(cheerful music) - Hello, readers, and welcome to Read, Write, Roar.

Today, we will focus on the big question.

What makes you a Michigan kid?

We will work with the suffixes -ful and -less.

Do you know what a suffix is?

We will read a text about a Michigan kid, and we'll do some narrative, or story writing.

For today's episode, you'll need something to write on, even a scratch piece of paper or an envelope, and something to write with, like a pencil, or a crayon.

Come and join us for Read, Write, Roar.

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by the Michigan Department of Education, the State of Michigan, and the WK Kellogg Foundation.

Additional support by, and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(cheerful music) (lion roars) (lion roars) - Welcome, readers.

Today we are going to work with suffixes.

Do you remember what a suffix is?

A suffix is a word part added to the end of a word, and it changes the meaning of the word.

Our goal today is to read words that end in the suffixes -ful and -less.

- Ful means full of, and -less means without.

Let's look at some examples.

Let's use our loop and swoop strategy to help us read these words.

Let's look at our first word.

Are you ready?

Here is our first word.

Let's loop and swoop this word so that we can read it together.

Harmful.

Harmful.

I see my -ful suffix, so I know that this word is something that is full of harm.

Polluting our Great Lakes can be very harmful to the fish and wildlife that live in them.

I'm gonna put this word in my -ful column, because I see the suffix -ful.

Readers, are you ready to try another word with me?

Here we go.

Here's our next word.

Let's loop and swoop this word so that we can read it together.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

I see this -ful suffix again, so I know beautiful must mean something that is full of beauty.

Our Great Lakes are full of many beautiful different kinds of fish.

I am going to put this word in our -ful column also, because I see that suffix.

All right, here we go.

Let's try another one.

Here's our next word.

Bottomless.

Bottomless.

Do I see the -ful suffix or the -less suffix in this word?

You're right.

I see the -less suffix in this word.

So bottomless must mean something without a bottom.

Lake Superior is so deep, it almost seems bottomless.

Let's put this word in our -less column, because we see the -less suffix.

Here's our next word, readers.

Are you ready?

Let's loop and swoop.

Useful.

Useful.

Do we see the -ful suffix or do we see the -less suffix in this word?

You're right.

We see the -ful suffix.

So if something is useful, it's something that's full of use, like our great state of Michigan has many useful natural resources, like blueberries and cherries.

Useful.

Let's stick that in our -ful column.

It's time for our last word.

Here we go.

Here's our last word.

Fearless.

Fearless.

I see my last suffix, which means without.

So if something is fearless, it is without fear.

My brother was fearless as he crossed the Mackinac Bridge for the first time.

Fearless.

Readers, you did a fantastic job helping me read these words that end in our -ful and -less suffixes.

Thank you.

(cheerful music) Readers, we're doing such a great job reading these words that end in our suffixes -ful and -less.

Let's try reading some of them in a story.

Here we go.

"Lake Huron is a wonderful," wonderful, "lake."

I see my -ful suffix, and I see my base word, wonder.

I remember -ful means full of, so Lake Huron must be full of wonder.

"It has an endless," endless, I see my -less suffix now, and I know that means without, so it must mean without an end.

"It has an endless view.

The sound of the waves is so peaceful."

Peaceful, full of peace.

"One thing people like to do when they visit Lake Huron is collect countless," countless, that must mean you can't even count them, "Petoskey stones and pudding stones.

Have you ever seen a pudding stone?

They are colorful," colorful, or full of color, "stones with a mark of red on them.

In the summer, make sure to watch out for the dreadful," dreadful, or full of dread, "mosquitoes."

Readers, thanks for helping me read that story.

I'm gonna read it one more time without stopping, so that you can hear what it sounds like with some fluency.

Are you ready to listen?

"Lake Huron is a wonderful lake.

It has an endless view.

The sound of the waves is so peaceful.

One thing people like to do when they visit Lake Huron is collect countless Petoskey stones and pudding stones.

