- Hello, readers and welcome to "Read, Write, ROAR!"

Today, we will focus on the big question.

How can I be a world changer?

We'll practice words with vowel teams, and we will read a story about an amazing tower.

You'll need something to write on, even a scratch piece of paper or an envelope, and something to write with, like a pencil or a crayon.

Come and join us for "Read, Write, ROAR!"

- [Announcer] 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.

(cheerful music) (lion roars) - Welcome, readers.

When I'm reading and I come to a long word that I've never seen before, I remind myself that I don't have to read the entire word all at once.

Instead, readers can break that long word up into syllables or word parts to help them read the word more accurately.

By learning about the different kinds of syllables, we can learn how to break long words up into syllables.

Our goal today is to learn how to read words with vowels teams.

A vowel team is when there are two vowels that work together, but it only makes one vowel sound.

Remember, a syllable is a word part that has one and only one vowel sound.

Our vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and oftentimes the letter Y that make these vowel sounds.

Sometimes a syllable will have two vowels, but they'll only work together to make one vowel sound.

In fact, we're gonna see a lot of this today.

Let's look at this first word.

This is a word that I don't know how to read.

Let's loop it and swoop it to figure out what this word says.

Remember, our first step is to place a dot under any vowels in our word.

Do you see any vowels in this word?

I do too.

E, E, A.

Our next step is to underline any vowel teams in this word.

If I scan across my word, do you see any vowel teams in this word?

I do too.

Let's underline them.

I see E-A.

Now we need to decide where we're going to split this word.

Between two consonants, two vowels, or a consonant and a vowel?

I think I'm going to split my word between E and N. Because I know oftentimes we split a word between a vowel and a consonant.

All right, let's loop it and swoop it so we can try and read what this word says.

Be-nath, be-nath.

(sighs) That doesn't sound like a word that I know.

But wait, do you remember there was this vowel team, E-A, and E-A works together to say e. Let's try reading this again now that we remember that.

Beneath, beneath.

That's a word I know.

I'm going to put my marker beneath my whiteboard.

Great job, readers.

Are you ready to try another one?

I want you to help me out with this one.

So get your writing tool and your paper or envelope ready.

Our next word looks like this.

Can you take your writing tool, and on your scratch piece of paper or envelope, will you write these letters down with me?

E-N-G-I-N-E-E-R.

I'll give you a second to get those written down.

All right, remember, the first thing we need to do is put a dot under any vowels in our word.

Can you put a dot under any vowels in your word on your paper and look up here when you're done?

And we'll check it and see if we found the same vowels.

Ready?

Go.

Are you finished?

I found E, I, E, E. Did you find the same vowels?

Great job.

If not, fix it up really quick.

Now, we need to scan across our word and see if we can find any vowel teams.

Will you scan across your word on your paper and see if you find any vowel teams to underline?

I'm going to do the same.

Look up here when you're done, and we'll check our work together.

Did you find one?

So did I. I underlined E-E; That's vowel team.

Now we need to decide where we're going to break this word.

Between two vowels, two consonants, or a vowel and a consonant.

I think that we're going to need to break this word more than once.

I think we can break it between these two consonants and between this consonant and this vowel.

Get your pencil ready to loop and swoop with me so we can try and read this word.

Ready?

En-gin-er.

En-gin-er.

(sighs) That doesn't sound like a word that I know either.

You're right.

This vowel team works together to say e. Let's try reading this word again.

Engineer.

Engineer.

I remember what that word is.

That word's engineer.

An engineer is a person who builds or designs maybe really big towers or bridges or buildings.

Engineer.

Great job, readers.

You're doing so well.

I think you can try this last word on your own.

Are you ready?

On your envelope or scratch piece of paper, can you write down these letters?

M-A-I-N-T-A-I-N.

I'll give you a second to get them written down.

All right, remember the first thing we do is, you're right.

We look for any vowels, and we put a dot under them.

I'm gonna give you a minute to put a dot under any vowels you see in your word on your paper.

And I'm going to do the same.

Look up here when you're done, and we'll check our work together.

Did you find A-I, A-I just like I did?

You did?

Great job.

If you didn't, that's okay.

Go ahead and fix up your work quick.

Now remember, the second thing we have to do is underline any vowel teams that we see in this word.

On your paper, scan across your word and underline any vowel teams that you see.

I'm going to do the same.

Look up here when you're done, and we'll check our work together.

This word tried to trick us, didn't it?

I see two vowel teams in this word.

Did you find both of them on your paper?

I found A-I and A-I.

Now, next, we need to decide where we're going to split this word, between two vowels, two consonants, or a consonant and a vowel.

I think I'm going to split right here between these two consonants, because I know oftentimes we split a word between two consonants.

Get your pencils ready.

Let's loop and swoop so we can read this word together.

