The September 2012 issue of 'Text2Reader' focuses on resources for grades 6 to 8 ELA teachers, offering a range of fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novel selections along with comprehension exercises tailored to North American learning outcomes. Featured content includes activities related to the article 'The Cloud, Condensed' and the fiction excerpt from 'All Good Children' by Catherine Austen, exploring themes of societal control and personal freedom. Additionally, the guide emphasizes its utility as a time-saving resource for educators and the flexibility of its components for classroom use.

1. Issue 9 / SEPTEMBER 2012
In this month’s
Digital Nation
“The Cloud, Condensed”
Best of 2011
Professional
Featured in this issue Resources
—Resource Links
Fiction All Good Children, by Catherine Austen Magazine
Nonfiction Oil, by James Laxer
Nowhere Else on Earth, by Caitlyn Vernon
Graphic Novel On the Turn, by Jay Odjick

2. TEXT2READER
A monthly Language Arts program for middle
schools, presented by Orca Book Publishers
CONTENTS
Welcome to Text2Reader 4
1. Fiction
Excerpt: All Good Children 6
(Focus: reading literary texts for meaning)
Exercise 1A: As You See It—Reflecting on the Text 9
(Focus: responding to literature; making inferences; analyzing;
evaluating)
Exercise 1B: Write It Down—Comparing and Sharing 10
(Focus: text-to-text connections; summarizing; evaluating;
explaining to a partner)
Exercise 1C: Making Meaning—Examining Tension in Writing 11
(Focus: analysis; making connections; evaluation; reading with
a purpose)
Exercise 1D: Write It Down—Tense Up! Creating Tension in Your 12
Writing
(Focus: experimenting with elements of style; making
connections)
Assessment Rubric: Writing Personal Views or Responses 13
2. Nonfiction
Exercise 2A: Before You Read—Harnessing Your Brainpower 14
(Focus: prereading comprehension strategies; metacognition)
Excerpts: Oil and Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the 15
Great Bear Rainforest
(Focus: reading nonfiction texts for meaning)
Exercise 2B: Looking for Answers 17
(Focus: comprehension; synthesis)
Exercise 2C: Asking Questions—Industrial Environmental Disasters 18
(Focus: developing powerful questions; analyzing; synthesizing;
prioritizing; metacognition)

3. 3. Graphic Novel
Exercise 3A: Making Meaning—Reading the Graphic Novel 20
prereading skills; text features; analyzing;
(Focus:
metacognition)
Excerpt: On the Turn 21
(Focus: reading graphic novels/visual texts for meaning)
4. Digital Nation: People, Tech, News
Article: “The Cloud, Condensed” 25
Exercise 4A: Looking for Answers 27
(Focus: comprehension; synthesizing; making connections)
Exercise 4B: Words in Text 29
Frayer model; dictionary skills; defining words in
(Focus:
context)
5. Readers Theater
Assessment Rubric: Readers Theater 31
Exercise 5A: Readers Theater 32
Script: “On the Turn”
(Focus: reading with expression; developing fluency)
Exercise 5B: Write It Down—Getting into Character 37
(Focus: writing to inform and entertain; working with a group)
Assessment Rubric: Scriptwriting 38
Suggested Resources 39
Answer Keys 40
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes for the September 2012 issue can be found on the
Text2Reader website under the Resources tab.

4. WELCOME TO
TEXT2READER
You’re a busy professional, and your prep time is a precious commodity. That’s why Orca Book Publishers
brings you Text2Reader, a monthly resource for grades 6 to 8 English Language Arts (ELA) teachers.
Text2Reader offers high-quality reading selections from award-winning books and engaging activities to help
your students make meaning from what they read. Text2Reader speaks to the real-life issues that concern
teens today, and reaches students with passages that connect to their own lives—including Digital Nation, a
feature article with accompanying activities based on current issues in the online world. And for you? We’ve
packaged a bundle of easy-to-use, teacher-created comprehension exercises, reading and writing activities,
asessments and opportunities for enrichment—all directly tied to ELA learning outcomes.
It’s affordable—way more affordable than (yet another) set of textbooks. And every class in your middle
school can use Text2Reader, for one low price.
TEXT2READER at a glance
In each issue of Text2Reader you’ll find:
• award-winning fiction, nonfiction and graphic novel selections;
• teacher-created reading comprehension exercises that support English Language Arts
learning outcomes across North America;
• a feature article profiling current issues and significant people in the digital world;
• literacy-based projects, both independent and guided, that focus on reading, writing,
speaking and listening, and that support your students in learning to read instructions and complete
tasks on their own;
• numerous opportunities for you to integrate concepts from Math, Social Studies, Science and
Health;
• multimedia and web-based research and exploration;
• Readers Theater from a bestselling novel or graphic guide;
• a variety of ready-to-go assessment rubrics, including authentic assessments such as student self-
evaluations; and
• an engaging layout and conversational tone that appeals to your students.
Each month, when a new issue of Text2Reader arrives, you can download a
checklist of English Language Arts learning outcomes for your jurisdiction and
grade from our website (www.text2reader.com). In that checklist, we break down
which outcomes are covered in that month’s issue of Text2Reader. Who knew it
could be so easy?
4 www.text2reader.com

5. How to use this resource
Text2Reader arrives as a ready-to-use package and covers all of your ELA outcomes in a fun and engaging
way. You don’t have to consult a hefty resource guide or plan an entire unit around reaching a particular set
of outcomes. Text2Reader does it for you. Even better? Most sections of Text2Reader can stand alone, with-
out teacher guidance. You can pick and choose parts of the program or photocopy the entire package and
assign it to your students. You can use it in the classroom or send parts of it home as independent study. And
it’s the perfect solution for those days when you’re too time-pressed to plan—or when a sub covers your class.
Text2Reader is a supplementary resource—one that supports you in your goals of teaching students to love
reading, to understand a variety of texts, to think critically and personally about the texts they encounter,
and to make meaning by listening, speaking and writing about what they’re reading. It complements and
enhances your ongoing Language Arts program.
Ok, if it’s really that easy...sign me up!
Text2Reader is published eight times a year by Orca Book Publishers. To subscribe, please visit
www.text2reader.com, call 1-800-210-5277 or email text2reader@orcabook.com.
Subscribe to Text2Reader at a cost of $175 per year for your entire school. Each issue may be printed and
photocopied and shared with other teachers in your building.
Schools in British Columbia may subscribe to Text2Reader through
LearnNowBC at a reduced rate. Call 1-800-210-5277 for more details. We want to hear from you.
What do you like about
Your annual subscription includes eight issues from the time you Text2Reader? What works
subscribe. For example, if you subscribe in September you will in your classroom? What
would you like to see in
receive eight issues over the course of the school year. And if you
future issues?
subscribe in November, you will receive all remaining issues for that
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Email:
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text2reader@orcabook.com
Text2Reader site and all additional content.
An annual subscription also allows school access to the dedicated Text2Reader website at www.Text2Reader.
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Visit www.text2reader.com for more details. If you have any questions, please call 1-800-210-5277.
Text2Reader is available as a PDF file. If you require a hard copy, we can do that too! Hard-copy mailout is
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Text2Reader is the copyright of Orca Book Publishers.
Text2Reader September 2012 5

