Scott Foresman Reading Street

Social Studies
in Reading

Examine features of a personal essay.
Practice a test-taking strategy.
Compare and contrast across texts.

PREVIEW/USE TEXT FEATURES

Have students preview the essay, taking note of the title, photographs, captions, and map. After they preview, ask:

Why do you think the author included photographs? (They show what Machu Picchu looks like today and the beauty of the area.)
How do you think the map will help you as you read the essay? (It shows the journey the author took.)

Link to Social Studies

Suggest students use library books, encyclopedias, and a student-friendly search engine to find out more about the Inca people.

Access Content Preview the text, reading the first paragraph aloud and verifying students' understanding. Explain the phrase riding the rails in the title is another way of saying "riding the train." (The train rides on rails.)

Partner Reading, 559a

Writing

Grammar

Fluency

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives, 559f

Review Word List, 559j

Draft and Revise, 559h

Spelling

Fluency and Language Arts

PERSONAL ESSAY

Use the sidebar on p. 556 to guide discussion.

Explain that a personal essay is a short, informal text written in the first person.
Personal essays describe the author's personal experiences and reactions.
Discuss what personal experience students expect to read about in this essay.

AudioText

All three ways will get you to Machu Picchu. Hiking the Inca Trail is longest and hardest. It takes four days. Going by helicopter is fastest. It takes 25 minutes. The train takes three hours.

by Katacha Díaz

There are three ways to get to Machu Picchu from Cusco. You can hike the
old Inca Trail, a hard four-day journey. Guides will take you. Tents, food supplies,
and anything other than your backpack will be carried by llamas. You can whisk
from Cusco to Machu Picchu by helicopter. On this 25-minute trip you will
quickly see glorious scenery. Finally, you can take a daily three-hour train ride.
I am adventuresome. However, I didn’t feel like making the hike! I chose the third
way. Journey with me in your mind as I experience Machu Picchu!

Anyone who visits Machu Picchu begins in the city of Cusco. Cusco itself
is historic. Founded in the twelfth century by the Incas, it was conquered by an
army from Spain in 1533.

High atop one of the Andes Mountains in Peru is one of the
greatest human-made wonders of the world—Machu Picchu, the lost city
of the Incas. Every year about 400,000 people from around the world make
the journey to see this amazing site. Several years ago I was one of them.

Do research to learn about
the Inca way of life. Share
an interesting finding with
your class.

Link to Social Studies

A map gives information
about Peru and the
distance people travel
when they make the
journey from Cusco to
Machu Picchu.

Photographs capture the
beauty of Machu Picchu
and allow the reader
to explore the land and
its people.

Text Features

A personal essay
introduces a reader to an
author’s personality and
preferences.

A personal essay is an
account of an individual’s
experience and is written
in the first person.

A personal essay is
written to inform and/or
entertain a reader.

Genre

Personal Essay

Compare and contrast the routes to Machu Picchu.

Compare & Contrast