Lesson 22: Flex Day: Skill-Based Huddles, Day 1

Say: Today is a Flex Day, so we are going to strengthen the reading tools that help us explain how texts are built, how authors shape ideas, and how words and visuals work together. These are the same tools researchers use when they make hidden stories visible.

Say: Based on your self-assessment and your recent work, I’ll be meeting with small groups while others work independently. Let’s start by rating your confidence.

Instruct students to reflect on their ability to do each of the following using the Reflection routine.

Connection to Today’s Learning:

Students’ self-ratings and recent work will help determine which huddle will be most useful for them today.

Collect a quick visual of ratings by having students hold up fingers or record their rating on paper.

Explain the plan:

• Three 10–15-minute teacher huddles:

  • Huddle 1: RI.6.5 (Analyzing Text Structure)

  • Huddle 2: RI.6.6 (Identifying Point of View and Purpose)

  • Huddle 3: RI.6.7 (Integrating Information from Media)

• Students not in a huddle work independently on either independent reading or unit knowledge building.

Then group students using:

1. Reflection responses

2. Data from Lesson 21, annotations, or short responses.

Huddle 1 (RI.6.5.a) + Independent Choice Work (10–15 minutes total)

Explain that you are first going to pull students for additional work on RI.6.5 (Text Structure). Pull students who rated 1–3 on RI.6.5 and/or have shown difficulty with explaining the role of a specific section of text based on recent work. All other students begin independent work (see “Independent Choice Work” below).

Pull this group when students retell what a section says but do not explain its function, or when they identify a paragraph detail without connecting it to the overall organization of the passage.

Independent Choice Work

Students not in responsive huddles choose one task and write a brief response.

Option 1: Independent Reading

• How does one section of your independent reading help build the whole text? Cite one example.

  • One section of my reading builds the whole text by giving background information that helps the reader understand everything that comes after it. For example, the chapter that explains how something works makes it easier to understand why the events or facts later in the book are such a big deal.

Option 2: Knowledge Building

• How does your reading today connect to the idea that research helps us build a fuller record of hidden contributors in science? Cite one example.

  • My reading today connected to the idea that research uncovers hidden contributors because it showed how one scientist did important work that other people got credit for. For example, the text explained that without researchers going back and looking at old records, we never would have known who really made the discovery.

Huddle 1 — Text Structure (RI.6.5.a)

Use any teacher-selected short informational passage for this huddle. Students should have the text in front of them.

Reteach

• Structure is the way a text is organized so readers can follow the author’s ideas.

• A section is a part of a text (such as a sentence, paragraph, or chapter) that has a job (such as introducing, explaining, giving an example, or concluding).

• Text features are visual clues that indicate different sections, ideas, or transitions in a text (headings and subheadings, captions, lists, bold print).

• Our goal as strong readers is to ask what a section does, not only what it says.

Say: We are going to reread one part of an informational text and figure out its job in the whole passage. When we ask why the author put this section here, the text starts making more sense.

Guided Practice

Have students reread one section and notice any heading, transition, or signal phrase that helps show how the section is organized.

• Ask: What do you notice about how this section begins or the kind of information it gives?

  • This section begins by introducing an idea and then giving more details about it. I notice it is not telling everything at once, so this part seems to be setting up information the reader will need.

Have students name the function of the section in relation to the whole passage.

• Ask: What job is this section doing in the whole text?

  • This section is doing the job of explaining an important effect of the topic. It helps the whole text because it gives background before the author moves to another idea.

Have students explain why the author may have placed the section where it appears.

• Ask: Why might the author place this section here instead of somewhere else in the text?

  • The author probably places this section here because readers need this explanation before the next part will make sense. It helps build understanding step by step.

Quick Check

Say: Now you will try this on your own. Use one section from the text and explain how it helps the whole passage work.

• Ask: In 1–3 sentences, choose one section from the text and explain how it contributes to the overall structure of the passage.

  • This section contributes to the structure by elaborating on a key idea after the topic is introduced. This helps the reader move from the big topic to a clearer understanding of what causes one part of it to work.

Huddle 2 (RI.6.6) + Independent Choice Work (10–15 minutes total)

Explain that you are going to pull students for additional work on RI.6.6 (Identifying Point of View and Purpose). Pull students who rated 1–3 on RI.6.6 and/or have shown difficulty with identifying how the author’s choices reveal purpose or stance based on recent work. All other students begin independent work (see “Independent Choice Work” below).

Pull this group when students can name the topic but cannot explain what the author wants readers to think, learn, or notice, or when they state a purpose without pointing to language that conveys it.

Independent Choice Work

Students not in responsive huddles choose one task and write a brief response.

Option 1: Independent Reading

• What is the author’s purpose or point of view in your independent reading today? Cite one example that helps show it.

  • The author's purpose is to inform the reader about an important topic by sharing facts and explaining why they matter. For example, the way the author spends a lot of time describing the causes and effects of the topic shows that they want the reader to understand how it impacts the world.

Option 2: Knowledge Building

• How does an author’s point of view shape the way hidden contributors in science are presented? Cite one example from your reading.

  • An author's point of view shapes how hidden contributors are presented because it affects which details they choose to include or leave out. For example, an author who believes these scientists deserve more credit will spend more time explaining their discoveries and showing how important their work really was.

Huddle 2 — Identifying Author’s Point of View and Purpose (RI.6.6)

Use any teacher-selected short informational passage for this huddle. Students should have the text in front of them.

