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Paired Texts > They Need Fire!

by Buffy Silverman

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

3rd Grade Poem
Tsunami
  • JonArno Lawson
  • 2008

In JonArno Lawson’s poem “Tsunami,” a speaker describes the wave of a tsunami.

Pair “Tsunami” with “They Need Fire!” to provide students with a poem about another event that takes place in nature. Ask students to discuss how the power of a tsunami compares to a forest fire. Do students think that tsunamis have any positive effects on the environment? Why or why not?
3rd Grade Non-Fiction 710L
Treasures in a Pinecone
  • Jan Black
  • 2016

In the non-fiction text “Treasures in a Pinecone,” Jan Black explores why pinecones sometimes appear open or closed. 

Pair “Treasures in a Pinecone” with “They Need Fire!” to provide students with information about pinecones. Ask students to discuss how both texts reveal what causes pinecones to open. What happens if it doesn’t get warm enough to allow a pine tree’s cones to open? Why are pinecones important to the environment?
3rd Grade Poem
After the Rain
  • Caryl S. Ulrich
  • 1998

In Caryl S. Ulrich’s poem “After the Rain,” a speaker describes nature after it has rained.

Pair “After the Rain” with “They Need Fire!” to provide students with a poem about after it rains. Ask students to discuss why an environment would need rain and fire. How do both contribute to life and growth? How do you think the environment looks after a forest fire?
4th Grade Informational Text 710L
Life in a Vernal Pool
  • Lori Wollerman Nelson

In the informational text “Life in a Vernal Pool,” Lori Wollerman Nelson describes the organisms that live in a vernal pool.

Pair “They Need Fire!” with “Life in a Vernal Pool” to provide students with information about some plants and animals that need fire. Ask students to discuss why some beetles lay their eggs in recently burned trees. Why do some amphibians lay their eggs in vernal pools? Why are fires and vernal pools good for the forest?