- Hello scholars.

Welcome to second grade on "Read, Write, Roar."

Today, we will focus on two big questions.

How do people's actions affect their environment and what choices can people make to reduce their impact on the environment?

Today, we are going to build a word ladder using a specific pattern.

We will also listen to two stories in order to compare and contrast them.

So scholars, go ahead and get your paper, something to write with, and let's get ready to "Read, Write, Roar."

- [Narrator] This program is made possible in part by the Michigan Department of Education, the state of Michigan, and the W.K.

Kellogg Foundation.

Additional support by... And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat electronic music) (lion roaring) - Hello scholars.

I'm Mrs. Z-K, and today, we are going to create a word ladder.

We're going to start right here at the bottom of our ladder and we are going to go up and up until we get to the top.

As we go up, we are going to be changing part of our word to make a whole new word.

Our words will be using the vowel, consonant, consonant, vowel pattern where the syllables are split between the two consonants.

That'll help you later.

All right, scholars, hopefully have your paper and something to write with ready and we're going to get started.

So scholars, our first word is at your house, you might have a brother or a...sister.

Nice job.

So we're going to split that word into two syllables.

Sis-ter.

What sounds do you hear in sis?

Sss-is.

Write it.

And what about ter?

Tuh-er.

Do you remember how to make the err sound?

Here's our first word, sister.

Check it and see how you did.

Nice work, scholars.

So here's the part where we change part of the word to make a new word.

This word is the opposite of summer.

What word is it?

Winter.

Nice job.

So split that word up into its syllables.

We have win-ter.

Did you notice that the second syllable is the same as the first word that we wrote?

Nice.

So we're only changing the first syllable.

Well, what sounds do you hear and when?

Wuh-in-nnn.

Well, go ahead and write it.

We have win-ter, and together, they make the word winter.

And then you can go ahead and check your word here on the ladder.

All right, scholars, we're gonna change it up again.

This word is the opposite of before.

What word would you use to describe the opposite of before?

After.

Nice work.

Break it up into its syllables.

We have af-ter.

Ter being the same.

So what sounds do you hear in af?

A-fff.

Just two.

Go ahead and write it.

So you should have af-ter, and then together, it makes the word after.

Nice work, scholars.

Switching the word again.

This word is a word used to describe little animals, like mice.

Critter.

Let's split that word up.

We got crit-ter.

Ter being the same.

So what sounds do you hear in crit?

Crr-it.

I heard a blend at the beginning.

Go ahead and write it.

So you should have crit-ter.

Critter.

Yes.

And that blend was that cr, crr.

Nice work.

Go ahead and check your spelling, see if you did that right.

Remember, that second syllable, that ter, is staying the same.

Let's climb another stair.

This word is a word used to describe a section in a book that you might read.

A chapter.

Let's split that word into its syllables.

We have chap-ter.

Ter being this thing.

What sounds do you hear in the syllable chap?

Ch-ah-puh.

Do you remember what makes the ch sound?

Ch.

Nice.

CH.

Chap-ter makes our word chapter.

Switching our word just a little.

This word might be used to describe what your teeth might do when you're outside in the middle of winter and it's super cold.

You might hear your teeth...chatter.

And let's split that into its syllabus.

We have chat-ter.

So see how that works, changing just a little bit.

We have the sounds ch-ah-tuh and then the syllable ter.

Go ahead and write it.

And then of course, you can check your work, see how you did.

But chat-ter makes our word chatter.

Switching our word up again.

And this word might be used to describe the sound of raindrops hitting your house.

It might be a patter.

You hear a pitter-patter.

Patter.

So patter has two syllables.

We have pat-ter.

So what sounds do you hear in pat?

Puh-ah-tuh.

And the syllable is ter.

And you have pat-ter, which makes our word patter.

Scholars, we have reached the top of our ladder.

This time, we're going to change the second syllable.

We're just gonna add a sound.

See if you can figure out where the sound is being added.

Our word is used to describe something that you might do when you say circle, square, circle, square, circle, square.

You knew what was coming next because it's a...pattern.

So we have the word patter, but we want the word pattern.

Do you hear where that added sound is coming?

At the end.

It is the last sound.

And what sound is being added?

Nnn, pattern.

Good.

We have pat and then we have tern, which makes pattern.

Nice job.

And if you have more than one pattern, we can make it plural, right?

Just by adding another sound at the end.

An S. That makes it plural.