6. 1. FICTION
The fiction passage in this issue is taken from All Good Children, by Catherine Austen
(Orca Book Publishers, 2011). Here’s a summary:
It’s the middle of the twenty-first century and the elite children of New Middletown are lined
up to receive a treatment that turns them into obedient, well-mannered citizens. Maxwell
Connors, a fifteen-year-old prankster, misfit and graffiti artist, observes the changes with
growing concern, especially when his younger sister, Ally, is targeted. Max and his best friend,
Dallas, escape the treatment, but must pretend to be “zombies” while they watch their free-
doms and hopes decay. When Max’s family decides to take Dallas with them into the unknown world beyond
New Middletown’s borders, Max’s creativity becomes an unexpected bonus rather than a liability.
Now that you know what All Good Children is all about, read the following section from Chapter 1. In this
passage, Max, his mom and his little sister are returning home after attending an aunt’s funeral in a nearby
city. Max is waiting to be given his Realtime Integrated Gateway (RIG) back after his mom confiscated it for
a stupid prank earlier in the week.
A RIG is a Web-enabled communications
device similar to today’s Smartphones, but
with greater functionality.
It’s a half-hour shuttle from the Bradford Airport across the National Forest to
New Middletown, but Mom still won’t give me back my RIG. I’m stuck staring at
the beauty of the Pennsylvania Wilds. I kick Ally’s foot just for something to do.
“You will never get that RIG back if you don’t stop right now,” Mom says so
5 loudly that other passengers look our way. I stare out the window like I’m not
involved.
There are no cars for rent at the New Middletown station, so we take a taxi
home. The driver’s id reads Abdal-Salam Al-Fulin. I’ve barely buckled up before
he asks, “Did you hear about the speed-rail bombings in the southwest? Over
10 three hundred dead. There’s nowhere safe anymore.”
We show a guard our ids and drive through the gates of my glorious town.
“I feel pretty safe right here,” I say, but I know I’ll feel a lot safer once I get out of
this taxi.
Ally watches a wildlife show in the backseat beside Mom, who stares out the
15 window. Mom was RIG-addicted before Dad died. She uploaded our lives as they
happened. Now she lets the world blur by.
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7. “I love driving in this city,” the driver tells me. “Every road is a straight line.”
“It’s energy efficient,” I tell him. “New Middletown is the most environmentally
smart city in the northeast. But they chopped down ten square miles of forest to
20 build it. We’re big on irony here.”
“I don’t like the forest,” the driver says.
I shrug. “It’s beautiful.” I’ve never actually stepped foot in the forest, but I like
driving by and seeing all the different shades of green. New Middletown is
monotonous. Everything in town is the same age, same style, same color. What we
25 lack in personality we compensate for with security. Half the city is bordered by forest
and the other half is walled. There are only six roads into town and all of them are
guarded. We don’t sprawl. We stand tall and tight. There are no beggars or thieves in
New Middletown. If you don’t have a place to live and work here, you don’t get in.
This driver probably hates the forest because he has to live there in a tent.
30 Over the past twenty years, Chemrose International has built six cities just like
this to house the six largest geriatric centers in the world. Everyone who lives or
works in New Middletown pays rent to Chemrose. The whole town revolves around
New Middletown Manor Heights Geriatric Rest Home and its 32,000 beds.
“I never get lost here,” the driver says as he joins a line of cars traveling north
35 along the city spine, past hospitals, labs and office towers.
“I’m surprised you get much business,” I say.
The city spines are entirely pedestrian, and each quadrant is like a self-
contained village, with its own schools, clinics, gardens, rec centers, even our own
hydroponics and water treatment facilities. We don’t have much call for taxicabs.
40 “I don’t get much business,” the driver admits. “Mostly I take people away.”
“To where?”
He shrugs. “You go to school here?”
“Sure. Academic school.”
“Lucky boy. What you going to be when you’re grown?”
45 “An architect.” I don’t hesitate. We pick our career paths early in academic school.
“You going to build things like that?” the driver asks me. He points to the New
Middletown City Hall and Security Center, which glimmers in the distance on our
left. It stands at the intersection of the city spines, in the exact center of town, rising
to a point in twenty-eight staggered stories of colored glass.
50 “I hope so,” I say.
He snorts. “I don’t like it. It looks like it’s made of ice.” He turns onto the
underpass and City Hall disappears from view.
“That’s the artistic heart of town,” I say.
He snorts again. “I don’t see any art in this city. Never. I don’t hear any music. I
55 don’t hear any stories. I don’t see any theater.”
“You can see all that from any room in any building,” I tell him. “We have our
own communications network.”
Fiction • Text2Reader September 2012 7

8. He sighs. “You like living here?”
“Of course. Who wouldn’t? People line up to get in here.”
60 “Like me,” he says. “I line up and wait, I come inside, I drop you off, I leave.”
“Times are tough,” I say.
“Not for everyone,” he mutters. He drives up to ground level and heads away
from the core.
Chemrose spent eight years and billions of dollars building this city just before
65 I was born. They laid down the spines and connecting roads like a giant spider
building a web. People swarmed here. But they didn’t all get in. Shanties and car-
parks spread outside the western wall, full of hopefuls who come inside for a few
hours to clean our houses or drive us home. They were hit hard by the Venezuelan
flu, which wiped out half the elderly and 10 percent of everyone else in the city,
70 including my father. The epidemic cost Chemrose a fortune in private funding
and public spirit. Mom kept her nursing job, so we’re fit. We moved from a four-
bedroom house to a two-bedroom apartment that sits on the fringe of our old
neighborhood. Ally and I are still in academic schools, so we have hope, which is
a rare commodity these dangerous days. Most people are a lot more damaged.
75 “Maybe I will find a bed here when I am old,” the driver says with another
snort.
“Turn left here,” I say.
We cruise through the northeast residential district, past the white estate
homes where I used to live, through a maze of tan-on-beige triplexes and brown-
80 on-tan row houses, and into our black-on-brown apartment complex. “Unit six,”
I say.
The driver circles the complex like a cop, slow and suspicious, passing five
identical buildings before he gets to ours, the Spartan—as in the apple, not the
Greeks. The apartments are memorials to fallen fruit: Liberty, Gala, Crispin, Fuji,
85 McIntosh. “This is where you live?” the driver asks. He looks up, unimpressed.
The apartments reek of economy. No balconies, no roof gardens, no benches.
Just right angles and solar panels and recycling bins. I used to mock the people
who lived here. Now I withstand the mockery of others.
I hold out my hand to Mom. She stares at me curiously. “RIG,” I say. She rolls
90 her eyes but gives me what I want. I power up, empty the trunk, drag two suit-
cases to the door.
“Thanks for the ride,” I tell Abdal. “Good luck.”
“Good luck to you too,” he shouts.
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9. Exercise 1A: As You See It—Reflecting on the Text
Put your head together with a partner. Talk about these questions. Then
answer them in complete sentences.
1. When Max says they’re big on irony in New Middletown, what does he mean?
2. From what you know about the story so far, what do you predict is the significance of the city’s name,
New Middletown?
3. What’s better: individual freedom and “personality,” or security in an uncertain world?
4. Max observes that if you don’t have a place to live and work, you can’t be in New Middletown. Look at this
rule from both sides. What are the advantages of organizing a society in this way? What are the drawbacks?
5. What might be the reason(s) that art, music and theater aren’t allowed in New Middletown?
6. How does Max’s education differ from yours?
Fiction • Text2Reader September 2012 9

