[Music] hi Scholars I'm Mrs Mas I don't know about you but I love to take long walks it's such a great way to get exercise and really enjoy the outdoors recently I took an amazing walk through the Tollgate wetlands and lancing a favorite place for walkers have you ever visited a wetland wetlands are like giant sponges they soak up rainwater and help to prevent floods when Heavy Rain occurs Wetlands absorbs the extra water and slowly releas it keeping nearby rivers and lakes from overflowing this helps protect homes and cities from flood damage so wetlands have a big job I enjoyed my time at the togate Wetland so much I wrote a story inspired by my day there and a little later we'll use my story to practice checking for understanding while reading when we read we should ask ourselves questions in order to gauge or check our understanding of what we're reading we should always make sure we use the text to help us find our answers here are a few questions for you to consider while I read my story when I'm done reading we'll go over the answers and also show you where the answ is found in the text first what kinds of sounds can you hear in the Wetland next how do plants in the Wetland adapt to their environment and also why are wetlands important to the environment and the people hopefully as you're listening you're able to visualize my walk I worked really hard to be very descriptive and used the five senses when creating images with my language as I stepped onto the boardwalk I noticed soft damp air that surrounded me the morning sun cast a Golden Glow on the lush green ground as I looked beneath the boardwalk there was a mix of water and soil a soft and Squishy support for diverse life as I continued on my walk I noticed the tall grasses and reads swaying in the gentle breeze as they reached Towards the Sky among them Cattails stirred proudly I paused to listen to the sounds of birds chirping and fogs croaking in the rustling of leaves this magical place brought calm and peace to me I noticed movement out out of the corner of my eye and turned to spot of blue Aon standing as a statue in the shallow water with a long neck and po sharp beak this large bird was hoping to strike a fish as I watched it swiftly plunged his beak into the water and came up with a wriggling fish it's breakfast moving on I noticed the rich plant life some plants have hollow stems that allow them to float in the water others have roots that reach deep into the wet saggy soil these plants provide food and shelter for the many creatures that live here thus a thriving ecosystem the ground is covered with water but isn't a lake or a river as I walked and heard the birds chirping it's caused me to stop and observe my surroundings I started to notice animals close to the water I heard a splash and saw a beaver swimming through the water with the branch in its mouth heading towards a large pile of twigs and mud it's damp as I neared the end of my walk I reflected on the importance of this vibrant ecosystem Wetlands help prevent floods by soaking up rain water filtering out pollutants to clean the water and providing homes for many plants ANS and animals they are an important part of our environment and it's up to us to protect them I left with a sense of wonder and peace grateful to witness such a place once again I always remember the beauty and importance of the wetlands now let's take another look at the questions and see where I can find the answers in the text what kinds of sounds did you hear in the wetlands [Music] how do plants in the Wetland adapt to their [Music] environment why are wetlands important for the environment and people [Music] great work answering those questions looking back at the story was definitely helpful you probably noticed that some of our answers were easy to find but others we had to look a bit closer in the text the more we practice the better we'll become at finding and using text evidence to support our answers keep exploring and analyzing each read through brings new insights thank you for joining us if you want more fun ways to practice literacy skills don't forget to subscribe to the Michigan Learning Channel and be sure to check the description below for links to activity guides resources and more [Music] [Applause]