Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-70 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Think of the hardest thing you have read this year that was true: a news story, a biography, a science article, a letter. What made it hard? Write two reasons. Then write what you did when you got stuck."

   Collect reasons on the board. Students usually name long sentences, unknown words, not knowing the background and not getting the writer's point, and they often say that what they did when stuck was reread or skip. Group their reasons under the five stops, which will stay on the board: Set up (background), Chunk (long sentences), Word work (unknown words), Track the writer (tone and purpose) and Sum it up (the point). Tell students that today the teacher will do all the work first, then share it, and by the end of the lesson they will do it alone.

2. Direct Instruction15-20 minutes

   Teach the five stops (hand out the bookmark with prompts):

   • 1. Set up. Before reading, check who wrote it, when, where, and what kind of true writing it is: a letter, a journal, a travel book, a report. Predict what the writer will do.
   • 2. Chunk. When a sentence runs long, break it at its commas, semicolons and dashes, and find the subject (who or what the sentence is about) and the verb (what it does or is). Read everything else as details attached to them.
   • 3. Word work. For a hard word, first try the context (the words around it) and word parts; then ask whether you need the word to follow the sentence. Use a glossary or dictionary only if you do.
   • 4. Track the writer. Notice when the writer moves between telling what happened, describing, explaining and reflecting, and when the tone (the writer's attitude) shifts, for example from serious to joking.
   • 5. Sum it up. After each paragraph, say its gist (the main point in a sentence). At the end, state what the writer wants readers to see or feel.

   Show Diagram 1 and explain gradual release: the stops stay the same all lesson, and the help around them is taken away one layer at a time.

   Model with Source 1. Read the context aloud: In 1873 the English traveler Isabella Bird, then in her early forties, spent months riding alone through the Colorado Rockies and wrote letters home to her sister. In this letter she climbs Long's Peak, one of the highest mountains in Colorado, with "Mountain Jim," a trapper who lived nearby, two young men and Jim's dog. The "Notch" is a gap in the rock high on the mountain. Glossary: mountaineering (climbing mountains as a sport), feat (a hard accomplishment), humiliated (made to feel foolish), bale of goods (a bundle of cargo), precipitously (very steeply), granite ribs (ridges of hard rock), retraced our steps (went back the way we came), incompetence (lack of skill), detain (hold back), encumbrance (a burden), trapper (a man who catches animals for fur), perilous (dangerous), giddiness (dizziness), withal (as well), ravine (a narrow, steep valley), inaccessible (impossible to reach) and submission to the inevitable (giving in to what cannot be avoided). Leave entreaties and nolens volens off the list. Read the paragraph aloud once straight through, then again, stopping to think aloud.

   1You know I have no head and no ankles, and never ought to dream of mountaineering; and had I known that the ascent was a real mountaineering feat I should not have felt the slightest ambition to perform it. As it is, I am only humiliated by my success, for "Jim" dragged me up, like a bale of goods, by sheer force of muscle. At the "Notch" the real business of the ascent began. Two thousand feet of solid rock towered above us, four thousand feet of broken rock shelved precipitously below; smooth granite ribs, with barely foothold, stood out here and there; melted snow refrozen several times, presented a more serious obstacle; many of the rocks were loose, and tumbled down when touched. To me it was a time of extreme terror. I was roped to "Jim," but it was of no use; my feet were paralyzed and slipped on the bare rock, and he said it was useless to try to go that way, and we retraced our steps. I wanted to return to the "Notch," knowing that my incompetence would detain the party, and one of the young men said almost plainly that a woman was a dangerous encumbrance, but the trapper replied shortly that if it were not to take a lady up he would not go up at all. He went on to explore, and reported that further progress on the correct line of ascent was blocked by ice; and then for two hours we descended, lowering ourselves by our hands from rock to rock along a boulder-strewn sweep of 4,000 feet, patched with ice and snow, and perilous from rolling stones. My fatigue, giddiness, and pain from bruised ankles, and arms half pulled out of their sockets, were so great that I should never have gone halfway had not "Jim," nolens volens, dragged me along with a patience and skill, and withal a determination that I should ascend the Peak, which never failed. After descending about 2,000 feet to avoid the ice, we got into a deep ravine with inaccessible sides, partly filled with ice and snow and partly with large and small fragments of rock, which were constantly giving away, rendering the footing very insecure. That part to me was two hours of painful and unwilling submission to the inevitable; of trembling, slipping, straining, of smooth ice appearing when it was least expected, and of weak entreaties to be left behind while the others went on. "Jim" always said that there was no danger, that there was only a short bad bit ahead, and that I should go up even if he carried me!

