Tracing the "Who" or the "What" - Part 2: Replacing and Rewording Practice

Carla Stanford: So we're going to take the whole idea that we can think about the who or what a sentence or a passage is about, and then we can understand that the author may represent that who or what with pronouns that replace or synonyms that reword. Are you ready to do this work together?

Students: Yes.

Carla Stanford: Yes. Let's do it!

Narrator: These third graders at Burgess-Peterson Academy in Atlanta have been learning about how pronouns and synonyms can stand in for the subject of a story. Today is all about putting that learning into practice. Watch as teacher Julie Turner and reading specialist Carla Stanford, guide them through a passage that's sounding a little repetitive and needs their help to fix it.

Julie Turner: We are going to read this paragraph all about a cactus, and I want all of us to read it together at the same time. So we're going to have some choral reading. Are we ready?

Students: Yes.

Julie Turner: Okay. Follow along with my finger. Don't go ahead of me.

Together: "A cactus sprouts up from the ground. The cactus is only four inches high after ten years. When there is no rain, the cactus uses the water the cactus has stored inside."

Julie Turner: What do you notice about this paragraph? Kailei? What do you notice about this paragraph?

Kailei: It repeats the cactus.

Julie Turner:
Yes, it says the cactus four times. How does that feel as a reader when we read the word the cactus, a cactus, the cactus, the cactus in one paragraph. It's repetitive.

Student: It's a little boring.

Julie Turner: A little boring. I agree.

Student: That's awkward.

Julie Turner: It's a little awkward too, for sure.

Carla Stanford: Here we go. If I have "a cactus sprouts up from the ground," do you think we can use that first one? Can we keep that first a cactus there?

Student: Yes.

Carla Stanford: Yes. That can be our first who or what? That's going to guide us. That's the subject. That is the subject. It may be. We will read in a minute or you can guys can decide. It also may be the main idea. Let's read the next sentence together. The second one right here. Ready?

Together: "The cactus is only four inches high after ten years."

Carla Stanford: Well, first of all, I want to take that sentence in. It's kind of unreal, right? Four inches. Show me four inches. So four inches high after ten years. How old are you?

Students: Eight.

Carla Stanford: You're eight! You're so much taller and you're not even ten years, so that's an interesting fact. Now let's think we already have a cactus. We're going to pretend like we're the author of this passage and we are going to think about what could we put here instead of the cactus. If we wanted to replace with a pronoun, touch your temple and think, what pronoun could we use? Turn and whisper to your neighbor.
Eyes this way. Let's say it together. 1, 2, 3 ...

Students: It! 

Carla Stanford: Excellent. So it can go here. Cross out the cactus, and we're going to replace ... everyone say replace.

Students: Replace.

Carla Stanford: With it. All right. Let's reread. Here we go.

Together: "When there is no rain, the cactus uses the water the cactus has stored inside."

Carla Stanford: Let's start here. What could we put there for a reword? That means a synonym for the cactus. So we have a cactus. We have our pronoun it to replace, and now we're going to reword. Turn and talk with your teammates.

Student: The plant that stores water.

Carla Stanford: A synonym, a word that means the same. Oh, I hear ... collectively ... I hear ...

Together: The plant.

Carla Stanford: "There is no rain the plant uses the water." Are y'all okay with that?

Students: Yes.

Carla Stanford: All right, let's do that switch. But then this is tricky. We have another, the cactus in that sentence, and maybe that's where we drop in that other it. Let's see if that would work. Would y'all like to try it? You think? Okay, let's read and when we get here, let's try it. You ready?

Together: "When there is no rain, the plant uses the water it has stored inside."

Carla Stanford: Does that work?

Students: Yes.

Carla Stanford: Yes! Excellent work.

Narrator: After some strong work with pronouns and synonyms, these students are ready for the next step. Reading a passage and identifying the who or what in each sentence.

Carla Stanford: You guys just took the who or what, replaced with pronouns, and you reworded with synonyms. I think that they have this.

Narrator: Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale; the Hastings/Quillin Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; the AFT; the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation; and anonymous donors. Special thanks to Burgess-Peterson Academy, Reading is Essential for All People, and Atlanta Public Schools. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. Reading Universe is a service of WETA, Washington D.C., the Barksdale Reading Institute, and First Book.