Grade 4: Module 1A: Unit 2: Lesson 1

Text Features: Introduction to The Iroquois: The Six Nations Confederacy

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Long-Term Learning Goals (Based on New York State Common Core ELA Standards)

• I can explain what a text says using specific details from the text. (RI.4.1)
• I can explain how visual or graphic information helps me understand the surrounding text. (RI.4.7)

Lesson Learning Targets

• I can describe the text features of informational writing that help me understand the main idea.
• I can use those text features to find information about the Iroquois Confederacy (a political alliance, or partnership, among six Native nations).

How Learning Will Be Checked

• Class-created "Text Features" anchor chart (a large reference poster built together)
• Students' answers to questions about the text
• Students' responses on the "Learning Using Text Features" handout

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Lesson Agenda

1. Opening

• A. Engaging the Reader (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

• A. Exploring Text Features (10 minutes)
• B. Creating a Text Features Anchor Chart (10 minutes)
• C. Reading and Answering Text-Based Questions (15 minutes)
• D. Rereading with a Focus on Text Features (15 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

• A. Debrief (5 minutes)

4. Homework

Teacher Preparation Notes

• Before class, read Chapter 1 of The Iroquois: The Six Nations Confederacy and look over the text-based questions in advance.
• In this lesson, students will browse several informational texts (nonfiction writing meant to teach facts) to get familiar with common text features—tools like headings and captions that help organize information. This helps students recognize these features across different books, not just one.
• This lesson does not introduce new vocabulary tied to the topic itself, since the focus is on text features rather than content.
• Note: In the previous unit, students learned about the Haudenosaunee people and how the word "Iroquois" is actually an English version of a French term for them. Since the book used in this unit is titled The Iroquois: The Six Nations Confederacy, this unit will use "Iroquois" to match the book's language and avoid confusing students—even though "Haudenosaunee" is the name the people themselves prefer. If needed, you can briefly replay the introductory video from Unit 1 that explains where the name "Haudenosaunee" comes from and how it's used today.

Key Vocabulary for This Lesson

informational text, text feature, central meaning, headings, glossary (a list of definitions), caption, index, sidebar, bold, italics, pronunciation guide, impressed, Iroquois, Confederacy, constitution (carried over from Unit 1)

Materials Needed

• The Iroquois: The Six Nations Confederacy (one copy per student)
• Index cards
• About 15 copies of various informational texts (they don't need to match—anything from your classroom or library that includes text features works)
• A new "Questions about the Iroquois" anchor chart (created by the teacher)
• Markers
• One "Learning from Text Features" recording form per student

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Opening

A. Engaging the Reader (5 minutes)

Talk with students about how studying the Iroquois has taught you a great deal about oral traditions (stories and knowledge passed down by speaking rather than writing) and about building a peaceful society. Say something like: "Our study has made me really curious to learn more about the Iroquois. Do you want to know more, too?" Ask students to think about questions they still have or things they'd like to learn. Write their questions on the new "Questions about the Iroquois" anchor chart. If students need help getting started, offer a few examples yourself, such as: "How did they use natural resources?" "How did men, women, and children work and play?" "What traditions do the Iroquois practice?"

Explain that students will read a new section from The Iroquois, along with other informational texts, to learn more about how the Iroquois lived in the past and how they live today. Remind students that the Iroquois are a real community that still lives in the northeastern United States today and continues to shape our culture and society.

Read the first learning target aloud together: "I can describe text features of informational text that help me understand the central message." Ask students to point out any words in the target they don't understand. Guide them toward noticing "text features," "informational text," and possibly "main idea" (a concept they should already know from Unit 1). Discuss what informational text means (writing where the author's goal is to teach the reader something) and what main idea means (the core message the author wants to communicate). Let students know that together, you'll figure out exactly what "text features" means as the lesson continues.

Support for English Language Learners and other students: Visual aids can help students follow along with questions and discussions. Write down the main points of answers and post all questions where students can see them.