10. Exercise 1B: Write It Down—Sharing and Comparing
Chances are you’ve read a book, watched a movie or played a game that
introduces a different world than the one we live in. Maybe it’s a dystopian world
(a society in a repressive or controlled state), like The Giver or The Hunger Games.
Maybe it’s futuristic, like The City of Ember. Or maybe it’s purely science fiction,
like Gool or Animorphs. Your job? To explain this world to us…and to tell a friend.
In the box below, write about a fictional world that you have read about (or watched). What elements does it
share in common with New Middletown? What does it share in common with our world as it is today? How
is it different? Use complete sentences, point form, sketches…however you want to convey the information!
In your summary, be sure to include details about:
• the world’s physical appearance
• the way it differs from our own world
• the people/organisms/droids/little green guys who populate it
• its reason for existing
• what you find most interesting, terrifying or disturbing about it
One fictional world I’ve encountered is...
Take ten minutes with a partner to share your worlds.
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11. Exercise 1C: Making Meaning—Examining Tension in Writing
Imagine finding a slingshot. If you hold it in one hand, it’s not much fun,
right? But pull back the elastic and suddenly that slingshot becomes a lot
more interesting. It’s the tension that gets your…attention.
In writing, as in life, tension occurs when a character wants something different than what he or she is get-
ting. It occurs when there’s impending danger, when a character is running out of time, or when s/he faces
embarrassment. Pretty much any situation that isn’t comfortable or where the outcome is unknown will cause
tension for a character.
We’ve bolded a few points of tension from All Good Children—and all this is just in the first four paragraphs!
Do you think we missed any?
It’s a half-hour shuttle from the Bradford Airport across the National Forest to New
Middletown, but Mom still won’t give me back my RIG. I’m stuck staring at the
beauty of the Pennsylvania Wilds. I kick Ally’s foot just for something to do.
“You will never get that RIG back if you don’t stop right now,” Mom says so loudly
that other passengers look our way. I stare out the window like I’m not involved.
There are no cars for rent at the New Middletown station, so we take a taxi
home. The driver’s id reads Abdal-Salam Al-Fulin. I’ve barely buckled up before he
asks, “Did you hear about the speed-rail bombings in the southwest? Over three
hundred dead. There’s nowhere safe anymore.”
We show a guard our ids and drive through the gates of my glorious town. “I feel
pretty safe right here,” I say, but I know I’ll feel a lot safer once I get out of this taxi.
Now go back to the excerpt on pages 6–8. Look for other instances of tension. Underline or highlight them.
Circle words that are particularly powerful for creating tension.
Choose one instance in the passage where you think the tension is significant. What makes this part so
interesting?
Text Tip: Think about some of your favorite stories—from Hansel and Gretel to The Hobbit.
How do the authors create tension? (Throwing obstacles in the way of their characters.) How
do the characters handle that tension? (Freaking out, making mistakes, doubting themselves…
and eventually overcoming those obstacles.)
Fiction • Text2Reader September 2012 11

12. Exercise 1D: Write It Down—Tense Up! Creating Tension in
Your Writing
pull that elastic back. Waaaaay back. In this exercise, you get to write
Time to
a personal recollection about a tense experience.
Write a personal narrative using one of the following prompts. Your recollection will read much like a short
story, with a beginning, middle and end. You’ll develop your problem as the narrative unfolds, and show how
you solved the problem in the end.
Your most important task is to amp up your writing by adding tension. This makes it interesting!
1. In the passage, we see that Max is nervous and feels unsafe when he’s traveling with a stranger
in a taxi outside his familiar neighborhood. Write about a time when you found yourself in a
situation where you felt unsafe. Include details about where you were and what you perceived
to be the risks of being there at that time. How did you overcome that situation and get to a
place where you felt safe again?
2. In All Good Children, Max begs his mother to smuggle their family into Canada, where
the government isn’t bent on controlling people’s minds. But doing so means he has to break
rules along the way. Write about a time when you intentionally broke the rules for a “higher
purpose.” Explain the situation or problem you were facing and why it presented an ethical
dilemma. How and why did you make your decision? What was the outcome?
Text Tip: Check the list below for a few ways to strengthen your writing with tension.
• Write short sentences with active verbs.
• Put obstacles in the way of your characters. Make them struggle to reach their
goals!
• Have your characters tease each other, play head games or create problems for
each other.
• Create the feeling that something bad or dangerous is about to happen.
• Show your characters’ fear or other negative emotions when they face a problem or
situation.
Check the links on the T2R website for more ideas on how to spring-load your writing with tension.
Remember to look online
when you see this icon.
Before you begin, read through the rubric on the following page to make sure your recollection meets the
criteria of a powerful, meaningful personal text.
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13. Assessment Rubric: Writing Personal Views or Responses
ASPECT NOT YET WITHIN MEETS FULLY MEETS EXCEEDS
EXPECTATIONS EXPECTATIONS EXPECTATIONS EXPECTATIONS
(MINIMAL LEVEL)
SNAPSHOT The writing addresses The writing presents The writing is clear, The writing is clear,
the topic but is seriously revelant ideas about logical, with some analytic and shows
flawed by problems in the topic but does not analysis and some insight. It features
logic, style and develop the topic to any development of a some engaging ideas or
mechanics. May be very extent. Often vague; central idea. Provides language.
short. parts may be flawed by sufficient material to
errors. meet requirements.
MEANING • presents some ideas; • presents a series of • sense of purpose; • purposeful, with
• ideas and may be illogical or related ideas tries to deal with some individuality,
information inappropriate • generally accurate complexities insight; deals with
• use of detail • inaccurate, illogical details, examples and • relevant and accurate complexities
• general-
or insufficient details explanations; may not details, examples • some engaging
izations or
conclusions
• connections may be link to central idea and explanations; details, examples
omitted or confusing • some difficulty includes some and explanations;
making connections analysis includes analysis,
beyond the • makes connections reflection, speculation
immediate and or generalizations • puts topic in a broader
concrete beyond the context; logical
immediate topic generalizations,
connections
STYLE • no sense of fluency or • some sentence variety; • uses a variety of • flows smoothly; uses a
• clarity, flow; sentences are uses complex sentence types and variety of sentence
variety and often short and sentences lengths types and lengths
impact of choppy or long and • conversational • language is clear, effectively
language
awkward language; generally appropriate and • varied and effective
• limited, simple appropriate varied language
language
FORM • often begins with • beginning introduces • introduces topics and • establishes purpose
• beginning, introduction, the topic purpose and context in clear
middle, end assuming that the • ending is often weak, • explicit conclusion and often interesting
• organization reader knows the formulaic (often formulaic) introduction
and sequence
topic and context • related ideas are • logical sequence; • logical conclusion
• transitions
• ending is ineffective together; may be related ideas are • smooth and logical
• lapses in sequence listed rather than together sequence; explicit
• may shift abruptly developed • transitions connect paragraphing
from one idea to • simple transitions; ideas clearly • variety of natural and
another sometimes ineffective smooth transitions
CONVENTIONS • frequent errors in • errors in basic words • errors in more • may include
• complete simple words and and structures are complex language occasional errors
sentences structures often noticeable but do not are sometimes where the writer is
• spelling interfere with meaning obscure meaning noticeable, but taking risks with
• punctuation
meaning is clear complex language;
• grammar
these do not
interfere with
meaning
Source: BC Performance Standards Quick-Scale
Fiction • Text2Reader September 2012 13

