Volcanoes
On-Level Reader
Mount St. Helens
Unit 3 Week 5
COMPARE AND CONTRAST MONITOR AND FIX UP
LESSON VOCABULARY beneath, buried,
chimney, earthquakes, fireworks, force,
tremble, volcano
SUMMARY Students will learn how science can help us prepare or protect ourselves from natural disasters like the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
INTRODUCE THE BOOK
BUILD BACKGROUND Ask students what they know about natural disasters.
PREVIEW/USE TEXT FEATURES Suggest students compare the diagrams
on pages 6 and 8 with the photograph of an eruption on page 9. Ask how the diagrams help their understanding.
TEACH/REVIEW VOCABULARY Review vocabulary with students, and then
say: Can you guess what word I’m thinking of? It has to do with something in
a house where fires are built. (chimney) Do the same for all words.
Review vocabulary with students and then give them a simple crossword puzzle using the vocabulary definitions as clues.
TARGET SKILL AND STRATEGY
COMPARE AND CONTRAST Remind students that
comparing things
shows how they are alike or different, and
contrasting shows how they are different. Suggest students list three ways dogs and cats are alike and
different.
MONITOR AND FIX UP Remind students that
monitoring their
comprehension as they read means being aware when the text stops
making sense. Point out that if students have questions about what they are reading, they can use the strategy of
reading ahead to find answers and
fix up comprehension.
READ THE BOOK
Use the following questions to support comprehension.
PAGE 8 Could scientists tell when Mount St. Helens was going to erupt?
(No, but they had warning signs.)
PAGES 14–15 Using the diagram, compare and contrast the volcanoes.
(Tambora is the largest; Vesuvius was the earliest and Mount St. Helens the most recent.)
PAGE 15 Why was a monument put on Mount St. Helens? (to remind people of
the natural disaster)
TALK ABOUT THE BOOK
READER RESPONSE
- Organizers will vary but should show that life has been returned to many
places where there had been landslides. Life has hardly come back at all
where there had been lava flows. Overall, life is coming back to most
parts of the mountain.
- The bulge is first described on page 6.
- Possible response: He watched the leaf tremble.
- Students might answer that the map helped them
see how close the Cascades are to the ocean.
RESPONSE OPTIONS
WRITING Ask students to imagine they are reporters. Have them write an eyewitness account of the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
CONTENT CONNECTIONS
SCIENCE/ART Invite students to use clay to make a model of a volcano.
L.R. TOC
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