Prereading Strategies

	Identify main idea and supporting details to improve comprehension.
	Use text structure to help determine main idea.

GENRE STUDY

Narrative Nonfiction

The Story of the Statue of Liberty is narrative nonfiction. Explain that narrative nonfiction reads like a story but tells about real people and events.

PREVIEW AND PREDICT

Have students preview the selection title and illustrations and discuss the topics or ideas they think this selection will cover. Encourage students to use lesson vocabulary as they talk about what they expect to learn.

Activate Prior Knowledge Ask students if they have ever seen the Statue of Liberty or a picture of it. Invite them to list facts they know about the statue. Students add to their list and monitor their comprehension in the Strategy Response Log activity on p. 295.

SET PURPOSE

Read the first page of the selection aloud to students. Have them consider their preview discussion and tell what they hope to find out as they read.

Remind students to look for main ideas and supporting details as they read.

STRATEGY RECALL

Students have now used these
before-reading strategies:

preview the selection to be
aware of its genre, features,
and possible content;
activate prior knowledge about
that content and what to expect
of that genre;
make predictions;
set a purpose for reading.

Remind students to be aware of and
flexibly use the during-reading
strategies they have learned:

link prior knowledge to new
information;
summarize text they have read
so far;
ask clarifying questions;
answer questions they or
others pose;
check their predictions and
either refine them or make new
predictions;
recognize the text structure the
author is using, and use that
knowledge to make predictions
and increase comprehension;
visualize what the author is
describing;
monitor their comprehension
and use fix-up strategies.

After reading, students will use these
strategies:

summarize or retell the text;
answer questions they or
others pose;
reflect to make new information
become part of their prior
knowledge.

AudioText

"The Story of the Statue of Liberty"
by Betsy and Giulio Maestro

Student Edition
Unit 6, pp. 288–299

Narrative nonfiction gives information about real people and events in the form of a story. What special event does this Selection Snapshot tell about?

New York Harbor has been home to the Statue of Liberty for more than 120 years. Millions of people have taken the ferry to the island where she stands. Many have climbed up to the top of the statue and looked out its windows.
In 1871, French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi came to the United States. He wanted to build a statue as a gift to the people of the United States. It would be from the people of France. The two countries had been friends for a long time. When he saw Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor, he knew that this would be the perfect place. Bartholdi returned home, where he made sketches and small models of the statue. It would be a woman, with a lamp in her hand to welcome people to America. She would be a symbol of freedom in the New World. Her name? Liberty Enlightening the World. The statue would be huge and strong enough for people to climb to the top inside.
On her head, Liberty wears a spiked crown. One arm holds the torch up high. It looks like the statue is lighting the way. The other arm holds a tablet with the date July 4, 1776, written on it. That's when Americans signed the Declaration of Independence, which freed them from British rule.
In 1876, Americans celebrated their country's 100th birthday. Bartholdi sent the arm holding the torch to Philadelphia for the celebration. At the same time, Liberty's head was displayed at the World's Fair in France. People paid to climb inside it. That helped to pay for the statue. All of Paris watched as the statue slowly was built. Her copper skin shone. Underneath was a framework of steel. By 1884, Liberty was finished. Many people in Paris went to see her, and a few climbed the 168 stairs to the top.
Afterwards the statue was taken apart, packed into crates, and put on a ship to cross the ocean. But Americans had lost interest in the statue. They did not have the money needed to finish the base for it. Then a newspaper in New York took up the cause. Americans from all over, even schoolchildren, sent donations. When the ship arrived, there was new excitement in the air.
Workmen finished the pedestal. Then they reassembled Liberty, section by section. In 1886, a year later, she stood gleaming on Bedloe's Island. At a huge celebration, Bartholdi unveiled Liberty's face. The crowd cheered when they saw it, and President Grover Cleveland and other people gave speeches.
Since that day, the Statue of Liberty has been a symbol of hope for immigrants.
She is an unforgettable sight that greets many people coming to America. Every year on the Fourth of July, fireworks surround the beautiful statue that stands for American freedom.



	Close
	Activate Prior Knowledge Help students understand the concepts of freedom and liberty before they read the selection. Also make sure students understand and can describe a symbol. Consider having students read the selection summary in English or in students' home languages. See the Multilingual Summaries in the ELL Teaching Guide, pp. 180–182.

"The Story of the Statue of Liberty"by Betsy and Giulio Maestro

"The Story of the Statue of Liberty"
by Betsy and Giulio Maestro