TEXT SET

(.5 pts) Grade Level:

5th Grade

(.5 pts) Content Area:

Science

(.5 pts) Topic/Theme:

Earth Patterns, Cycles and Change

(.5 pts) SOL/Objective(s):

Science

5.7 The student will investigate and understand how Earth’s surface is constantly changing. Key
concepts include:

c) Earth history and fossil evidence

English

5.6 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction texts.

b) Use prior knowledge and build additional background knowledge as context for new learning.
k) Identify new information gained from reading.
l) Use reading strategies throughout the reading process to monitor comprehension.

(1 pt) Anchor Text & Genre:

Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5,000-Mile
Paleo Road Trip by Kirk Johnson, illustrated by Ray Troll (non-fiction adventure/travel book)

(1 pt) List of Related Texts & Genres:

 Tic-Toc-Time – geologic time, eon, era, period from RocketLit

 Digging Up Fossils by Maria Jose Serra (informational) grades 3-5
 Understanding Paleontology by Bonnie Sachatello-SawyerDon & Liza Charlesworth
(informational) grades 3-8
 Frozen in Time by Dinosaurs Magazine (informational) grades 6-8
 Fossils, Uncovered by Alfred Fischer (informational) grades 6-12
 Searching for Concretions: Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway by Burke Museum (video)
 (.5 pts) Summary:

The anchor text Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway was chosen for the Science 5.7 and English 5.6 SOLs
because it is a non-fiction text that follows a paleontologist and an artist as they travel along the
United States to search for fossils ranging from Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils to fossilized ancient
vegetation. While this is a non-fiction text, it offers an exciting story of the journey of Kirk
Johnson and Ray Troll. The text Tic-Toc-Time – geologic time, eon, era, period from RocketLit
would be used as an introductory text to what Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway will explore, as they
mention different time periods in which specific animals, dinosaurs and vegetations were alive
and during which time period these living organisms would have gone extinct or died during.
This fulfills the English 5.6 b, k and l SOLs as well as the Science 5.7 c SOL.

In addition to this, the text Understanding Paleontology could help aid the students in knowing
what exactly Kirk Johnson’s job is, besides traveling around the United States to try and find
fossils. It also explores the type of research paleontologists partake in upon finding fossils, such
as dating how old the fossil is and what kind of animal or organism the fossil is from. The texts
Digging Up Fossils, Frozen in Time and Fossils, Uncovered are all essentially the same
supplementary articles that furthers a student’s understanding on how fossils are formed and
how they are found by paleontologists. While the all talk about the same topics and offer the
same explanations, these three articles are different reading levels, which would be beneficial
for a 5th grade class with struggling readers, average readers and gifted readers. The last related
text I chose was a video of Kirk Johnson and Roy Troll from the Burke Museum where the author
and illustrator of the anchor text are visually showing their process of finding fossils. This video
also has the title of the anchor text in it. This video could be shown either before or during the
reading of the anchor text so students can have a video that shows them the process that
Johnson and Troll go through throughout the Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway.

(.5 pts) Evaluation:

During this process of creating a Text Set, I realized how much a teacher has to consider when
creating a Text Set, not only to teach the SOLs effectively but to also teach their diverse learners
effectively. While searching for the additional supplementary texts, I didn’t find it too difficult to
find readings on fossils in different reading levels, but I feel that it will not always be that easy
for other topics. Where I struggled was finding different genres for the additional texts I needed
in creating my text set. I found myself only finding informational articles, and while they are very
helpful in understanding fossils and paleontology, the students might end up bored from reading
informational text one after another. Though I added a video in, I don’t think that would be
enough to gauge the interest of my students more than the articles I chose would. I would like to
explore more ways to have my students engaged in text that is not heavily informational or
factual, but still educational towards the SOLs chosen.