Lewis and Clark RevisitedMagazine Article

Introducing the SelectionInformational Text Focus: Structural Patterns of TextWriting Skills Focus

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Lewis and Clark Revisited

How do you evaluate articles about the past?

Lewis and Clark Revisited Introducing the Selection

More than 200 years ago, President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis to explore and map out the Louisiana Territory.At the time, Americans knew very little about that region and its land.

In 2003, a group of people decided to reenact the journey of Lewis and Clark. The group wanted to celebrate the original expedition and sample a taste of what the two men experienced.

The reenactors set out to rediscover a landscape that had changed greatly since Lewis and Clark made their journey 200 years earlier.

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Lewis and Clark Revisited Introducing the Selection

A careful reader would critique, or judge, such a text harshly because it had an illogical structural pattern.

Imagine that “Lewis and Clark: Into the Unknown” presented the details of the expedition in this order:

Lewis and Clark Revisited Informational Text Focus: Structural Patterns of Text

Lewis and Clark hire Sacagawea and her husband as translators.

Jefferson chooses Lewis to lead an expedition into the west.

Jefferson wants to encourage westward expansion.

1st2nd 3rd

As written, “Lewis and Clark: Into the Unknown” does have a clear structural pattern.

Lewis and Clark Revisited Informational Text Focus: Structural Patterns of Text

It is organized in chronological order, or the order in which the events occurred.

Lewis and Clark hire Sacagawea and her husband as translators.

Jefferson chooses Lewis to lead an expedition into the west.

Jefferson wants to encourage westward expansion.

1st 2nd 3rd

The chronological structure of “Lewis and Clark: Into the Unknown” helps readers identify

Lewis and Clark Revisited Informational Text Focus: Structural Patterns of Text

• the writer’s main ideas• the reasons Lewis and Clark are important

historical figures

Lewis and Clark hire Sacagawea and her husband as translators.

Jefferson chooses Lewis to lead an expedition into the west.

Jefferson wants to encourage westward expansion.

1st 2nd 3rd

Comparing is about finding similarities.

Contrasting is about finding differences.

“Lewis and Clark Revisited” uses a different structural pattern: compare-and-contrast.

Lewis and Clark Revisited Informational Text Focus: Structural Patterns of Text

The compare-and-contrast structural pattern supports the meaning of the text.

Lewis and Clark Revisited Informational Text Focus: Structural Patterns of Text

• “Lewis and Clark Revisited” discusses the similarities and differences between

a historical reenactment of the events

Lewis and Clark’s expedition

Lewis and Clark Revisited Informational Text Focus: Structural Patterns of Text

Into Action: Use a chart like the one below to critique “Lewis and Clark Revisited.” Why is the compare-and-contrast structural pattern effective?

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What is the main idea?“Lewis and Clark Revisited”

What details support the main idea?

How effective is the author’s use of structural patterns?My critique:

How well is the main idea developed?

Preparing for Timed WritingAs you read the selection, look for transitional words and phrases that signal that ideas are being compared or contrasted.

Lewis and Clark RevisitedWriting Skills Focus

While Lewis and Clark had. . . .

On the one hand. . . . / On the other hand. . . .

However, in the reenactment. . . .

Now, Americans are. . . .

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Vocabulary

Lewis and Clark Revisited Vocabulary

commemorate v.: honor the memory of.

mimicking v. used as adj.: imitating; copying.

resembles v.: looks like.

When we commemorate a special event, we remember and honor what took place.

Lewis and Clark Revisited Vocabulary

What are some events you commemorate each year? How do you honor what took place?

On your birthday, family and friends commemorate the day you were born.

Lewis and Clark Revisited Vocabulary

a. work as usualb. have a special

dinnerc. watch television

Linda and Arturo were married on a beautiful summer day in June 2008. How might they commemorate that day?

Lewis and Clark Revisited Vocabulary

a. work as usualb. have a special

dinnerc. watch television

Linda and Arturo were married on a beautiful summer day in June 2008. How might they commemorate that day?

LeShawn was annoyed because his little brothers were mimicking him, copying the way he dressed.

What else would show that LeShawn’s brothers were mimicking him?

Lewis and Clark Revisited Vocabulary

When someone is mimicking you, that person imitates the way you speak or act.

Is the word mimicking used correctly in the following sentence?

Lewis and Clark Revisited Vocabulary

At the costume party, everyone had fun mimicking their favorite characters from movies or books.

People at a costume party dress up to imitate other people. Mimicking is used correctly in the sentence.

You may hear someone say that a boy resembles, or looks like, his father.

Lewis and Clark Revisited Vocabulary

Although fraternal twins may not look alike, identical twins always resemble each other.

Whom would you like to resemble? Why?

Lewis and Clark Revisited Vocabulary

a. flatteredb. insultedc. depressed

Rosa thought her mother was beautiful. When a neighbor told Rosa that she resembled her mother, the little girl felt ____________.

Lewis and Clark Revisited Vocabulary

a. flatteredb. insultedc. depressed

Rosa thought her mother was beautiful. When a neighbor told Rosa that she resembled her mother, the little girl felt ____________.

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