• Students use this interactive, multiple-choice activity to become familiar with lesson vocabulary words.

• In each exercise, students read a sentence containing a vocabulary word, then use context clues from the sentence to select the best definition for that word.

• Students must select the correct definition for the current exercise in order to move to the next exercise.

1. stereotypes: mental images or ideas, usually oversimplified, about a person or group

2. rapids: part of a river where the water moves very quickly

3. scout: look or seek

4. careened: lurched or swerved while in motion

5. submerged: underwater

6. clip: high rate of speed

7. headway: motion forward or ahead

 

• Students read that amazing journeys are made by people who pursue their dreams against great odds. Students are invited to think about their own dreams for the future.

• Students talk with a partner about goals that they would like to accomplish someday and what they would need to do in order to achieve those goals. Partners record their ideas in a chart.

• Students read about three people who took incredible journeys while pursuing their dreams: aviator Amelia Earhart, sea voyager Bill Pinkney, and mountain climber Mark Wellman.

• Students are directed to print out or copy the worksheet (if needed) before proceeding to the reading selection.

"Running the River"

• (Skill: Cause and Effect)

 

• Students read this fictional story told by Alison, a young woman who goes on a white-water rafting trip. Alison is initially afraid of water and especially fears the dangerous rapids that lie down river. She befriends one of the river guides, Sondra, and decides to ride in her raft. When Sondra is thrown from the raft in the midst of a rapid, Alison must row the boat to safety. She succeeds, and in so doing she overcomes many of her fears. She looks forward to the remainder of the trip.

• Students complete a worksheet containing two diagrams that students use, as they read the selection, to record the cause-and-effect relationships among various story events. For the first cause-and-effect relationship, an effect is provided and students must identify three causes. For the second, a cause is provided and students must identify four effects.

In the first diagram on the worksheet, students add the multiple causes for a single effect. In the second diagram, students add the multiple effects of a single cause. Answers may vary, but should include the following:

Diagram 1: Causes: Sondra did not try to force conversation with Alison. Sondra did not try to convince Alison that she should be having a wonderful time. Sondra did not try to make Alison feel bad about being scared on the river. Effect: Alison really started to like Sondra.

Diagram 2: Cause: Alison and Sondra hit the first set of rough rapids. Effects: The back of the raft whipped around. The front end of the raft hit a huge wave. The raft stood on its side. Alison held her breath.

Students use this self-evaluation to assess their performance in the reading lesson.

• Students print a worksheet to take home that asks them to talk to family members about a special journey they have taken together, one they would like to take together, or one that family members have taken without them. Students are encouraged to choose one of the trips and write a description of it, using as a guide the answers to a set of questions on the worksheet. They are invited to add photographs or drawings to their descriptions and to share their work with classmates.

• Students are encouraged to display their work on a bulletin board under the title "Class Travels." The display might include a world map showing the places students have visited or would like to visit.

In reviewing students' descriptions of special trips they have taken or would like to take, look for appropriate answers to these questions:

• Where did/would you go?

• How did/would you get there?

• What did/would you do at your final destination?

• Why is this trip so special?