Scott Foresman Reading Street

Reader Response

Open for Discussion Personal Response

MODEL I would go on an Antarctic journey to see the glaciers, whales, and plant life.

Comprehension Check Critical Response

Responses will vary but should include details from the selection to support the student's opinion. Author's Purpose
Possible details: Antarctica is the windiest and coldest region on Earth. The author nearly dies when the ice cracks under her. Main Idea/Details
Chronological/sequence. Telling it in sequence makes it more exciting because you wonder what will happen next. Ideas on other structures will vary but should include valid reasoning. Text Structure
Responses will vary but should show an understanding of words that describe Antarctica.
Vocabulary

Look Back and Write For test practice, assign a 10–15 minute time limit. For assessment, see the rubric on TR25.

Summarize

Have students summarize the selection using their completed KWL charts.

Retell

Have students retell Antarctic Journal.

then… use the Scoring Rubric for Retelling below to help move them toward fluent retelling.

If… students have difficulty retelling the selection,

Check Retelling

Summarize Write a summary of the most important events described in Antarctic Journal. Use the correct sequence of events in your summary.

Check Retelling Have students use the journal entry dates and headings to help them with their retellings. For more ideas on assessing students' retellings, see the ELL and Transition Handbook.

Students can search a bookseller's Web site to look for reviews of Antarctic Journal. Have them use the title of the selection as keywords for their search.

Online Student Edition Snapshot Response with answer key (pdf)

Look Back and Write The author and her friends thought they had discovered a new food for humans. Read page 596 again. What was this food and why did they think it would be good to eat? What did they think after they tasted it?

The author tries to tell her experiences in Antarctica so that readers
feel as if they are there with her. Did you feel as if you were with
her on her journey? Why or why not?

The author describes Antarctica as the "most forbidding region on Earth." What details does she provide to support this idea?

Think about text structure. In what way is the passage on
pages 598-599 told? Why do you think the author chose this method? Would another text structure be more effective? Explain.

Imagine that you are on your way to Antarctica aboard the Polar Duke. Write about something you see as you approach the continent. Use words from the Words to Know list and the selection.

Open for Discussion If you had the opportunity, would you go on an Antarctic journey? Come up with three reasons why you would or wouldn't want to go.

Reader Response

Read more
books about
Antarctica.

Jennifer Owings Dewey loves to study and
write about animals and nature. She says, "I enjoy
traveling to remote or wild places to do research."
For Antarctic Journal, she traveled to Antarctica.
During her four months there, she drew the animals
and landscape, took photographs, and wrote in her
journal. Friends and family saved the letters she
wrote home. All these went into her book.
Ms. Dewey lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She
has written more than twenty nonfiction books for
children. She says, "I like writing about extreme
environments-cold and hot, dry and wet." She
also writes about the amazing variety of animals
on Earth. "Writing about the world we live in
prevents running out of ideas," she says.