Lessons & Units :: The Quest for the Tree Kangaroo 5th Grade Unit

Read-Aloud Lesson: The Quest for the Tree Kangaroo, Chapter 1

Lesson Plan

The Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea | 830L

The Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea
Learning Goal
Describe Papua New Guinea and the tree kangaroo that lives there, and explain why the "quest for the tree kangaroo" may be important.
Duration
Part 1: Approximately 40-45 minutes
 
Part 2: Approximately 15-20 minutes
 
Part 3: Approximately 15-20 minutes
Necessary Materials

Provided:

  1. Detailed lesson plan
  2. Graphic organizer for guided practice
  3. Independent student worksheet

Not Provided:
The Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea

 
  1. This lesson is a close reading of the entire text. So it’s important to engage students often, to enhance their learning. Here are two tips:

    •   When you ask the more complex questions from the lesson, ask students to “turn-and-talk” or “buddy-talk” before answering.

    •   Once you are deep into the lesson, instead of asking students every question provided, ask them to share with you what questions they should be asking themselves at that point in the text. This is also a great opportunity to use "turn-and-talk."
       
  2. Suggested teacher language is included in the lesson.

  3. We recommend you read the book once to your students, either the day or morning before teaching the lesson.

  4. This research-based, read-aloud lesson may seem long. Why do students need the lesson to be this way?.
 

Part 1: Teacher Modeling & Questioning

 

Write the following student-friendly learning goal on the board, then read the learning goal out loud with the class: 

We will describe the tree kangaroo, where it lives, and why the "quest for the tree kangaroo" may be important.

 
Prepare Students for the Lesson
 
  • Show students where Papua New Guinea is located on the map provided on the fifth page of the book
  • Write the following words and definitions on the board to review with students:
    • quest (noun): a long and difficult search for something important
    • expedition (noun): a journey or trip with a special purpose
 
Transition your Students into the Text
 

Teacher says: The title of this book is Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea.

Who can describe for us what you see on the cover? (Call on students to describe the cover). We see the title and the picture of some kind of animal. This animal is called a tree kangaroo. What do you think a tree kangaroo is?

 
Students should indicate that they think it is a kangaroo that lives in trees. Then read to students the text on the back cover of the book.
 
Teacher says: It looks like a bear, but it isn’t one. It climbs trees as easily as a monkey – but isn’t a monkey, either. It has a belly pocket like a kangaroo. But what’s a kangaroo doing up in a tree? We’re going to find out when we start reading the book! This book has 10 chapters, and today we will read chapter 1. Chapter 1 is called, “A Big Stuffed Animal on a Stone Age Island.” Let’s begin.
 
Begin reading on page 7 out loud, then stop at the middle of the page. The middle of the page ends with” A kangaroo in a tree?”
1.
Teacher asks: Who is Lisa Dabek?
 
Students answer: Lisa Dabek is the scientific leader of the research team.
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2.
Teacher asks: Where are Lisa Dabek and her research team?
 
Students answer: They are 10,000 feet up in the mountains of Papua New Guinea.
3.
Teacher asks: What is the cloud forest of Papua New Guinea like?
 

Students answer (may vary but should include):

  • It is high up in the mountains.
  • The trees are cloaked in clouds.
  • The ground is carpeted with thick green moss.
  • Ferns grow into trees.
  • Moss and ferns, vines and orchids, hang from branches .
4.
Teacher says (models thinking): So now I am wondering about what they are doing in Papua New Guinea.
5.
Teacher asks: Based on the information so far, what can we infer about why they are in Papua, New Guinea?
 
Students answer: The author describes Lisa as the “scientific leader of our research team” so they are probably there to study the forest or the animals that live there.
 
Continue reading the rest of page 7 to the end of this section on page 8, finishing with the words before it’s too late.
6.
Teacher says: These paragraphs tell us more about tree kangaroos and about the reasons why the research team is in Papua New Guinea.
7.
Teacher asks: What does the text state about tree kangaroos and what they are like?
 

Students answer (may vary but should include):

  • Tree kangaroos have very soft fur.
  • Tree kangaroos have round faces, button eyes, and long tails.
  • Tree kangaroos are about the size of a small dog.
  • Tree kangaroos have brown and golden fur.
8.
Teacher asks: Why has the research team come to Papua New Guinea?
 
Students answer: The research team has come to Papua New Guinea to learn the secrets of the tree kangaroos – what they eat, how many are left, what they need to survive.
9.
Teacher asks: Please tell me whether tree kangaroos are rare or not.
 
Students answer: Yes they are rare and they are getting rarer.
10.
Teacher asks: Why are tree kangaroos rare and becoming rarer?
 
Students answer: Tree kangaroos are rare and becoming rarer because people are cutting down the cloud forest where they live and killing more and more kangaroos, causing the species to disappear.
11.

Teacher asks: The part we just read ends with “We hope to find out the answers – before it’s too late.”

Why does the author say “before it’s too late?”

 
Students answer: If people continue to cut down the cloud forest where the tree kangaroos live and continue to kill them, they will die out. The scientists need to learn about them now to help save them before the species is gone.
12.
Teacher says: So we learned that tree kangaroos are in danger as a species. There are fewer and fewer of them. The team has come to New Guinea to study them and to learn how to help them survive. We also learned that their full scientific name is the “Matschie's tree kangaroo” but usually it seems they are just called tree kangaroos.
 
Continue reading through page 9 out loud, ending with pink grasping tail.
13.
Teacher asks: Describe some things we just learned about New Guinea.
 

