The Rare Spirit Bear
Reading Strategy
People often try to change the way we think. Sometimes they want to sell us things. Sometimes they want us to support a cause. It is important that we can make up our minds for ourselves.
One way people try to change the way we think is by making their opinion sound like a fact. Can you tell the difference between fact and opinion? If you can, you will be better able to make careful decisions.
A fact is something that you know is true. You can prove it. An opinion is something that you think or believe is true. But you cannot prove it, and people might disagree. For example:
| In 2006, the BC government made the spirit bear a provincial symbol. | That is a fact. You can check if it is true with research into BC history. |
| The spirit bear is a kind of black bear that has white fur. | That is a fact. You can prove it with science. |
| The spirit bear is cute. | That is an opinion. You cannot prove it. People disagree on what is cute. |
| People should not hunt bears for sport. | That is an opinion. People disagree about what is right and wrong. Also, the word should is a clue that the statement is an opinion. |
Try this
Write down fact or opinion for each statement. You do not need to go back to the reader to see if these are true or false. Just look at the statement.
| 1. The sasquatch is real. | fact or opinion? |
| 2. Ginger Goodwin died in 1918. | fact or opinion? |
| 3. Bill Miner was handsome. | fact or opinion? |
| 4. People should not race in bathtubs. | fact or opinion? |
| 5. There are over 30 different First Nations languages in British Columbia. | fact or opinion? |
| 6. Sook-Yin Lee was in a band called Bob’s Your Uncle. | fact or opinion? |
Word Attack Strategy
Word Patterns
The letter y can make lots of different sounds, depending on where it shows up in a syllable.
A syllable that begins with y usually makes a /y/ sound like in yellow. Read these words:
- yam
- your
- yesterday
- yell
A one syllable word that ends in y usually makes a long /i/ sound, like in cry. Read these words:
- by
- my
- try
- fly
If the word has more than one syllable and ends in a y, the y usually makes a long /e/ sound, like in baby. Read these words:
- funny
- lady
- plenty
- cozy
What three sounds can y make? Look at the words in the above Word Patterns box and say them out loud.
Make a chart like this
| Sounds of Y | ||
| /y/ like yellow | long /i/ like cry | long /e/ like baby |
|
|
Fill in your chart
1. Sort these words into your chart
| many | fry | yet | why | carry |
| empty | fifty | yes | sky | jelly |
| very | yard | handy | shy | year |
These words are split up into syllables
2. Put the syllables together to make a word. Write the word on the line. Then sound it out.
| com – pan – y | __________________________ |
| most – ly | __________________________ |
| Jan – u – ar – y | __________________________ |
| Feb – ru – ar – y | __________________________ |
How many syllables are in these words?
3. A syllable is a beat in a word. Each beat has one vowel sound. Write the number of syllables for each word.
| mossy | ______ | only | ______ |
| year | ______ | many | ______ |
| mostly | ______ | carry | ______ |
| by | ______ | yet | ______ |
| any | ______ |
Use Your Strategies
Read the chapter called The Rare Spirit Bear. You will read some facts and opinions about this animal. You will see many words with open syllables. Try out your new strategies as you read. Enjoy!
Check Your Understanding
Sometimes people make statements that are false. These “facts” about spirit bears are false. One word is wrong.
Rewrite the sentence to make the statement true
Change the wrong word to the correct word.
1. The spirit bear is really a kind of grizzly bear.
2. The Great Bear Rainforest is a place in Alaska.
3. Spirit bears have a harder time catching salmon than black bears do.
4. In winter, spirit bears can go without food for nine months.
5. The First Nations have always hunted the spirit bear.
6. Spirit bears live to be about 50 years old.
Are these statements fact or opinion?
7. Enbridge will pay taxes to the government of British Columbia.
8. A pipeline should be built through the Great Bear Rainforest.
9. The government should not allow any more oil tankers off the coast of British Columbia.
10. Oil spills can kill plants and animals.
11. Building pipelines will create jobs.
Grammar
Grammar Rule
A compound word is made up of two small words. Sometimes they have a space between them. Sometimes they don’t.
Airplane is a compound word. It’s made up of air + plane.
Backpack is a compound word. It’s made up of back + pack.
Ice cream is a compound word. It’s made up of ice + cream.
Knowing about compound words can help you spell bigger words. If you can spell the small words that make up compound words, you can spell bigger words, too.
Try this
1. Here are some compound words from your reading. What small words do you see inside each compound word? Write them down.
a. waterfall
b. rainforest
c. pipeline
2. Match a word from List 1 with a word from List 2 to make a compound word from the reading.
| List 1 | List 2 |
| spirit | tanker |
| water | spill |
| rain | bear |
| oil | line |
| pipe | Nations |
| oil | fall |
| First | forest |
3. What small words do you see in these compound words?
| goodbye | bathtub | hometown | steamboat | afternoon |
| something | storytelling | blowhole | birthplace |
Writing
Do you think Enbridge should be allowed to build a pipeline through the Great Bear Rainforest?
Make a web
1. Make a web to brainstorm your ideas. Ask your instructor for a Make a Web sheet, or open and print one from the link.
2. Look at your past webs to help you make a web for this writing task.
3. You can use ideas from the reading to fill in the web. But do not copy word for word. Find synonyms for some words instead of copying them.
Writing Task
Write a paragraph that answers this question:
Should Enbridge be allowed to build a pipeline through the Great Bear Rainforest? Why or why not?
When you have finished:
- Make sure your paragraph includes a topic sentence, details, and a concluding sentence.
- Take extra care to spell compound words correctly.
- Hand your first copy in to your instructor.
- Make changes based on your instructor’s feedback.
- Hand in your final copy with your web and first copy.
Answer Key
| Reading Strategies | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QUESTION | ANSWER | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | opinion | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | fact | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | opinion | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | opinion | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | fact | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | fact | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Word Attack Strategy | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QUESTION | ANSWER | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| Check Your Understanding | |||||||||||||||||||||
| QUESTION | ANSWER | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | The spirit bear is really a kind of black bear. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | The Great Bear Rainforest is a place in British Columbia. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Spirit bears have an easier time catching salmon than black bears do. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | In winter, spirit bears can go without food for seven months. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | The First Nations have never hunted the spirit bear. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Spirit bears live to be about 25 years old. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | fact | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | opinion | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | opinion | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | fact | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | fact |
| Grammar | |
| QUESTION | ANSWER |
| 1a | water fall |
| 1b | rain forest |
| 1c | pipe line |
| 2 | spirit bear, waterfall, rainforest, oil spill, pipeline, oil tanker, First Nations |
| 3 | good-bye, bath-tub, home-town, steam-boat, after-noon, some-thing, story-telling, blow-hole, birth-place |