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F I C T IO N 35

A MAN OF HIS OWN

D e t a i l s a re small pieces of information that support, or back up, the main idea. The author of thiss t o ry uses important details as he describes the dog. In this exercise you will answer several ques-tions about the type of man the dog desires and about the dog’s early encounters with his man.

Directions: Complete the following sentences by choosing the best response.

1. The dog in this story would like to own

a boy.

a girl.

an older man.

an older woman.

2. The dog wants “a man” who will

hunt with him.

protect him.

travel with him.

play with him.

3. During the first encounter with his man, the dog makes a mistake when he

sits down.

barks.

points.

runs.

4. During their second encounter, the dog catches the boy’s attention by

barking loudly.

chasing a bird away.

taking a hunting position.

sitting down.

I N F OR M AT IO N 65

Readers take different approaches to informational pieces. You might

• read what you enjoy or what interests you, whether it’s The Guinness Book of WorldRecords or real-life adventures

• read what you need—to fulfill an assignment—to complete a task—to answer your question(s)

Your reason for reading will shape the questions you ask as you read. Here are one reader’squestions about the passage below. What other questions might you ask?

Question: The ruins of an old house. A ghostlynun from centuries past. A spectral horse-drawncoach. The buried skeleton of a murderedwoman. Mysterious writing on the walls of ahouse. Are these parts of a frightening horrormovie or a story told to send chills up and downlisteners’ spines on a Halloween night?

Neither, according to the residents of BorleyRectory, a minister’s house near Essex, England.They believed that the mysterious events thattook place at the house from the 1860s until itburned in 1939 proved Borley Rectory washaunted. For years, Borley was widely known as“the most famous haunted house in England.”

Many people believe that houses like Borleycan be haunted by the ghosts of those who livedthere—and maybe died there. Others believethat the stories of hauntings are hoaxes and thatthe people who believe them have overactiveimaginations. What kind of evidence would provethat a house is haunted—or not?

Passage Think-Along

Sounds spooky. What do all ofthese weird things have in common?

So this is about a real house. Butwhy isn’t Borley Rectory still “themost famous haunted house inEngland”?

So there’s evidence for andagainst ghosts at Borley Rectory.I wonder what really happenedthere.

How much are animals like humans? Scientists are still trying to find out. For example, tearshave been seen in elephants’ eyes. Are the animals sad, or do they simply have dust in their eyes?Most scientists believe that we don’t have enough evidence to know whether elephants weep.But many are convinced that animals are more like humans than we once believed.

Directions: Record your opinion about how much animals are like humans on the scales below.

1. Some animals, such as dogs, have the ability to feel emotions that are

2. Some animals, such as chimpanzees, have an ability to use tools that is

3. Some animals, such as dolphins, have an ability to communicate that is

CLOSER THAN WE THOUGHT


1 2 3 4 5

Not at all likehuman emotions

Somewhat likehuman emotions

Just like humanemotions

1 2 3 4 5

Not at all likehuman ability

Somewhat likehuman ability

Just like humanability

1 2 3 4 5

Not at all likehuman ability

Somewhat likehuman ability

Just like humanability

Jean Craighead George wrote a novel about ayoung girl who survives alone on the Arctic tun-dra by learning to “talk wolf.” While doingresearch for Julie of the Wolves, the author her-self learned wolf talk.She also talked tomany animal behaviorexperts. In this selec-tion, she recalls a bar-beque at which expertsdiscussed how animalsuse tools.

When I was incollege the

word was that the dif-ference between manand beast was our abil-ity to make and usetools. We throw stones,spear food on forks,and carry things in jarsand baskets. Theseachievements, expertsbelieved then, wereunique to Homo sapi -ens, and textbooks referred to our species as thetool user. That was the late 1930s and early1940s.

I was certainly not going to mention this long-disproved notion to the [experts at the bar-beque,] some of whom had just heard the latestin nonhuman tool use from chimpanzee watcherJane Goodall. While traveling in Serengeti

National Park in northern Tanzania, she and herhusband, Hugo van Lawick, brought their car toa sudden halt in an open savanna where twoEgyptian vultures—white birds with golden

cheeks and about thesize of ravens—werestanding before anostrich egg. One of thebirds had a stone in itsbeak. It threw back itshead, flipped its neckforward, and hurledthe stone. It struck thehuge thick-shelled eggwith a thud. The vul-ture walked up to theegg, saw that it hadnot broken, and, doingsome obvious think-ing, picked up thestone for another try.The next pitch missedthe egg entirely, butwith the third effortthe shell cracked, andit took only a few

more hurls to open it.Sea otters also use stones as hammers. They

collect large hard-shelled abalones in their teethduring dives to the sea bottom, then each picksup a stone with its forepaws. Surfacing, theotters roll onto their backs, place the abaloneson their bellies, and clasping a stone in bothfront feet, smash the shells open.