   • Stop 1, Set up: what kind of text is this?

     Think aloud: before the details, what does the opening tell you about who is writing, to whom, and in what voice?

     Result: "You know I have no head and no ankles" is written to someone who knows Bird well, her sister, so this is a personal letter, not a guidebook. The voice is honest and self-mocking: she says she should never "dream of mountaineering." Prediction: she will tell the climb as a hard struggle and be frank about her own fears.

   • Stop 2, Chunk: a sentence built as a list

     "Two thousand feet of solid rock towered above us, four thousand feet of broken rock shelved precipitously below; smooth granite ribs, with barely foothold, stood out here and there; melted snow refrozen several times, presented a more serious obstacle; many of the rocks were loose, and tumbled down when touched." Break it at the semicolons.

     Result: Four chunks, each with its own subject and verb: rock "towered" above and "shelved" below; granite ribs "stood out"; melted snow "presented a more serious obstacle"; rocks "were loose" and "tumbled down." Together they list the dangers of the climb at the Notch: height, steepness, few footholds, ice and loose stones. The semicolons are the seams.

   • Stop 3, Word work: context before the glossary

     "Entreaties" is not on the glossary. In "weak entreaties to be left behind while the others went on," what does it probably mean, and do you need it?

     Result: Bird is exhausted and asking "to be left behind," so entreaties must be requests, probably begging (the verb entreat means to beg). The word matters, because it shows how desperate she felt. The context was enough; no dictionary needed.

   • Stop 4, Track the writer: two voices at once

     The paragraph ends: "'Jim' always said that there was no danger, that there was only a short bad bit ahead, and that I should go up even if he carried me!" How does this ending shift the tone?

     Result: Most of the paragraph is Bird's terror ("To me it was a time of extreme terror"). The last sentence reports Jim's calm, stubborn cheerfulness, and the exclamation mark adds a touch of amused affection: she can laugh at it now, writing after the climb. Tracking both voices, her fear and his confidence, is part of understanding the paragraph.

   • Stop 5, Sum it up: the gist

     State the gist of the paragraph in one sentence.

     Result: Bird, who says she has no skill for climbing, is terrified and worn out by hours on dangerous rock, ice and loose stones, but Jim, with "a determination that I should ascend the Peak, which never failed," keeps her going. Test the gist: it covers the beginning (her lack of skill), the middle (the dangers of the climb) and the end (Jim's determination).

   Teacher tip. Say out loud when you decide to skip a word and keep going, and when you decide a word is worth stopping for. Students often believe that good readers understand every word the first time; showing that you reread, chunk and guess is the point of the demonstration.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Give pairs this context note and the bookmark with prompts: In 1834, Richard Henry Dana, a nineteen-year-old college student from Massachusetts, left school and signed on as an ordinary sailor on a ship bound for California. This passage comes from his voyage home in 1836, as his ship sailed around Cape Horn, at the stormy southern tip of South America, in the middle of the southern winter. Just before it begins, the ship's cook called the crew on deck to see "an immense, irregular mass" floating in the ocean. Only four words are given: astern (behind the ship), leeward (the side sheltered from the wind), lay-to (stayed in one place without sailing) and filled away (let the wind fill the sails and moved on). Pairs work out every other word from context and ask you only after they have tried. Circulate and hear from each pair at least once.

   1This was an iceberg, and of the largest size, as one of our men said who had been in the Northern ocean. As far as the eye could reach, the sea in every direction was of a deep blue color, the waves running high and fresh, and sparkling in the light, and in the midst lay this immense mountain-island, its cavities and valleys thrown into deep shade, and its points and pinnacles glittering in the sun.

   2All hands were soon on deck, looking at it, and admiring in various ways its beauty and grandeur. But no description can give any idea of the strangeness, splendor, and, really, the sublimity, of the sight.

   3Its great size;--for it must have been from two to three miles in circumference, and several hundred feet in height;--its slow motion, as its base rose and sank in the water, and its high points nodded against the clouds; the dashing of the waves upon it, which, breaking high with foam, lined its base with a white crust; and the thundering sound of the cracking of the mass, and the breaking and tumbling down of huge pieces; together with its nearness and approach, which added a slight element of fear,--all combined to give to it the character of true sublimity. The main body of the mass was, as I have said, of an indigo color, its base crusted with frozen foam; and as it grew thin and transparent toward the edges and top, its color shaded off from a deep blue to the whiteness of snow.