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Work Time

A. Exploring Text Features (10 minutes)

Have students flip through The Iroquois. Ask them to Think-Pair-Share (think quietly, then discuss with a partner) about how these pages are organized differently from a storybook or novel. Call on volunteers to share their observations. As students name a text feature, help them learn its proper term (for example, "sidebar," a short block of extra information set off from the main text). Write each term on an index card, leaving space for students to add definitions, purposes, and examples later. If helpful, display sample pages using a document camera and point out features such as headings, glossaries, captions, indexes, sidebars, bold print, italics, and pronunciation guides (tools that show how to say a difficult word).

Explain that what students just discovered are the "text features" mentioned in the learning target. Ask them to share ideas about why authors of informational text use these features.

Give pairs of students a different informational text to explore. Ask them to check whether the features they already identified appear in this new book too, and to look for any additional features. Students should jot down any new features they find on scrap paper. It's fine if they don't know the official name yet—they can just describe what they notice.

Support for English Language Learners: Practicing English by talking with native speakers helps build language skills, since it provides a model for how the language works.

B. Creating a Text Features Anchor Chart (10 minutes)

Ask students to share any new text features they found in the books they explored. Write each new feature on its own index card.

Divide the class into small groups—one group per text feature. Give each group an index card with one feature written on it. In 3 to 5 minutes, each group should:

• Write a definition of the text feature.
• Write a sentence explaining its purpose.
• Find an example of it in one of the books, noting the title and page number.

Have each group share its work with the class. As groups present, write their definitions, purposes, and examples onto a class anchor chart titled "Informational Text Features." Correct any confusing wording or misunderstandings as needed.

Support for English Language Learners: Consider pairing an English Language Learner with a student who speaks the same home language during complex discussions. This allows for deeper conversation and helps clarify difficult points in their native language.

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Work Time (continued)

C. Reading and Answering Text-Based Questions (15 minutes)

Hand out copies of The Iroquois to students. Ask them to follow along in their books as you read pages 5 through 8 aloud. Partway through page 6, pause and say: "Oh! I already found the answer to one of our questions!" Have students Think-Pair-Share to answer: "How did the Iroquois people use natural resources?" Call on several students to share their answers.

Keep reading aloud until you reach the illustration on page 7. Ask students what they think the word impressed means. Introduce the strategy of "reading on"—continuing to read further in the text to figure out an unfamiliar word's meaning. Show students how the following sentences help confirm the definition: the text explains that Thomas Jefferson borrowed ideas from the Confederacy when writing parts of the U.S. Constitution. Model your thinking: "If Thomas Jefferson liked the Iroquois's ideas so much that he used them, he must have admired and learned from what they did. So impressed must mean to really like and learn from something."

Continue reading aloud to the bottom of page 8. Ask students: "Why does the author say 'the people of the longhouse have survived'?" Have students reread this section quietly on their own, then discuss the question with a partner. Listen in on their conversations to check their understanding of the new material.

Support for English Language Learners: Consider breaking the text into smaller chunks—sometimes just a few sentences at a time. Check in with students as they write or talk about what they've read.

D. Rereading with a Focus on Text Features (15 minutes)

Ask students to reread from the front cover through page 9, completing the "Learning Using Text Features" recording form as they go.

Decide, based on your class's needs, whether students should work independently or with a partner. You may want to pull a small group aside for extra support.

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Closing and Assessment

A. Debrief (5 minutes)

Ask students to reflect for a moment on the new information they learned by using text features to guide and focus their reading.

Have students Think-Pair-Share in response to this prompt: "What should we add to our Text Features anchor chart about why text features matter when reading informational text?" As students share their ideas, choose one strong summary statement and add it to the anchor chart.

Support for English Language Learners: Consider giving extra time for tasks and for answering questions during class discussions. English Language Learners often need more time to process and translate information, which is why they receive extended time as an accommodation on New York State assessments.

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Homework

Finish reading Chapter 1. Keep thinking about how Iroquois life in the past differed from life today.

Note: If you're concerned that students may not complete this reading at home, consider scheduling an additional reading period in class.