One of the Galápagos Islands finches uses a

from How to Talk to Your Animalsby Jean Craighead George


102 I N F OR M AT IO N

Reason to read: Find out what changed the author’s mind about whether animals use tools.As you read: Decide whether the author provides convincing evidence that animals use tools.

cactus spine or a sharp twig as a fork. First, ittests the tool’s strength by pressing it against alimb. If it breaks, it seeks a stronger one. Thenthe bird transfers it to a foot while it uses itsbeak to drill into the wood of a decaying tree.When an insect is found, the finch takes thespine in its beak again and guides it into thehole. With precision it spears the insect andpulls it out. Shifting the spine to its foot, thebird then eats its meal from the pick.

Jane Goodall was the first to re p o rt that at leastsome animals—the chimpanzees she was observ-ing at Bombe Game Pre s e rve—make the toolsthey use. To get drinking water trapped in tre ecavities, chimpanzees crumple leaves to make asponge. They “fish” for termites with a pro b ethey fashion by carefully stripping the leavesf rom a slender branch. The probe is stuck intothe termite corr i d o r. Considering themselvesinvaded, the termites grab the foreign intruder intheir jaws and hang on while the chimp pullsthem out and eats them like shish kebab.

Impressive as these technologies are, it couldbe argued that they are instinctive, programmedbehavior not comparable to the thoughtful wayeven a toddler might use a stone one time tocrush a peanut, another time to scratch a table,and still another to bang against a pot. That’swhat I had thought, until Crowbar, our pet crow,taught me a lesson.

Crowbar, who enjoyed playing with my chil-dren, was in the sandbox with them one morn-ing. Presently my daughter came running to tellme she did not want to play with Crowbar anymore because he did not play fair. He took allthe toys and hoarded them in the crotches ofthe apple tree. I suggested that she slide downthe slide.

“Crows can’t slide,” I explained of my plot to foil the bird. “The bottoms of their feet arehorny to keep them from slipping off tree limbs.

Crowbar will stickat the top.”

Fifteen minuteslater I looked outto see my daughterand son slidingdown the slide andC rowbar at thetop—stuck. He wasf o rced to hopdown. I felt smugabout having out-witted a cro w.

A moment later,Crowbar was back in the sandbox. There hepicked up a plastic coffee-can lid, flew with it tothe top of the slide, put it down, stepped in it,and—zoom.

The young woman sitting next to me at thebarbeque…remembered the macaques at theMonkey Research Center, Takasakiyama, Japan.For years the monkeys had accepted wheat, soy-beans, and sweet potatoes tossed on the groundto supplement the foods they could forage forthemselves. These treats, though eagerly sought,were unpleasantly gritty.

In a moment of thoughtful inspiration, ayoung female monkey scooped up a handful offood and ran to the stream. Seating herselfbeside a pool, she dumped her sandy ration intothe water. The dirt sank to the bottom, the foodfloated to the surface, and she scooped up theclean morsels and ate them grit-free.

Her mother and siblings observed, under-stood what she was doing, and learned to washgrain too.

U l t i m a t e l y, the food-washing invention wastaken up by the younger set. Conservative eldersnever did go for the new fad, but by the followinggeneration, most had adopted food washing. Ithad become a tradition.




Skilled readers can often find the meaning of unfamiliar words by studying the way these wordsare used. This is called using context clues. Among the types of context clues are

• definition. The writer uses a word and then gives its meaning.• comparison/contrast. The word is contrasted to a word with the opposite meaning.• examples. Details or examples show the word’s meaning.

Directions: Complete the chart below by writing a definition of each bold-faced words in thesecond column. In the last column, identify the type of context clue you used.

Word(s) in Context Definition Type(s) of Context Clues


1. “These achievements, expertsbelieved then, were unique to Homosapiens, and textbooks referred toour species as the tool user.”

