- Hello scholars.

Welcome to third grade on read, write, roar.

Today we focus on the big question.

How do animals survive in their habitats?

We'll investigate the schwa sound.

What is that?

We'll read a book about a bear and we'll write our own story with words using the schwa sounds.

Join us for read, write, roar.

- [Narrator] This program is made possible in part by Michigan Department of Education, the State of Michigan and the Kresge Foundation additional support for educational programming provided by and by viewers like you.

(upbeat music) - Hello?

Word builders.

I'm Mrs. Mora.

Have you ever read a word and then thought, that doesn't sound right.

That's happened to me.

I have learned that there is a very sneaky sound in English that we call the schwa sound.

Can you say this word with me?

Schwa?

The schwa sound is the sound that sounds a little bit like this.

It's a sound that you make when you're really thinking hard about something, aa aah.

Say that with me, aa aah.

The schwa sound sounds a little bit like the letter U when it's making the short vowel sound.

If we want to be able to read our favorite books especially books that have words that are more than one syllable, we need to figure out how the schwa sound works because we're going to need to read these words.

Our goal today is to be able to hear and read the schwa sound in different words.

We're going to get started with two words.

One of these words has the schwa sound.

And one of these words is going to trick you into making you think that it has the schwa sound when it doesn't.

Are you ready to get started?

Here's our first word.

Say a-maze, a-maze.

When we said that word together did you hear a-h at the beginning of the word a-maze?

If you did what you're hearing is the schwa sound?

Why is it the schwa sound?

Well, amaze starts with the letter a.

We usually expect the letter a to say a-ah or a, but in this word, it doesn't, it says aa ah-maze which makes this an example of a word with the schwa sound, aa ah-maze.

Listen to the next word.

Under, say that with me, under.

Do you hear ah at the beginning of this word just like we did at the beginning of amaze?

I do too but guess what this word is trying to trick us.

It is not an example of a schwa sound word.

Why?

Well, we know that the letter U can make the ah sound that is part of what the letter U does.

It can say the short vowel, a.

If we have a word where the U says, ah the U is just doing its job and saying it's vowel sound.

So this would not be an example of a schwa because it's not a different vowel sound saying, ah when we might expect it to say something else.

It's your turn to help me.

I'm going to read you a couple of words and you are going to show me if you think you hear the schwa sound or not.

If you think word has the schwa sound, give me a thumbs up.

But if you think that the word just has the letter U saying ah give me a thumbs down because that would not be an example of a schwa word.

Here's our first word.

Say Panda, Panda.

Thumbs up if you think that you hear the schwa sound in this word.

Thumbs down if you don't think this is an example of the schwa sound.

If you gave me a thumbs up, I agree with you.

Let's look at the word pan-da.

Do you hear how the end of this word says, aa ah?

That is an example of the schwa?

Because this is the letter a, I didn't read pan-dey or pan-daa.

That's what I might have read.

If I didn't know that there was a schwa sound, but with the schwa sound, I know that I can say pan-da to make it a word that I know.

Let's take Panda and put this in the schwa column.

Here's our next word say avoid, avoid.

Give me a thumbs up if you think that this is an example of a schwa sound word, and a thumbs down if you do not think that this is an example of the schwa sound.

I would have given this one a thumbs up because the word a-void begins with the letter a, I did not read a void.

I made this a real word by using the schwa sound, a-void, avoid.

This will go in which column?

You got it, the schwa column.

Thumbs up for that word.

Here's our next word.

Say bunch, bunch.

Thumbs up if you think this word has the schwa sound thumbs down if you don't.

This word is not an example of a schwa word.

So good for you if you put your thumb down.

Bunch has the letter U right here after the letter b-, buuunch, bunch, this letter U is making the short vowel sound.

Ah, that's what the U often does because of that this is not an example of a schwa word.

So we'll put it in the vowel sound side of our chart because it's just the U making its vowel sounds.

Here's our next word.

Say afraid, afraid.

Thumbs up if you think that this is an example of a schwa word, thumbs down if you don't.

I'd give this one a thumbs up because afraid begins with the letter a but we pronounce it ah.

That is exactly what the schwa sounds does.

Let's put this in the schwa column.

Last word.

Say Tundra, Tundra.

Thumbs up if you think that there is a schwa sound in this word, thumbs down if you don't.

I see lots of thumbs up out there.

This word does have the example of a schwa sound here at the end tun-dra.

The A is making that ah sound.

Now you might've been a little confused by this word because there's also the U saying it's vowel sound in this part tun, but there is an example of the schwa sound in this word too.

So we're going to stick this in the schwa column.

Now that we have listened for the schwa sound and read some words with the schwa sound we're going to read a story with many schwa words.

Join me.

(air whooshing) Our story today is fantasy.

That means this would never happen in real life.

It's just pretence.

In this fantasy story we're going to practice reading some words with the schwa sounds.

I'm sure that the schwa sound is going to help us read this story.

Let's get started.

One autumn, a Panda bear met a polar bear, "You look different," said Panda.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from the frozen tundra."

said polar bear.

I just heard something that did not sound right.

Tundra I think that that's a word where I need to use the schwa sounds.

