This document contains a series of passages that describe various words related to nature, such as fireflies, flutter, dew, blade, budding, notepad, and patch. Each passage provides a definition or example using the target word. Students are prompted to identify the word being discussed in each section. The purpose is to build students' understanding of descriptive vocabulary through exposure to the words in context.

1. Night Letters
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Skill: Draw Conclusions

2. We went outside to catch fireflies.
We enjoyed watching their lights glow
in the jar

3. fireflies
small insects that give off
flashes of light when they fly

4. Say the word:
Fireflies

5. There were many fireflies
lighting up the night.
Fireflies remind me of
summer evenings sitting
outside with friends and
family.

6. Think about if you have
every seen a firefly. If you
have, do you like to catch
them? Why or why not?
If not, would you like to
see one and why?

7. What is the word we are
talking about?

8. Fireflies

9. The butterfly’s wings would
flutter before it flew to another
flower.

10. Flutter
to flap the wings

11. Say the word:
FLUTTER

12. The bird fluttered above the
flower.
The hummingbird’s wings
fluttered so fast, I could not
see them.

13. Flutter is a new word to most
of you. Try to see if you can
describe what flutter means
to your partner.

14. What word are we talking
about?

15. FLUTTER

16. Other words that mean
the same thing as flutter:
flap

17. I took a notepad with me to class so
that I could write down everything I
needed to remember.

18. Notepad
A small book of blank or lined sheets of paper in which you
write notes or things that you need to learn or remember

19. Say the word:
NOTEPAD

20. Many people like to write
their stories in a notebook.
Sally decorated her notebook
with all of her favorite
pictures.

21. Do you own a notepad?
What do you write in it?

22. What is the word we are
talking about?

23. NOTEPAD

24. The dew on the grass this morning
made my feet wet as I walked across
the yard.

25. Say the word:
DEW

26. Dew
The moisture from the air that collects in small drops on cool
surfaces during the night

27. The dew made my shoes wet
as I walked across the grass
this morning.
Dew made the spider web
glisten in the sun.

28. Have you ever seen dew?
When? Where?

29. What is the word we are
talking about?

30. DEW

31. I watched the ant crawl up a blade of
grass to get to the
anthill.

32. Blade
A leaf of grass

33. Say the word:
BLADE

34. The children kept pulling
blades of grass out of the
ground, even though their
mother told them to stop.
Lawn movers cut many
blades of grass at one time.

35. How would you describe a
blade of grass to someone
who did not know what it
was?

36. What is the word we are
talking about?

37. BLADE

38. There was a patch of grass that
looked different because it was
brown.

39. Patch
A small piece of ground that is different from what is
around it

40. Say the word:
PATCH

41. When people walk along the
same patch of grass it
becomes a path.
The patch of grass was not
getting enough water and
died.

42. Do we have patches of
grass that looks different
around JCS? If so, where?

43. What is the word we are
talking about?

44. PATCH

45. My new flowers were budding
in the garden in early spring

46. Say the word:
BUD

47. Budding
Putting forth small swellings on a plant that will
grow into leaves, branches, or flowers

48. The man bought rose
buds for his daughter.
Flowers start budding in
April.

49. Would you rather a boutique
of flowers that have already
bloomed or are starting to
bud? Why?

50. What is the word we are
talking about?

51. BUDDING

52. The small fireflies
flashed off and on.
1. blade
2. budding
3. dew
4. fireflies
5. flutter
6. notepad
7. patch

53. The small fireflies
flashed off and on.

54. An ant crawled up the
tiny blade of grass.
1. blade
2. budding
3. dew
4. fireflies
5. flutter
6. notepad
7. patch

55. An ant crawled up
the tiny blade of
grass.

56. We wrote the grocery
list on the notepad.
1. blade
2. budding
3. dew
4. fireflies
5. flutter
6. notepad
7. patch

57. We wrote the
grocery list on
the notepad.

58. Steven watched the
butterfly flutter across
the meadow.
1. blade
2. budding
3. dew
4. fireflies
5. flutter
6. notepad
7. patch

59. Steven watched the
butterfly flutter
across the meadow.

60. The sunflowers
were budding in the
field.
1. blade
2. budding
3. dew
4. fireflies
5. flutter
6. notepad
7. patch

61. The sunflowers
were budding in the
field.

62. The leaves were
covered with dew from
the night.
1. blade
2. budding
3. dew
4. fireflies
5. flutter
6. notepad
7. patch

63. The leaves were
covered with dew
from the night.

64. We set up the tent on
the dry patch of land.
1. blade
2. budding
3. dew
4. fireflies
5. flutter
6. notepad
7. patch

65. We set up the
tent on the dry
patch of land.