Homo sapiens means

5. “For years the monkeys had acceptedwheat, soybeans, and sweet potatoestossed on the ground to supplementthe foods they could forage for them-selves.”

4. “Impressive as these technologies are,it could be argued that they areinstinctive, programmed behaviornot comparable to the thoughtful wayeven a toddler might use a stone…”

3. “With precision [the finch] spears theinsect and pulls it out. Shifting thespine to its foot, the bird then eats itsmeal from the pick.”

2. “[T]wo Egyptian vultures—whitebirds with golden cheeks and aboutthe size of ravens—were standingbefore an ostrich egg.”

Egyptian vultures are

forage means

instinctive means

pick means


Many of Jean Craighead George’s writings are based on her observations of animals. In thisselection, she describes several observations that changed her opinion about how animals usetools. How do these examples affect your ideas about animals and tools?

Directions: Use details from the selection to complete the organizer below. First, list four exam-ples of behavior that could be considered instinctive. Then list two examples of behavior that theauthor thinks is intelligent. Finally, write your opinion about whether animals use tools intelli-gently in the Conclusion box.


EXAMPLES of behaviorthat the author considersintelligent

MAIN IDEA Animals have been observed using tools.

EXAMPLES of behaviorthat could be consideredprogrammed or instinctive

1. An Egyptian vulture used a stone to

CONCLUSION

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF ELEVATORS

This article creates a picture of elevators in words. But words aren’t always enough to create anaccurate picture. For example, the author says that elevator guiderails are “anchored to the sidesof the shaft.” Are the guiderails in the corner, in the middle, or someplace else? To make spatialrelationships clear, technical writers often use illustrations.

Directions: Skillful readers use both words and pictures to understand a technical description.Use information from the article and the illustration on page 106 to answer the questions below.

1. The motor in the machine room is located ________________ the cab.

above beside

below inside

2. The ________________ moves on guiderails behind the cab.

buffer traveling cable

hoist cable counterweight

3. The governor cable loop is connected to a________________ in the machine room.

hoist cable speed sensor

guiderail counterweight

4. The buffer is located on the _____________of the shaft.

roof floor

side outside

5. The buffer is a safety device that________________ a falling cab.

grips releases

cushions reroutes


I N T R OD U C T IO N 5

The Making Sense series provides thetools you need to teach reading as a think-ing process. The chart on pages 60–61 liststhe skills and strategies covered in thisbook. Some, like identifying author’s pur-pose, apply to any reading selection. Others,like understanding technical terms, aremore suited to a particular genre.

The 20 selections in the Making SenseB l u e student book are arranged according tog e n re. However, they need not be taught inany particular ord e r. You may wish to chooseselections according to the skills your stu-dents need to practice.

You can also choose selections accordingto reading level. Each volume in theMaking Sense series spans at least three

grade levels. Approximate reading levels ofpieces in the Red book range from 4 to 7,with interest levels of 6+. Green reading levels range from 3 to 8, with interest levelsof 7+. Blue reading levels extend from 3 to 9,with interest levels of 8+.N o t e : A p p roximate reading levels are sugges-tions only. Reading levels are averages of ane n t i re selection based on the length of word s ,sentences, and paragraphs. There f o re, re a d-ing levels may vary from page to page.

Researchers have found that effective,complete skill and strategy instructionincludes the following characteristics.

Application in Making Sense

• Italicized definitions are provided in student book directions.• Introductions to each section of the teacher’s guide provide

more detailed explanations of genre-specific strategies.

• A Think-Along at the beginning of the student book modelsthe metacognitive skills used in active reading.

• Activities are designed to lead students through the thinkingprocess involved in using the skill or strategy.

• Hints support students as they practice the skill or strategy.• If appropriate, suggestions for modeling the activity are given

in the teacher’s guide material for each selection.

• Suggestions for helping students apply the strategy are foundin the bulleted teaching suggestions and Extended Activitiesin this teacher’s guide.

• Think-Alongs and reflective questions encourage students toverbalize their application of a skill or strategy.

• The first activity after a selection can usually be used as aquick comprehension check.

• Reading inventories after each section help students monitortheir progress.