14. 2. NONFICTION
Exercise 2A: Before You Read—Harnessing Your Brainpower
There’s more to being a good reader than just being able to decode the words
on the page. Reading nonfiction is a bit different than reading fiction. And
because of that, the reading strategies you use will differ slightly too.
A. Read the following list of strategies for understanding what you read. Most of them will probably be familiar
to you. Which do you use most often? (Wait a second. You say you don’t use them? Well, now’s the time
to start! The more strategies you have at your fingertips for understanding nonfiction, the easier it’ll be to
figure out the tough stuff as you advance in school.)
1. Make a list of key words you think are important. Add to the list as you read the passage.
2. In each paragraph, underline the phrase or words that you think capture the main idea.
3. Circle ideas and facts that are new to you.
4. At the end of every section, stop and ask yourself: Can I put what I just read into my own
words? Could I explain it to someone else?
5. Ask yourself whether you can detect any author bias in the passage. How would you say
this author feels about the subject matter? How does the author’s perspective compare to
your own?
6. Pay attention to text features like bolded terms and section headings. (Often headings will
give you a hint to the main idea.)
B. Choose two of these strategies. Use them as you read through this month’s nonfiction passage.
C. What surprises you in this passage? Why?
14 www.text2reader.com

15. This month’s nonfiction passage is adapted from two books. The main article about the rise of the
petroleum industry is from Oil by James Laxer (Groundwood Books, 2008); the sidebar comes from
Nowhere Else on Earth: Standing Tall for the Great Bear Rainforest by Caitlyn Vernon (Orca Book
Publishers, 2011). Oil explores humans’ dependence on fossil fuels and looks at how we might success-
fully navigate the decline in petroleum stocks worldwide. In Nowhere Else on Earth, environmental activist
Caitlyn Vernon assesses some of the threats to the Great Bear Rainforest, one of the most ecologically
diverse areas on the planet.
The Rise of Oil
Considering how dependent the world now is on petroleum consumption, it may come as a surprise to
learn that in historical terms the large-scale use of oil is a recent phenomenon. The modern oil industry had
its origins in Canada and the United States on the eve of the American Civil War. In 1858, the first oil well
in North America was drilled in Petrolia, Ontario, and the following year, an oil well drilled in Titusville,
Pennsylvania, ushered in the petroleum age in the US. A decade prior to the drilling of these pioneer wells, 5
Canadian geologist Dr. Abraham Gesner discovered the technique for refining kerosene from coal. A few
years later a Pole, Ignacy Lukasiewicz, figured out how to distill kerosene from oil. That discovery quickly
created a huge international market for kerosene.
Up until that time, the illuminant of choice had been whale oil. Before kerosene became readily available,
a gigantic whaling industry operated in various parts of the world, including New England. The whaling 10
industry’s principal goal was to hunt the huge seagoing mammals who served as a source of oil to light lamps
and to provide lighting on the streets of American towns and cities. By the 1850s, the price of whale oil had
reached an all-time high, selling in 1856 for $1.77 a gallon, a price which if translated into today’s dollars
would be twenty or thirty times the contemporary price of gasoline. Within a few years, as kerosene replaced
it, the price of whale oil plunged (to forty cents a gallon by 1895), and the whaling industry fell on hard times. 15
Most whaling operations on the east coast of the US went out of business. The relentless law of supply and
demand was at work. When a cheaper, superior product came on the market—the price of refined oil was
under seven cents a gallon in 1895—the older, more expensive product was driven out of the marketplace.
(One effect of the rise of the petroleum industry is that it almost certainly saved many species of whales from
extinction.) 20
Oil did not have a smooth start as an industry. In 1878, Henry Woodward, a Canadian, invented the electric
lightbulb and sold the patent to Thomas Edison. As this new invention spread, the demand for kerosene dried
up and the oil industry fell into a recession. In the mid-1880s, the industry was rescued, and this time the
Nonfiction • Text2Reader September 2012 15

16. An Oil Spill to Remember rescue was permanent. The internal combustion
engine, which employed gasoline to power auto- 25
People are concerned that oil tankers might mobiles, was pioneered in Europe by Karl Benz and
one day travel the narrow channels off BC’s Wilhelm Daimler. In the first years of the twentieth
coast. What’s the big deal? Well, let’s look back century, the mass age of the automobile was ush-
to a particularly devastating tanker crash for a ered in, with the incorporation by Henry Ford of
reminder of why oil and water really don’t mix. the Ford Motor Company in 1903. In 1908, Ford 30
One night in March 1989, the Exxon Valdez launched the Model T Ford, which sold initially for
oil tanker ran aground on a rocky reef in Alaska. $980. Automobiles revolutionized American cities
It was carrying oil from Alaska to feed the cars and the American way of life, ensuring an ever-
and industries of the United States. Sharp rocks rising demand for oil, the black gold that became
ripped the side of the tanker open; the oil that the indispensable fuel on which the modern world 35
spilled out would have filled 125 Olympic-size ran.
swimming pools!
It was an environmental disaster. Birds coated in
oil were no longer able to keep themselves warm, and they couldn’t fly. Sea otters depend on their fur
to stay warm, so when they were covered in oil, they literally froze to death. The otters and birds also
swallowed the oil when trying to clean themselves, and they died when the oil poisoned them. The oil
affected the plankton, which are food for the salmon and the herring. The whales and animals and
birds that eat herring and salmon also became contaminated with oil, and many died.
The oil spill was also a disaster for the people who made their living from the sea. There
were fewer fish to catch, and no one wanted to buy or eat seafood contaminated with oil. The
processing plants and canneries closed, and many people lost their jobs. The First Nations were no
longer able to eat the fish, shellfish, waterfowl and wild animals they depended on for food.
Even after a massive clean-up effort, oil from the spill that happened over twenty years ago still
washes up on shores 700 kilometers (435 miles) away and could take centuries to disappear. The
communities and coastal ecosystems have not recovered.
The Exxon Valdez disaster taught us that an oil spill can cause severe and lasting damage to the
rainforest and coastal ecosystems. In 2010, the blowout of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil well in
the Gulf of Mexico was a reminder that accidents are bound to happen (even with the best modern
technology), that cleanup is next to impossible, and that coastal communities suffer as jobs in fishing
and tourism are lost.
Words in Text: Glossary
illuminant: a substance used to generate visible light internal combustion engine: an engine where a fossil fuel
is burned inside the engine in a combustion chamber
patent: a grant made by a government that gives the
creator of an invention the right to make, use or sell that contaminated: made impure by the addition of a polluting
invention for a certain period of time substance
recession: a period of temporary economic decline processing: the act of taking a raw material and
transforming it into a packaged, consumable product
16 www.text2reader.com

