All Around the United States: A Travel Adventure Emergent Reader Activity
BEFORE READING
Have volunteers read the title of the book and the introduction on the Pagesaver. Ask students to use the Contents, the map, and the characters list to preview the book. Ask students to predict the story’s outcome.
READING
To help students set a purpose for reading, suggest they read to find out why the book is called a travel adventure. Use questions such as these to guide the reading:
• What past experiences lead Zack to believe that he will not see his cousin Carmen this summer as planned? (Ch. 1)
• Neither Carmen’s nor Zack’s family follows their route. Where does each family go, and what sights do they see? (Ch. 2, 3, 6)
• What does Joe Mims do when he finds Sparky in his truck? (Ch. 5)
• How are Sparky and Carmen reunited? (Ch. 6)
WORKSHEET & Sample PDF Activity
Sample PDF Activity
AFTER READING
Have students look at the map on the Contents page. Ask them to find each family’s hometown, then identify the regions each family traveled through to arrive in South Dakota. You may wish to distribute copies of the Comprehension Master on p. 87.
Vocabulary Activity: Travel Story
Materials: list of Key Vocabulary words, index cards, small bag
Have small groups of students write each Key Vocabulary word on an index card and place the cards in a bag. The group creates a story starter, such as Last summer my family and I went to the beach. A student draws a card from the bag, reads the word, and uses the word in a sentence to add to the story starter. Students take turns drawing words from the bag and adding sentences to the story.
Writing Activity: E-mail Message
Materials: none
Have students assume the role of either Zack or Carmen. Ask them to imagine the return trip home from South Dakota. Have them write an e-mail message to their cousin describing their adventure.
ESL Activity: Family Tree
Materials: All Around the United States: A Travel Adventure
To help students understand the relationships between the characters in the book, use the characters list on p. 3 to create a family tree. Write the names of the characters and identify their family relationships, e.g., Carmen—Liz and Greg’s daughter.
PHONICS/WORD STUDY
Understanding Prefixes pre–, re–, un–, dis–, and im–
Write the words preview, renew, unable, disagree, and impress on the board. Have students use each word in a sentence, identify the prefix, and give its meaning. Challenge them to find ten words in the book containing these prefixes. Ask them to write each word in a sentence that shows they understand its meaning.
MINI LESSONS
• READING STRATEGY
Literary: Identifying Point of View
Have students identify the two types of text in the book—the e-mails between Zack and Carmen and the rest of the text. Ask them to read p. 8 and identify the point of view. Then have them read the e-mail on p. 10 and identify the point of view. Ask them to identify clues that they used, such as the use of different pronouns.
• LANGUAGE SKILL
Recognizing Prepositional Phrases
Brainstorm a list of prepositions with students. Then write the following sentences on the board: There’s no way he can travel in a straight line to get from one place to another. In the back seat, Zack glanced over at a big truck they were passing. Have students circle the prepositions and underline the prepositional phrases. Ask them to find other prepositional phrases in the book.
