Guiding Comprehension

Author's Purpose • Inferential

Question the Author Why do you think the author wrote this article?

To inform, but also to entertain, because he chose "mosts" that were interesting to read about.

Ask Questions • Critical

Write two or three questions you have about other "mosts." Try to find the answers.

Questions will vary.

Compare/Contrast • Critical

Text to Text Think about other places you have read about. How do the places mentioned in the selection compare or contrast to those places?

Responses will vary.

Summarize When students finish reading the selection, provide this prompt: Imagine that a friend has asked what Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest is about. In four or five sentences, explain its important points.

STRATEGY SELF-CHECK

Ask Questions

Remind students that good readers ask themselves questions as they read. They also know where to look to find answers.

Have students write questions they still have about the selection and find answers. One of their questions should be about similarities and differences. Then have them write a brief summary of the article using their questions and comparisons as a guide. To assess, use Practice Book 3.2, p. 17.

SELF-CHECK

Students can ask themselves these questions to assess their ability with the skill and strategy.

What questions do I have?
What similarities do I see?
What differences do I see?
Does my summary answer my questions and show how things are alike and different?

then… use the Reteach lesson on
p. 59b.

If… children have difficulty comparing and contrasting information,

Compare and Contrast

Practice Book 3.2 p. 17

with | without Answers

"Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest"
by Steve Jenkins

Student Edition
Unit 4, pp. 40–53

Expository nonfiction gives information about the real world. Look for numbers that help you understand the facts in this Snapshot.

Earth has a lot of places that are record holders. You can find the driest deserts or wettest rain forests. You can find the highest mountain peak or the deepest ocean trench. Take a look at some of Earth's extremes!
Russia boasts the deepest lake. In one place, its Lake Baikal goes down 5,134 feet. At about 25 million years old, Baikal is also the oldest lake on Earth. Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes in North America. At nearly 32,000 square miles, it is Earth's largest freshwater lake. Though Lake Superior is about six times bigger than Lake Baikal, Lake Baikal holds a lot more water. In fact, Lake Baikal holds more water than all of the Great Lakes put together!
At 4,145 miles long, the Nile in Africa is Earth's longest river. But it doesn't hold the most river water. That honor goes to the second-longest river. South America's Amazon is 4,007 miles long and carries about 50 percent of all the river water on Earth. (The Yangtze River in Asia is the third-longest river, and the Mississippi-Missouri is the fourth.)
The peak of Mount Everest reaches 29,028 feet above sea level. It is Earth's highest mountain completely above the sea. Mauna Kea in Hawaii is really taller. But most of this mountain is under the sea. Only 13,796 feet of its 33,476 feet are above water. The deepest place on Earth is far below the Pacific Ocean. The Mariana Trench reaches a depth of 36,202 feet. The lowest spot on dry land is the shore of the Dead Sea, where it is 1,100 feet below sea level.
The very hottest place on Earth is in the Sahara Desert in Libya, North Africa. A temperature of over 136°F has been recorded there. The coldest place is in Vostok, Antarctica. It dipped down to a freezing -129°F there. The windiest place is at the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, where wind has reached 231 miles an hour. It is also very windy near the tops of the Himalayas, the world's tallest mountains.
South America has both the wettest and the driest places. Tutunendo, in Colombia, is really wet. It gets an average rainfall of 463 inches every year. Chile's Atacama Desert is the driest. It hasn't had any rain for 400 years!
Of all the waterfalls, Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest. At 3,212 feet, it is almost eighteen times higher than the well-known Niagara Falls. Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Africa, has the most water.
If you want to watch the tides, go to Canada's Bay of Fundy. Four times a day, the water rises and falls more than 50 feet. The tide there is really fast. Have a little fun when you visit--try to race the tide. Can you outrun it?
These are just a few of Earth's record holders. There are a lot more on our amazing planet!



	Close
	PRACTICE LESSON VOCABULARY Have students use each word below in a sentence. depth (We stuck a hollow tube in the ground and measured the depth of the sand in the soil.) tides (We could see evidence of the changing of the tides from the objects washed up on the beach.) outrun (I tried to outrun my brother on his bike but he was going too fast.) BUILD CONCEPT VOCABULARY Review previous concept words with students. Ask if students have met any words today in their reading or elsewhere that they would like to add to the Concept Web.

"Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest" by Steve Jenkins

"Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest"
by Steve Jenkins