17. Exercise 2B: Looking for Answers
Answer the following questions using complete sentences.
1. In what year was the first North American oil well drilled?
2. In your own words, describe how the whaling industry declined during the nineteenth century.
3. What event revived the petroleum industry in the late nineteenth century?
4. What are some of the concerns about oil tankers traveling the BC coast?
5. Describe what happened when the Exxon Valdez ran aground on a rocky Alaskan reef.
6. How did the oil tanker’s accident affect the humans who lived in the area?
7. What products can you think of that are made from oil?
Nonfiction • Text2Reader September 2012 17

18. Exercise 2C: Asking Questions—Industrial Environmental Disasters
In All Good Children, Max likes to watch a reality show called Freakshow, where
disfigured contestants square off in an MMA-style smackdown. He’s got his money
on Zipperhead, a 22-year-old with scars from a long-ago surgery that separated
him from a conjoined twin. Here’s a little clip from the book:
Two of this season’s contestants are from New Mexico. That’s a rarity. Usually
everyone is from Freaktown. I can’t remember the real name of the place—
it’s been called Freaktown all my life. It was christened twenty-five years ago
when two transport tankers spilled untested agricultural chemicals on the
banks of the Saint Lawrence River. No one cared much until the birth defects
showed up: conjoined twins, spinal abnormalities, missing limbs, extra
limbs, enlarged brains, external intestines, missing genitals, extra organs.
When the same defects appeared in the babies of agricultural workers all
over the country, the poisons were taken off the market and the shoreline
was cleaned up.
It came too late. Even today, one in three babies born in Freaktown has
deformities. Nobody visits the city anymore. Strangely enough, nobody ever
leaves the place either.
Freaktown’s a fictional place, of course. But similar tragedies have occurred on smaller scales in our real-life
world. You’ve read about the Exxon Valdez and the explosion of BP’s oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. What
other environmental catastrophes have you heard about? Jot a list on the lines below.
Head to www.text2reader.com for links to a few more human-caused environmental disasters throughout
history. Read these in preparation for the next section.
Join up with a partner or small group. Use Asking Good Questions on the next page to help you develop a
list of questions about industrial environmental disasters and their consequences for humans, animals and
the environment. Use these questions as a springboard to a deeper discussion with your whole class.
Text Tip: Asking questions helps you learn better. Health care research shows that teaching
people to develop good questions helps them take better care of their bodies by getting them
involved in the way health care is provided to them. Similarly, good questioning helps to develop
students’ ability to brainstorm, prioritize and reflect. In other words, asking questions makes you
smarter!
18 www.text2reader.com

19. Asking Good Questions
Think about some of the questions that came up as you read the websites on industrial disasters. But before
you grab your laptop and partner…did you know there are actually techniques for developing good
questions?
1. Your first step is to engage in a question free-for-all, similar to a brainstorming session. The rules are as
follows:
• Ask as many questions as you can.
• Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer any of the questions.
• Write down every question exactly as it was stated.
• Change any statements into questions.
2. Now, to get at the really interesting conversations, you want to be asking open-ended questions. Work
with your group to improve your questions. Toss out the closed-ended questions and keep the ones that will
deepen the discussion.
Text Tip: An open-ended question can’t be answered with a yes or no, or with a short,
tidy answer. Things like “Do industrial disasters have a negative impact on the surrounding
environment?” are called closed-ended questions. Broaden it out a bit.
3. Choose the three questions you most want to explore further. Write them in the spaces below.
4. Reflect on this task. How is asking questions about a topic different than doing research on that topic? What
do you like about it?
(With thanks to the Department of Education at Harvard)
Nonfiction • Text2Reader September 2012 19

20. 3. graphic novel
This graphic novel excerpt is from On the Turn by Jay Odjick (Healthy Aboriginal
Network, 2007). In On the Turn, Brianna finds herself falling in with a crowd of gamblers
at her new school. Before long, she’s winning—and losing—big. She’s hooked. And she’s
having trouble finding enough cash to feed her gambling habit. When Brianna gets caught
stealing from her little sister, she is forced to face her problem. In this segment, Brianna’s
family has moved to a new community—which means the kids have to start all over again
at new schools.
Exercise 3A: Making Meaning—Reading the Graphic Novel
Before You Read
Graphic novels use words and pictures to tell a story, right? But there’s so much more to it than that. Here are
some tips to get the most out of your graphic novel experience:
1. The pages of a graphic novel are broken up into panels. Each panel provides pictures, and often words, that
move the story along.
2. The panels are read in sequence, from left to right—just like you read a regular book. (Got manga? Then
read from the back of the book to the front—and from right to left!)
3. Graphic novels aren’t just comics. They tell a full story, with a setting, plot and characters that develop as
you go along.
4. Pictures in graphic novels often tell us more about the story than a regular film can. Sometimes they even
unmask the meaning of the words. The expressions on the characters’ faces, their body positions and the
sound effects all add to the words to make the story richer. (BAM! Did that get your attention? Since graphic
novels are a silent medium, all noise has to be created visually.)
5. Much of the story is told in dialogue through speech and thought bubbles. Each bubble has a tail, to show
you who’s talking. To figure out the order of who’s saying what, read the speech bubbles from the top of the
panel toward the bottom.
6. When the author needs to add a character’s inner speech, or extra information to help the story, he or she
uses a caption.
Captions are in boxes, and they can
be inside or outside the panel.
7. Sometimes words are bigger or darker or different in the captions or speech bubbles. This shows how
they should be read (i.e., with an icy tone, in a frightened tone, etc.)
20 www.text2reader.com

21. Graphic Novel • Text2Reader September 2012 21

22. 22 www.text2reader.com

23. Graphic Novel • Text2Reader September 2012 23

24. After Reading
With a partner or in a small group, work your way through the following questions. Jot your answers in the
space below the questions, and share them with the class afterward.
1. The story leads off with two captions. How do these captions help us as readers?
2. Explain how the author/illustrator creates sound effects in the fourth panel.
3. Look at Brianna in the fifth panel. How would you describe her emotions? How do you know?
4. How can we tell how Brianna is feeling in the seventh panel? Explain.
5. In the panel where Brianna and her sister are in bed, what can you tell about the way Kerri speaks her first
word? What technique did the author/illustrator use?
6. How does the way you read the graphic novel excerpt differ from how you read the fiction and nonfiction
passages? Which type of text took longer to read? Why do you think that is? Which seemed to be the easiest?
Do you change your reading speed according to how complex the information is?
24 www.text2reader.com

