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LANGUAGE! Focus on English Learning Overview
www.sopriswest.com/language
Each level of text in
LANGUAGE! is designed
for specific instructional purposes.
Mini-
Dialog 8
Stage Setting
Depending on where you live, different words have
different meanings for you. These people are from Boston,
Massachusetts.
This ant can dig!
What instincts
it has!
This ant
digs big, man.
This is the
ants' Big Dig!!!
Mini-Dialog
67
Critic's Corner
1.
Does the fact that these two men are from Boston give you
a clue as to what they mean by the Big Dig? (You will read
about the Big Dig later in this unit.)
2.
What are their perspectives on the ants' Big Dig?
· Easiest readability; 75% decodable words based on the
phonology Scope and Sequence in the curriculum
· Used to practice application of decoding skills and build fluency
· Preteaches vocabulary and background knowledge for
Instructional Text; presents strategies for interpreting visual
information and developing study and research skills
Decodable Text--
Independent Reading
· Mid-range readability for the unit
· Used to explicitly teach text structures
· Develops vocabulary and content
knowledge to build comprehension
· Used as the basis for writing in
LANGUAGE! Step 6
Instructional Text--
Shared
Reading and Supported Reading
· Highest readability text in the unit
· Develops vocabulary and
background knowledge
· Provides exposure to various
literary genres
· Comprehension questions geared
toward higher-order thinking skills
Challenge Text--
Read Aloud
Book A, Student Text
76 Unit 3 · Dig It!
Niger
a country of west
Africa
desert
a dry place with
little rainfall
emerges
comes out of;
appears
Dr. Paul Sereno digs dinosaur bones. He gets a
thrill when he digs up the bones of dinosaurs who
lived thousands of years ago. In 1997, Dr. Sereno led a
dig to
Niger , Africa. He took 18 scientists with him.
The Touareg tribe helped his team look for bones. The
Touareg people live in Niger. They know their
desert
land best. They know where to look for bones.
The dig was a success. Dr. Sereno's team had
a fantastic find. They found a new dinosaur. The
Touareg told them a legend about a very big animal.
They call it Jobar. The Touareg showed them where to
look for the bones. The scientists named the dinosaur
Jobaria. It means giant. How did they dig up the
Jobaria? Let's follow the dig step by step.
Step 1: We
ve Got One!
The Touareg lead the team to a
special place. Bones stick out of desert
rock. The Touareg tell the scientists their
legend. These bones belong to the giant
beast, Jobar.
Step 2: Digging In
The dig begins. They use hammers,
chisels, and drills. They work for 10
weeks. A huge skeleton
emerges . It has
been buried for 135 million years! Fifteen
tons of rock cover it. The team carefully
takes the bones from the rock.
The Touareg tribe
helped the team.
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82 Unit 16 · Cheer an Athlete
international
having to do with
more than one
country
achieves
accomplishes;
completes
successfully
volunteers
people who perform
a service for free
The Special Olympics Games are unique sporting
events. What's different about them? All the athletes
have intellectual disabilities. The coaches, the trainers,
and even the officials are
volunteers. Special Olympics
achieves at least three goals. First, the games provide
experience. Second, they boost athletes' self-confidence.
Last, they give athletes the joy of competition. Every
athlete benefits from the positive experience of
competing in a sport. But winning is not the sole focus.
In fact, the Special Olympics Athlete Oath reads: "Let me
win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."
Special Olympics has grown over the years. It began
as a day camp and rapidly evolved into an
international
event. The first International Special Olympics Games
took place in 1968. Chicago was the first host for
this hugely successful event. Later, many different
communities began to host the games. Today, the Special
Olympics Games include 27 official sports. There are
individual events like gymnastics and swimming, and
there are team sports, such as basketball and softball.
More than two million athletes participate around the
world, and there are more than 700,000 volunteers.
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Book A, Student Text
Book C, Student Text
The Study of Mummies
105
Mummies
The Study of
Painted wooden
canopic jar.
marrow
the soft tissue that
fills the hollow
centers of most
bones
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10
15
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25
The ancient Egyptians believed that within
everyone were spirits that lived on after death.
They believed that the spirits needed to be
able to recognize the body so they could use
it as a dwelling place forever. For them, it was
important that a body be preserved after
death. To keep the body from decaying, they
developed the process of mummification.
To start, the ancient Egyptians removed
organs that would be hard to dry out. The
first was the brain. They believed the brain
was the "
marrow of the skull." They threw away
the brain. Then they took out the liver, stomach, lungs,
and intestines, dried them separately, and placed them in
protective containers called canopic jars.
Next, the Egyptians removed all the moisture from
the body. They packed it in a blend of salts called natron;
these salts were sacred. At last, the body was completely
dry, like leather. They added oil, spices, jewelry, and
finally the linen wrappings.
Last, the Egyptians protected the mummy and made
it waterproof. To do this, they spread layers of rubbery
tree gums or resins over layers of linen bandages. These
resins turned black over time. They still can be seen on
most mummies. In fact, the word "mummy" comes from
the Arabic word mumia, meaning "tar" or "bitumen."
182 Unit 34 · Seek Knowledge
Five hundred years ago, Spain was a world superpower,
and the newly discovered continent we now call North
America lay unexplored by Europeans. Among early
explorers, the Spanish were heralded for their
expertise
and their successful voyages. For the Spanish explorers, an
expedition to the New World promised new knowledge,
exotic adventures, land, riches, and power. In 1527, Alvar
Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca (c. 1490c. 1557), a member of the
Spanish nobility, left Spain as part of a royal expedition that
intended to claim land in North America for Spain. When
Cabeza de Vaca departed, he could never have anticipated
that before he returned home, his quest would take him
through the lands we now call Florida, Texas, and Mexico.
In his journal, titled Relación, which was first published
in 1542, Cabeza de Vaca recounts his experiences. He tells
of the disastrous outcome of the expedition that left him
and a few companions struggling to survive as they traveled
for eight years and over 6,000 miles, from Florida through
Texas and Mexico all the way to the Pacific Ocean. For
Cabeza de Vaca, the journey was characterized not only
by extreme suffering, but also by personal discovery and
growth. His keen powers of observation of other people and
his environment, as well as his own thoughts and feelings,
have kept Cabeza de Vaca's journal a bestseller to this
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expertise
special skill in
doing something
Book F, Student Text
Book C, Student Text