Scott Foresman Reading Street

Social Studies in Reading

Examine features of expository nonfiction.
Practice a test-taking strategy.
Compare and contrast across texts.

PREVIEW/USE TEXT FEATURES

As students preview "Log Cabins,"
discuss the photographs and graphics and what they tell about the selection. After they preview, ask:

How do the photographs in
the selection help you
understand the facts?
(Possible response: They
help me visualize what the
author is writing about.)
What does the time line on
p. 271 tell you? (the order in
which events related to the
time period in the selection
occurred)

Link to Social Studies

Help students use reference materials such as encyclopedias and the Internet. Encourage them to take notes that they can use to tell the class what they learned.

Grouping Options

Reading

Whole Group Discuss the Question of the Day.

Group Time
Differentiated Instruction

"Log Cabins." See
pp. 250f–250g for the small
group lesson plan.

Whole Group Use pp. 271a
and 271j.

Language Arts
Use pp. 271e–271h and
271k–271m.

EXPOSITORY NONFICTION

Use the sidebar on p. 268 to guide
discussion.

Expository nonfiction is
nonfiction writing of any length
which gives information about
many different topics.
It is based on facts and often
includes technical vocabulary
and graphics that relate to the topic.
Discuss how the photographs,
graphics, and captions can help
with understanding the selection.

AudioText

Responses will vary; check that students' questions relate to the topic. Students' questions may or may not be answered in the selection, but encourage them to look for an answer.

Build Background Students may or may not be familiar with early American history. Explain that when the first European settlers arrived in the New World, they had very few belongings and were forced to use what was available to build homes and survive. The same was true for the early pioneers who left the colonies and headed west. Discuss with students what resources the settlers and pioneers would have had to use and how they might have used them. Review the vocabulary words on p. 268 and encourage students to use them in their discussion.

by Marlene Perez

When people moved west
in the 1800s, there were no
houses or towns or shops.
They couldn’t bring many
supplies along when they
journeyed into the wild. They
had to think of ways to build
houses using what was
around them.

Settlers from Europe built
the first log cabins in the United
States. These were square,
one-room cabins. To add more
room, a loft with a ladder might
be added. Some cabins were
made of round logs. Settlers
closed the space between the
logs with mud, shells from the
river, or even cow manure.

Use the library or the
Internet to research log
cabins. Find out about the
inside of log cabins.

Link to Social Studies

Graphics, such as a time
line, sometimes provide
additional information.

Photographs with
captions are often
included to help the
reader understand.

Text Features

It often requires careful
reading.

Expository nonfiction
explains facts about
objects or ideas.

Genre

Expository
Nonfiction

What questions did you have as you read this page?

Ask Questions

This log cabin in Nebraska in 1886
had a sod roof.

loft	a low room under the roof of a house
logs	long pieces of wood cut from tree trunks or large branches
lumber	wood cut into boards or planks
notched	marked with a v-shaped cut

Natural Resources

The first settlers to arrive in the colonies had to use what was available to make their homes. Great forests covered much of New England, so there was plenty of wood. In fact everything, from the house to the furnishings to the plates and utensils, was made of wood. There was no glass for windows. Rather, settlers had to use paper soaked in oil. Later homes were also made of stone which was plentiful. Native vegetation, such as maize and flax, was used for bedding and clothing.