4 Champ of Hoover Dam - hmhco.com · When I look at the Venn diagram on page 15, I see that both girls want to help Champ, so that information appears under “Both.” ... Champ

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Number of Words: 868

Characteristics of the Text Genre • Historical fi ction

Text Structure • Third-person narrative• Organized chronologically• Problem presented in middle of story

Content • Barking dog is a problem that friends help solve.• Dog becomes a hero by saving a worker’s life on Hoover Dam construction site.• Appearance of President Franklin Roosevelt

Themes and Ideas • Friends can help you solve a problem.• Huge construction projects take a long time to build.• A bad habit in one setting can be a positive trait in another.

Language and Literary Features

• Conversational, colloquial language • Idioms and exaggeration• Simile: The desert heat made Helen feel like she was a pancake in a pan.

Sentence Complexity • Compound and complex sentences. Example: If Champ hadn’t been there, Hank would have been a goner.

Vocabulary • Some colloquial words such as goner, kid• Compound words such as worksite, pancake, landlord• Place names: San Francisco, Nevada, Colorado River, Boulder City

Words • Some multisyllabic words that may be challenging. Examples: cafeteria, excitement, disappear, president

Illustrations • Realistic illustrations of children and adults in another time period support the text.Book and Print Features • Fourteen pages of text with half-page illustrations on most pages

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

L E S S O N 4 T E A C H E R ’ S G U I D E

Champ of Hoover Damby Alexandra Behr

Fountas-Pinnell Level MHistorical FictionSelection SummaryHelen’s father works on the construction crew building the Hoover Dam. When Helen’s dog Champ barks too much, the landlord says she can’t keep him at home during the week. The mother of Helen’s friend Claudia agrees to keep him where she works at the worksite cafeteria. When Champ’s barking saves a life of a worker, the dog becomes a national hero.

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balancing – keeping steady, p. 12clinging – sticking to or holding

on tight, p. 10crew – group of people doing

work, p. 2

disappear– pass from sight, p. 9excitement – feeling of great

happiness, p. 4 foggy – in a thick mist or low

clouds, p. 2

stretched – extended or spread out, p. 10

tide – the rise and fall of the sea, p. 2

Target Vocabulary

Champ of Hoover Dam by Alexandra Behr

Build BackgroundHelp students use their knowledge of rivers and dams. Ask questions such as: Do you know why dams are built? Explain that a dam is like a large wall meant to keep a river from fl ooding. Read the title and the author’s name and talk about the cover illustration, which shows the Hoover Dam during its construction. Tell students that this story is historical fi ction, so the setting and some of the characters are based on real people—including a President of the United States!

Introduce the TextGuide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so that they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions:

Page 2: Explain that this story happens in the 1930s, when the enormous Hoover Dam was being built in Nevada. The main characters are Helen, her dog Champ, and her new friend Claudia.Suggested language: Turn to page 2. Here are Helen and Champ in front of their new home. The last sentence reads: Her dad worked with a big crew of men building a giant dam across the Colorado River. Why do you think a project as big as the Hoover Dam would need lots of men working in crews, or teams? Where does it look like the crews and their families live?

Page 4: Read the last sentence of paragraph 3: Champ barked and barked with excitement. What kinds of excitement might make a dog bark? Look at the picture. Helen and her family fi nally move into a house. Everyone is excited, especially Champ.

Page 5: Explain that Helen tells her new friend Claudia about a problem she has: The landlord is kicking Champ out of the house because he barks too much and wakes up the workers. Look at the picture. Who has followed the two girls to school?

Page 7: Call attention to the picture. Helen and Claudia try to fi nd a home for Champ in town. Does it look like he is ready to live with other people?

Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to fi nd out what happens to Champ at Hoover Dam.

2Grade 3© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Lesson 4: Champ of Hoover Dam

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ReadHave students read Champ of Hoover Dam silently while you listen to individual students read. Support their problem solving and fl uency as needed.

Remind students to use the Infer/Predict Strategy to fi nd clues to help them fi gure out more about the selection.

Discuss and Revisit the TextPersonal ResponseInvite students to share their personal responses to the story.Suggested language: What did you learn from the story about being a hero?

Ways of ThinkingAs you discuss the text, help students understand these points:

Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text

• Helen’s family moves to Nevada while her dad works on the construction of Hoover Dam.

• Helen’s dog Champ barks a lot so the landlord kicks him out.

• Helen and her new friend Claudia try to fi nd a new home for Champ.

• Champ moves near the dam and rescues a fallen worker by barking for help.

• Friends can help you solve a problem.

• Huge construction projects take a lot of people a long time to build.

• There are different ways to be a hero.

• The ending is a surprise because President Roosevelt asks to meet Champ.

• When the author has the president say that there would be no dam without Champ, she is using exaggeration.

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

Choices for Further Support• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text to act out, such as page 14,

which has both narrative and dialogue. Remind them to pay attention to punctuation and to make the speech sound as natural as possible.

• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go back to the text to support their ideas.

• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples from the text. Lead students to recognize that adding the prefi x dis- to the word appear makes a new word with the opposite meaning. Explain that knowing the shorter words may help readers to understand the meaning of the new word. Invite students to fi gure out the meanings of disconnect, disobey, and discontinue.




