1. Warm-Up: Take a ¼ sheet.
Read the following sentences. Choose one of the activities below it to complete.
The large mammoth had to take time and ponder the rumors that the sabre-tooth tiger and the T-Rex had a secret hand shake.
Copy any of the underlined words you don’t know how to say and use the rules for chunking words to determine how to say them.
Choose at least one of the underlined words and write a definition for it using context clues.
Write an antonym for any of the underlined words.
When finished, complete Interactive Reading and/or iPractices/ Study Plans.

2. But, the night sky was separated by so many streaks of wild lightning
But, the night sky was separated by so many streaks of wild lightning. The camel pondered whether or not it was safe enough to go out and play a trick on the gorilla. He thought about the consequences, that he might get struck by lightning, and decided it was definitely worth it.
Which two of the following phrases act as context clues to help you determine the meaning of “pondered?”
night sky was separated
whether or not it was safe
He thought about the consequences
he might get struck by lightning
decided it was definitely worth it

6. Agenda Time (min.’s) Unit: Taking Chances
Essential Question: What makes some people push the limits? 10
Interactive Reading 5
Vocabulary (pondered, rumors) 15
Read Aloud At the Edge (Chapter 2, sec. 2: “Erica’s Nightmare”) Cause and Effect Summaries
Classroom Conversation
Whole Group (Making Connections, Precise Words) 35
Work Time (3.5 Read with Fluency)
Wrap-Up

7. 3.1
Evacuate: Leave a place in an organized manner.
In World War II, the bombing was so bad in London that the children _____________ to evacuate.
Valiant: Full of courage. Brave.
The British soldiers were valiant when they _____________.
3.2
Piercing: Loud and shrill.
___________ gave a piercing _____ when ________________.
Mutiny: Refusal to obey orders given by someone in charge, especially sailors or soldiers against their officers.
The ship’s captain was injured when the ________ held a mutiny.
3.3
Ease: Without difficulty.
The Hulk could _____________ with ease.
Altering: Changing or making something different.
__________ could not become ________ without altering ____________.
3.4
Brilliant: Very bright or intense.
After the Alien kidnapped me, I stood looking at the brilliant colors on _____________.
Clinging: Holding on tightly.
I could not help clinging on to __________ as the Alien threw me from ____________.

8. 3.6
Stabilize: to make or hold something firm or steady
When he flies, Superman uses ______________ to stabilize himself.
Amble: walk at a slow, relaxed pace
Fred loved to amble down the street with ______________.
3.7
Pondered: Thought very seriously and carefully about something.
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall pondering if _____________________.
Rumors: Information passed from one person to another that may or may not be true; gossip.
No one wanted to believe the rumors that the elephant really was _____________.

9. 3.7
Pondered: Thought very seriously and carefully about something.
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall pondering if _____________________.
Rumors: Information passed from one person
to another that may or may not be true; gossip.
No one wanted to believe the rumors
that the elephant really was
_____________.

10. At the Edge 2,
Erica’s Nightmare

11. At the Edge 2,
Erica’s Nightmare
(Q):

12.
10. Erica Pratt
In the summer of 2002, six-year-old Pratt was just outside her Philadelphia home when she was grabbed, placed in a car, and driven 12 miles away. Hoping to get their hands on some of the life insurance money Pratt’s grandmother had just come into, Edward Johnson and James Burns decided to kidnap Pratt and hold her for $150,000 ransom. They locked her in the basement with duct tape bindings covering her hands, legs, and eyes.
She managed to chew through the tape on her hands, uncovered her eyes, and hopped up the stairs to the locked door. She broke the glass between the barred windows and screamed for help. Two boys heard her and called the police. Edward Johnson was sentenced to 10 to 37 years in prison, and James Burns was given 14 ½ to 49 years. Pratt’s only injury was a scratched cornea.
Today, Pratt hopes to be a veterinarian and is getting ready to attend Florida A&M in the fall.

13. Erica Pratt will be remembered because she's the one who got away.
Excerpt (July 29, 2002)
The summer began with reports of the brazen, almost unbelievable, abduction of Elizabeth Smart - as her younger sister lay in a nearby bed. Television broadcasts kept the smiling, blond teenager's face before American audiences for days on end. The fate of other youngsters, among them Jahi Turner, 2, of San Diego, Alexis Patterson and Laura Ayala, 13, of Houston, entered the national conversation - still missing. Then came word of young Samantha's abduction and death.
For parents, summer - and its embrace of the outdoors - suddenly became a season to be feared. Federal authorities and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tried to assuage those fears. In a country of 59 million children, kidnappings by strangers are a rare occurrence and becoming rarer. The FBI investigated 93 reported kidnappings last year, compared with 134 in The national center put its total number of annual cases at 100.
Parents should focus on that reality and not lose sight of the strength they can impart to their children: a sense of confidence and power in themselves. Surely, Erica Pratt understood that about herself. She lived in a tough neighborhood of southwest Philadelphia. Her abductors, now under arrest, were known to her family. And yet the pig-tailed imp managed to foil their plan. Her street smarts probably saved her.
Erica Pratt will be remembered because she's the one who got away.

14. Work Time:
3.1 Pushing the Limits, 3.3 Plan a Narrative Paragraph, 3.4 Writing a Narrative Paragraph, 3.5 Read with Accuracy, 3.7 Summarize
Interactive Reading
Unit 3 Grammar Study Plan
Independent Reading

15. Wrap Up
What would have happened if Erica had not been able to describe her kidnappers?