February/March 2013STORYWORKS ACTIVITIES |  |
•This Month's Teacher's Edition
Click here. Note: This online version does NOT include the answer key. The answer key is on page T7 of the print version of your Teacher’s Edition and also on the answer-key website.
Answers to all online activities and quizzes are on our secret website. The URL to this website can be found on page T1 of the print version of your Teacher’s Edition.
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Jump directly to an article’s resources:
NONFICTION: From Slavery to Freedom
FICTION: They Might Be Dangerous
PLAY: Oz The Great and Powerful
DEBATE: Should a Tiger Be Your Pet?
PAIRED TEXTS: The Planet Hunters
WRITING RESCUE: A Haunted Ship?
GRAMMAR COP: Capitalization
VOCAB LAB
POETRY: A Croc Acrostic
SKILLS AND GRAPHIC-ORGANIZERS LIBRARY
Nonfiction
From Slavery to Freedom
Lexile Level 900L
Guided Reading Level Q
Listen to this article
Hear “From Slavery to Freedom” aloud! Perfect for your reluctant readers or a great class activity.
Lexile Level 625L
Click on the image to download a projectable PDF of this article.
Summary: Read all about the amazing story of Harriet Tubman, and learn how she led friends and strangers to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Featured Skills: analyzing character traits; analyzing text structures
Digital Lesson Plan
A multimedia step-by-step teaching kit that includes the article, activity sheets, and more.
For another version of this lesson, which also appears in your printed Teacher’s Edition, click here.
Video: Behind the Scenes: “Harriet Tubman”
Author Lauren Tarshis gives your students a behind the scenes look at her research, writing, and editing process.
Lower-Lexile Version
Use this lower-Lexile-level version of the article with younger or struggling readers.
ACTIVITY SHEETS
Students glean information about the article by analyzing the pictures, captions, headlines, subheads, and other text features.
A step-by-step activity sheet to guide students as they write a paragraph responding to a prompt about the article.
What character traits did Harriet Tubman show as she made her many journeys? Students will explore this topic in this activity.
Multiple-choice questions based on state tests. Need help with interactive PDFs? Visit our FAQ page.
A printable version of the quiz above. Includes short-answer questions as well.
Short-answer questions that touch on a range of skills. Note: These also appear in your printed Teacher’s Edition and can be used for discussion.
Students write a well-organized paragraph about the character traits underlying Harriet Tubman’s heroism. To learn more about our contests, click here.
Great Resources
The Underground Railroad: Escape From Slavery
This interactive feature from Scholastic allows viewers to explore the journey from slavery to freedom on the Underground Railroad through the eyes of Walter, a boy attempting to escape from a plantation in Kentucky.
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
This video discusses Harriet Tubman’s bravery as she performed one of the most heroic deeds in American history. Note: there is a commercial before the video. We suggest loading the video before class.
Fiction
They Might Be Dangerous
by Kate Messner
Lexile Level 720L
Guided Reading Level S
Click on the image to download a projectable PDF of this story.
Summary: What happens when Alia and Zak come across an alien ship that has fallen out of the sky? (Make sure students also read our article, “The Planet Hunters” on page 10. It connects perfectly with “They Might Be Dangerous”!) Featured Skills: making cross-genre connections; theme
Lesson Plan
Download a PDF of the lesson plan, which also appears in your printed Teacher’s Edition.
ACTIVITY SHEETS
Students will explore the connections between texts in the fiction and nonfiction genres.
Multiple-choice questions based on state tests. Need help with interactive PDFs? Visit our FAQ page.
A printable version of the quiz above. Includes short-answer questions as well.
Short-answer questions that touch on a range of skills. Note: These also appear in your printed Teacher’s Edition and can be used for discussion.
Do you believe that creatures exist on other planets? Why or why not? Students answer these questions in a paragraph, using three details from “The Planet Hunters” to support their ideas. To learn more about our contests, click here.
Great Resources
Hunt for Alien Earths
This video from PBS NOVA, narrated by Neil Degrasse Tyson, talks about astronomers’ search for habitable planets.
Play
Oz The Great and Powerful
Lexile Level 640L
Guided Reading Level S
Click on the image to download a projectable PDF of this play.
Summary: A con man named Oz finds himself stranded in a land full of people that need his help. Can he become their wizard? Featured Skills: identifying elements of plot; analyzing how a character changes
ACTIVITY SHEETS
This activity guides students to sequence and understand the plot of the play.
Students explore the development of the protagonist, Oz, throughout the play.
Multiple-choice questions based on state tests. Need help with interactive PDFs? Visit our FAQ page.
A printable version of the quiz above. Includes short-answer questions as well.
Short-answer questions that touch on a range of skills. Note: These also appear in your printed Teacher’s Edition and can be used for discussion.
Students write a well-organized paragraph about the climax of the play and what it reveals about the character Oz. To learn more about our contests, click here.
Great Resource
Oz The Great and Powerful
Learn more about the upcoming movie, Oz The Great and Powerful, at the official website.
Debate
Should a Tiger Be Your Pet?
