May 9, 2011

SCOPE ONLINE

Skills-based reading and writing activities for each Scope article

Jump directly to an article’s resources:
NARRATIVE NONFICTION: Shark Attack Survivor
ORIGINAL FICTION: “Finding Dodger” by Pam Muñoz Ryan
COMPARE/CONTRAST: Where Would You Rather Live?
ESSAY KIT: Is Summer Vacation Bad for You?
LAZY EDITOR: Cool or Crazy?
GRAMMAR MISTAKES of the Rich & Famous
WACKY PHOTO VOCAB
ANSWER KEY
HELPFUL LINKS & DOWNLOADS

Shark Attack Survivor

SUMMARY: The inspiring true story of a girl who lost her arm in a devastating shark attack but refused to give up her dream of becoming a professional surfer. Skill focus: analyzing character

AMAZING DIGITAL LESSON
Explore the theme of resilience across genres, using our thrilling nonfiction article, as well as a video clip, a poem by Emily Dickinson, and photographs.

GET A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE TO PROJECT.

DOWNLOAD THE TEACHER’S EDITION LESSON PLAN.

VOCABULARY
A list of tricky words that appear in the article, to print or project. Includes a practice activity to reinforce understanding.

INTERACTIVE READING-COMPREHENSION QUIZ
A test-prep essential! We formed these questions based on state tests.
(Need help with your interactive PDF? Visit our FAQ page.)
Get the noninteractive version here.

IDENTIFYING NONFICTION ELEMENTS: READ, THINK, EXPLAIN
Use our teacher-vetted, scaffolded reading activity to help students improve their nonfiction reading-comprehension skills and strategies. Includes text-structure questions.

CRITICAL THINKING
Short-answer questions for independent completion (great for your above-level readers!) or group discussion. These are also listed in our T.E. and can be projected onto your whiteboard.

CONTEST ENTRY FORM
Students write a paragraph about resilience—then enter their work in our contest. Read more about our contests here.

BONUS! READERS THEATER PLAY
Download our free interactive play, based on the current movie about Bethany’s life! Use the play to differentiate instruction, or turn it into a genre study by asking to students to think about how the play differs from the nonfiction.
• Click here for the play in a format suitable for projection on your whiteboard.
• Click here for the play in a format suitable for printing and copying.
• Click here for an interactive reading-comp quiz. (Get the noninteractive quiz here.)
• Click here for an activity comparing the play to the nonfiction, “Shark Attack Survivor.”

VIDEO RESOURCES
• A trailer to a documentary about Bethany. Length: 2:20
• Bethany Hamilton’s official Web site
• Video interview with Bethany. Also includes real clips of her surfing and clips from the movie. Length: 3:27
• A trailer for the movie Soul Surfer. Length: 2:19

“Finding Dodger”
by Pam Muñoz Ryan

SUMMARY: Award-winning author Pam Muñoz Ryan wrote a moving story using the first line by our Fabulous First-Line Contest winner. Skill focus: conflict

GET A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE TO PROJECT.
DOWNLOAD THE TEACHER’S EDITION LESSON PLAN.

VOCABULARY
A list of tricky terms that appear in the article, to print or project. Includes a practice activity to reinforce understanding.

IDENTIFYING FICTION ELEMENTS: READ, THINK, EXPLAIN
A three-page independent-reading activity to help students improve their fiction reading-comprehension skills and strategies.

CENTRAL-CONFLICT GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
Students analyze the central conflict of the story.

CRITICAL THINKING
Short-answer questions for independent completion (great for your above-level readers!) or group discussion. These are also listed in our T.E. and can be projected on your whiteboard.

CONTEST ENTRY FORM
Students write a paragraph about the central conflict of the story—then enter their work in our contest. Read more about our contests here.

AUTHOR STUDY
We love author Pam Muñoz Ryan—and we suspect that you and your students do too. Visit her Web site for more about her life and work. We also recommend these fantastic video interviews with her.

Where Would
You Rather Live?

SUMMARY: A barren wintry landscape. A scorched desert wilderness. How do people survive in the most extreme climates on Earth? Skill focus: compare and contrast

GET A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE TO PROJECT.

Play these clips before reading, to establish background knowledge.

VIDEO: “Extreme World”
A BBC reporter visits Oymyakon and demonstrates what happens when you toss a pot of boiling water in the air. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page.) Length: 2:05

VIDEO: “The Hottest Place on Earth”
An excerpt from the National Geographic documentary about Dallol, Ethiopia. To see the men of Dallol splitting and shaping the salt, play the start of the video through 4:39. For a clip about the volcanoes and the bubbling surfaces of the region, play 6:36–8:20.

GUIDED COMPARE/CONTRAST ESSAY
Our self-guided worksheet makes essay writing a painless process. Great for homework!

READING-COMP CROSSWORD PUZZLE
A fun take on reading comprehension.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• A slide show of photographs of Oymyakon
• “Life Is a Chilling Challenge in Subzero Siberia”—a great National Geographic article about Oymyakon
• National Geographic interview with Nick Middleton, who visited Dallol for the documentary “Going to Extremes: Hot.” Warning: Contains the word “hellhole” in the title.
• Really cool pictures of Dallol, from Discovery Channel

Is Summer
Vacation Bad
for You?

SUMMARY: Your students learn about the year-round school debate, then write an opinion essay using our guide. A teacher favorite!

GET A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE TO PROJECT.

GUIDED OPINION ESSAY
Our self-guided worksheet makes essay-writing a painless process. Includes two bonus handouts: transition words and a self-edit checklist. Great for homework!

Lazy Editor:
Cool or Crazy?

SUMMARY: We’ve peppered this fun article about the world’s most-pierced woman with all kinds of outrageous errors. Will your students help us fix these mistakes? Skill focus: revision

GET A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE TO PROJECT.

COMMA PRACTICE
Students review comma rules, then add missing commas to sentences.

POSSESSIVES PRACTICE
Includes a review and practice activity.

HOMOPHONES
Students must identify and correct homophone errors.

SENTENCE VARIATION
Students rewrite a paragraph to vary the structure, length, and rhythm of each sentence.

PUNCTUATING QUOTATIONS
A thorough review, followed by a practice activity.

FRAGMENTS
Students identify and correct sentence fragments.

	Grammar Mistakes of the Rich & Famous
SUMMARY: Turn your students into grammar gods and goddesses with our delightful grammar activity. GET A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE TO PROJECT. EDITING ACTIVITY This silly passage is chock-full of mistakes in desperate need of correcting. Includes errors of subject/verb agreement, homophones, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.

Wacky Photo Vocab

SUMMARY: A fun take on the SCOPE 100! Students match vocabulary to photographs, then enter our caption contest.

GET A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE TO PROJECT.

SCOPE 100 ACTIVITIES

A complete vocabulary kit! Includes a list of this issue’s words to print or project; a word-journal graphic organizer; a multiple-choice quiz; and a review activity on all words learned up to this issue. Read more about the SCOPE 100 here.

CONTEST ENTRY FORM
Enter students in our caption-writing contest, using this handy form.

HELPFUL DOWNLOADS

ANSWER KEY
Looking for answers? Visit our top-secret Web site for answers to all online
reproducibles and quizzes, as well as activities in the Student Edition.
The URL is listed on page T-2 of your printed Teacher’s Edition.

TEACHER’S EDITION
Misplaced your TE? No worries! Download it here. Note: This online
version does NOT include the answer key or the URL for the answer key.

NCTE & IRA STANDARDS
Read ’em here.

FAQs ABOUT INTERACTIVE PDFS
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