Characteristic ofInstruction

explains the skill orstrategy

models its use

encourages application

provides a self-check

MAKING SENSE OUT OF READING

• Skill activities: The three activitiesthat follow each selection in the studentbook may be graded as daily work.Suggested responses are provided inthis guide. You’ll also find open-endedteaching suggestions (identified with a❐) and numbered Extended Activitiesthat can be used for guided and inde-pendent practice. Many of these activi-ties can be used in collaboration withcontent area teachers.

• Skills across the curriculum: T h ebest measure of pro g ress for inform a-tion reading is students’ ability to applyreading skills across the curr i c u l u m .You may wish to arrange collaborativeassignments or teaching with contenta rea teachers.

• Reading self-check: A Reading Self-Check has been provided at the end ofeach section of the student book. Theseinventories appear at the beginning ofeach section in the teacher’s guide. Yo umight want to administer the inventoryas a pretest when students begin eachsection. You can also ask students tocomplete the self-check as they com-plete a section. This inventory helpsstudents self-monitor their readingprocess. Encourage students to re v i e wtheir self-checks to see how they havep ro g ressed in their ability to applyreading skills and strategies.

After students leave school, they will re a dvaried materials on the job. Mickulecky andStrange (1986) re p o rt that workers averagetwo hours a day of reading directions, manu-als, forms, and computer printouts.Managers and professionals also read toapply knowledge, but they spend an equalamount of time processing new inform a t i o n .

The reading level of materials in the work-place ranges from ninth-grade to collegelevel. Reading materials for food-serviceworkers have an average readability of 9.2.Radio and TV repair manuals have an aver-age readability of 14.0.

You can prepare your students for theworkplace by encouraging them to thinkabout how they learn from text. As studentsread, help them develop metacognitiveskills by talking about

• judgments students make about howwell they are able to re a d

• p roblems they are having as they re a d• what they can do about those pro b l e m s• how they can remember what they re a dYou might also invite local business-

people, trainers, or human resource man-agers to talk about how reading contributesto success at their companies.

Abromitis, Barbara. The Role ofMetacognition in ReadingComprehension: Implications forInstruction. Literacy Research ReportNo. 19. ERIC Clearinghouse onAssessment and Evaluation, 1994.

Beck, Isabel, and others. Questioning theAuthor: An Approach for EnhancingStudent Engagement with Text. IRA, 1997.

Garner, Ruth. Metacognition and ReadingComprehension. Ablex PublishingCorporation, 1987.

Klein, Marvin L. Teaching ReadingComprehension and Vocabulary: AGuide for Teachers. Prentice Hall, 1988.

Singer, Harry, and Dan Donlan. Readingand Learning from Text. 2nd ed.Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989.

6 I N T R OD U C T IO N


❐ You might remind students that thebest way to read informational materialdepends on the reader’s purpose.Readers of almanacs and computermanuals often look for the informationthey need and read only that informa-tion. Readers of true-life adventures,such as the discovery of the SouthPole, are more likely to read frombeginning to end. A collection of shortbiographies can be read in part orfrom beginning to end. Someonedoing a report might read only onebiography; someone reading for pleasure might read all or most of the biographies.

❐ Setting a purpose for reading is oneimportant skill when reading informa-tional materials. Each piece in thissection has a defined purpose forreading. You might reinforce this skill by encouraging students to setpurposes for reading with other nonfiction material you assign.

❐ Synthesizing information is anotheri m p o rtant skill. When students dore p o rts, they need to combine materialfrom several reliable sources of infor-mation. You might work with teachersin other content areas to help studentsidentify sources and take notes. Youcan also model how students mightuse the skills and strategies in this section to read their content area textbooks.

❐ Students also need to judge the credi-bility of the nonfiction materials theyread. As students read these selec-tions, you might have them compile a

list of signs that a source is reliable orunreliable. For example, a book thatgives credit to the books the authorconsulted is probably reliable. An arti-cle that appears in a magazine featur-ing alien abductions and interviewswith the Loch Ness Monster may betrue—but the magazine editorshaven’t set a very high standard ofcredibility.

(student page 65)

This page introduces students to reasonsthey might read informational material andquestions they might ask as they read.

The Think-Along chart could be readaloud, with one student reading the left-hand column and another student voicingthe reader’s thoughts. (The selection shownin the Think-Along chart begins on studentpage 66.)

Here are more of the questions skilledreaders ask as they read informationalpieces.

• Why did the author write this? • Why am I reading it?• What do I want to know?

