Scott Foresman Reading Street

Cross-Curricular Centers

Scott Foresman Reading Street Centers Survival Kit
Use the Letters Home from Yosemite materials from
the Reading Street Centers Survival Kit to organize
this week's centers.

MATERIALS
CD player, headphones,
AudioText CD, student book

LISTEN TO LITERATURE Listen to Letters Home from Yosemite and "This Land is Your Land" as you follow or read along in your book. Listen for the main ideas in Letters Home from Yosemite.

If there is anything you don't understand, you can listen again to any section.

MATERIALS
Collection of books for
self-selected reading,
reading logs, student book

Select a book you have already
read. Record the title of the book
in your reading log. You may want
to read with a partner.

Choose from the following:

Leveled Readers
ELL Readers
Books or Stories Written by
Classmates
Books from the Library
Letters Home from Yosemite

TEN IMPORTANT SENTENCES
Read the Ten Important Sentences
for Letters Home from Yosemite.
Then locate the sentences in the
student book.

BOOK CLUB In a group discuss
why you like or dislike the style
of writing in Letters Home from
Yosemite. Tell how the author
might have written it differently
and if you would enjoy reading
it more that way.

MATERIALS
Writing materials, student
book

Make a table showing the heights
of the different sights found in
Yosemite National Park.

On a piece of paper, draw a
table like the one shown
below.
Skim Letters Home from
Yosemite in the student book
to find the height of each
sight listed.
Record the height for each
sight in your table.
List the sights in order from
lowest to highest.

EARLY FINISHERS Use division
to convert the height measures
from feet to yards. Remember,
there are 3 feet in a yard.

MATERIALS
Writing and art
materials, student book

Write a travel journal entry about a real place you have visited, heard about, or seen in pictures.

Use Letters Home from Yosemite as a model for your writing.
Use facts and vivid details to explain what is special about the place and what you did or saw.

EARLY FINISHERS Draw a picture to go along with your travel journal entry. Draw the place itself or an interesting detail, such as a special tree or animal you saw.

MATERIALS
Science articles or books
on rock types, Internet
access, writing and art materials

Learn about igneous, sedimentary,
or metamorphic rocks.

Choose a rock type to research and list five important facts about it.
Draw a picture of your rock type or, if your teacher gives you permission, download and print a picture of it from the Internet.

EARLY FINISHERS Use your facts and picture to create a trading card about your rock type. Trade your card with a classmate.

MATERIALS
Internet access, writing
materials, tape recorder

Use the Internet to find out about Yosemite National Park.

Using a student-friendly search engine, type the keywords Yosemite National Park in the Search box. Follow classroom rules when searching the Internet.
Click on a Web site you believe will provide helpful, accurate information about Yosemite.
List at least four facts about Yosemite from the Web site, such as the number of visitors each year or types of wildlife species in the park.
Write a fact sheet, listing the facts you found.

EARLY FINISHERS Pretend you're
a tour guide at the park. Make an
audio tape describing the park to a
visitor. Drama