Let me try it again.

Tundra tundra.

"The frozen tundra."

said polar bear.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from the green forest."

said Panda.

Polar bear was a afraid of the forest.

I think I just did it again, didn't I?

This word a fraid did not sound like a real word to me.

So I'm going to try it again.

Using the schwa sound.

Polar bear was a fraid, afraid of the forest.

She thought it was full of a bunch of scary creatures.

"I want to avoid the forest," said polar bear.

"It's so scary!"

I wonder if polar bear will ever visit the forest.

Today we have seen that the schwa sound can help us read new words.

As you are reading this week make sure you're looking for words with the schwa sounds.

Keep an eye out I'm sure that you'll find so many examples before we meet again.

(soft music) For this spring break, you're going to need two things.

Something to write with and something to write on.

You only have five seconds to get what you need.

I'll wait right here, go!

(upbeat music) You should be back by now.

So I'm going to explain this activity.

We are going to be drawing self portraits.

Portraits are pictures of people.

So a self portrait is a picture of yourself.

That doesn't sound too terrible, right?

We've all drawn pictures of ourselves before.

Well, here's where it gets hard.

Instead of looking at the paper and drawing ourselves you're going to take your paper and put it on your head.

Now we're going to draw self portraits as quickly as we can, ready?

Go.

Start with your head.

That felt like a circle.

And now here are my eyes, probably a nose and mouth.

What else?

Oh, I probably need a hair on the top of my head and also my shoulders.

Well, my neck first, I guess and then the shoulders and part of my arms.

And that should be all for now.

I wonder how we turned out.

Are you ready?

Here's mine.

Oh, look at me.

Doesn't it look just like me.

We are such great artists.

Thanks for drawing with me today.

(upbeat music) - [Lumsden] Hi friends.

I'm so excited to be here with you today.

Today we're gonna be reading this amazing book by Jim Arnosky, it is called "Every Autumn Comes The Bear."

And as you can see, it has the most amazing illustrations.

And the really cool thing about this book also my friends is that not only is he the author but he's also the illustrator.

He actually made those pictures.

Can you believe it?

Oh my goodness, friends today as we read we're gonna be doing a couple of things.

We are going to be thinking about inferring and inferring means that you're using everything that you have in your head.

All of that background knowledge and we are going to be making a guess about the things that are going on in our book.

The second thing that we're gonna be doing is that when we make that guess we're going to be making that guess about our setting which is where the story takes place.

We're also going to be thinking about the mood, the feelings that are going on in the story.

So friends, are you ready for an amazing adventure in this fabulous book?

Let's go.

"Every Autumn Comes The Bear."

Where are we?

There is a wooded hill behind our farm.

Can you see all those amazing beautiful colors in the sky friends?

I see that those colors remind me every morning before I go to school, that's what this guy looks like.

Right?

I don't know about you but that's what my sky looks like.

Watch me friends.

What did I see?

I see a yellow and blue sky.

Are you ready?

Let's keep on going.

It is a wild and rugged place with many rocks as trees.

Down here at the bottom I see some amazing rocks and beautiful trees and it looks like it's going up a big hill, I'm thinking on the last page he did see hill, but it looks like it's getting higher.

So I'm thinking about one time I went to the porcupine mountains.

Yes.

And it looked almost the same.

So beautiful.

Absolutely.

So my friends, what am I thinking now?

What do I see?

I see trees and rocks and an amazing cute little porcupine and well what does that make me think about?

That makes me think about my family's trip to the porcupine mountains.

Yeah.

So I could infer that the setting of this story is probably you guessed it.

In the mountains.

Let's keep going.

"Every autumn, after the leaves have fallen, a bear shows up.

Now I'm looking really close at this bear.

And as you notice, maybe can you see he's got kind of a scowl on his face and his eyes are slandering and it looks kind of angry I mean, are you noticing them?

What do you see?

But you know, use your schema and your background knowledge.

What does it make you think?

What can you infer?

Let's put some pieces together.

What did I see?

I saw a bear with his eyes slanted and his mouth turned down.

Yeah.

So what do I know?

In my head I can think that that's probably a grumpy face.

He's either really focused.

Might be a little mad.

Let's go ahead and think that.

Yeah.

I'm gonna use some academic vocabulary.

Are you ready?

Are you ready readers?

Precise language.

Let's use some precise language and I'm going to infer that he's irritated.

Have you heard that word before?

Make a connection if you have.

All right, let's keep going, how exciting.

Oh, take a pic.

What have I noticed?

The bear is standing up.

Those ravens are blackbirds are flying away.

I'm gonna read.

He walks out on the cliff where the ravens perch.

And off they go.

I know when birds fly away, they are scared.

What do you see?

What do you know?

What does that make you think?

Ah!

here's some more.

He growls into the bobcat lair.

Lair?

What is a lair?

Well, I'm looking at the picture and it looks like the bobcat is scorched way back to the back of the lair.

I think that might be the bobcat's house, it's home.

Yeah.

What do you see?

I see teeth.

I do.

Oh my goodness.

What does that mean?

What do I think that means?

Yeah.

I know using my own animals from my own house.