—Are there details that I need toremember?—Does it answer any importantquestions—questions I have or thatmy teacher will have on a test?

• Can I trust this author?—Is this true?—Is it believable?—Does it contradict something Ialready know?

❐ Writing about science often uses techni-cal terms. Remind students that manytimes they do not need to look up themeaning of every word they do notk n o w. However, one definition of t e c h-nical term is a term that must be knownb e f o re material can be understood.Students should be encouraged to learnthe definitions of unfamiliar scientificw o rds they read. You might show themhow to use the glossary or definitions incontext in their science textbooks.

❐ Remind students that scientific knowl-edge changes rapidly. Sources they usefor scientific re p o rts should be curre n t .

❐ Students who like to read nonfictionfor pleasure might enjoy scientificauthors like Lewis Thomas andStephen Jay Gould. You might alsopoint out the amount of scientificinformation found in books by fictionwriters such as Michael Crichton andTom Clancy.

CLOSER THAN WE

THOUGHT

by Jean Craighead Reading Level: 7.0George

Student Pages 102–103

(student page 101)

Directions: Students are asked to recordtheir opinions about how much animals arelike humans in three key areas: animals’ability to feel emotions, to use tools, and tocommunicate.

Answers: Answers will vary. Encourage stu-dents to provide reasons for their opinions.

❐ Ask students why people tend to thinkof animals as unintelligent. Some stu-dents will say it’s because animalscan’t do what people can do. Followthis up by posing this situation: imag-ine animals evaluating human intelli-gence on the basis of what animalscan do. Have students list animal abil-ities such as flying, running fast, hav-ing keen eyesight, swimming, etc. thatthe animal world would probably holdin high regard. How many of theseabilities do people possess at the levelof animals? Consequently, would ani-mals judge people as “smart” or“dumb”?

❐ Before students read the selection,you might remind them that the issueof animal intelligence is controversial;many people hold strong opinionsabout the topic, but most scientists donot believe that there is enough reli-able evidence to provide definitiveanswers. So just having an opinion isnot enough; students need solid evi-dence to convince others that theirposition is correct.


Reason to read: Find out what changedthe author’s mind about whether animalsuse tools.

As you read: Decide whether the authorprovides convincing evidence that animalsuse tools.

❐ After students have read the selection,remind them that scientists’ opinionsabout animal behavior are based onobservations. Ask students to discusstheir own observations about animalintelligence. For example, how smartis their family pet? Have they everseen an animal do something thatseemed to require thought?

❐ Ask students to identify a possiblealternative title for the article. Onepossibility is “Are Animals Tool Users,Too?” Titles like “Crowbar GoesSliding” are too narrow; “Tools” is toobroad; “How Scientists ObserveAnimals” is off the main topic.

(student page 104)

Directions: Students are asked to deter-mine the meaning of a bold-faced word orphrase and then identify the type(s) of con-text clues they used.

Answers: Answers may vary. Accept anyanswers that students can support.

CLOSER THAN WE THOUGHT continued

1. “These achieve-ments, expertsbelieved then, wereunique to Homosapiens, and text-books referred toour species as thetool user.”

Homo sapiensmeans humanbeings (Homois the genus ofprimate mam -mals, includinghumans.)

5. “For years the mon-keys had acceptedwheat, soybeans,and sweet potatoestossed on theground to supple-ment the foods theycould forage forthemselves.”

4. “Impressive as thesetechnologies are, itcould be argued thatthey are instinctive,programmed behav-ior not comparableto the thoughtfulway even a toddlermight use a stone…”

3 . “ With precision [thefinch] spears theinsect and pulls itout. Shifting thespine to its foot, theb i rd then eats itsmeal from the p i c k . ”

2. “[T]wo Egyptianvultures—whitebirds with goldencheeks and aboutthe size of ravens—were standingbefore an ostrichegg.”

Egyptian vul-tures are birds;students wholook them upwill find theirscientific name,Neophron per-cnopterus

forage means“gather food”

instinctivemeans “pro -grammedbehavior” or acomplexresponse to theenvironmentthat takes placewithout con -scious thought

pick means “atool used tostab and hold,”such as a cac -tus spine

Word(s) in Context Definition Type(s) of ContextClues

definition, comparison/contrast, orexamples; “ourspecies” is con-trasted to othersand anotherterm, tool user,is provided

definition; theauthor providesa description ofthe birds

examples; theauthor describeshow the pick isused

definition, com-parison/con-trast, or exam-ples; the authoruses a synonymfor instinctiveand contrasts itto an example ofthoughtfulbehavior

comparison/con-trast, or exam-ples; the authorcontrasts foodprovided for themonkeys withfood that theyforaged “forthemselves”




❐ Ask students to identify any of theadditional clues they used to helpchoose a definition.