Have you ever seen a pudding stone?

They are colorful stones with a mark of red on them.

In the summer, make sure to watch out for the dreadful mosquitoes."

Great job, readers.

(cheerful music) We've had lots of practice reading our words that end in our -ful and -less suffixes.

Now let's see if we can try spelling some of them.

For this activity, you'll need whatever you have to write on, and something to write with.

When we think about spelling words, first we visualize or see the word parts in the word, and then we try and think about the sounds that are in each of those word parts.

Are you ready to try this with me?

All right.

Our first word is colorful.

Can you say that word with me?

Colorful.

When I say the word colorful, I hear two word parts: color, ful.

And when I think about this first word part, color, I hear the sounds color.

When I say the second part -ful, I hear the sounds ful.

Now I'm going to think about the letters that represent each of those sounds.

Colorful.

I'm gonna put each of these word parts together to build the word colorful.

The sunset was so colorful.

The sky was full of pinks and oranges and reds.

Now readers, I do want to point out that when we have the suffix -ful, we only spell it with one l. We do not spell it like the word full, which would look like this, two Ls.

So because of this suffix, we only use one L. Great job.

Let's try another one.

Our next word is endless.

Can you say that word with me?

Endless.

When I say the word endless, I hear two word parts again.

I hear end, less.

Now we need to think about the sounds in each of those word parts.

Endless.

Endless.

Let's put them together so we can build our word.

End, less.

Endless.

There are an endless amount of outdoor activities that we can participate in in Michigan, like skiing and fishing.

Let's try our next one.

Our next word is sunless.

Can you say that word with me?

Sunless.

When I say the word sunless, I hear two word parts again.

Sunless.

Let's listen for the sounds in each of those word parts.

Sun.

Sun.

I know how to spell that word.

And then my suffix, -less.

Let's put them together.

Sunless.

Sunless.

On a sunless day, the sun does not shine.

Great job.

We've got two more words, readers.

Are you ready to go?

Our next word is prideful.

Can you say that word with me?

Prideful.

When I say the word prideful, I hear two word parts: pride, and my suffix, -ful.

Prideful.

Let's listen for the sounds in our first word part.

Pride.

Pride, and then my suffix, -ful.

Prideful.

Let's put them together and build our word.

Prideful.

I am very prideful about my state of Michigan that I live in.

I think it's an amazing place to live.

Here's our last word, readers.

Are you ready?

Our last word is thoughtful.

Can you say that word with me?

Thoughtful.

When I say the word thoughtful, I again hear two word parts, thought, ful.

I know how to spell the word thought.

Thought.

And my suffix, -ful.

When I put them together to build my word, I get the word thoughtful.

It was very thoughtful of my friend to get me a birthday gift.

Readers, I am so proud of you for all of the hard work you've done helping me read and write our words that end in -ful and -less suffixes today.

Keep an eye out in your own reading for words that might also end in these suffixes.

(cheerful music) - Aanii, readers.

Today, we are going to be reading excerpts, which are just parts of this book, "I'm a Michigan Kid."

This book was written by Gary Bower, and we have permission from Storybook Meadow Publishing to read it to you all today.

Now, today, we're gonna be focusing on the kids in this book, not the main ideas, and to do this, we are going to use a graphic organizer.

We're going to be thinking about the student's identity, who are they, their actions, and, of course, their feelings.

Now remember, when we read books, we can get the information that we look for directly from the book.

And sometimes we have to use our background knowledge and our schema in order to infer.

That's right, friends.

So we might need to do that today.

Here we go.

"I'm a Michigan Kid."

"My name is Kara, and I'm a Michigan kid.

My brother attends college in Marquette, way up in the UP.

That's the Upper Peninsula.

Since I live on the Lower Peninsula, that means crossing the Mackinac Bridge whenever I visit him.

I've crossed the bridge lots of times, and every time I'm amazed.

I never get tired of seeing the deep blue water 200 feet below.