Are you ready?

Here we go.

Maintain.

Maintain.

Great job, readers.

This word is maintain.

If you maintain something, you keep it up.

You take care of it.

Kind of like how the snow plows maintain our roads for us in the winter so we can drive on them safely.

(bright music) Now that we understand what a vowel team is, let's practice reading some of these words in a story.

Are you ready?

Follow along.

Lucy is an engineer who builds bridges.

In order to make her bridges bow-ti-ful.

Bow-ti-ful.

Hmm, that doesn't sound right.

I'm gonna try that again because I noticed this vowel team there.

Beautiful, in order to make her bridges beautiful, she adds colorful lights all along the bridge.

Lucy rides on a boat beneath the bridge at night to see all of the lights.

A worker maintains the lights so they don't burn out and stop working.

Lucy loves her sparkling bridges and so do many people.

Great job, readers.

Now that we're getting really good at vowel teams, let's practice writing some of these words.

For this activity, you'll need whatever you have to write on and something to write with.

When we think about spelling words, we listen for and visualize the word parts.

And then we think about the sounds that match those word parts.

Are you ready to give it a try?

Let's go.

Our first word is beneath.

Can you say that word with me?

Beneath.

On our papers, let's write lines for every syllable we hear in the word beneath.

I hear beneath.

Two syllables.

Now let's listen for the sounds in each of those syllables.

I hear in the first syllable, b, e. In my second syllable, I hear n, e, th.

Three sounds.

Now let's think about the letters that match those sounds.

B, e. B matches the sound b.

And E matches the sound e. Now let's look at our second syllable or word part and think about the letters that match those sounds.

n, that's the letter N, e. I know that's T-H.

But that doesn't look right.

And I know we're practicing vowel teams, and I don't see a vowel team in there.

You're right.

I forgot to put my A with that E so it can work together to say e. Now let's try reading this word.

Beneath.

Beneath.

That word is beneath, like the eggs were beneath the milk in the refrigerator.

Great job, readers.

Are you ready to try another one?

Okay, get your writing tool ready.

Our next word is engineer.

Can you say that word with me?

Engineer.

Let's write a line on our paper for every syllable we hear in engineer.

Are you ready?

En-gin-eer.

I hear three syllables or word parts in the word engineer.

Now let's think about the sounds in those word parts.

E, n, g, i, n, eer.

Engineer.

Okay, now it's time to think about the letters that match those sounds.

Are you ready?

Write them down on your paper as I write them on my board: e, E matches that sound.

n, N. My second syllable, gin: g, i, n. En-gin.

You've got one more syllable to go.

Great job, readers.

Eer.

That doesn't look right either.

You're right.

I'm missing my other E in that vowel team.

Two Es work together to say ee.

Let's get ready to loop and and swoop to read this word.

Engineer.

Engineer.

Great job.

The engineer built the world's largest tower.

Okay, readers, you're doing awesome.

We've got one more word to go.

Are you ready?

Our last word is maintain.

Can you say that word with me?

Maintain., Let's write a line on our paper for every syllable or word part we hear in maintain.

I hear maintain.

Did you write those lines on your paper.

Now, let's think about the sounds in each of the syllables.

M, a, n, t, a, n. Maintain.

Okay, I think I got all the sounds.

It's time to match our letters up with those sounds.

Are you ready to write them down on your paper?

M, M matches the sound m M, a, n. Main.

T matches t, a, n. Maintain.

Maintain.

Hopefully the snow plows can maintain all of the snow on our roads so that we can drive on them.

Readers, you did such a great job reading all of these words with vowel teams with me today.

Remember, when you're reading, and you come to a word with more than one syllable, break it up into smaller syllables so that you can read that word more accurately.

(bright music) - (speaks Ojibwe) Hello, readers.

Today, we're gonna read an amazing book.

It's called, "The Wonderful Towers of Watts."

This book is written by Patricia Zelver, and the pictures are by Frane Lessac.

Our focus will be main idea, and we'll be pulling those details out of the text and be able to explain how those details support our main idea.

Although this book is a narrative, it is also an informational text.

Throughout the story, we're gonna learn about Sam and his wonderful towers.

But my friends, this is also a biography.

A biography is a book or a text that tells us about somebody's life.

And throughout the story, like I said, we're gonna learn a lot about Sam.

A lot of people thought Old Sam was crazy.

Hmm, I don't think we have any details there.

Let's keep reading.

Old Sam's real name was Simon Rodia.

He was a small man who dressed in ragged overalls, a shirt with the sleeves cut off, and a greasy hat.

His arms and face were always covered with dust.

You can see that I have some vocabulary words over here today.

Ragged means old and kind of torn apart.

Simon Rodia had come from Italy as a young man and spoke with a thick accent.