It means more than one pattern.

We have the word patterns.

Great work today, scholars.

We built a ladder all from one word.

We were changing just one syllable at a time and creating new words as we climbed the ladder.

Scholars, if you get stuck on writing a word or reading a word that has more than one syllable, remember to think about how you could split the word into syllables to make it easier to work with.

(light upbeat music) - Hello and welcome.

I'm Miss Amy and I'm so excited to share some mindful practices with you today.

Mindful practices are tools we can use when we need to pause and take a breath, own what we are feeling, and practice a deep breath or something that relaxes us.

We call this a pop check.

Sometimes I have a hard time listening to directions because my body feels so wiggly.

And sometimes I forget to do something, like brush my teeth before bed.

Do you ever feel that way inside, so wiggly that it's hard to focus or listen?

That's when you can practice listening breath.

Let's try it.

First, shh, let's listen to some sounds around us.

What do you hear?

I hear some cars outside my window.

I hear a dog barking.

What do you hear where you are?

Let's listen.

I'll count to five and you listen to the sounds.

When we're done, you can tell me what you heard.

Ready?

Go.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

And open your eyes.

What did you hear?

It's fun to practice listening breath, and you can practice it anywhere you are.

Just take some deep breaths and listen.

Thank you for sharing this mindful practice with me today.

Let's get together again soon!

(light upbeat music) - Hi scholars!

I'm Mrs. Fuller.

Today, we're gonna be reading and comparing two books.

That means we're gonna be looking closely at both books to see how they are similar and how they're different.

Our first book, "The Water Walker," is written and illustrated by Joanne Robertson and read with permission from the Second Story Press.

Our second book is "Ajijaak Crane," written by Cecilia Rose LaPointe, illustrated by Dolly Peltier, and read with permission from Waub Ajijaak Press.

As we read today, I would also like you to listen for information that'll help us answer our two big questions.

First, how do people's actions affect the environment?

And our second big question, what choices can people make to reduce their impact on the environment?

Let's get started.

In our last episode, we read "The Water Walker," and after reading, we came up with the story elements for the story.

Remember, the story elements are the setting, that's where the story takes place, the characters, that's the who or the what are involved in the story, the problem, or what's wrong in the story, and the language, that's the language that you see and hear in the story.

So in our book "The Water Walker," we said the setting took place in North America and the Native American word from that is Turtle Island.

We also said the story took place in Michigan because the main characters in the story, the water walkers, walked all the way around the Great Lakes.

The two main characters in the story are Nibi, which means water, and Nokomis, which means grandmother.

The problem in the story is that the water is being polluted and the people are not protecting it.

The languages that we hear in this story are English and the Native American language of Ojibwa.

The book "Ajijaak Crane" is written in Ojibwa.

The Ojibwa language is an Indigenous language spoken by the Ojibwa people.

You'll notice as I read that the black print is written in the Ojibwa language and the blue print is written in English.

Sandhill crane is at the marsh.

The feathers of the Crane are a nice color.

Crane listens to the frogs.

Quiet, calm, peaceful.

Crane wakes up.

Crane looks up towards the sky, waking up as the sun rises, as the sun shines, and spreads rays of light through the forest in the land beneath the trees in Michigan.

Crane wakes up to see mole, red squirrel, chipmunk, robin, crow, painted turtle, dragonfly.

They are busy digging, collecting things, harvesting things.

They are noisy, they are preoccupied, they are rambunctious.

And rambunctious means full of energy.

On a cool autumn day, Robin lands in a tree near Crane.

Robin speaks to Crane.

Crane listens to Robin.

They talk near the marsh.

Crane walks quietly.

Crane loves the marsh near the great sea.

Crane travels to the creek today, rising and flying upward.

Crane flies around.

Crane flies above the tree tops.

Crane sees Eagle by the creek.

Crane lands right next to the creek.

Eagle and Crane talk.

Crane wades in the water.

Eagle sits in a tree over the water.

The creek has no more salmon because a big factory polluted the water.

The factory hurt the salmon.

Our salmon friends are gone.

There is no food for Eagle or Crane.

"What happened?"

asked Crane.

"The salmon cannot live here," says Eagle.

There is so much sickness.

There is pollution.

There is continual greed.

The factory has hurt the water.

Robin lands on a branch of a cedar tree.

Robin cares about the water.

Robin cares about the creek.

Crane, Robin, and Eagle are sad for the creek.