The Mackinac Bridge is one of the world's biggest bridges, spanning five miles across the straits of Mackinac.

Lake Michigan lies to the west and Lake Huron to the east.

So just how big is the Mighty Mac?

It took 3,500 laborers three-and-a-half years to build.

The two main towers rise 552 feet above the water.

If you could stretch out all the wires in the main cables end to end, they would wrap around the equator five times."

What?

Oh my goodness.

I just learned something new.

Wow.

"The total weight of the bridge is more than one million tons, or 25 times more than the combined weight of every kid in the state.

Sometimes newcomers to Northern Michigan aren't sure how to pronounce Mackinac, and they make it rhyme with Cadillac.

But the second c is silent.

Pronounced with drop your jaw and stand in awe."

Mackinac.

There we go.

Fantastic, friends.

So what did we learn about Kara?

Well, Kara is who she is, and we know that Kara lives in the Lower Peninsula, while her brother, that's right, goes to Northern Michigan University.

That's in Marquette.

Well, what does she have to do?

That's right.

She crosses the Mackinac Bridge, oh my goodness, to go see him.

And she said she's done it a lot.

Well, how does Kara feel about this?

Well, it said that she was amazed.

So let's think about when you are amazed, are you, I don't know, maybe surprised and excited?

Yeah.

Uh-huh.

Fantastic.

So here we have Kara, she crosses the Mackinac Bridge, and when she does it, she's feeling surprised and excited.

How fun, right?

Fantastic.

Let's keep reading.

"I'm Jasmine, a Michigan kid who loves to feel the wind in my hair and the sand between my toes.

Every summer my family visits Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

It's 2,500 acres stretch from Leelanau County to Benzie County.

Miles of sandy trails are decorated with beautiful birds, dune grass, and wildflowers.

The dunes rise 460 feet above Lake Michigan.

See those kids near the top of the dune climb?

They aren't really at the top, not even close.

From where they are, they see even more sand disappearing off into the distance against the blue sky.

So you think climbing it looks easy, huh?

Trust me; it takes a lot longer to go up than it does to come down!"

Wow.

Let's stop and think about Jasmine.

All right.

Well, we know who Jasmine is.

Jasmine is a Michigan kid.

And what are Jasmine's actions?

Yeah, she's climbing up, or it sounds like she has climbed up that dune before.

Yes.

So yeah, she climbs the dunes.

We could say that Jasmine climbs the dunes.

Now, how does Jasmine feel about this?

Well, I think like Kara, she's probably a little surprised that it's so big, and excited from all the things that she can see, but hmm, looking at that picture makes me really tired.

I think Jasmine might be kind of tired from having to climb up that huge sand dune, 460 feet.

Woo.

Today, friends, we have learned a lot about some Michigan kids, and what exactly makes them a Michigan kid.

Kara crosses the Mackinac Bridge, and she's surprised and excited.

We learned about Jasmine.

Jasmine climbs the dunes, and she's probably really tired.

When you read, see if you can infer and think about your character's identities, actions, and feelings.

(cheerful music) Writers, we have just been reading some amazing stories about some Michigan kids.

And guess what?

Now it's our turn to write, about you, and about me, and what makes us a Michigan kid.

Of course, in order to do that, there's some things that we need to do to help us organize our thoughts and ideas.

First, before we get started, we are going to use a graphic organizer to help organize our thoughts and ideas, so that we can make good decisions.

Sh, don't tell anyone, but you know, even good writers use graphic organizers to help themself.

Okay, so friends, here is our first way to organize our thoughts and ideas.

Pow.

We're gonna pick our idea, then we're gonna take and organize our notes, and then the last part is that we're gonna have to write to say more.

Okay, so I'm kind of thinking about what is my idea gonna be about, and what's gonna make me a Michigan kid?

Hmm.

(gasps) I have an idea.

Oh my goodness.

