A River Ran Wild - Wikispaces River Ran Wild An Environmental History ... A River Ran Wild is an environmental history of the Nashua River. It ... Theme – environmental awareness

©2008 Lisa FraseETS Press For Classroom Use Only

A River Ran WildAn Environmental History

by Lynne Cherry

Literature Enrichment Experience

created by Lisa Frase

Cherry, Lynne. A River Ran Wild. Harcourt Brace & Company. Orlando, Florida. 1992. ISBN 0-15-200542-6.

Published by ETS PressFriendswood, Texas 77546www.etspress.com

©2008 Lisa Frase www.effectiveteachingsolutions.com

All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic or mechanical, including

but not limited to, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ETS Press may be contacted at [email protected].


A River Ran Wildby Lynne Cherry

Harcourt Children’s Books, New York, 2002

Summary: A River Ran Wild is an environmental history of the Nashua River. It

begins with the Indians who lived by the river through years of pollution caused by

the Industrial Revolution and continues through a time of clean-up and revitalization.

Story Treasure: a small, clean pebble

Reading Level – Fourth grade

Text Structure – nonfiction narrative

Connections – grandparents, reading, books, family, helping others, birthdays,

surprises

Theme – environmental awareness

Genre – nonfiction

***

Pre-Reading Vocabulary Strategy

Associative Thinking

Copy the vocabulary word cards onto cardstock and laminate for durability. Divide

your class into small groups of three or four. Give a set of vocabulary cards to each

group. Students study the words, discuss the meaning (they may use the dictionary

to look up the meaning), and consider how the words might relate to each other and

the text they will read. Students will categorize the words and label their categories.

They should be able to explain their reasoning for their categories and labels. At this

point, their answers are not right or wrong. Students should work together to write a

prediction sentence. They will predict what the book is going to be about based on

the vocabulary words, their categories, and labels. After reading the text preview

give students an opportunity to revise their predictions.


Vocabulary Cards

environment migration quench

cattails thatch dwellings

generation millponds grist

sawmills century pulp

decomposed murky descendant

mourned downstream riverbank


Before Reading – Text Preview

Read aloud-

Motivate: There was one a time when a person could get a cool drink of water

directly from the river bottoms. Today, we purchase bottled water and expensive

water filters in order to have safe drinking water. How did we go from clean water to

dirty water in such a short time? There are people who say we could eventually run

out of drinking water. There has been enough water for all of the people and animals

to live since the beginning of time. Every living thing must have water. Why are we

now facing a serious water shortage? Could it be the problem isn’t about having

enough water, but instead, about having enough clean water?

Summarize: Today we are going to read a nonfiction book called, A River Ran Wild

by Lynne Cherry. In the beginning of the story we learn about a river so clear you

can see the pebbles on the bottom of the riverbed. It lies in a peaceful river valley

where wildlife and plants thrive. A group of natives choose this place to settle. They

are careful to take from nature what they need in order to survive. They are content

here for many years. Then one day a white trader comes to their village. This is only

the beginning of many who will soon follow. Before long, towns and businesses

populate the area. The settlers have a different way of life from the natives. They

begin to pollute the river. Many years later, what was once a clean and beautiful

river is now sick with pollution. It takes active citizens to campaign and work for

restoration of the river.

Set a Purpose for Reading: Who determines that it is time to restore the river?

What will they do? What can they do? What happens to the river?

***

After Reading – Vocabulary

After students read the story they will probably change their thinking about their

original categories and labels. Give students an opportunity to change their

categories and labels. They should explain their thinking for each change they make.


Discussion Questions

Page 1: Tell me three details from this page.

Page 2: Why do the native people settle by the river?

Page 3: What does the word “thatch” mean? Why do the people ask the forest

creatures for forgiveness? Why do the people only take what they need?

Page 4: Who is the pale-skinned trader? How does his appearance on the river’s

shores affect the Nashua people? What does this mean to them?

Page 5: What does the author mean when she says the Nash-a-way became the

Nashua? Why do settlers kill more than they need? How are they different

from the native people? What is a millpond? What is happening in the

forest?

Page 6: What does “trespass” mean? Why do the settlers call the land “their own”

and tell the Indians not to trespass? How do you think the Indians felt

about what happened to the river and their village? How do the settlers feel

about it? How are their belief systems different? Who is right? Why? How do

you know? Are there any ways in which their belief systems are the same?

What are grist and sawmills?