   4It seemed to be drifting slowly toward the north, so that we kept away and avoided it. It was in sight all the afternoon; and when we got to leeward of it, the wind died away, so that we lay-to quite near it for a greater part of the night. Unfortunately, there was no moon, but it was a clear night, and we could plainly mark the long, regular heaving of the stupendous mass, as its edges moved slowly against the stars. Several times in our watch loud cracks were heard, which sounded as though they must have run through the whole length of the iceberg, and several pieces fell down with a thundering crash, plunging heavily into the sea. Toward morning, a strong breeze sprang up, and we filled away, and left it astern, and at daylight it was out of sight. [...]

   1. Set up. What kind of text is this, and what does Dana want to share? Teacher note: it is a first-person sea journal, dated by day, written by a young man who had never seen an iceberg. Expect description of something new and amazing, told by an eyewitness.
   2. Chunk (paragraph 3). Where are the subject and verb of the long sentence that begins "Its great size"? Teacher note: use Diagram 2. Dana lists five things (size, motion, the waves, the sound, its nearness) and only then gives the subject and verb: "all combined to give to it the character of true sublimity."
   3. Word work. What does sublimity mean, and how does the passage show it? Teacher note: pairs usually connect it to the "beauty and grandeur" in paragraph 2 and to the "slight element of fear" in paragraph 3. Sublimity is grandeur so great it is almost frightening; Dana needs the fear as well as the beauty.
   4. Track the writer. Dana says "no description can give any idea" of the sight. What does he do next? Teacher note: he goes on to describe it in great detail anyway, from the "immense mountain-island" of paragraph 1 to the end of paragraph 3, where "its color shaded off from a deep blue to the whiteness of snow." Saying a sight is beyond words, and then trying, is a common move in travel writing.
   5. Sum it up. Have each pair write a one-sentence gist for each paragraph, then compare with another pair.

   Close with a quick check: which stop did your pair need most? Tell students that for the next source they will get a two-sentence context note and a bookmark with stop names only.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Each student reads Source 3 alone, with the stop-names bookmark and no glossary. Context note: In 1867 Mark Twain, then a young newspaper writer, sailed from New York on a pleasure trip to Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land with a group of American tourists, and turned his letters about it into a travel book. Here he visits the Great Sphinx, the huge stone lion with a human head that stands near the pyramids outside Cairo. Students put a sticky note at each place they got stuck, write the number of the stop they used there, and write a one-sentence gist for each paragraph. Collect the notes; they show who is ready to read without support. The quiz uses Sources 1-3, mostly Source 3.

   1After years of waiting, it was before me at last. The great face was so sad, so earnest, so longing, so patient. There was a dignity not of earth in its mien, and in its countenance a benignity such as never any thing human wore. It was stone, but it seemed sentient. If ever image of stone thought, it was thinking. It was looking toward the verge of the landscape, yet looking at nothing--nothing but distance and vacancy. It was looking over and beyond every thing of the present, and far into the past. It was gazing out over the ocean of Time--over lines of century-waves which, further and further receding, closed nearer and nearer together, and blended at last into one unbroken tide, away toward the horizon of remote antiquity. It was thinking of the wars of departed ages; of the empires it had seen created and destroyed; of the nations whose birth it had witnessed, whose progress it had watched, whose annihilation it had noted; of the joy and sorrow, the life and death, the grandeur and decay, of five thousand slow revolving years. It was the type of an attribute of man--of a faculty of his heart and brain. It was MEMORY--RETROSPECTION--wrought into visible, tangible form. All who know what pathos there is in memories of days that are accomplished and faces that have vanished--albeit only a trifling score of years gone by--will have some appreciation of the pathos that dwells in these grave eyes that look so steadfastly back upon the things they knew before History was born--before Tradition had being--things that were, and forms that moved, in a vague era which even Poetry and Romance scarce know of--and passed one by one away and left the stony dreamer solitary in the midst of a strange new age, and uncomprehended scenes.

   [...]

   2There are some things which, for the credit of America, should be left unsaid, perhaps; but these very things happen sometimes to be the very things which, for the real benefit of Americans, ought to have prominent notice. While we stood looking, a wart, or an excrescence of some kind, appeared on the jaw of the Sphynx. We heard the familiar clink of a hammer, and understood the case at once. One of our well meaning reptiles--I mean relic-hunters--had crawled up there and was trying to break a "specimen" from the face of this the most majestic creation the hand of man has wrought. But the great image contemplated the dead ages as calmly as ever, unconscious of the small insect that was fretting at its jaw. [...]

