1. Get Ready to Read What drives people to explore harsh climates and dangerous places? Why do you think an explorer’s life might be a solitary existence? What kinds of calculations might explorers have to make about the myriad landforms they will meet?

2. Get Ready to Read Amazing Words Centigrade – a certain kind of scale for measuring temperature Turn to pages 20-21. How many degrees centigrade do you think it might be in those pictures? What makes you think so? There are two scales commonly used for measuring temperature. What is the other one? Which measuring scale do scientists use? Which measuring scale do we use to measure our weather temperatures? Circumference – the distance around something The circumference of Earth at the equator is nearly 25,000 miles. Why is the Earth’s circumference measured at the equator?

3. Get Ready to Read Word Analysis French and Italian Words WordLanguageMeaning PianoItalian GondolaItalianBasket carried aloft by a balloon BalletFrench CritiqueFrench

4. Get Ready to Read Literary Terms Similes and Metaphors Types of figurative language Similes compare two unlike things using “like” or “as” Metaphors compare two unlike things without words of comparison

5. Get Ready to Read Text Structure Cause and Effect Helps readers understand the relationships among ideas in a text – what happened and why Think about Learning to Swim. What caused Kyoko to want to learn to swim better?

6. Read and Comprehend Vocabulary Strategy for Unfamiliar Words Find conquer in Exploring the Unknown on page 25. What context clues are there to help understand the meaning of conquer? What helps us see what part of speech it is? They must feel keenly their isolation from all humans. What does isolation mean? How can context clues help you figure it out? Read Exploring the Unknown. Use context clues to help understand the meaning of vocabulary words.

7. Read and Comprehend Fluency Practice Read the first two paragraphs of Exploring the Unknown with your partner. Pay careful attention to phrasing. Use pauses to help add expression to your voice.

8. Read and Comprehend Into the Ice What is the Arctic? Where is it? What is the climate like there? Why do you think people explore the Arctic? Do you think exploring the Arctic is difficult? What makes you think so?

9. Read and Comprehend Narrative Nonfiction Recounts a story about real people, places and events. The events of a narrative nonfiction story are usually told in chronological order. Preview the illustrations, labels, captions and map in Into the Ice. What do you think you will learn as you read?

10. Read and Comprehend Read pages 28-29. As you read, think about: 1.What caused the Fram to avoid the fate of the Jeannette? 2.The author describes the aurora borealis as shimmering “in tongues of flame” and “like the sigh of a departing spirit”. Which of these is a simile? Which is a metaphor? 3.The author says Nansen was capable of “bold but calculated risk-taking”. How did Nansen demonstrate these characteristics in his experiment about polar drift?

11. Read and Comprehend Read pages 30-31. As you read, think about: 1.The last sentence on page 31 states that “the scientific expedition was a triumphant success”. What details support this statement? 2.Do you think this selection will be mostly facts or mostly fiction? Why? 3.The author says that Nansen and Johansen had “no hope of rescue” but later mentions that “they were picked up by an English expedition”. Describe what you think the two men might have felt and thought when the English expedition appeared.

12. Read and Comprehend Read pages 32-33. As you read, think about: 1.Use context clues to determine the meaning of gondola on page 32. 2.Why did Andree and his crew freeze to death? 3.How were Andree and Nansen alike as explorers? How were they different?

13. Read and Comprehend Read pages 34-35. As you read, think about: 1.In the first paragraph on page 34, the author says that Peary was “unconventional in many ways”. What are some important ideas that support this? 2.What caused Peary’s supplies to dwindle on his expedition to the North Pole? What effect did the dwindling supplies have on the expedition? 3.Compare Peary’s attempt to read the North Pole to a time when a trip or an event you helped organize didn’t go as planned.

14. Language Arts Subject and Object Pronouns 1.Peary was innovative. 2.He took ideas and improved on them. 3.It was he who became famous. In sentence 2, “he” is the subject pronoun and “them” is the object of the preposition on and is an object pronoun. In sentence 3, “he” is a predicate pronoun. Underline the pronouns in these sentences. Identify them as subject, object or predicate. She did some research about him. It was he who made her so interested in becoming an Arctic explorer.

15. Language Arts Spelling – Greek Word Parts Write the spelling words that go with these parts: Hydro Onym Archaeo Chronos Syn Crat

16. Language Arts Writing – Narrative Poem Voice Write a narrative poem about a place in nature you know about. Make a chart like this one to help you choose a topic PlaceStory?Strong images?Figurative language? BeachWhen I went there with friends Sand, waves, windWater smooth as glass The park

17. Language Arts An idea web can help you gather ideas for writing your poem. Put your topic in the center circle, then in the smaller circles, add the headings from your chart. In the circles attached to those, add details about each of the headings.