Lexile Level 860L
Guided Reading Level S
Click on the image to download a PDF for your whiteboard.
Summary: Potentially dangerous pets are growing increasingly popular. Should we be allowed to own such exotic animals? Students will read arguments on both sides of this debate, then take a stand. Featured Skills: opinion writing; main idea/supporting details
ACTIVITY SHEETS
- Essay Kit: Step-by-Step Persuasive-Essay Template
Students support their opinions on this fun topic with details from the article.
- Bubble Test
Test-prep and critical-thinking questions.
Paired Texts
The Planet Hunters
Lexile Level 1010L
Guided Reading Level R
Click on the image to download a PDF for your whiteboard.
Summary: Our nonfiction article explores the possibility of alien life in the universe and how astronomers are looking for it. Pair the article with our fiction story, “They Might Be Dangerous,” for a great combination of genres. Featured Skills: identifying scientific ideas; acquiring domain-specific vocabulary
Lesson Plan
Download a PDF of this lesson plan, which also appears in your printed Teacher’s Edition.
ACTIVITY SHEETS
Students will practice using science vocabulary.
Multiple-choice questions based on state tests. Need help with interactive PDFs? Visit our FAQ page.
A printable version of the quiz above. Includes short-answer questions as well.
Short-answer questions that touch on a range of skills. Note: These also appear in your printed Teacher’s Edition and can be used for discussion.
Writing Rescue
A Haunted Ship?
Click on the image to download a PDF for your whiteboard.
Summary: Students correct grammar mistakes and revise sloppy writing in an article about the great maritime mystery of the Mary Celeste. Featured Skills: homophones; sentence fragments; spelling; verb tense
ACTIVITY SHEETS
Students identify and fix sentence fragments.
For more practice with homophones, spelling, and verb tense, check out our Bonus Grammar Cop Activities below!
Grammar Cop
Capitalization
Click on the image to download a projectable PDF of this activity.
Summary: Our Grammar Cop activities in each issue will help your students become grammar experts. Featured Skill: capitalization
Capitalization
Use this activity to reinforce our featured skill for this issue: capitalization.
BONUS GRAMMAR COP ACTIVITIES FROM OUR ARCHIVES
- Vocab Lab
Click on the image to download a projectable PDF of this activity.
Summary: In each issue, our Vocab Lab celebrates the weird, wild, and wonderful world of words. Check out our fun, vocabulary-boosting activities below. And maybe one of your students will be our next Word Nerd! Featured Skill: vocabulary
Storyworks Video: Word Nerd Slideshow
Check out our fun Word Nerd Slide Show, in which we revisit some of our favorite past Word Nerd adventures and give students great tips on deciphering unfamiliar vocabulary words!
Students can flex their vocab muscles! Use this activity to reinforce some of Word Nerd’s favorite (and most challenging) words from the current issue.
A fun way to practice using some of the vocabulary words from the current issue.
Find all the vocabulary words introduced in Storyworks so far this year, organized by issue.
Students send us their Word Nerd exclamations for a chance to become a Storyworks Real-Life Word Nerd in a future issue! To learn more about our contests, click here.
Can your students find a word that has three meanings? Have them send their suggestions to our contest! To learn more about our contests, click here.
- Poetry
A Croc Acrostic
By Avis Harley
Listen to this article
Hear “A Croc Acrostic” aloud! Perfect for your reluctant readers or a great class activity.
Click on the image to download a projectable PDF of this poem.
Summary: This whimsical acrostic poem will get your students thinking about word choice and poetic form. Featured Skills: analyzing word choice; identifying poetic devices
Lesson Plan
Download a PDF of the lesson plan, which also appears in your printed Teacher’s Edition.
ACTIVITY SHEETS
Students will practice writing their own acrostics by following this guide.
Multiple-choice questions based on state tests. Need help with interactive PDFs? Visit our FAQ page.
A printable version of the quiz above. Includes short-answer questions as well.
Short-answer questions that touch on a range of skills. Note: These also appear in your printed Teacher’s Edition and can be used for discussion.
Great Resources
Read Write Think: Acrostic Poem
This interactive feature from the International Reading Association will help students understand what an acrostic poem is and how to write one.
Meet the Poet: Avis Harley
Learn more about Avis Harley by reading this brief biography.
To download ALL activity sheets, click here.
To download ALL quizzes, click here.
Skills and Graphic-Organizer Library
Use these basic skills activities for just about any Storyworks feature
- Reading & Questioning
A chart for active reading - Nonfiction Reading & Thinking Elements
A three-page self-guided reading activity for a variety of reading skills and strategies - Fiction Reading & Thinking Elements
A three-page self-guided reading activity for a variety of reading skills and strategies - Summarizing
Identifying main ideas and synthesizing information to write a summary - Cause and Effect T-Chart
- Cause and Effect Chain
- Multiple Causes and Effects
- Cause and Effect: Tips for Students
- KWLH Chart
- Prediction Chart
- Problem/Solution Chart
- Plot Pyramid Chart
- Venn Diagram
- Word Study Boxes