Page 7: What is the time frame now? What was the Industrial Revolution? What do

you know about it? What did it mean to the people, the land, the waters,

and the animals? What is pulp? How do you think the leftover pulp, dye,

and film will affect the river?

Page 8: How would you title this paragraph?

Page 9: How long is a decade? What does it mean, “clogged up the river”? What

does the word “decomposed” mean? What do the words “welled up” mean?

What does the word “stench” mean? What does the word “murky” mean?

Page 10: What is a descendant? How do you think Oweana’s dream will affect him?

What can they do? Why should they bother?

Page 11: What does “restore” mean? What are ways people can protest peacefully?

What does “persuaded” mean?

Page 12: As the river becomes clear, what happens to the ocean? What does “clean

river mean”?

Page 13: What is the main idea of this paragraph?


Response to Literature Writing Frame

Compare and Contrast

The Indians believed _______________________________

________________________________________________

Therefore, _______________________________________

________________________________________________

The reason for ____________________________________

________________________________________________

The settler’s beliefs were different. They believed ________

________________________________________________

Therefore, _______________________________________

________________________________________________

The reason for ____________________________________

________________________________________________

After a time, the people came together and ____________

________________________________________________


Found Poem

Each student selects a short phrase (not an entire sentence unless it is short) or

word they believe is significant to the story’s meaning. Read the story aloud. As you

read, students read along silently. When you come to the phrase or word they

selected, they read their selected piece out loud with you. On chart paper write the

collected phrases and words in the order of the text as “found poem”. Divide the text

into sections and assign it to different readers. Different sections might include one

reader, partners, a small group, or the whole class. Together, read the poem out

loud.


Literature Response Project Choice Menu

Divide the class into small groups of three or four. Each group selects one project

from the menu to complete. GATE Component: Flexibility

Use PowerPoint to create a documentary

about the Nashua River. Visit

http://www.nashuariverwatershed.org/

to learn more about the Nashua River.

Write a nonfiction magazine article about

the history of the Nashua River. Visit


history.html to learn more.

Consider a problem in the story. Decide

on a solution to solve the problem.

Create a PowerPoint presentation

outlining your action plan.

Write and illustrate 10 poems

representing different ideas, problems,

and viewpoints in the story.

Research a subject which is explored in

the story and create a PowerPoint

presentation to demonstrate your new

knowledge.

Choose an important topic under

discussion in your community. Learn as

much as you can about both sides of the

topic. Present both sides of the issue,

and the pros and cons to your class.

Plan, write, and perform in a “talk show”

forum about topics addressed in the

story. One member of your group may

act as the host, and the other members

as guests.

Create an awareness infomercial for a

topic addressed in the book. Plan, write,

perform, and video the infomercial.


Vocabulary Challenge

Copy a set of vocabulary challenge cards on cardstock. Laminate the cards for durability. Cut out the sets of cards and place a complete set of cards in a plastic zip bag. Make one complete set for each student (or a set for partners or small groups).Students match the word, definition, and picture together after finding the word in the text and reading it in context.

environment-natural world of land, sea, and air

migration-birds fly away during the winter to live in a warmer climate

quench-to stop your thirst by drinking water

cattails-a tall, thin plant with long, brown, furry pods at the top and narrow leaves


thatch-a roof covering made from straw or weeds

dwellings-a place where someone lives

generation-average amount of time between the birth of parents and their children

millponds-a pond that supplies water to drive a mill wheel

grist-ground grain


sawmills-a place where people use machines to saw logs into lumber

century-a period of one hundred years

100YEARS

pulp-a soft, wet mixture of wood or paper

decomposed-rot or decay

murky-dark and cloudy


descendant-your children, their children, and so forth

mourned-to grieve or be sad for someone who has died

downstream-the direction of the flowing current of a river or stream

riverbank-the land bordering a river

Vocabulary Game

Stack the cards and turn them over. Each player draws 3 cards. The goal is to make sets with a word, definition, and picture. Do not show your cards. The first player draws a card. They can choose to discard the card, keep it, or trade it (or they can discard or trade a card in their stack if it is their turn, but they may only trade or discard one card at a time). If they want to discard it they must place it beneath the stacked deck. They do not get another card until it is their turn. If they want to trade the card they ask another player to trade. The two players do not show which cards they are trading. This is a “risk”. The player must keep the traded card until the next turn. The player with the most “sets” when all of the cards in the stack are gone wins.


