. *
B. The shop Chicago was a good place.
C. The chicago ate grass.
D. I like chicago with my soup.
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.4, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4c,
 
     
     
 
Task 2: Discussion Activity (30 points)
Instructions: This discussion forum will have questions for students to respond. Read the posted questions, and respond to each. Students are responsible for posting one initial and and two peer responses for each topic.
  Topic Title Replies
Message It’s a sign spring is here.
Why does Mr. Johnson say "it’s a sign spring is here." What is "the sign" that spring has arrived in the prairie? 
Sent on: Jun 27, 2017 by: Van Nguyen		 0
Message We looked for wild onion plants along the way back...
The family looks for wild onion plants on the way back but could not find any. What does this mean?
Sent on: Jun 27, 2017 by: Van Nguyen		 0
Message We need to protect our home.
The author says,"we need to protect our home." How do they protect their home? 
Sent on: Jun 27, 2017 by: Van Nguyen		 0
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4a,
 
     
     
 
Task 3: Writing Activity (30 points)
Instructions: Write at least a 250 word essay on the positive and negative aspects of prairies. Provide specific examples from the story. 
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1,
 
     

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