Gorillas in the Wild, Gorillas in Captivity
Grade Levels: 3 - 5
Overview
Students explore an online resource to learn about gorillas in the wild. They then read about the gorillas at the Gorilla Foundation in preparation for writing a plan for a day-long visit with one of them.
Objective
- Students will practice recognizing the main ideas and supporting details in a nonfiction selection.
- Students will learn to infer the main ideas that are not directly stated.
Materials
- Gorillas in the Wild, Gorillas in Captivity worksheet
- Gorillas in the Wild, Gorillas in Captivity answer key
Procedure
-
Before you begin this activity, visit The Gorilla Foundation
website to familiarize yourself with the site's contents and
organization, as well as with the foundation's goals.
- Ask students to share what they know about gorillas. Record the
information in a word web on the board. Then take students online to
the Gorilla Pictures page and share the photographs with
students. As you talk to them about the Gorilla Foundation's three gorillas –
Koko, Michael, and Ndume (pronounced "en-do-may") – ask the students to
speculate about how the lives of these gorillas might differ from the lives of
gorillas in the wild.
- Next, distribute the Gorillas
in the Wild, Gorillas in Captivity worksheet. Go to the Basic
Gorilla Life page and have students follow the
directions on the first page of the worksheet as they read this web page. If
necessary, explain that the main idea of a paragraph tells what it is about
and that supporting details give more information about the main idea. Point
out that sometimes the main idea is not stated and the reader must figure it
out from the details. Then remind students that being able to recognize the
main idea helps readers to better understand and remember what they read.
- Go to the All About Koko page and have students read the information about Koko, Michael, and Ndume. Then ask them to use this information to complete the second page of the worksheet. When students have finished, tell them to share what they have written.
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