Cause and Effect Category Board

Copy the cause and effect cards on cardstock and laminate for durability. Cut a set of cards out and place them in a plastic zip bag or envelope. Make one set per student (or a set per partnership or small group). The students match up the causes with the effects. Next have the students put the cause-effect relationships in the order in which they occurred in the story. They will be able to see the bigger picture of how events relate to each other and may discover that they need to readjust their cause-effect relationships.

The river had fish to eat and clean water to drink.

The Nashua settled by the river.

The Nashua took from nature only what they needed to live.

There was plenty of game and fish to hunt and eat.

Traders chopped down trees and killed more animals than they needed in order to eat.

It became hard to find food and shelter.

The settlers built sawmills along the river.

The river became polluted with grist, pulp, and dyes.

Settlers fenced off land. The land was no longer free for hunting and fishing.


The settlers moved in. The natives were pushed out.

New factories were built along the river.

Chemicals and plastic waste were dumped into the river.

The pulp in the river decomposed.

The river began to smell bad.

Oweana dreamed that Weeawa was saddened by the dirtied river.

Oweana began a campaign to clean up the river.

Laws were passed to stop people from polluting the river.

The river became clean again.


Performance Poetry

Poetry is meant to be performed. Read this classic poem aloud with your students and perform the hand motions together. Practice each day. The students will ultimately memorize the poem. This kinesthetic activity will keep your students engaged and help them with their oral fluency. ESL Component: Total Physical Response (TPR)

Let the River Run

-from “the Brook”by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

I chatter, chatter

(show hand movements of “talking”)

as I flow

(show wave movements with your hands)

To join the brimming river,

(clasp your hands together)

For men may come

(motion to “come forward”)

and men may go,

(motion to push away)

But I go on

forever.

(make a giant circle with your hands)


Summarization

Students fill in the summarization frame.

A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry

A long time ago the __________________________________

________________________________________________

Then one day ______________________________________

________________________________________________

Unfortunately the ____________________________________

________________________________________________

But then __________________________________________

________________________________________________

Now _____________________________________________

________________________________________________


Vocabulary Quiz 1

Read the short passage. Use context clues and your prior knowledge to

choose the answers to the questions.

Each winter the geese migrate to the South. They might stop and

rest along the riverbank and quench their thirst. Hopefully, the river

water is clean instead of murky.

1. The word migrate means –

a. to stay in one place for the winter

b. to stop by a river for a rest

c. to move from one place to another

2. The word quench means –

a. to stop the birds

b. to stop your thirst

c. to stop polluting

3. The word riverbank means –

a. is the water that flows down the river

b. is the land that borders the river

c. is the town along the river

4. The word murky means –

a. dark and cloudy

b. dark and scary

c. dark and spooky


Vocabulary Quiz 2

Read the short passage. Use context clues and your prior knowledge to choose the

answers to the questions.

The sawmill workers dumped pulp into the river. The pulp was bad for the

environment and caused the fish to die. Eventually the fish decomposed and

caused the river to smell bad.

1. The word sawmill means –

a. factory that makes grain

b. factory that cuts wood

c. factory that makes mill

2. The word pulp means -

a. the fleshy part of fruit

b. a rock music group

c. wet wood and paper

3. The word environment means –

a. the land, sky, and sea

b. the dead fish in the river

c. the land around the river

4. The word decomposed means –

a. rot and decay

b. to take apart

c. a dead fish


Vocabulary Quiz 3

Read the short passage. Use context clues and your prior knowledge to choose the

answers to the questions.

Two centuries ago generations of Indians gathered the cattails by the river. They

used the plants to thatch the roofs of their dwellings.

1. The word centuries means -

a. people who stand guard

b. a period of 100 years

c. a period of ten years

2. The word generations mean –

a. one hundred years ago people lived in villages

b. average time between birth of parents and their children

c. your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren

3. The word cattails mean –

a. tails of a cat

b. weeds along the riverbank

c. brown, fuzzy plants

4. The word thatch means –

a. a grassy covering on a roof

b. to build a hut or dwelling

c. the cattails gathered by the river

5. The word dwellings means –

a. a thatched roof

b. a well dug in the ground

c. a place where someone lives


Comprehension Quiz


Read the questions and choose the best answer.

1. The Nashua people settled by the river because –

a. the area was not crowded with homes, factories, and people

b. the river provided clean drinking water and was a food source

c. the area had plenty of wood to build houses and factories

2. The chief of the Nashua named the river Nash-a-way. Nash-a-way means –

a. River with the Pebbled Bottom

b. River of the Nashua People

c. River Filled with Fish

3. Why did the Nashua people ask the forest creatures they killed for forgiveness?

a. The Nashua people believed the animal’s spirits were haunted.

b. The Nashua people had a deep respect for the animals and nature.

c. The Nashua people thought it was good luck to ask for forgiveness.

