Grade 1 - Animals and Habitats

106 Animals and Habitats: Supplemental Guide 5B | Animals of the Temperate Deciduous Forest Habitat

 Syntactic Awareness Activity^5 minutes

Conjunction or

Note: The purpose of these syntactic activities is to help students

understand the direct connection between grammatical structures

and the meaning of text. These syntactic activities should be used

in conjunction with the complex text presented in the read-alouds.

There may be variations in the sentences created by your class.

Allow for these variations, and restate students’ sentences so

that they are grammatical. If necessary, have students repeat the

sentence after you.

1. Conjunctions are a kind of word we use to connect words and
   phrases.


2. We use the conjunction or to join words and phrases that
   present another idea or option, especially when you need to
   make a choice.
   Listen to Rattenborough’s sentences about the forest habitat. I will
   emphasize the conjunction or as I read:
   Many of you may have seen forests before, either in real life or in
   books. Some animals like owls, woodpeckers, mice, and foxes
   make their homes in the branches or around the roots of the oak
   tree. Insects, like ants and timber beetles, live under the bark of the
   oak or in dead and fallen trees.


3. Notice that in this sentence, Rattenborough uses the
   conjunction or when he presents another idea or option: real
   life or books; branches or around the roots; bark or dead
   leaves.


4. The conjunction or is used to join words and phrases that
   present another idea or option. Let’s listen to some other
   sentences.
   Squirrels live in holes in the trunks of trees or in nests high up in
   trees.
   Where are the two places that squirrels can live? (tree trunk or
   nests)
   Bears sleep in hollowed-out trees or caves.