Now when I was a kid, I lived in Grand Rapids, and on the July 4th weekend, we would all drive up to Sault Ste.

Marie, where I live now, and we would attend the Sault Tribe powwow.

The Sault Ste.

Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians has a powwow every July 4th weekend, and we would love coming up and spending time together with family and friends.

Okay.

I think that's what my story's gonna be about.

What is your story gonna be about, friends?

What makes you a Michigan kid?

Now here is the graphic organizer that's going to help us organize our notes.

Are you ready?

It's a fun one.

It's called WWW, two whats, and two hows.

Can you say that?

WWW, two whats, and two hows.

These words are going to help us think about how we can organize our narrative story, and put it in sequence, so that when our readers read it, they'll enjoy it.

Are you ready?

Off we go.

So first I'm thinking about, hmm, who's the story gonna be about?

That's right, this story's gonna be about me, just like your story's gonna be about you.

Now, when does my story take place?

Do you remember telling you?

Yes.

I told you what happens every July 4th weekend.

And this particular story that I wanna write about happens at one o'clock every Saturday of the July 4th weekend.

Our next question is where?

Where is the story going to take place?

Well, my story is going to take place at the Sault Ste.

Marie Tribal Powwow Grounds.

Where is your story going to take place?

Friends, we've gone through the who, who is the character, the when does our story take place?

Where does our story take place?

And now we're at the what.

What does the main character do?

Hmm.

So this is gonna be right at grand entry.

I'm gonna start my story as all of the dancers are getting ready for grand entry powwow time.

That's one o'clock time.

Okay?

What is your main character gonna do?

Writers, we're off to our next step.

What?

What happens then?

Hmm.

Well, we're gonna dance around in the powwow circle, and then I'm thinking, ooh, maybe an eagle will fly over and have some symbolic meaning.

Hmm.

What do you think?

What happens next in your story?

Abe, let's go, let's write 'em down.

What?

The song ends, and I realize I'm grateful to be dancing again.

I was kind of thinking about me as a kid, and making these trips back to Sault Ste.

Marie, but I was also kind of thinking about what's been happening with COVID.

We haven't had a powwow time where we could come together in a couple of years.

And so that's one reason I'm really looking forward to this year's July 4th powwow.

So I thought I'd kind of combined those two things.

So, friends.

What is your what happens then?

What are you gonna write down?

I can't wait to find out.

Authors, now it's our two hows.

How does it end, and how does the character feel?

So let's think about that.

How is my story gonna end?

Oh, I think I'll have, after I realize how grateful I am, I think I'll have like a symbolic eagle fly over to symbolize my ancestors, and all of that tribal relationships that I, all the tribal relationships I have.

I think that would be a really good way to kind of tie it up with some symbolic meaning.

Hmm.

And then I'm thinking, well, how would I feel about that?

Well, I don't know about you, but when I see eagles fly over where I'm at, it makes my heart so happy.

So I think I'll probably end it with some kind of feeling of emotion of happiness.

What are your thoughts?

Hmm.

How does your story end, and how is your character gonna feel?

Awesome.

Let's write those ideas down, especially before we forget them.

(cheerful music) Fantastic.

Writers, today we have used the Pow method to first pick our idea, and then to start organizing our notes.

We organized our writing with our WWW, two what, and two how, in order to make sure that we were making a complete story with all the important parts.

Remember, real authors use graphic organizers too.

(cheerful music) Today, you worked really hard with the suffixes -ful and -less.

You also read with me an amazing book including some great Michigan kids.

We had to do some inferencing to learn about those characters, and last but not least, we worked on a graphic organizer to organize our thoughts about a story about what makes us a great Michigan kid.

Graphic organizer was WWW, two whats, and two hows.

This is gonna help us really write and say more next time.

So bama pika waabamin.

We'll see you next time on Read, Write, Roar.

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by the Michigan Department of Education, the State of Michigan, and the WK Kellogg Foundation.

Additional support by, and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(cheerful music) (gentle music)