Fifth graders learn how to track a hurricane after reading A Storm Called Katrina. We discussed Louis Armstrong and listened to his cornet skills. I showed them some elephant ear plants and we discussed why we are reading this story now and not in January. We talked about coordinates and mapped out Katrina’s path. The author’s use of imagery and foreshadowing was the reading focus of the lesson. We discussed what a levee is and showed photos of a levee break. The kids turned and talked with each other at their tables about the one thing they would grab if their home was about to flood. The author is very good at making the reader empathize with Louis and his family. You could tell the kids were really thinking about what the people in Louisiana had to endure and the resilience of the parishes rebuilding after every disaster.

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Hurricane Tracking