Crane, Robin, and Eagle ask Creator to help all of us be strong.

Crane, Robin, and Eagle ask Creator to heal all of us.

Help us to stop this.

Help us to fly together.

Help us to tell every creature.

Help us to stop the factory.

The creek is sick.

Heal this creek so Eagle can eat.

Heal this creek so salmon can swim.

Heal this creek so Crane can walk.

Heal this creek so Toad can sit.

The winged ones fly together.

The winged ones use their voices to be heard.

The blue jays, crows, kingfishers, robins, cardinals.

Singing and saying, "Stop the factory.

Stop the factory.

Stop the factory."

The pine trees shakes.

The forest shakes.

Finally, their voices are heard.

The factory closes.

No more pollution, no poison, no greed, no disrespect to the land, no disrespect to the water, no disrespect to the creek.

The creek begins to heal.

They collect cedar, they collect sweet grass, they collect traditional medicine, medicine that heals.

Medicine is sacred.

Medicine is sacred for the creek.

Medicine we believe is sacred for us to heal.

Medicine is sacred for the creek to heal.

All the winged ones join in together, happy, content, grateful, joyous the creek is healed.

Crane flies back to the great sea.

Crane cares for friends.

Crane cares for the land.

Crane cares for the water.

Crane cares to see the land healed.

Crane cares to see the water healed.

Do you care?

Now I need your help to come up with the story elements for the story "Ajijaak Crane."

We're gonna be looking for the setting, that's where the story took place, the main characters, that's the who or what is involved in the story, the problem, or what's wrong in the story, and the language that we see and hear in the story.

So for our story "Ajijaak Crane," what would you say is the setting, or where does this story take place?

That's right.

We heard that it took place in a marsh and in Michigan.

For the characters, who would you say are the main characters that were involved in the story?

That's right.

And we could put all three.

We can put Crane, Eagle, and Robin.

And notice that I wrote those with a capital letter because in the story, those are the names of the characters and we know that names need to be capitalized.

For problem, what did you hear was a problem or something that was wrong in the story?

That's a good answer.

I heard that the factory polluted the water, the salmon are gone, and the animals had no food.

The factory polluted the water and the salmon were gone.

Crane, Eagle, and the other animals had no food.

Language, what language did you see or hear in the story?

Yes, there were two languages.

This story was written in Ojibwa and translated into English.

Let's look at our chart of the story elements and see in which ways are the two stories the same and different.

So the setting is where the story takes place.

In our story, "The Water Walker," it took place in North America and Michigan, and in our story "Ajijaak Crane," the story took place in a marsh and in Michigan.

The characters in the story, in "The Water Walker," the two characters were Nibi and Nokomis.

Nibi means water, Nokomis means grandmother.

And in "Ajijaak Crane," the characters are the Crane, the Eagle, and the Robin.

The problem in "The Water Walker" was that the water's being polluted and people were not protecting it.

The problem in "Ajijaak Crane" was that the factory polluted the water, the salmon were gone, and the animals didn't have any food.

And the language in the story, "The Water Walker" is written in English and some of the words are in Ojibwa, and in the "Ajijaak Crane" story, it's written in Ojibwa and translated into English.

In what ways would you say our two stories are the same or similar and in what ways are our two stories different?

Go ahead and share your answers.

That's right.

Both stories take place in Michigan and near water.

Both stories take place in Michigan and near water.

What else did you notice?

That's right.

In the two stories, the characters are different.

In this story, there's Nibi, water, and Nokomis, the grandmother.

And then this story, the characters are animals.

So let's write the stories have different characters.

In "The Water Walker," the characters are people and Nibi, which is water.

In "Ajijaak Crane," the characters are animals.

What other things that are similar or different did you notice about our story?

I like that answer.

In both stories, the water is being polluted, and in both stories, the characters are trying to save the water.

What's one more we can come up with?

Something about the story element of language.

Would you say the language in the two stories are similar or different?

That's right.

Both stories are written in two languages, Ojibwa and English.

Great.

Thank you for your help.

We've learned a lot today looking at the story elements and comparing two stories.

See if you have two stories that you can read and see if you can come up with things that are similar and things that are different about both stories.

I'll see you next time on "Read, Write, Roar."

- [Narrator] This program is made possible in part by the Michigan Department of Education, the state of Michigan, and the W.K.

Kellogg Foundation.

Additional support by... And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) (bright piano music)