25. 4. DIGITAL NATION
PEOPLE, TECH, NEWS
If you’ve used Google Docs, uploaded videos to YouTube or signed up for a Hotmail
account, congratulations: your head is firmly in the cloud. This month, Digital Nation
takes a good, long gander at cloud computing: what it is, who’s using it…and where does
all that information go?
The Cloud,
Condensed
It used to be that you stored your songs on a CD or drive or other storage device in your home—like,
an mp3 player. Now you can access your playlists say, a USB stick or an external hard drive—you
with your SmartPhone. You used to have to print off save it to a remote database. These storage systems
photos or attach them to emails to share them with are called servers and are maintained by third
other people. Now you can upload them to Face- parties. When you’re ready to retrieve your infor-
book or Picasa. Back in the day, if you were work- mation, the server sends it back to you (or lets you
ing on a group project, everyone would make their change files on the server itself) through a Web-
changes to the hard copy, which required a lot of based interface.
passing paper back and forth and merging multiple No matter what kind of data it stores, every
changes to the same document. Not anymore: we’ve cloud provider needs to house all of its equipment
got Google Docs. somewhere. Some storage systems are small and
Nowadays our information exchanges are don’t take up a lot of space. Others are huge and
instantaneous, thanks to the cloud. can fill warehouses. These data centers are scat-
tered all over the world, from Boston to Bombay
What is the cloud, anyway? and beyond.
The cloud is the Internet itself. And while cloud It would be pretty crazy to store all of your
computing isn’t exactly new (Flickr and Yahoo Mail important information on just one server, though,
have been around for years), we’re hearing a lot right? For this reason, cloud providers make sure
more about it now, in part because of the popularity your information is recorded onto many comput-
of websites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. ers. This is called building in redundancy. Most
In cloud computing, you send your files through providers will also have servers connected to
the Internet to a storage system outside your com- different power supplies. So if Toronto suffers a
puter—often even outside your country. So instead blackout, Berlin’s servers will likely still be work-
of storing information to your computer’s hard ing, meaning your information won’t be lost.
Digital Nation • Text2Reader September 2012 25

26. Some cloud providers, like Google Docs, offer But wait. Is that a thundercloud I see?
their services for free. Others, like Dropbox, let Nothing’s perfect, and cloud computing is no
you have a certain amount of storage space for free, exception. Some people worry that with all the
and then if you fill that up you can buy more. redundancy and access to information in the cloud,
we might lose privacy. For example, what happens
when Company X stores its data in the cloud…and
Ireland: Not just
then goes out of business? Who owns that data?
potatoes anymore
Can the cloud provider delete the business’s files
Ireland has popped up as
from its servers to free up space?
a really good place to stick
Concerns about privacy might not be a big deal
data centers. It’s ideally
for regular people whose biggest secrets are who
located between Europe
they’re crushing on and how much they dislike it
and North America, and
when their BFF talks with her mouth full, but what
its naturally cool climate
about governments and health care providers?
offers a more sensible way
How do police departments work together to catch
to cool hot equipment than
criminals if the criminals can track their manhunts
using air-conditioning.
in the cloud?
Other risks posed by cloud computing: hackers
can pull information off of data center servers, or
worse yet, break in and take the servers themselves.
The Only Cloud People Actually Love It’s also possible that a cloud company could go
out of business and leave millions of people with-
Cloud services tend to be subscription-based,
out access to their information. And some people
where you pay for what you use, or you buy
worry that because not every country has the same
a certain amount of time to access the pro-
kinds of privacy and security laws, the security of
gram. Either way, it’s cheaper than buying
your data could be compromised.
expensive software to run the programs you
want.
Businesses love cloud computing because The Silver Lining
For the most part, doing business in the cloud
they no longer need a big IT department to
is pretty safe. First of all, users of any program are
fix software bugs, maintain programs or keep
supposed to read the End User Licensing Agree-
track of software licenses; that’s all done by
ment (EULA) before they click “accept”. (You do
the people who operate the cloud service.
do that, don’t you?) Cloud storage companies are
Another reason people love the cloud is be-
careful to protect your data through encryption.
cause it offers limitless storage. You don’t
Requiring users to log in using a password and
have to worry about losing your CDs or data
user ID also increases security, and ensures no one
ports. Backups and saving are frequent.
else can access your files.
You can access your information from any-
Reliable, convenient, cheap and accessible from
where in the world, on any computer, just by
anywhere in the world, the cloud makes informa-
logging into the program you’re using. And
tion storage and exchange easier than ever before.
with cloud computing, multiple users can ac-
cess the same documents, meaning you can
collaborate efficiently with WAY less paper.
26 www.text2reader.com

27. Exercise 4A: Looking for Answers
Answer the following questions using complete sentences.
1. Explain what cloud computing is in your own words.
2. Where do cloud providers keep the equipment required to provide their services?
3. Explain the measures cloud providers have taken to keep users’ information safe.
4. What are the advantages of cloud computing?
5. Explain some of the possible downsides of cloud computing.
6. As you see it, how has cloud computing changed the world for the better?
7. How have you used cloud computing in your own life?
Digital Nation • Text2Reader September 2012 27

28. Exercise 4A: Looking for Answers
Choose the best response for each question about the passage.
1. Before cloud computing, information was:
a. shared instantaneously and efficiently
b. saved onto hard drives and external storage devices
c. the IT department’s problem
d. at risk of being lost
e. b and d
2. In cloud computing, files are sent through:
a. servers
b. data centers
c. cloud providers
d. the Internet
e. third parties
3. Data centers are:
a. where a provider’s physical equipment is located
b. where cloud companies work
c. located around the world
d. a, b and c
e. a and c only
4. Cloud providers back up users’ data in a process called:
a. data centers
b. redundancy
c. an interface
d. subscription
5. Among the advantages of cloud computing are that:
a. it’s cheaper than buying software
b. maintenance and repairs are done by the cloud provider
c. storage is unlimited
d. all of the above
e. a and c only
6. Some people worry that:
a. every country has the same kinds of privacy and security laws
b. hackers will encrypt users’ data
c. cloud computing puts our privacy at risk
d. power outages will jeopardize data
28 www.text2reader.com

29. Exercise 4B: Words in Text
In this exercise, you’ve got choice. Select one of the following options to
help you explore some of the new terminology from this month’s Digital
Nation article.
Option A: Explore a single term using the Frayer Model
1. Working with a partner, choose one of the following terms from “The Cloud, Condensed”:
interface redundancy collaborate compromise
2. Use the Frayer model on the next page to organize information about this term. Write your chosen term
in the center of the Frayer model. In the appropriate spaces, record:
• a definition of the term (use a dictionary or a website like VisuWords.com if you like)
• facts about the term (from the article and from what you already know)
• examples of where or how this term would be used
• non-examples (you can use antonyms if you like)
Option B: Create a glossary of terms
1. Select six of the bolded terms from “The Cloud, Condensed”.
2. Using a print or digital dictionary, locate the definition for three of these words.
3. Write the definition for each word.
4. Use each word in a sentence of your own creation.
5. For the remaining three terms, define each of them in context. (That means using the words, sentences
and other information that surround a given word to figure out what it means.)
6. Use each term in a sentence of your own creation.
Digital Nation • Text2Reader September 2012 29

30. Frayer Model
Definition in your own words Facts/characteristics
30 www.text2reader.com
Term
Examples Non-examples

31. 5. readers theater
On the Turn,
by Jay Odjick
On the following pages you’ll find the Readers Theater script for this issue. Want more? Go to
www.text2reader.com for additional Readers Theater scripts.
When you’re doing Readers Theater, it’s important to remember that it’s a reading exercise. You’re not
expected to memorize your lines! Take plenty of time to rehearse. Use vivid intonation and
gestures to liven up your part. Props? Costumes? Up to you.
Read through the scoring rubric below. This will help you figure out how you’ll be marked. But
even more importantly, it’ll give you tips on how to create the most powerful Readers Theater
performance you can.
Assessment Rubric: Readers Theater
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
(Approaching) (Meeting) (Exceeding)
VOLUME Speaks too softly (or Usually speaks loudly Consistently speaks
too loudly) for enough for audience to loudly enough for
audience to hear hear audience to hear
CLARITY Many words pro- Most words are pro- Words are pronounced
nounced incorrectly, nounced correctly and correctly and are easily
too fast or slow; are easily understood understood
mumbling
READS WITH Reads with little or no Usually reads with Consistently reads with
EXPRESSION expression appropriate expression appropriate expression
READS IN TURN Rarely takes turns on a Takes turns accurately Takes turns accurately
consistent basis on a somewhat consis- on a consistent basis
tent basis
COOPERATES Difficulty in working Sometimes works well Consistently works well
WITH GROUP with others with others with others
Readers Theater • Text2Reader September 2012 31

