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DURING READING
GUIDED PRACTICE Have students discuss how they would use the strategy to answer the following question.
Explain how the log cabin in the photograph on pp. 268–269 was probably built.
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE After students answer the following test question, discuss the process they used to find information.
What is an auger and how was it used?
Use the Strategy
  1. Before reading, scan the photographs or illustrations and graphics and read any captions that go with them. Think about what information they give.
  2. While you are reading, pay attention to what the photographs or graphics may tell you.
  3. When you are finished reading, look again at the photos or illustrations and graphics and use them to help you understand what you have read.
USE PHOTOGRAPHS Explain that students may be asked to read expository nonfiction and answer questions about it on standardized tests. Often, there are photographs or illustrations that go along with this kind of nonfiction. The photographs and graphics may show what something described in the selection looked like, so you can see it and better understand. Provide the following strategy.
TEST PRACTICE
Strategies
for Nonfiction
Draw Conclusions
They became less common; many were probably replaced with sturdier, larger, more comfortable homes.
ELL
Access Content Use toy logs, craft sticks, or branches to demonstrate the following words: notched, stacked, interlocking, and planks. Or use the photograph on p. 270 to make sure students understand how a cabin could be built without nails.
CONNECT TEXT TO TEXT
Reading Across Texts
Look back at William's House and discuss what it looked like and how William made it. Compare it to "Log Cabins." Jot students' ideas on the board for reference.
Writing Across Texts Remind students to use details from either or both texts in their paragraphs.
An auger like this one is used for making holes in wood.
An auger like this one is used for making holes in wood.
     Later, cabins were made
with logs cut to fit together
better. The logs were cut flat
and the ends were notched.
The logs were stacked in an interlocking pattern. This
made the houses sturdier
and easier to build.
made of stone or rock, which
settlers found in the wilderness.
Some cabins had floors of dirt,
which had been pounded flat.
Other floors were made of logs
that were laid flat. These log
floors were called puncheons.
     In 1862, a law was passed
that gave settlers a piece of
land for free if they would build
a house, live there, and farm
the land for five years. The log
cabin was a good choice for a
home. It could be built quickly.
Trees from the forests could
be used for logs. A log cabin
didn't need nails, which were
expensive and hard to find.
Settlers could build a log cabin
using a few simple tools, such as
an ax and an auger.
    When the railroad grew
and pushed its way west, people
could then buy lumber from
mills. Wood-framed houses
An auger like this one is used for
making holes in wood.
1830 Work begins on railroads.
1869 Transcontinental railroad is finished.
1804 Lewis and Clark begin exploration.
1842 Pioneers travel Oregon Trail westward.
1862
Law passed to give
settlers free land.
1830
 Work begins
on railroads.
1869 Transcontinental railroad
is finished.
1842
Pioneers travel Oregon Trail westward.
1804
Lewis and Clark begin exploration.
Flat logs were notched at the ends. They fit together tightly.
replaced log cabins. Often,
homeowners tore down the
cabins and reused the lumber
to build bigger houses.
      Over the years, American
homes changed from
one-room cabins to larger,
sturdier buildings. But
because of the clever way
it was first made, the log
cabin will always be a symbol
of American creativity.
Reading Across Texts When it was finished,
how was William's house different from the early log cabins you read about in
this article?

Writing Across Texts Write a short paragraph telling which house
you would rather live
in and why.
     Settlers made do with what
they had available. Some log cabins had roofs made of grass sod or cedar planks. Log cabin floors and chimneys were
Flat logs were notched at the ends. They fit together tightly.
Draw Conclusions
What happened to log cabins after the railroad came?
 
   
Close  
ELL
Test Practice Look through the selection at the photographs and graphics with students. Discuss what they see and what they think each image is about. Then have them read the selection. When they are finished reading, have them look back at the photographs and graphics and tell how they relate to the selection. Have them answer the Guided and Independent Practice questions and discuss how they used the photographs and graphics.