Reteach

• Purpose is the reason the author wrote the text.

• Point of view is the author’s opinion or way of seeing the topic.

• Authors convey purpose and point of view through facts, examples, repetition, word choice, and tone.

Say: In this huddle, we are looking for clues about what the author wants readers to understand and how the author presents the topic. We are not just asking what the text is about. We are asking how the author wants us to see it.

Guided Practice

Have students reread one paragraph or short section and underline words, facts, or examples that seem especially important.

• Ask: What words or details stand out as clues to the author’s thinking?

  • The author repeats certain facts and gives an example that feels important. Those details stand out because they show what the author wants readers to notice most.

Have students use those clues to name the author’s purpose for writing.

• Ask: Based on those clues, what is the author’s purpose in this part of the text?

  • The author’s purpose seems to be to inform readers and show why the topic matters. The text shows this with [words or examples].

Have students explain how the underlined words, facts, or examples show the author’s point of view and help achieve their purpose.

• Ask: How does one word choice, fact, or example help convey the author’s point of view about this topic and achieve their purpose?

  • [Specific detail] helps convey the author’s point of view because it uses a personal example instead of just making a general statement. That makes the author’s message that [point of view] clearer and more convincing.

Quick Check

• Say: Now use one detail from the text to explain what the author is trying to do and how the text shows it.

• Ask: In 1–3 sentences, identify the author’s purpose and point of view in the text and explain how one detail helps convey it.

  • The author’s purpose is to inform readers and show why the topic matters. [Detail] helps convey this because it focuses attention on [key idea] that helps readers understand its lasting impacts.

Huddle 3 (RI.6.7) + Independent Choice Work (10–15 minutes total)

Explain that you are going to pull students for additional work on RI.6.7 (Integrating Information from Media). Pull students who rated 1–3 on RI.6.7 and/or have shown difficulty with explaining how a visual adds to or clarifies the text based on recent work. All other students begin independent work (see “Independent Choice Work” below).

Pull this group when students describe the visual separately from the text, or when they notice details in both places but do not explain how the two sources of information work together.

Independent Choice Work

Students not in responsive huddles choose one task and write a brief response.

Option 1: Independent Reading

• If your book includes a visual, how does it add to the words? If it does not, explain what kind of visual would best support one section.

  • The diagrams and charts in my reading help the reader understand something that would be hard to picture just from the words alone. For example, the labeled diagram of how a process works makes it much clearer than if the author had only described it in writing.

Option 2: Knowledge Building

• How can visuals help researchers make hidden stories more visible? Cite one example from your reading or from a visual you have seen in this unit.

  • Visuals can help make hidden stories more visible by showing information in a way that is hard to ignore or overlook. For example, a timeline or photograph of a hidden contributor's work can make their role feel real and important in a way that words alone sometimes cannot.

Huddle 3 — Integrating Words and Visuals (RI.6.7)

Use any teacher-selected short informational passage that has an accompanying visual for this huddle. Students should have the text and image in front of them.

Reteach

• A medium is the form used to share information, such as words, images, diagrams, or charts.

• To integrate information means to combine what two sources show to reach a conclusion.

• As readers, you should ask how the visual adds to, clarifies, or extends the written text.

Say: In this huddle, we are not reading the words and the visual as separate things. We are putting them together to build a stronger understanding of the topic.

Guided Practice

Have students look closely at one visual and the part of the text connected to it, then identify one detail from each.

• Ask: What is one detail you notice in the visual, and what is one detail you notice in the words?

  • In the visual, I notice a detail that shows [part of the topic] clearly. In the words, I notice a detail that explains or names that same idea.

Have students describe the relationship between the two details.

• Ask: How do the visual and the words work together? Does the visual repeat, clarify, or add new information?

  • The visual and the words work together because the image makes the written idea easier to picture. It does not only repeat the text. It helps clarify what the author is explaining.

Have students explain what understanding becomes stronger when both media are integrated.

• Ask: What do you understand better when you combine the visual with the words?

  • When I combine them, I understand the topic more clearly because the words explain it and the visual helps me see it. Together, they help me conclude that [understanding of topic that integrates both media].

Quick Check

• Say: Now show how you can combine information from two media. Use one visual and one text detail from the text to explain what becomes clearer.

• Ask: In 1–3 sentences, explain how one visual in the text adds to or clarifies the words in the passage, or how the words develop or clarify what you see in the visual.

  • The graph adds to the passage by helping readers see what the words are describing. The graph shows the relationships between the different data, while the words interpret what that data means so the reader can understand the topic more completely.

Students complete a brief reflection based on what they did today. Invite 2–3 students to share.

Quick Write

Option A (students who attended one or more huddles):

• Re-rate your confidence for RI.6.5, RI.6.6, and RI.6.7. What specifically improved?

  • Before, I was a 2 on RI.6.5, but now I am a 4 because I can explain what job a section does in the whole text instead of just retelling it. I also feel stronger on RI.6.7 because I can explain how a visual clarifies the words.

Option B (students who did independent reading or knowledge building):

• What are you learning about on the unit topic from today’s reading or work? Cite one detail.

  • I am learning that science history includes more people than the names we usually hear first. One detail from my reading showed that important work can stay hidden when some contributors do not get recognized right away.

Scoring Rubric (Quick Write Reflection)

Students read their independent reading book for 20 minutes and complete a reading log entry.