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) Name the stop you used most in Source 3 and the paragraph where you used it. (2) Rate how independent you felt, from 1 (I needed help all the time) to 4 (I could do it alone), and write one sentence explaining your rating.

   Teacher note on the sources. All four sources are printed exactly as published, with their old spellings and punctuation ("any thing," "every thing," "Sphynx," "kilometres," and the double hyphens used as dashes in the eBooks). Bird's letter shows attitudes of her time: one of the young men says "a woman was a dangerous encumbrance," and Bird reports it without arguing; students may want to discuss it. Elsewhere in the letter Bird gives the height of Long's Peak as "14,700 feet" and calls the summit "a height of nearly 15,000 feet"; it is 14,259 feet. Twain's "five thousand slow revolving years" is his estimate; Egyptologists usually date the Sphinx to about 4,500 years ago. Breaking pieces off ancient monuments is illegal today; in a part of the paragraph not printed here, Twain says it was already punishable in 1867. Amundsen's team of five reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911, about five weeks before the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott. The paragraph that follows Amundsen's passage describes killing a sled dog for food, a planned practice on such expeditions; it is not printed here, but students who read the whole book will find it.

   For homework: students read Source 4, printed below, on their own, with no bookmark and no glossary. Context: The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen led a race to be first to the South Pole, traveling with four companions on skis with sleds pulled by dogs.

   1At three in the afternoon a simultaneous "Halt!" rang out from the drivers. They had carefully examined their sledge-meters, and they all showed the full distance -- our Pole by reckoning. The goal was reached, the journey ended. I cannot say -- though I know it would sound much more effective -- that the object of my life was attained. That would be romancing rather too bare-facedly. I had better be honest and admit straight out that I have never known any man to be placed in such a diametrically opposite position to the goal of his desires as I was at that moment. The regions around the North Pole -- well, yes, the North Pole itself -- had attracted me from childhood, and here I was at the South Pole. Can anything more topsy-turvy be imagined?

   2We reckoned now that we were at the Pole. Of course, every one of us knew that we were not standing on the absolute spot; it would be an impossibility with the time and the instruments at our disposal to ascertain that exact spot. But we were so near it that the few miles which possibly separated us from it could not be of the slightest importance. It was our intention to make a circle round this camp, with a radius of twelve and a half miles (20 kilometres), and to be satisfied with that. [...] After this we proceeded to the greatest and most solemn act of the whole journey -- the planting of our flag. Pride and affection shone in the five pairs of eyes that gazed upon the flag, as it unfurled itself with a sharp crack, and waved over the Pole. I had determined that the act of planting it -- the historic event -- should be equally divided among us all. It was not for one man to do this; it was for all who had staked their lives in the struggle, and held together through thick and thin. This was the only way in which I could show my gratitude to my comrades in this desolate spot. I could see that they understood and accepted it in the spirit in which it was offered. Five weather-beaten, frost-bitten fists they were that grasped the pole, raised the waving flag in the air, and planted it as the first at the geographical South Pole. "Thus we plant thee, beloved flag, at the South Pole, and give to the plain on which it lies the name of King Haakon VII.'s Plateau." That moment will certainly be remembered by all of us who stood there.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which of these is an example of literary nonfiction?

   AA made-up adventure story about a talking dog who sails all the way around the world BA true account of a mountain climb, told by the climber with detail and feeling CA printed schedule of train times posted on the wall of a busy station DA poem about the ocean that uses rhyme and a regular beat

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A student reaches a sentence in Source 3 that runs for eight lines. According to the chunking stop, what should the student do first?

   ASkip the sentence, since long sentences in old books are usually not very important BLook up every word in the sentence before reading it again CFind the subject and the verb, then read the other parts as details attached to them DRead the sentence aloud faster, so that it feels shorter

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Source 1, why does the climbing party turn back and go down about 2,000 feet?

   ABird is too frightened to go on, so the whole party gives up the climb BA storm moves in, and the trapper decides it is too dangerous to stay high COne of the young men is injured by a falling rock and has to rest DJim finds that the usual route up is blocked by ice, so they go around it

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Bird writes that she would not have made it "had not 'Jim,' nolens volens, dragged me along" (Source 1). Using context, what does nolens volens most likely mean?

   AWhether she was willing or not BVery slowly and carefully CWithout speaking a single word DWith the help of the young men

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   One of the young men says "that a woman was a dangerous encumbrance," and "the trapper replied shortly that if it were not to take a lady up he would not go up at all" (Source 1). What does Jim's reply show?

