1. Earthquake Terror
by Peg Kehret
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2. Awards Virginia Young Reader’s Award
West Virginia Children’s Book Award
Junior Library Guild selection
International Reading Association “Children’s Choice”
Children’s Crown Award

3. Genre: Realistic Fiction
A realistic fiction story is about realistic (could happen in real life, but they aren’t real) people, things, and events.
The plot-including events, problem, solution-is made up (fictional).

4. Summary
While on a camping trip in California, Jonathan confronts nature’s fury as he struggles to save his sister and himself from a dangerous earthquake.

5. Background Information
Earthquakes are caused by the shifting or breaking of plates within the Earth. Check out what National Geographic has to say about earthquakes for more information!

6. Causes and effects of earthquakes
Key Concept
Causes and effects of earthquakes

7. Key Vocabulary debris devastation fault impact jolt shuddered
susceptible
undulating
upheaval

8. the remains of something broken or destroyed
debris
the remains of something broken or destroyed
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9. devastation destruction or ruin
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10. a break in a rock mass caused by a shifting of the earth’s crust
fault
a break in a rock mass caused by a shifting of the earth’s crust
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11. the striking of one body against another
impact
the striking of one body against another
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12. jolt a sudden jerk or bump
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13. shook, vibrated, or quivered
shuddered
shook, vibrated, or quivered

14. susceptible
easily affected

15. moving in waves or with a smooth, wavy motion
undulating
moving in waves or with a smooth, wavy motion
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16. a lifting or upward movement of the earth’s crust
upheaval
a lifting or upward movement of the earth’s crust
Upheaval.html

17. Strategy Focus: Predict/Infer
When we predict, use the information we have to make a reasonable guess before we read the story about what might happen.
Use the title, pictures, and prior knowledge to help you guess:
who the main characters will be
what the problem might be
how the problem will be solved

18. Strategy Focus: Predict
Let’s try it!
Strategy Focus: Predict
What do you predict Jonathan will do to protect himself and his younger sister when a powerful earthquake strikes?

19. Comprehension Skill Focus: Sequence of Events
The sequence of events is the order of the story events.
Keep an eye out for words that signal sequential order such as at first, then, and last.
Remember that the author sometimes shifts from present or main action to something that happened in the past. Be careful to use those signal words to keep things straight!

20. Record the main story events in the order in which they occurred.
Graphic Organizer
Event Map
Record the main story events in the order in which they occurred.
Page 30
At first Moose listens. Then he barks and paces back and forth as if he senses something is wrong.

21. Meet the Author
Peg Kehret (pronounced "carrot") likes to write about ordinary kids who find themselves in extraordinary situations and use their wits to solve their problems — kids who are a lot like Kehret herself when she was growing up.
At age 12, Kehret found out she had polio and became paralyzed from the neck down. Because she remembers that experience and her year of recovery so well, she says, she finds it easy to write from a kid's viewpoint. Kehret wrote her autobiography, Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, about that period in her life.
Before she began writing for children, Kehret published plays, short stories, articles, and two books for adults.
                                                    
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22. Link to Houghton Mifflin
If you enjoyed reading Earthquake Terror and would like to check out some more information and activities, click below to go to EduPlace, Houghton Mifflin’s web site.
Click Here!