Finding a Giant

Introduce the Story (5 minutes)  

Engage Students, Build Knowledge, and Preview Vocabulary

• Invite students to look at the image on page 15. Ask them to describe the illustration. Then ask: “What do you know about dinosaurs?” Tell them they’re going to read the exciting true story of how the largest dinosaur yet found on Earth was discovered.

• Show or assign the video “The Discovery of the Titanosaur” (available in your Resources tab) to engage students in the topic. 

• To help students build knowledge about dinosaurs before reading, show or assign our Background Builder Slideshow: In the Time of the Dinosaurs (available in your Resources tab).

• Show or assign the Vocabulary Slideshow (available in your Resources tab) to preview challenging words in the play. Reinforce learning before or after reading with the Vocabulary Skill Builder (available in your Resources tab). Highlighted words: fossil, paleontologist, shepherd, minerals, astonished, bustling, eagerly, calculations, species

• Call on a volunteer to read aloud the Up Close box for the class.

• Assign parts and read the play aloud as a class or in groups. You can also listen to an Editor Read-Aloud of the play (available in your Resources tab)!

• After reading, discuss the close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions

• Based on Scene 1, what is a fossil? Where can fossils be found? (building knowledge) A fossil is the remains of an animal that lived in the past. It can look like a small rocky object. Fossils can be found outdoors; for example, on a beach. 

• In Scene 2, what are Olivia and Diego doing? What do you learn about Diego in this scene? (character) In Scene 2, Olivia and Diego are visiting the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. There, they marvel at all the fossils, like the skeleton of a T. rex. In this scene, we learn that 25-year-old Diego is studying to become a paleontologist. He hopes to make a big discovery that will end up in a famous museum like the American Museum of Natural History, but he wonders if that will ever happen.   

• Reread the sidebar “How a Fossil Forms.”  How do bones turn into fossils? (building knowledge) After being buried in sand, rock, and mud, bones turn into fossils over time, when minerals from water and dirt fill the bones. That helps preserve them. Eventually, the water dries up and some of the dirt washes away, leaving a fossil.

• In Scene 3, what do you learn about what it’s like to be a paleontologist? How can you tell? (key idea) In Scene 3, we learn that paleontologists work both in the field, looking for fossils, and in the lab, analyzing fossils. Being a paleontologist can be frustrating, because it takes time—and luck!—to discover fossils. But the work is also exciting. We learn these details from what Diego and José are doing and saying in the scene. Diego is frustrated because a “dinosaur egg” that had been found turned out to be just a rock. But he perks up with excitement when Oscar Mayo tells him and José that there’s a big dinosaur bone at his ranch.

• What happens in Scene 4? Why is Diego “so astonished he can barely speak”? (plot) In Scene 4, Aurelio shows Diego and José what he has found at Oscar’s ranch. Diego and José realize it is indeed a dinosaur bone, and it looks huge. Diego is astonished because he just realized this could be the big discovery he’s been waiting for his whole life.

• Look at the photos on pages 17, 18, and 19 and reread the captions. What do paleontologists do in the field? What do they do in the lab? (text features) In the field, paleontologists dig fossils out of the rock using different tools, like pickaxes and brushes. They also wrap the fossils up in a cast to transport them safely to the lab. In the lab, paleontologists clean off and study the fossils. They also scan the fossils so that 3-D copies can be made for display in museums.

• How does Diego feel in Scene 5? How do you know? (inference) In Scene 5, Diego is nervous and excited by the discovery of an arm bone, which will allow him to measure how big the titanosaur was. We know this because he “nods eagerly” when Elena is done digging and “his hands shake” when he’s measuring the bone. After he finds out the team just uncovered the biggest dinosaur ever found, Diego is happy. We know this because he “can’t stop smiling.”

• In Scene 6, why does Isabel get worried? What does Diego tell her to make her feel better? (key ideas) Isabel gets worried because she’s afraid that there are no dinosaur fossils left to find and that the biggest dinosaur has already been found. Diego tells her that there must be even bigger dinosaurs out there for her to discover.

Critical-Thinking Question

• How does Isabel in the final scene of the play compare with young Diego in Scenes 1 and 2? (compare and contrast) Like young Diego, Isabel is fascinated by fossils and wants to become a paleontologist when she grows up. She shares her passion and knowledge with her family, just like Diego did with his friend Olivia. But she’s also worried that she might not make any big discoveries. That’s similar to how Diego felt in Scene 2, when he was visiting the American Museum of Natural History and wondering whether he’d ever discover something big enough to end up in that museum.

• Would you like to be a paleontologist when you grow up? Why or why not? Answer using details from the play and the captions. (synthesizing) Answers will vary.

Featured Skill: Building Knowledge

• Assign the Fact Finder Skill Builder (available in your Resources tab) and have students complete it independently or together with a partner. This Skill Builder will get students ready to respond to the writing prompt on page 19.

• With parents’ or guardians’ permission, send us your students’ letters to Diego Pol at [email protected]. We will gladly forward them to Diego and let you know if he replies!

• Send your students on a research journey into the world of dinosaurs with our interactive Research Kit (available in your Resources tab). The kit offers different research paths that students can take independently or in a group. Students will have options at the end of their research project for how to show the class what they’ve learned about dinosaurs!