Going to Extremes 6-pack Author: Various ISBN: 9780176358013 Lesson Plan Grade Level: 7 Theme/Topic: Adventure, Challenge, Weather Classification: Fiction, Nonfiction

Key Reading Strategy: Visualizing

The lesson plans for this issue of High Wire Magazine concentrate on the reading strategy of Visualizing.  Opportunities to use this strategy are
indicated by the symbol . For more information about this strategy, see page 7.   Assessment Master 16 in the Program and Assessment Guide can be used for this strategy.

Curriculum Links: social studies, health, science, mathematics

Introducing the Magazine

Setting the Scene

Tell the students that during this unit they will be “going to extremes.”  To encourage discussion about the magazine’s theme, ask questions such as the following:

• When you hear the words “going to extremes,” what ideas, thoughts, feelings, or pictures come to mind?
• The phrase “going to extremes” has more than one connotation.  Can you tell me what they are? Are they positive or negative? Do the various connotations spark different feelings or ideas?
• If you were given a choice of one really extreme thing to do, what would it be? Why?
• Do you think that people who take part in extreme sports and activities are different from other people? If so, in what way are they different?

Making Connections

Explain that the magazine looks at various types of extreme activities and examines them in a number of genres: nonfiction articles, a fictional story, and an interview. Discuss questions such as the following:

• Do you think society’s idea of what we consider to be extreme has changed over time?  How?
• Do you know of any cultures or countries where extreme activities are part of everyday life?  Describe them.

Ask the students to write a paragraph giving a definition of their understanding of the phrase “going to extremes.”  Have them keep this for use as a self-assessment tool at the end of the unit.  When the students have completed reading the selections in the magazine, have them repeat the exercise and then compare it to the one they wrote previously.  Discuss whether their understanding of the concept has been enhanced by the
materials they have read.

For more information please see our Lesson Plan