4. What is a pale-skinned trader?

a. a white settler who traded furs

b. a native who traded with settlers

c. a native chief who led the people

5. The Indians believed –

a. People should only take from nature what they needed to live.

b. People should worship the land and the animals.

c. People should take from nature more than they need.


6. The settlers believed –

a. People should only take from nature what they needed to live.

b. People should give back to nature by planting trees and crops.

c. People owned the land and animals and had the right to take all they wanted.

7. What happened when settlers built fences, plowed fields, and told the Indians not

to trespass?

a. The Indians moved away to start their lives over.

b. The Indians fought back, but the lost their battle with the settlers.

c. The Indians lived in peace with the settlers and helped them plant crops.

8. What is the Industrial Revolution?

a. The factories polluted the rivers with pulp, dyes, and grist.

b. The people cleaned up the river after years of polluting it.

c. A time when lots of new factories opened and people invented new machines.

9. What happened to the Nashua River?

a. The river dried after a long dry spell without rain.

b. People polluted the river and years later decided to clean it up.

c. The river became a popular place for fishing and hunting.

10.Why did Oweana and Marion decide to clean up the river?

a. They thought the river wasn’t safe for fishing, so they decided to make laws

to keep factories from dumping chemicals and plastics into the river.

b. They both dreamed that Weeawa mourned the dirty waters, and his tears

cleaned up the river, so they decided to do something about the dirty river.

c. They decided that the river belonged to the Nashua people and should be

returned to them, but first they wanted to clean it up.


Storybook Theatre

based on


Reader 1 – Imagine a river so clear you can see the pebbles on the

river bottom.

Reader 2 – Imagine fish swimming along the currents and a great

bear swiping his paw at his dinner.

Reader 3 – There was once a river like this. The Nashua people built

their village on the riverbanks and called it Nash-a-way…

All Readers – River with the Pebbled Bottom

Reader 4 – After many generations of Nashua people living peacefully

near the river, white traders and settlers came.

Reader 1 – They built houses and fences.

Reader 2 – They plowed the pastures and planted crops.

Reader 3 – They built sawmills and factories along the river banks.

Reader 4 – They drove the Nashua people away.

All Readers – Years went by

Reader 1 – The settlers polluted the river with pulp and dyes and

grist.

Reader 2 – The fish died.

Reader 3 – The animals left.


Reader 4 – The river became sick.

All Readers – One night Chief Weeawa came to Oweana in a dream.

Reader 1 – (as the chief) My heart is heavy as I look upon the Nashua

River. The river is dead.

Reader 2 – Oweana dreamed that Chief Weeawa’s tears cleaned the

filth away from the river’s dirty waters.

Reader 3 – Oweana woke up and went to tell his friend Marion about

the dream.

Reader 4 – Marion had the same dream.

All Readers – They decided to campaign to get the river cleaned up.

Reader 1 – They asked their friends and neighbors to help.

Reader 2 – They asked politicians to make new laws to help keep the

river clean.

Reader 3 – They asked the paper mills to build a plant to clean up the

waste.

Reader 4 – It took a long time and a lot of hard work, but finally the

river became free of waste and flowed clean.

All Readers – Once again, the Nashua was the River with the Pebbled

Bottom.


Resources

Complimentary Texts

The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry – Another environmental story, except this

one is set in the rain forest.

The Sea, the Storm, and the Mangrove Tangle by Lynne Cherry

Water Dance by Thomas Locker

Letting Swift River Go by Jane Yolen

Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg

Where the River Begins by Thomas Locker

Websites

Lynne Cherry’s official author website:

http://www.lynnecherry.com/

The Nashua River Watershed Association


Answer Key for Comprehension Quiz1. b2. a3. b4. a5. a6. c7. b8. c9. b10. b

Vocabulary Quiz 1: 1. c, 2. b, 3. b 4. aVocabulary Quiz 2: 1. b, 2. c, 3. a, 4. aVocabulary Quiz 3: 1. b, 2. b, 3. c, 4. a, 5. c

A River Ran Wild - Wikispaces River Ran Wild An Environmental History ... A River Ran Wild is an environmental history of the Nashua River. It ... Theme – environmental awareness

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