January 9, 2012
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SUMMARY: A real-life thriller about the state of food safety in the U.S., paired with a stomach-churning excerpt of Upton Sinclair’s classic novel The Jungle. Skill focus: cause and effect Or, take your cause-and-effect lesson further with our exciting DIGITAL LESSON PLAN. Includes video, informational texts, and more. WATCH AND THINK A series of questions helps students get the most out of the video from The New York Times. CAUSE & EFFECT CHAINS Students fill in this graphic organizer to identify chains of cause-and-effect relationships in the article. Note: Version 1 has more scaffolding; Version 2 has less. VOCABULARY A list of tricky words, including definitions and example sentences, that appear in the article. Includes a practice activity to reinforce understanding. Read more about Scope Vocabulary here. 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 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 on your whiteboard. CONTEST ENTRY FORM Students imagine they are in charge of handling a food poisoning outbreak at school. They write a paragraph explaining what steps they would take, using examples from the article. Read more about our contests here. EXTRA RESOURCES VIDEO: “Up to Date: Peanut Recall” This clip from The New York Times is a fantastic primer on food-poisoning issues in the U.S. and the peanut recall addressed in the article. Use with our “Watch and Think” worksheet and as part of our digital lesson plan. Length: 6:45. NOTE: We suggest watching to 3:21. An ad appears before the video starts, so we recommend loading the video before your class begins. VIDEO: Gabrielle Meunier’s Testimony Gabrielle Meunier, Christopher’s mother, testifies before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in 2009. She tells the story of her son’s illness and makes a number of recommendations. Have students evaluate Gabrielle’s suggestions. What else should be done to prevent similar outbreaks? NOTE: The portion of the video featuring Gabrielle is from 99:56–106:05. The text of her testimony is also available as a downloadable PDF. AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Upton Sinclair A detailed biography of Upton Sinclair including information on the social and political impact of The Jungle. | |
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SUMMARY: Our adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic short story is a creepy tale about an eccentric doctor who offers water from the fabled Fountain of Youth to four of his elderly friends. Skill focus: analyzing theme ANALYZING THEME: YOU MIGHT THINK . . . Students identify the play’s central theme and analyze what the characters did or did not learn from their mistakes. IDENTIFYING LITERARY ELEMENTS AND DEVICES This new self-guided activity helps students explore character, elements of plot, figurative language, and more. Includes higher-level thinking questions. VOCABULARY A list of tricky words, including definitions and example sentences, that appear in the play. Includes a practice activity to reinforce understanding. Read more about Scope Vocabulary here. INTERACTIVE READING-COMPREHENSION QUIZ | |
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SUMMARY: An article about a climbing trip gone horribly awry is paired with an original poem about the event. Skill focus: comparing and contrasting; making connections between texts; interpreting text Multiple-choice questions require students to analyze and compare the two texts. Makes excellent test prep. CONTEST ENTRY FORM Was Simon’s decision to cut the rope cowardly or courageous? Students write a response using details from the article and the poem. Read more about our contests here. SEE HOW THIS ACTIVITY SUPPORTS THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS. GREAT RESOURCE MOVIE CLIP: Touching the Void This clip from the 2003 documentary Touching the Void combines interview footage with a dramatization of the moment when Simon cuts the rope. Have students compare the way the film portrays this moment with the way it’s portrayed in the article and poem. Length: 1:33. NOTE: We recommend previewing this clip to ensure it is appropriate for your class. | |
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SUMMARY: Students read arguments for and against telling the occasional white lie—then take a stand. Skill focus: supporting an argument; identifying main ideas and details GET A PDF OF THIS ARTICLE TO PROJECT. GUIDED WRITING: THE PERSUASIVE ESSAY | |
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SUMMARY: Students write a short article based on our interview with 13-year-old animal-welfare advocate Christina Stebbins. Skill focus: identifying main idea and details; summarizing GUIDE TO “YOU WRITE IT” ACTIVITY This step-by-step worksheet helps students use our interview to craft an article. Includes guidance for identifying the main idea, organizing, and using direct quotations. “YOU WRITE IT” MODEL TEXT Our annotated example of a completed You Write It activity is another great way to help students understand how to turn an interview into an article. PUNCTUATING QUOTATIONS Use this activity from our archive to help students correctly punctuate the direct quotes they include in their articles. CONTEST ENTRY FORM Use our handy form to enter students’ work in our You Write It contest. Read more about our contests here. GREAT RESOURCE WEBSITE: Unleashed Learn more about the great work this organization is doing. | |
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SUMMARY: Students practice the correct use of number and amount while reading fun facts about three Hollywood blockbusters. Skill focus: number and amount More practice with these commonly confused words. | |
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| READING-COMPREHENSION CROSSWORD PUZZLE This is a fun way to test students’ understanding of the whole issue. | |
SCOPE’S SKILLS AND GRAPHIC-ORGANIZERS LIBRARY Visit our library for a list of basic skills activities for just about any Scope feature. ANSWER KEY Looking for answers? Visit our top-secret Web site for answers to all reproducibles, quizzes, and activities. The URL is listed on page T-3 of your printed Teacher’s Edition. DOWNLOAD ALL PRINTABLES FOR THIS ISSUE MORE HELPFUL LINKS & DOWNLOADS COMMON CORE, NCTE, AND IRA STANDARDS FAQs ABOUT INTERACTIVE PDFS Having trouble downloading our materials? Try using a different browser. |
