Reading Level:
V

Word Count
3125

Pages:
24

Text Summary
Adventure on the Amazon River is a fictional story about a girl named Cammy who is traveling up the Amazon River on a large boat with her parents. She is not enjoying the trip until, one morning, something happens. As she looks over the side of the boat, she falls into the river. She is rescued by a small boy in a canoe who takes her deep into the rainforest to where his family lives. Cammy stays with the family until the boy teaches her how to paddle a canoe. Eventually reunited with her father, she has a much-altered perspective on her Amazon adventure.

Vocabulary
caiman
canopy
diagonal
distrustfully
exotic
foreign
fuchsia
frantically
journal
machete
makeshift
malaria
manioc
nook
proximity
toucan
tributary

Reproducible Worksheets
Worksheet 1 - cause and effect
Worksheet 2 - imagery, onomatopoeia, similes

Lesson Objectives

Comprehension

• You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as students work to understand the text. The targeted comprehension strategy for this lesson is: Recognize and discuss problem/solution relationships in the text.

Word Work

Imagery
Identify, discuss, and use imagery.

Onomatopoeia
Identify and use Onomatopoeia.

Similes
Identify and use similes. 

Before Reading

Elicit Prior Knowledge and Build Background
Write the words Amazon River on a large sheet of paper. Ask students to suggest things they know about the Amazon River.
Say and Ask: I have written Amazon River on this piece of paper. What do you know about it?
Write all of the students' responses on the paper surrounding the words.

Introduce the idea of problems/solutions. Choose one of the students' responses - something like dangerous fish.
Say: This is a problem. Solutions to this could include to travel in safe boat or don't swim in the water.
These are problem/solution relationships.

Introduce the worksheet.
Say: This worksheet looks at problem/solution relationships within the story we are going to read.
You may want to fill in some parts as you read.

Introducing the Book
Before handing out the book, introduce it by showing the front cover.
Ask: What does this tell you about the book?
Turn the book over to the back cover.
Ask: What other information does this give us about the book?
Add any new information to the chart made in Elicit Prior Knowledge and Build Background.

Skim and Scan
Hand out the book and ask students to skim through the chapter headings and illustrations.
Ask: What other information does this give you about the book?
Add any new information to the chart made in Elicit Prior Knowledge and Build Background.

Have students find the word malaria on page 15. Ask students to read the sentence that it is in.
Ask: Does anyone know what this word is? What do you think this word means?

Do the same with the other words in the Vocabulary section.

During Reading

Student Reading
Hand out the books and have students read quietly at their own pace.
Say: You may wish to fill in the worksheet as you read.

After Reading

Building Comprehension
Ask students to share what they found out in their own words.
Discuss the problems they have identified and what the solutions were.
Ask: Who would like to share some of the problems you found in the story?
What was the solution to the problem?

Word Work
Imagery
Explain to students that imagery is the authors' use of descriptive words to create vivid pictures or images in the readers mind.
Use the following example from the story.
'Every once in a while they passed little wooden houses on the banks of the river, but mostly it was just one thick green jungle.'
Ask: Did this description help to give you a picture in your mind? Can you find other types of imagery in the book?

Onomatopoeia
Explain to students that onomatopoeia is the use of words in which the sounds suggest the meaning of the words.
Use the following example from the book chug (page 11)
Ask: Can you find any other examples of onomatopoeia in the story?

Similes
Explain to students that a simile is a comparism of two things using the words like or as.
Use the following example from the book - 'as her hand spun like an out of control windmill' (pg15)
Ask: Can you find any other examples of similes in the book?

Introduce the second worksheet
Explain to students it is related to the work just covered on imagery, similes, and onomatopoeia.

Writing Link
Have students write a poem about the Amazon River and surrounding Rainforest. Remember to include:
-        Imagery
-        Similes
-        Onomatopoeia

Assessment
Monitor student's responses in the comprehending text section to assess how well they understand the text.
Monitor reading to see if students are using the effective reading strategies.
Assess students' knowledge of imagery, similes and onomatopoeia.