Writing about ReadingCritical ThinkingHave students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 4.8.

RespondingHave students complete the activities at the back of the book. Use the instructions below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.

Target Comprehension SkillCompare and Contrast

Target Comprehension Skill Remind students that recognizing how one

character is alike or different from another will help them to understand why those characters think or behave as they do. Model the skill, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:

Think Aloud

When I look at the Venn diagram on page 15, I see that both girls want to help Champ, so that information appears under “Both.” I know that Helen doesn’t know too many people yet, so she’s kind of shy. I’ll put that information under her name. Claudia isn’t shy and speaks up when she needs to. That’s what I’ll put that under her name.

Practice the SkillHave students share an example of another story in which they were able to compare and contrast the way two characters think and behave.

Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the TextHave students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use what they know and their own experience to think about what happens in the story.

Assessment Prompts• On page 10, fi nd the word that means “holding on tight.”

• On page 12, what is the fi rst paragraph mainly about?

• Complete this sentence in your own words. This story has a happy ending because

________________________________________________________________.




English Language DevelopmentReading Support Pair English-speaking and English language learners so that they can check their understanding with each other.

Idioms Explain any idioms students might fi nd unfamiliar, as on page 5, Champ tagged along; and on page 8, Helen and Champ shot out of the car.

Oral Language DevelopmentCheck student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’ English profi ciency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.

Beginning/Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/Advanced

Speaker 1: What is the name of Helen’s dog?

Speaker 2: Champ

Speaker 1: Where does the story take place?

Speaker 2: at the Hoover Dam

Speaker 1: Why is the family there?

Speaker 2: Helen’s dad is working on the Hoover Dam.

Speaker 1: Why does the family move from the tent home they were living in?

Speaker 2: They are going to live in a real house.

Speaker 1: What does the landlord think about Champ?

Speaker 2: He thinks the dog barks too much.

Speaker 1: Why does President Roosevelt come to the Hoover Dam?

Speaker 2: Hoover Dam is about to be fi nished.

Speaker 1: Why does the President praise Champ?

Speaker 2: Champ is a hero because he saved a man’s life.

Read directions to students.

Critical ThinkingRead and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text Why does Helen’s family move

from San Francisco to the desert?

Helen’s dad has a job building a giant dam across the Colorado River.

2. Think within the text What problem does the landlord

have with Champ?

Champ barks too much and keeps people awake at night.

3. Think about the text Think about a story you have

read or heard about an animal that acted in a heroic way.

Describe what happened.

Responses will vary.

4. Think beyond the text Do you agree with President

Roosevelt when he says there would be no dam without

Champ? Explain your answer.

Possible response: No, I don’t agree. I think people would have built the dam even

without Champ’s help.

Making Connections Have you or has someone you know ever adopted a pet from an animal shelter? Tell a story about the pet and its new home.

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Critical Thinking© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Grade 3, Unit 1: Good Citizens

Name Date

10

Lesson 4B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 4 . 8

Champ of Hoover Dam

Critical Thinking

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Name Date

Champ of Hoover DamThinking Beyond the Text

Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two paragraphs.

A reporter from a local paper heard about Champ and wrote a story about him. Suppose you had to write a news story about Champ. What kinds of information would you include? Write a headline and a short news story.




Critical ThinkingRead and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text Why does Helen’s family move

from San Francisco to the desert?

2. Think within the text What problem does the landlord

have with Champ?

3. Think about the text Think about a story you have

read or heard about an animal that acted in a heroic way.

Describe what happened.

4. Think beyond the text Do you agree with President

Roosevelt when he says there would be no dam without

Champ? Explain your answer.

Making Connections Have you or has someone you know ever adopted a pet from an animal shelter? Tell a story about the pet and its new home.

Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Name Date

Lesson 4B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 4 . 8

Champ of Hoover Dam

Critical Thinking




1414038

Student Date Lesson 4

B L A C K L I N E M A S T E R 4 . 1 2

Champ of Hoover DamRunning Record Form

Champ of Hoover Dam • LEVEL M

Behavior Code Error

Read word correctly ✓cat 0

Repeated word, sentence, or phrase

®cat

0

Omission —cat 1

Behavior Code Error

Substitution cutcat 1

Self-corrects cut sccat 0

Insertion the

cat 1

Word told Tcat 1

page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections

12

13

Champ loved being with the workers. He liked balancing on

rocks, like a mountain goat. Best of all, he ate like a king every

day at the worksite’s cafeteria. Claudia’s mother made sure of

that.

Of course, Helen got to see Champ on the weekends when he

came home. In the summer, Dad even took her to the worksite

to visit Champ.

By the next September, the dam was almost built. People in

Boulder City were buzzing with excitement. President Franklin

Delano Roosevelt was coming to the dam!

Everyone in town turned out to hear President Roosevelt.

Helen’s family stood right in front.

Comments: Accuracy Rate (# words read

correctly/102 × 100)

%

Total Self- Corrections




4 Champ of Hoover Dam - hmhco.com · When I look at the Venn diagram on page 15, I see that both girls want to help Champ, so that information appears under “Both.” ... Champ

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