Watch a Video: Wildfires Up Close
After watching, discuss: What are the three ingredients wildfires need to start?
Students will understand what causes wildfires and how people work to combat them.
Lesson Plan - 5 Big Questions About Wildfires
Learning Objective
Text Structure
Question and Answer
Content-Area Connections
Earth Science
Standards Correlations
CCSS: RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.3, RI.3.4, RI.3.5, RI.3.6, RI.3.7, RI.3.8, RI.3.10, L.3.4, SL.3.1, RF.3.3
NGSS: Earth and Human Activity
TEKS: Science 3.9
1. Preparing to Read
Wildfires Up Close
Watch a video to learn more about wildfires.
Preview Words to Know
Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.
- drought
- aerial
Set a Purpose for Reading
As students read, have them identify reasons that wildfires have been in the news.
2. Close-Reading Questions
1. What is “dry brush”? What clue in the text helps you know? Dry brush is plant material that has dried out. The article says, “During a drought, grass, trees, and other plants get dry. It doesn’t take much to turn this dry brush into a fire.”
(RI.3.4 DETERMINE MEANING)
2. What can you learn from the map on page 4? The map shows that seven Western states declared wildfire emergencies in 2021. They were Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, Arizona, and Colorado.
(RI.3.7 TEXT FEATURES)
3. Why are planes and helicopters important in fighting wildfires? Firefighters use planes and helicopters to gather information about a fire, drop chemicals on a fire, get smokejumpers and other fire crews to fire scenes, and drop water to create escape paths.
(RI.3.2 KEY DETAILS)
3. Skill Building
FEATURED SKILL: Word Study
Use the Skill Builder “Compound Word Workout” to have students explore compound words from the article.
(RF.3.3 WORD STUDY)
Text-to-Speech