Scott Foresman Reading Street

For alternate Leveled Reader lesson plans that teach

Fact and Opinion, Answer Questions, and
Lesson Vocabulary, see pp. LR19–LR27.

Talking Walls: Art for the People
Group Time

Leveled Reader
A Whole World in a City

BEFORE READING Have students create a three-column chart titled Chicago Neighborhoods with the headings Mexican, Polish, and Chinese. This book tells how people in various Chicago neighborhoods are free to express themselves and the cultures they came from. As you read, look for details about ways the people express themselves through art, food, music, and other activities. Record the information on your chart.

DURING READING Have students follow along as you read pp. 3–8. Then let them complete the book on their own. Remind students to add facts on their chart as they read.

AFTER READING Have students compare the facts on their charts. Point out that details they learn about the ways people express themselves in different neighborhoods will help them as they read tomorrow's selection, Talking Walls: Art for the People.

Build Background

DEVELOP VOCABULARY Write the word
downhearted and ask students to define it in
their own words. (When you are downhearted, you
feel sad.) Show me how a downhearted person might look. Repeat this activity with the word excited and other words from the Leveled Reader A Whole World in One City. Use the Concept Vocabulary Routine on p. DI•1 as needed.

Independent Extension Activity

NOW TRY THIS Assign "Now Try This" on pp. 22–23 of The Huge Paintings of Thomas Hart Benton for students to work on throughout the week.

Leveled Reader
The Huge Paintings of
Thomas Hart Benton

BEFORE READING Recall the
Read Aloud "Indescribably
Arabella." Why do you think
the two lonely people appreciated
Arabella's talents when others
didn't? (The two people knew
that Arabella was expressing
herself as only she could, and
they liked that she was different.)
Today you will read about a
famous American painter
whose art is an expression of how he felt about life in the United States.

CRITICAL THINKING Have students read the Leveled Reader independently. Encourage them to think critically. For example, ask:

Why might Thomas Hart Benton's honest paintings upset some people?
Select your favorite Thomas Hart Benton painting. What do you think he was trying to express through this piece of art?

AFTER READING Have students review the selection
to find four or more unfamiliar words and determine
their meanings through context or the dictionary.
Then ask them to write each word in a sentence
about themselves or draw a picture of themselves
that conveys the meaning of the word. Have students
meet with you to discuss the selection and their
sentences or pictures.