32. Exercise 5A: Readers Theater
“On the Turn”
The following scene is adapted from On the Turn by Jay Odjick (Healthy Aboriginal
Network, 2007).
Cast of Characters (in order of appearance):
Narrator
Mom: Brianna’s mom
Brianna: an aboriginal teen who’s irritated about having to move to a new
community; she falls in with a group of kids at school who like to gamble
Kristy: an Ojibway girl who befriends Brianna
Gwen: a friend of Kristy
Megan: a friend of Kristy
Gamblers #1, 2 and 3: students
Reese: a guy at school who runs poker games
Scene Summary
Brianna’s family has just moved. She and her little sister are both starting at new schools this year. Brianna
feels anxious about starting over with in an entirely new group of people. When Brianna bumps into Kristy,
she meets her first friend at school. Unfortunately, Kristy and her pals get their kicks from gambling—and
before long, Brianna finds she wants in on the action.
Mom: So? You guys excited to start at your new schools on Monday?
Brianna: [sarcastically] Yeah. Stoked.
Mom: What’s the problem, Brianna?
Brianna: Are you kidding me? Where do I start? How about us moving to a dump where
I don’t know anybody? Or having to share a room with my little sister?
Mom: We’ve been over this already. It’s not just YOU. We all have to do our part.
32 www.text2reader.com

33. Brianna: I’ve heard about enough of this. It’s always the same thing. I’m going to my
room. [laughs bitterly] Sorry. I meant OUR room.
Narrator: Brianna loved her little sister, but she felt frustrated at having to uproot her life
and leave her old community. For little Kerri, it was an adventure. But for
Brianna, it meant having to start all over again. She’d find out soon enough how
easy it was to settle in: she was about to start at her new school the next day.
Brianna: [bumping into Kristy] Oof.
Kristy: Hey! Watch it!
Brianna: S-s-sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.
Kristy: It’s okay. Hey, you aboriginal?
Brianna: Yeah, Algonquin.
Kristy: Cool! Me too! Ojibway. I’m Kristy. This is Gwen, and this is Megan.
Gwen Hey.
& Megan:
Brianna: Hey. Name’s Brianna.
Kristy: Sucks being the new kid, huh?
Brianna: [looking around] Totally.
Kristy: You a senior?
Brianna: Yeah. One more year, thank god. [nodding at Kristy’s iPod] Hey, cool iPod.
What size is it?
Kristy: Four gig.
Brianna: Nice!
Kristy: What size is yours?
Brianna: I, uh, I don’t have one.
Readers Theater • Text2Reader September 2012 33

34. Kristy, Gwen You don’t have one??
& Megan:
Brianna: [defensively] Hey, I don’t have a rich family, okay?
Gwen: Well, neither do any of us.
Brianna: Well, I just assumed, judging from your nice clothes and stuff.
Kristy: Nah. I bought this myself.
Brianna: How can you afford stuff like that?
Kristy: I won a big pot.
Brianna: A big pot?
Kristy: Yeah. A big pot. Let’s hook up at lunch time. We’ll show you.
Narrator: At lunch time, Kristy, Megan and Gwen caught up with Brianna at her locker.
Kristy, Gwen Hey, Brianna!
& Megan:
Kristy: You got any money?
Brianna: A little. It’s for my lunch.
Kristy: Oh. Well…come on, the game will be starting soon.
Narrator: The girls walk outside. Groups of people crowd around a couple of picnic tables
where a game of cards is being played.
Brianna: What’s going on?
Kristy: They’re playing hold ’em.
Brianna: Hold ’em?
Kristy: Texas hold ’em. Poker! C’mon! I want to get in on one.
Narrator: As the girls approach the tables, they can hear the players talking to one
another.
34 www.text2reader.com

35. Gambler #1: Ten of diamonds on the turn.
Narrator: Kristy introduces Brianna to Reese, one of the guys who runs the poker games.
Reese: Well, well. Here to lose a little cash, Kristy?
Kristy: Not today, Reese. I’m feelin’ it.
Reese: Deal you in on the next round.
Kristy: Cool.
Reese: Who’s your girl?
Kristy: This is Brianna. She’s cool.
Reese: [to Brianna] ’Sup?
Brianna: Hi. [turning and whispering to Kristy] How much money is that on the table?
Kristy: About seventy-five bucks.
Gambler #1: Raise it five.
Brianna: Seventy-five dollars?!
Kristy: That’s nothing. I’ve seen some pots at two fifty, even three hundred.
Reese: I see your five and raise you twenty.
Gambler #1: [sighing] I fold.
Gambler #2: [irritated] I fold.
Gambler #3: [throwing cards down] Damn. I’m out.
Reese: [laughing and collecting the cash] Now that’s what I’m talkin ’bout, son!
Kristy: OK, now deal me in.
Narrator: After the game, Kristy and Brianna walk back to class.
Readers Theater • Text2Reader September 2012 35

36. Brianna: How much did you lose?
Kristy: [shrugging] Only about forty bucks. Stupid Reese. I beat him a few times,
but he rarely loses.
Brianna: Do you always lose so much?
Kristy: Sometimes more, but it all evens out in the end anyway. You gonna try it?
Brianna: I don’t know how to play.
Kristy: [giving Bri a playful push] I can show you at my place. It’s easy.
36 www.text2reader.com

37. Exercise 5B: Write It Down—Getting into Character
From reading the script for “On the Turn”, you know that gambling is
only one possible problem that can undermine the integrity of young
people at school. In this exercise, you’re going to think critically about
some of the other “pitfalls” of sharing the high school experience with
a group of same-aged peers.
1. With a partner or in a small group, brainstorm a few issues that face teens at school today. Examples would
be falling into a group that’s stealing or doing drugs. But as you well know, there are plenty more!
2. Choose one of these issues.
3. Engage in a quick role play where you and your partner(s) assume different characters. At least one of the
characters is facing a problem related to your chosen issue (for example, your main character is at a party
and is being pressured into joining a drinking game). Flip the script and do another role play where your
character behaves differently. Do it again. This helps you to get a feel for the issue and for the different ways a
person might react when faced with a problem.
4. Write a script around one character that shows how this issue affects him or her. Make it real, like what
would happen in your world.
As you write your script, keep in mind the following:
• it should have three or four parts so there can be engaging dialogue between the characters
that shows how the problem develops
• your main character’s problem should be apparent to the audience so they’re not left guessing
what the issue is
• every line of dialogue should push the plot of the story further ahead, build suspense, or
develop your characters’ personalities
• your main character should be presented with the problem and try to find a solution. You
don’t necessarily have to solve the problem by the time the script ends (for example, you may
choose a cliffhanger ending instead that leaves the audience wondering what s/he’ll do)
• your script should be at least two pages in length
• use staging instructions so readers know what kinds of voices and expressions to use
• consult the rubric on the following page to guide you
Readers Theater • Text2Reader September 2012 37