❐ Remind students that it can be diffi-cult to define technical terms likeHomo sapiens from context. A techni-cal term is a term that readers mustknow if they are going to understand apassage. Encourage students to lookup all new technical terms. For exam-ple, if students looked up Homo sapi-ens they would find that Homo refersto the genus of primate mammals,including humans. (A genus is agrouping of like plants or animals; itranks below a family and above aspecies. Scientific names begin withthe genus, which is written with a cap-ital letter, followed by the species.) Ifstudents looked up vultures theywould find that the scientific name ofthe Egyptian vulture is Neophron per-cnopterus and that these carrioneaters belong to the familyAccipitridae (Old World vultures).Egyptian vultures are usually about 25inches long. Their heads are nakedand yellow; their bodies have whitefeathers; their wings are black.

❐ You might ask your librarian or mediaspecialist to provide examples of spe-cialized dictionaries, such as dictionar-ies of medical or computer terms.

❐ Ask students to compare the definitionof Egyptian vultures in the article toWe b s t e r’s more technical definition,such as “any of various large raptorialb i rds (families Accipitridae andC a t h a rtidae) that are related to thehawks, eagles, and falcons but haveweaker claws and (usually) a nakedhead and subsist chiefly or entirely onc a rrion.” Discuss when writers shoulduse a general definition and when theyshould give a more technical definition.

(student page 105)

Directions: Students are asked to com-plete an organizer that shows how theauthor’s examples relate to her main idea.They are then asked to state their ownopinion about how animals use tools.

Answers: Conclusions will vary. Studentsshould be able to justify their opinions.Possible examples are provided below.

1. An Egyptian vulture used a stone tocrack open an ostrich egg.

2. Otters use a stone as a hammer toopen abalones.

3. Finches use a cactus spine or twig as afork or spear.

4. Chimpanzees “fish” for termites withleaves or twigs.

5. Crowbar finds a way to slide by usinga plastic coffee-can lid.

6. Macaque monkeys learn to wash theirfood.

❐ Suggest that students rank order theirevidence, from strongest to weakest.Then discuss the criteria studentsused to make their decisions.Compare students’ criteria with thosea scientist might use. (A scientistmight insist that observations shouldbe objective; other scientists should beable to make the same observations;and conclusions drawn from theobservations should provide the bestpossible explanation of the facts.)

1. Suggest that students make their ownobservations of animals. Ask them towrite down the behavior of any crea-tures in their yard or neighborhood.Examples: birds calling to one another;squirrels chasing each other; cats



stalking birds; chipmunks digging for food.After students describe the observedbehavior in a few sentences, tell themto conclude what the animal’s goalwas, and summarize how it went aboutachieving that goal.

2. With the help of a scientist or scienceteacher, students might develop andadminister their own tests of animalintelligence.

3 . Students might enjoy making a chartthat ranks animals according to theirrelative intelligence. They might consultbooks that contain various statisticalc h a rts or ask a librarian for assistance.

4 . Scientists are continually making newdiscoveries about animal intelligence.Suggest that students re s e a rch the latestdiscoveries about animals. They mightcheck the archives of PBS nature pro-grams at h t t p : / / w w w. p b s . o rg or look upkey terms such as monkeys, chim-panzees, and animal communication.

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF

ELEVATORS

by Charles J. Shields Reading Level: 8.1Student Pages 106–107

Students will probably find this articlemore interesting if you help them appreci-ate the many things involved in making ele-vators work safely and efficiently.

❐ Ask students if they’ve ever been in alarge building with many elevators.What did they notice about the waythe elevators moved? Did some eleva-tors go only to certain floors? Howlong did they have to wait for an

elevator? Were there enough elevatorsto handle all the traffic?

❐ Tell students that engineers are alwayslooking for ways to make elevators lessexpensive and more efficient. Forexample, some buildings have comput-ers that control elevator movement toreduce waiting time. To reduce theamount of space elevators take up,Mitsubishi engineers have proposedan elevator that travels around sky-scrapers instead of up and down.