That, yeah, those are some angry animals.

And so what does that, I think that means their irate.

Precise language, right?

Have you noticed our setting has changed too?

You can infer that we're no longer walking around anymore.

That this setting is the bobcat's lair.

Absolutely.

My friends let's keep going.

The bear follows every trail, just to see where each trail leads.

Well, my friends, I know that bears hibernate in the winter time.

So I'm wondering if that's what that bear is doing.

If that's why he went to the bobcat's lair.

Right?

So friends before we come back together next time remember that every time you read, you can notice, see what's going on in your stories and your illustrations.

No.

Use your schema.

Think about your background knowledge and then infer, take the good guess about what either the setting or the mood is.

(soft music) - Hello and welcome.

My name is Ms. 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 on what we are feeling and practice something that helps our body and mind feel calm.

We call this a pop check.

Today we are going to practice moving our bodies.

Sometimes if you've been sitting for a really long time or if you feel sad and you need to turn your day around it helps to get up and move.

So first find a safe space to jump.

Then I'm going to play guitar and you are going to jump and jump and jump and jump and pause.

And when you pause, we are going to take our hand put it on our hearts and see if you can feel your heartbeat.

Are you ready?

Let's go.

♪ Let's jump jump jump jump jump together ♪ ♪ Jump jump jump jump jump together ♪ ♪ Jump jump jump jump jump together ♪ ♪ Jump and then we'll pause Take your hand to your heart.

Can you feel it beating?

And again, ♪ Let's jump jump jump jump jump together ♪ ♪ Jump jump jump jump jump together ♪ ♪ Jump jump jump jump jump together ♪ ♪ Jump and then we'll pause Take your hand to your heart, feel it.

One more time.

♪ Let's jump jump jump jump jump together ♪ ♪ Jump jump jump jump jump together ♪ ♪ Jump jump jump jump jump together ♪ ♪ Jump and then we'll pause ♪ Pause ♪ Pause Take a deep breath in and relax your body.

Thank you for sharing this mindful practice with me today.

Let's get together again soon.

(upbeat music) - Hi, my friends.

It's so good to see you.

Welcome back.

Oh, do you remember this book "Every Autumn Comes The Bear" by Jim Arnosky?

This is going to be so fantastic.

Remember he had those beautiful illustrations and not that many words.

Well, today we have an amazing job for us.

We are going to do some writing and the writing we're gonna do it's going to be about describing those beautiful pictures.

I've picked one picture and we're going to take a great amount of time to do just that.

All right, friends?

So get ready.

Now, before we get started, there's a couple of things that you need to know, or at least remember.

A noun, in order to know what an adjective you've got to remember what a noun is.

A noun is a person place or thing.

And an adjective describes a person, place or thing.

That's right.

So my friends remember, that's what we're gonna be doing.

We're gonna be describing some of the things that we see in this amazing book, let's get started.

We are gonna make these amazing pictures movies in our mind by using adjectives.

We're gonna have a great time writing today.

Okay.

So here we go.

We are gonna take some time to describe this beautiful page.

Are you ready?

Okay.

So what are some things that you are noticing about the colors that you're noticing colors, colors?

How could we describe what colors?

Colors are adjectives.

That's right.

I see light brown.

Yes.

Do you see some of those light brown pieces and these beautiful rocks?

I know, I know, I know.

And so I'm looking at this lair, and I'm looking at this rug and I'm noticing this isn't a pebble or a stone.

I'm noticing that this is huge, oh my goodness this rock is huge!

Now I'm gonna require you to use some of your math words.

Are you ready?

Geometry words get them, get them.

This kind of reminds me of a shape you might know, maybe a hexagon.

Do you guys know that word hexagon?

Oh, I think you might, hang on.

How do we wanna put this?

Maybe like this, there we go.

Yeah.

I think that might be the shape of a hexagon even my friends.

Or maybe you might find this one over here.

It's kind of the shape of a, the top of a square.

Yeah.

I really like that.

Some of my favorite colors are on the inside of that rock.

And then noticing that they've got some light grays and I'm also noticing that there's some thin lines up inside here.

And then I'm also noticing like there's a huge yellow stripe.

One more word, friends.

Horizontal.

Wow!

Look at all those amazing adjectives that we just put together on this one page.

Guess what my friends, it's your turn.

You need to pick one area and write using adjectives.

You need to be thinking about color, shapes, sizes and positions.

Been an amazing time together.

Hasn't it?

Wow.

You've done so much amazing work.

Oh my goodness.

Wow.

So think about this.

You've done this sneaky schwa.

You've used your background knowledge along with your schema using your illustrations to go ahead and make inferences about the books that we're reading together.

Yeah.

To go ahead and think about what's the mood and what's the setting.

That's so amazing.

What amazing readers you are and writers for all those fancy adjectives that you came up with.

Fantastic.

Thank you for working so hard.

Remember, as you read and of course before I see you, the next time keep working on your schwa and all of those inferences and I'll see you next time on read, write, roar.

- [Narrator] This program is made possible in part by Michigan Department of Education, the State of Michigan and the Kresge Foundation additional support for educational programming provided by and by viewers like you.

(upbeat music)