Reading Level:
Z

Word Count:
1,924

Pages:
24 

Text Summary
Thrilling historical details and descriptions of city life of the past enhance the stories of three major urban fires. The fires of Rome, London, and Chicago led to tragic loss of life and property, but as the text shows, they also led to reforms and the fire safety our cities use today. Fire safety tips conclude the book. 

Lesson Objectives

Word Work
Word origins 

Grammar
Parts of a sentence: subject, predicate, object, subordinate phrases 

Content Vocabulary
arsonists, bucket brigade, firebreaks, fire hook, firestorm, gasworks, lax, looting, militiamen, persecute, refugees, slums, stockyards, thatched-roofed, unruly
These words are printed in bold and included in the glossary. Review with students how to gain meaning through context and the glossary. 

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as students work to understand the text. The target comprehension strategy for this lesson is: comparing and contrasting. 

Visual Learning
Understand the purpose of a bulleted list 

Before Reading

Build Background
Ask questions that build background on the topic of large urban fires, especially historical fires. Be sure to be sensitive when discussing tragedies, especially those caused by war or terrorism.
Ask: How do people's houses catch on fire? How do you think an entire city could catch on fire? Have you ever heard of any fires that spread through entire neighborhoods or cities? Where and when? Have you ever heard of the fires in Rome, London, or Chicago? 

Introduce the Book
Hand out copies of the book and have students read the title and scan the cover. Have them turn to the table of contents and make initial predictions about the kinds of things they might find in each chapter. Guide students toward the comprehension strategy.
Ask: What things do you think might come up under each of these chapter headings?
Have students skim the book and look at the photos and artwork. Ask them to predict what happened in each fire.
Ask: How could this fire have started? How long do you think it lasted? 

Set the Purpose
Tell students you want them to read the book, keeping an eye out for the severity of the destruction caused by each fire. Ask them to compare and contrast the destruction. Which fire was the most damaging? 

During Reading

Have students read the book independently. Have each student keep a piece of paper and a pencil next to him or her. Recommend that they stop after each chapter and jot down notes about how destructive each fire was. They may include as many facts as they need to figure out which fire was the most destructive. You may also suggest they use a highlighter or pencil to mark places where they didn't understand or were confused. 

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
Reflect on Reading Purpose
Ask students to consult their notes and decide which fire they believe was the most destructive. The group will probably debate which fire was the worst, as some fires had great loss of life, while others destroyed more property, and still others have incomplete data. Allow students to justify their opinions through constructive debate.
Say: [Student's name] explained why [he/she] thought the fire of Chicago was the most destructive. But [other student's name] also had some good points about the destruction caused by the London fire. Sometimes, when there are many ways to judge something, different people can come to different conclusions. It is important to list the reasons behind your opinion, and it is also important to listen to other people's reasons for their opinions. 

Targeted Comprehension Strategy
Give students worksheet 1 and explain that you want them to compare and contrast the three fires on the provided chart. Under each fire, they should list two facts that were different from the other fires. In the bottom column, they will list four things that were the same in all fires. 

Word Work
Word Origins
Have students read the feature box on page 8. Discuss the purpose of a feature box. Explain that many words in English come from other countries, especially countries that conquered England at one time. Anglo Saxon words, which tend to be shorter, and more familiar, came from the Saxons, who were of German origin. The French Normans gave many English words a French flavor. Many longer, official-sounding words come from Latin. Tell students that the Romans, who spoke Latin, had an empire that stretched all the way to England, and that the early Christian church conducted all of its services in Latin. Other words, especially scientific words, come from Greek. Have students work in pairs, using a dictionary to research words from the text. Explain that words in many European languages, including French, Spanish, English, and German, overlap. They all also borrow heavily from the "Classical" languages of Greek and Latin. 

Grammar
Select a sentence from the book, for example, "A fire hook, a long pole, could have pulled building material out of the fire's path to make a firebreak." Guide students through the process of identifying the subject, predicate, object, and any subordinate phrases.
Say and ask: The major noun in a sentence, the thing that performs the action, is called the subject. "A fire hook" is the subject of this sentence. The major verb, or the action performed by the subject, is called the predicate. What did the fire hook do in this sentence? This sentence has some helping verbs in its predicate. The fire hook "could have pulled." The object is what the subject acts upon. In order to find the object, ask yourself, what or whom did the subject do the predicate to? What could the fire hook have pulled? "Building material." Often, sentences have other parts that are not quite as important to the meaning. These are called subordinate phrases. Subordinate means "lower than." Subordinate phrases might have a noun and a verb in them, but you can tell they are subordinate by reading them separately from the sentence. Subordinate phrases do not stand by themselves, but the sentence can stand without the subordinate phrase. Subordinate phrases usually tell where, when, why, how, and for what purpose. Can you find any phrases that answer these questions? "Out of the fire's path" tells us where the action could happen. "To make a firebreak" tells us for what purpose. 

Give students worksheet 2. Have students write the appropriate parts of the sentences under the headings. You may wish to model one or two examples before students begin to work independently. 

Visual Learning
Have students turn to the fire-safety tips near the end of the text. Explain that the dots at the front of the list are called bullets. They are used to set off a list of items that are of about equal importance, and therefore would not be as accurately listed with numbers. Ask students how they can tell the end of one list and the start of another. 

Writing Connection
Have students select one of the fires and write an imaginary personal recount by a witness. Remind them that personal recounts use the first-person pronouns I, me, and we. Students should also keep track of the sequence of their story and include time words such as first, then, later, after, meanwhile, etc. 

Reading Independently
Invite students to reread Great City Fires on their own. They can also bring the book home to read with family members. Invite students to share their Writing Connection recounts at home as well. 

Assessment

• Monitor students' responses in the Comprehending the Text section to assess how well they understood the text.
• Check completed compare/contrast charts to see if students can accurately compare and contrast similar, but separate, historical events. Carefully note students' discussions during the debate of which fire was the most destructive. Assess their listening skills and encourage thoughtful debate.
• Check students' completed worksheet 2 to assess their understanding of the parts of a sentence.