❐ Explore some of the factors that mustbe considered in elevator design.—Elevators move at about 350

feet/minute. A mile is 5,280 feet.How long would it take an elevatorto go a mile? (To find the numberof minutes it takes an elevator to goa mile, you can set up this ratio. 350feet/1 minute : 5,280 feet/x. x=15.08minutes, or 1 mile/15 minutes. Toconvert miles per minute to milesper hour, divide 60 by 15. Theanswer: elevators travel about 4miles per hour.)

—Ask students to speculate aboutwhether elevators could move fasterif all of the air could be removedfrom an elevator shaft (but not thecab). You might perform thisdemonstration. Place a piece ofnotebook paper along the edge ofyour desk. Slip a pencil halfwayunderneath, so the eraser end is outover the floor. Hold the pointed endof the pencil and hit the eraser endwith your fist. Then ask studentswhy the sheet of paper didn’t fly up.

—Discuss what might happen if eleva-tors moved at speeds of 40 or 50miles an hour. You may want toremind students of what happens topassengers in a car when the driverslams on the brakes.

60 S K I L L S C H A R T

Inferring

Interpreting a Title

Revenge

Building anInterpretation

Decision Points

SupportingInferences

Making Inferences

London in His OwnWords

Looking for Clues

Questions andAnswers

Selections

I Was a Teenage Cat (story)

As It Is with Strangers (story)

A Man of His Own (story)

Liu Ye and the Dragon King(myth)

Anansi and the Turtle (folktale)

The Secret in the Cat (poem)

Barter (poem)

Forgive My Guilt (poem)

The Haunting of Borley Rectory(article)

Growing Old and Going Ape(article)

Plane Crash! (article)

Samuel Delany (biography)

Dolores Huerta: Dragon Lady(biography)

The Waves at Waikiki (autobiography)

Closer Than We Thought (science)

The Ups and Downs ofElevators (technology)

An Eye on the Weather (science)

The Lost City of Ubar (socialstudies)

Squadrons of the Air (social studies)

Little Laborers of New YorkCity (social studies)

Level

2.4

3.6

4.0

3.9

4.6

8.0

8.0

8.0

7.1

8.2

4.5

6.9

6.3

6.0

7.0

8.1

8.2

7.7

7.9

8.8

Prereading/Think-Along

Prereading: What Is aStranger?

Prereading: A Dog’s View

Think-Along

Prereading: Attitude Survey

Think-Along

Think-Along

Prereading: Setting aPurpose for Reading

Think-Along

Prereading: What’s theRight Thing to Do?

Prereading: Riding the Big Ones

Prereading: Are AnimalsIntelligent?

Prereading: Words inContext

Prereading: MatchingMeaning to Context

Vocabular y

Local Color Words

Words for Good andBad Behavior

Customer Appeal

UnderstandingTechnical Terms

Words in Context

Words in Context

Trivial Pursuit orTechnical Description?

A Glossary ofTechnical Terms

READING SELECTIONS AND

SKILL-BASED EXERCISES

S K I L L S C H A R T 61

Identifying Details

The Details of TradingPlaces

Important Details

Details About Dragons

Sensory Details

Reading for Details

Argument by Example

RememberingTechnical Details

Creating Callouts

Relating Details to theMain Idea

Critical Thinking

Analogies

Attitude Survey Part II

Tracking Down theTruth; Persuasion

Reading a WeatherMap

SynthesizingInformation

Labeling Graphs

Summarizing

Contrasting Views

Actions andConsequences

Identifying theMain Idea

Summing It Up

Responding toChallenges

Sequencing

Reading anIllustration

Taking Down theEssentials

AnalyzingSubheads

Literary Skills/Poetic Devices

Sarcasm

Personification

Onomatopoeia;Similes and Metaphors

Tracing Mood

Student Pages

pp. 13–22

pp. 23–30

pp. 31–36

pp. 38–42

pp. 43–47

pp. 52–55

pp. 56–59

pp. 60–62

pp. 66–71

pp. 72–76

pp. 77–83

pp. 84–88

pp. 89–94

pp. 95–100

pp. 101–105

pp. 106–110

pp. 111–117

pp. 118–123

pp. 124–128

pp. 129–133

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