He bought a little bungalow, that could be called a house, in Watts, a poor neighborhood that was half town, half country, outside the city limits of Los Angeles.

He baked his bread in the outdoor oven he had made just like the oven his mother had used in the old country.

Sometimes he was friendly and smiled at people with a gapped-tooth smile.

Other times, his thoughts seemed far away and he would speak to no one.

I think the author's just kind of getting us into the story right now.

I don't see any details just yet about those towers of Watts.

Let's keep reading.

Old Sam worked as a laborer at Taylor's Tilery.

A laborer is somebody who does work with their hands.

Every evening, he got off the street car carrying a large burlap sack of broken colored tiles.

"What's Old Sam going to do with those?"

people said.

Hm, I think we've got our first detail: broken tiles.

Mm-mm.

Let's keep reading.

On weekends, Old Sam walked down to the vacant lot by the railroad tracks and collected things that people thought were better thrown away.

He brought home blue milk of magnesia bottles, that's medicine; broken bits of colored pottery; even pieces of broken mirrors.

Sometimes he paid the neighbor kids pennies or cookies to bring him empty green soda pop bottles and sets of seashells.

"What does Old Sam want with all that junk?"

people wondered.

Oh, friends.

I think we have another piece of text evidence that's going to help us explain about the Watts towers.

Don't we?

So what did Sam do?

Sam collected other things that people threw away.

And what is he going to do with them?

I can't wait to find out.

Okay.

Old Sam spent most of his money on sacks of cement, sand, and steel.

People could hear him working in his backyard behind a high fence.

"Old Sam, what's he up to?"

They said.

One day, to the neighbor's amazement, something strange and beautiful rose up over the fence in Sam's backyard.

It was a lacy web of steel covered with a skin of concrete in which Old Sam had stuck glittering bits of tile, glass, mirrors, pottery, and seashells.

Was Old Sam building a fairy castle, a church spire, a tower on which he could climb to the sky?

Everyone stared in wonder at Old Sam's creation.

Friends, I think it's coming together now.

He built things out of other people's trash.

How amazing and very creative.

Today, friends, we have learned three new vocabulary words as we read this text, and we've worked on the main idea in our supporting details.

We've pulled out three details to help us understand about "The Wonderful Towers of Watts."

Good work today.

(bright music) Writers, today, we are gonna start organizing some of our ideas into a biography.

Now, a biography doesn't have to include all the details of somebody's life, but it can include one short section, just like in "The Tower of Watts."

That book was a biography about specifically just the towers.

Now we're gonna take a look at our I am brainstorm that we made for our I am poem.

And we're gonna think about what would make a good biography.

Hmm.

I'm thinking about this section right here, the I want to.

And I was thinking about to help people.

I love to help people.

And I remember this one time that I helped with a food truck.

I think that maybe we might do that.

So I'm thinking about the time that I was able to help at a food truck.

And I need to kind of go back in my mind and think about what were some of the jobs that I did.

Well, I remember I bagged apples, and I swept the floors, and I carried boxes, and I talked with a lot of the elders.

I think we say (speaks Ojibwe) in Anishinaabemowin.

And, hmm, what else did I do?

Well, I think I have a good start, right?

So what was something that I could add in this story?

Right, yeah, that I bagged apples.

We wanna make sure that we put that in our boxes and bullets.

The main topic of our story is going to be food truck.

And now I'm going to fill this box with details about what my story is going to be about, what my biography is going to have in it.

Okay, I bagged apples.

Now thinking to myself, what was something else that I did?

Oh, I carried boxes.

That's right.

I should write that down next.

So let's review.

Gonna write a biography about the time that I helped with the food truck.

I bagged apples.

I carried boxes of food.

And oh, I could write down that I swept floors.

That could be the next thing.

After I swept the floor, thinking about maybe how did this make me feel inside to be able to help out?

And I'm gonna tell you that my heart felt so good.

I was so happy that I was able to help other people.

So I think I might write down that it made me feel good or made me feel happy.

Both work, don't they?

Today we just took our I am brainstorm, the one that we ended up making our poem with, and we pulled it apart again, thinking about how could we write a biography.

The main idea of my story is going to be about a food truck and about the things that I did there.

I bagged apples.

I carried boxes of food.

I swept the floor.

And, mm-hmm, it made me feel really good inside.

Scholars, what are you gonna write about today?

(cheerful music) (lion roars) Scholars, you've done such a wonderful job.

You have been working with vowel teams.

You've also helped with main idea and details in a biography.

And we've started writing our own by organizing some of our thoughts and ideas.

Now, when you are reading and writing, make sure that you are looping and swooping those super long words that you're solving these days.

And don't forget, you can always find the main idea and details in any of the books you're reading.

So.

(speaks Ojibwe) We'll see you next time on "Read, Write, ROAR!"

- [Announcer] 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) (gentle music)