Students answer (will vary but should include):

  • New Guinea is the second-largest island on Earth.
  • New Guinea is full of jungles, steep mountains, and erupting volcanoes.
  • New Guinea has dangerous species such as aggressive crocodiles and poisonous snakes.
  • Headhunting used to be practiced in New Guinea but is essentially practiced no longer.
  • There are unique and strange animals in New Guinea.
14.
Teacher says: The author states that the eastern half of the island is known as Papua New Guinea.
15.
Teacher asks: What is it like today in Papua New Guinea, according to the text?
 
Students answer: Today in Papua New Guinea there are not many roads, there are old forests that have not yet been explored, and people are still finding new species that they never knew of before.
 
Continue reading through pages 10-12 out loud, then stop on page 12 at the words protect the forest.
16.
Teacher asks: How many tree kangaroos did Lisa see when she went on a five-week expedition in 1996?
 
Students answer: She saw two kangaroos.
17.
Teacher asks: How long did it take for her to see another tree kangaroo after that?
 
Students answer: It took another seven years for her to see another tree kangaroo.
 
Continue reading the rest of page 12 and onto page 13 and stop with the words hunting the creatures.
18.
Teacher says: So this part tells us why Lisa might not have seen tree kangaroos for a long time, and also the ways that she tried to work with the local people and learn more about tree kangaroos.
19.
Teacher asks: Why did Lisa not see tree kangaroos for a long time?
 
Students answer: The text states that tree kangaroos are afraid of people because people have hunted and killed them for hundreds of years. The tree kangaroos would hide when they heard Lisa coming because they didn’t know that she was safe.
20.
Teacher asks: What was the result of Lisa and her team meeting with local landowners?
 
Students answer: The people agreed to set aside some of their land as no-hunting zones so the animals could live in peace.
21.
Teacher asks: Why did Lisa talk with local school teachers?
 
Students answer: Lisa talked with local school teachers because she wanted the kids to learn how lucky they were to have tree kangaroos, and how important it is to protect the forest.
22.
Teacher says: But even though Lisa didn’t see tree kangaroos for such a long time, she didn’t give up.
23.
Teacher asks: How did she try to keep learning about tree kangaroos, even though she couldn’t see them?
 
Students answer: Lisa studied their droppings to try to find out what the tree kangaroos were eating. She also looked for scratch marks on trees to see where the kangaroos might have climbed, and she talked to local people who knew about tree kangaroos from hunting them.
 
Continue reading to page 13, ending with we can help.
24.

Teacher says: So this last part tells us some very important information about the expedition, or trip, that is described in this book.

In 2003, Lisa found out about a place where tree kangaroos had little fear of people.

25.
Teacher asks: Why didn’t the tree kangaroos fear people?
 

Students answer: The tree kangaroos didn’t fear people because

  • they hadn’t been hunted in many years.
  • there are no kangaroos old enough to remember being hunted.
26.
Teacher asks: We also learned what the members of the research team are trying to do to learn more about the tree kangaroos. What is their plan?
 
Students answer: The research team wants to catch a tree kangaroo for a short time and put a radio collar on it. Then, they will be able to follow the animal wherever it goes in the forest, even if they can’t see it. This will help them learn more about tree kangaroos and this information may help them save the tree kangaroos.
 

Part 2: Guided Practice & Discussion

 
For this oral lesson, it is suggested to have the completed graphic organizer on the board with the answers concealed. After students provide a correct answer, reveal the corresponding answer on the graphic organizer.
1.
Teacher says: The title of this chapter is “A Big Stuffed Animal on a Stone Age Island.”
2.
Teacher asks: Now that we have read the chapter, what is the “big stuffed animal” in the title? And what is the “Stone Age Island”?
 
Students answer: The big stuffed animal is the tree kangaroo, and the Stone Age island is Papua New Guinea.
3.
Teacher says: So the author uses these phrases to describe tree kangaroos and Papua New Guinea in the title of the chapter. Let’s think more deeply about what we learned about these two topics when we read the chapter, and work together to complete a chart with more detailed information about tree kangaroos and Papua New Guinea.
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4.
Teacher asks: Please provide some details about what tree kangaroos look like or about their appearance?
 

Students answer (may vary but should include)

Tree kangaroos have

  • soft fur that is brown and golden.
  • round faces with button eyes and pink nose.
  • upright ears.
  • long tails.
  • the size of a small dog.
5.
Teacher asks: Describe what we learned about tree kangaroos” personality and habits, or what they like to do.
 

Students answer (may vary but should include: Tree kangaroos are):

  • good at climbing trees.
  • good at hiding when they want to.
  • sometimes afraid of humans.
 
Continue by asking students about Papua New Guinea, using the topics on the graphic organizer, until the graphic organizer has been completed.
 
After the answers for the graphic organizer have been completed and discussed with the class, ask the following two discussion questions.
6.
Teacher asks: Although the researchers have finally found an area of Papua New Guinea where the tree kangaroos are not afraid of humans and will likely not hide from them, what might still be challenging for the researchers on their quest for the tree kangaroo?
 
Students answer: It is clear from the text that being in the cloud forest is physically challenging. It is 10,000 feet up in the mountains and the air is very thin. There are very few roads and the trees and plants are huge, making it hard to get around. There are dangerous animals such as snakes and poisonous birds.
7.
Teacher asks: Citing evidence in the text, explain whether the quest for the tree kangaroo is or is not important?
 
Students answer: The quest for the tree kangaroo is important because tree kangaroos are endangered, and the information that the team gathers may help them save the tree kangaroos from dying out.
 

Part 3: Student Independent Practice

 
Both the student question set and teacher answer sheet are provided in the 'Text & Materials' section.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

(To see all of the ReadWorks lessons aligned to your standards, click here.)

User Comments

I love the concept and look forward to starting next week!

Submitted by margaretd_2310687 on 11/9/16

it is good

Submitted by genesismontes_2366125 on 10/26/16