   AHe agrees that Bird should go back down to the Notch and wait BHe thinks the climb is too easy to be worth making on its own CHis reason for making the climb is to get Bird to the top DHe is angry at Bird for slowing down the young men

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Source 2, paragraph 4, why does the ship stay close to the iceberg for most of the night?

   AThe captain wants the crew to study the iceberg and measure it BThe ship is trapped in ice around the base of the iceberg CThe crew cannot see the iceberg in the dark and sails toward it by mistake DThe wind dies once the ship is on the sheltered side, so it cannot sail on

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Dana writes that the iceberg was "of the largest size, as one of our men said who had been in the Northern ocean" (Source 2, paragraph 1). Why does Dana mention this sailor?

   ATo show that this sailor was the first person on board to see the iceberg BTo back up the size judgment with a man who had seen icebergs before CTo prove that the ship was sailing in the Northern ocean at the time DTo show that the crew disagreed about the iceberg's size

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In the opening of Source 3, how does Twain describe the Sphinx's face?

   ACruel and threatening, like a guard standing at a gate BBlank and empty, like any other old statue CCheerful and welcoming to tired travelers DSad, earnest and patient, as if it were thinking

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Twain writes that the Sphinx "seemed sentient" (Source 3, paragraph 1). Which nearby words best help a reader figure out what sentient means?

   A"It was stone, but ... If ever image of stone thought, it was thinking" B"so sad, so earnest, so longing, so patient" C"the verge of the landscape" D"five thousand slow revolving years"

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Twain says the Sphinx was "gazing out over the ocean of Time--over lines of century-waves which, further and further receding, closed nearer and nearer together" (Source 3, paragraph 1). What does this comparison suggest?

    AThat the Sphinx faces the sea and watches ships arrive BThat the Sphinx will be slowly worn away by water over many centuries CThat long-ago ages seem to blur together, like far-off waves DThat each century was shorter than the one before it

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Twain writes, "It was MEMORY--RETROSPECTION--wrought into visible, tangible form" (Source 3, paragraph 1). What is Twain saying here?

    AThe Sphinx was carved to help Egyptians remember their laws BThe Sphinx is like memory itself turned into something you can see and touch CTwain is having trouble remembering exactly what the Sphinx looked like up close DThe Sphinx has writing on it that records the past

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    How does Twain's tone change from paragraph 1 to paragraph 2 of Source 3?

    AFrom joking to sad, as he mourns the ancient Egyptians BIt does not change; both paragraphs are calm descriptions CFrom angry to calm, as he forgives the tourists DFrom awed and serious to mocking, as he makes fun of a tourist

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Twain calls the tourist "One of our well meaning reptiles--I mean relic-hunters" (Source 3, paragraph 2). Why does he pretend to correct himself?

    AHe really used the wrong word by accident and fixes it for the reader BHe wants to show that he likes the relic-hunters and meant no harm CHe is explaining a scientific name for a kind of lizard found in Egypt DHe insults the tourist while pretending the insult was a slip

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In paragraph 2, Twain describes the Sphinx as calm and "unconscious of the small insect that was fretting at its jaw" (Source 3). What contrast does this image create?

    ABetween a huge, ancient, patient statue and a tiny, foolish modern tourist BBetween the heat of the day and the cool of the evening CBetween the Egyptian guides and the American visitors DBetween the Sphinx's face and the pyramids behind it

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Twain begins paragraph 2 by saying that some things, "for the credit of America, should be left unsaid, perhaps." Why does he tell the story anyway?

    AHe wants to warn Egyptians about American visitors BHe thinks Americans should hear about behavior like this, even if it is embarrassing CHe was the one chipping at the Sphinx himself, and he wants to confess it to readers DHe wants to explain how a traveler can take a piece of the Sphinx home safely

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write a one-sentence gist of paragraph 1 of Source 3. Then explain which part of the paragraph was hardest for you to read and which of the five stops helped.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Twain writes, "All who know what pathos there is in memories of days that are accomplished and faces that have vanished--albeit only a trifling score of years gone by--will have some appreciation of the pathos that dwells in these grave eyes" (Source 3, paragraph 1). Explain in your own words how Twain connects ordinary people's memories to the Sphinx.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Bird writes, "As it is, I am only humiliated by my success" (Source 1). Why would she feel humiliated instead of proud? Use two details from the paragraph.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    In paragraph 4 of Source 2, what do the sailors see and hear during the night? Why does Dana mention that "there was no moon"?

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Compare how the reading felt with Source 1, when your teacher modeled the stops, and with Source 3, when you read alone. Name one stop you used on your own in Source 3, quote the words where you used it, and explain what it helped you understand.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RI.8.10: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.