38. Scriptwriting Rubric
ASPECT NOT YET MEETS FULLY MEETS EXCEEDS
APPROACHING EXPECTATIONS EXPECTATIONS EXPECTATIONS
EXPECTATIONS (MINIMAL LEVEL)
STORY • problem is simple or • problem is realistic • problem is evident and • problem is well developed
38 www.text2reader.com
DEVELOMENT unrealistic • storyline is predictable well developed and thoroughly explored by
• development of the • series of events without • series of related events; • storyline is engaging and characters
problem problem or resolution focus may wander; ending somewhat unpredictable • believable events, but often
• general flow of the story • often loses focus; ends weak • events develop logically unpredictable; ending may
abruptly to a believable ending have a twist or cliffhanger
CHARACTER SPEECH • simple language; may be • conversational language, • language is varied; clear • language is varied; the
• clarity, variety and inappropriate or confusing with some variety; may feeling that these words are sense of true conversation is
impact of language in places seem stiff or inauthentic at being spoken evident
• clear sense of the • character dialogue is non- times • dialogue creates forward • dialogue drives the story
spoken word sensical or fails to drive • character dialogue is momentum, with each part forward, engaging readers
story forward evident and conveys the adding information or with revelations that help
story emotion to the scene to build out the scene and
problem
FORM & STYLE • little sense of audience • some sense of audience • sense of audience • clear awareness of
• sense of audience • script is too short or long • script is too short or long • script is two to three pages audience
• length of script • staging instructions are • staging instructions are in length • script is two to four pages in
• staging instructions absent simplistic and do not add • staging instructions are length
to the scene appropriate and add • staging instructions develop
texture to the scene and enhance the scene and
the characters’ interactions

39. Want to know more about the topics
covered in this issue of Text2Reader?
Here’s a list of resources related to what we covered in this issue of Text2Reader. Visit the T2R website for
even more Web links.
Fiction
Bobet, Leah. Above. Arthur A. Levine, 2012.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic, 2008.
Gee, Maurice. Salt. Orca Book Publishers, 2009.
Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Bantam Books, 1993.
Nonfiction
Burns, Loree Griffin. Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam & The Science of Ocean Motion. Thomas Allen, 2010.
Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth. Rodale Books, 2006.
Hirshfield, Lynn. Girls Gone Green. Puffin, 2010.
Sivertsen, Linda. Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life. Simon Pulse,
2008.
Suzuki, David and Kathy Vanderlinden. Eco-Fun: Great Experiments, Projects and Games for a Greener
Earth. Greystone Books, 2001.
Film
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Stepford Wives
Fuel (environmental documentary)
Web
Gambling Addictions
http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/problems/gambling.html
Teen Ink Environmental Resources
www.teenink.com/Resources/EnvironR.php
Text2Reader September 2012 39

40. Answer Key for Exercise 1A: As You See It—Reflecting on the Text
1. Max means that it’s ironic for his city to boast about being environmentally sound when the city planners chopped down
the forest in order to build it. His comment hints that this way of thinking isn’t uncommon in New Middletown.
2. Look for answers that include some relation to the word “middle”—that it’s mediocre, average, middle-of-the-road—and
the word “new,” meaning it’s a fresh start or way of paving over the mistakes of the past.
3. Answers will vary according to student opinion. Look for solid reasoning behind either stance. Individual freedom is
important for self-expression and exercising our human rights; security is valuable in an uncertain world, to protect us
against forces of evil, disaster or economic hardship.
4. The rule that people must have a home and a job to live in New Middletown helps to keep the city orderly. There would
be no homeless people and no unemployment. The streets would likely be somewhat safer and cleaner. The citizens wouldn’t
have to deal with guilt as they go about their business with hungry people on the streets. There are really no drawbacks to
this kind of rule for the residents themselves, although it would likely intensify competition both inside and outside the city.
For the people who are shut out of the city, their opportunities are limited drastically by being denied convenient access to
potential job markets. Gaining a footing is even harder, as any job an outsider acquired would require a longer commute until
s/he was able to find a home inside the city.
5. Access to the arts implies support for free thinking. The arts help us develop our creativity, exercise our freedom of self-
expression and often cause us to challenge the status quo. The administration of the city would likely feel that allowing its
residents to enjoy music, theater and art would jeopardize its control of citizens’ behavior.
6. Max attends an “academic” school where he is being specifically trained for one job upon graduation. In contrast, while
many of our current schools are academic in nature, others are vocational. More commonly, both are integrated within the
same school facility. No one is required to choose their course of study in elementary school, and we graduate with a wealth
of choice and options ahead of us. We are not locked into any one career.
Answer Key for Exercise 2B: Looking for Answers
1. The first North American oil well was drilled in 1858.
2. The whaling industry declined as the price of petroleum-based oil became cheaper. Supply and demand was at work: as
kerosene became more prevalent and cheaper, the demand for whale oil fell and the whaling fleets were forced to pull up
anchor.
3. In the mid-1880s, Karl Benz and Wilhelm Daimler invented the internal combustion engine, which breathed new life into
the fossil fuel business.
4. BC’s coastal waterways are narrow, and oil tankers are not immune to crashes. Fragile ecosystems are at risk in the event
of an oil spill.
5. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground, it gushed out enough oil to fill 125 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Thousands of
animals suffered and died as a result.
6. The oil contaminated the fish and shellfish that were harvested in the area. People didn’t want to buy contaminated sea-
food, so the canneries and processing plants shut down and people lost their jobs. The First Nations couldn’t eat the fish and
animals they depended on for food, either.
7. Answers vary (there are dozens, and students can find them using the link provided), but can include: plastics, furnishings,
clothing, shoes, jewelry, pens, computers, backpacks, yarn, baby lotion, etc.
40 www.text2reader.com

41. Answer Keys for Exercise 4A: Looking for Answers
Short Answer
1. Cloud computing uses Web-based programs to manipulate and store data. Information is sent through the Internet to a
remote storage location provided by a cloud company, and can be accessed and changed at the user’s convenience.
2. Data centers. These are located in different areas all around the world. Data centers can be quite small or very large.
3. Cloud providers back up data on many servers (redundancy), and they make sure their servers aren’t all running on the
same electrical grid. Data is encrypted to discourage hackers. Users must log in with a username and password—and they’re
supposed to read the End User Licensing Agreement so they know what they’re signing up for.
4. Cloud computing is cheaper than buying software; it makes data transfer instantaneous; many people can collaborate on
one document at the same time; storage is limitless; and cloud providers do all the maintenance and repairs for the programs.
5. Cloud computing could put our privacy at risk; there are concerns about what happens to information when no one on
“the outside” seems to want to take responsibility for it; servers can be hacked or stolen.
6. Answers will vary.
7. Answers will vary.
Multiple Choice
1. e 2. d 3. e 4. b 5. d 6. c
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