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ELA Readings in Hudson River Natural History

Educator Lesson Plan

Students will practice English language arts skills by listening to or reading and then responding to short essays about Hudson River nature, science, and history.

Objectives:

Students will respond to essays in ways that require:

  • reading, listening, and writing for information and understanding.
  • understanding scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment.

Grade level:

Elementary (Grades 3-5)

Subject Areas:

English Language Arts, Science

Standards:

English Language Arts Standard 1

Mathematics, Science, & Technology Standard 4

Skills:

  • Read and listen to acquire facts and ideas from texts.
  • Gather and organize information about organisms and environmental phenomena.
  • Write to interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Vocabulary:

anadromous, brackish, canal, course (of a river), estuary, gills, lock (in a canal), migration, molt, mussel, pier, spawn, tides

Duration:

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Activity time: 20-40 minutes per reading

Materials:

Each student should have:

Background:

Development of English language arts skills is essential to successful learning. The readings in this collection allow teachers to integrate instruction in reading and writing with study of the Hudson River. The subjects of the readings relate to organisms, events, and phenomena addressed in other lesson plans included in the Hudson River Estuary Program's curriculum offerings. For example, the reading "The Atlantic Sturgeon of the Hudson River" may be assigned to students who are also working on the math skills lesson "On the Trail of the Hudson's Migratory Fish."

Activity:

Introduce the topic covered in the reading. The essays can be read aloud to the class to practice listening skills or assigned as student reading, either in class or as homework. The questions associated with each reading may likewise be covered with the class, or given out as in-class work or homework.

Assessment:

  • Assess comprehension by having students share answers to questions about readings, or collect and grade sheets.
  • Make up additional questions about content of readings.

Answers:

The Atlantic Sturgeon of the Hudson River

1. b. a fish called the Atlantic sturgeon

2. c. a fish that migrates between fresh water and the ocean

3. c. fish lay eggs

4. a. True; b. False; c. False; d. True

Bald Eagles of the Hudson River

1. b. the bald eagle

2. c. to move from one place to another

3. 10 days

4. Ice prevents eagles from catching fish.

From the Mountains to the Sea

1. c. the course of the Hudson River

2. b. a place where freshwater and saltwater mix

3. a. from an explorer

4. b. the Adirondack Mountains

5. No waterfalls. The Hudson is at sea level from Troy to the Atlantic; tides go all the way to the Troy dam.

6. The river became fresh. Rapids and waterfalls blocked Hudson's ship.

The Eel's Incredible Journey

1. b. the life cycle of the American eel.

2. c. migrate to the Sargasso Sea to spawn.

3. a. that is where the smallest baby eels are found.

4. a. False; b. True; c. True; d. False

Blue Claw!

1. 10 legs.

2. d. all of the above.

3. a. catching food and defending itself

4. a. true; b. true; c. false.

Resources:

Children's books that cover the Hudson and related topics.

  • Locker, Thomas. Where the River Begins. Puffin Books, New York: 1993. Ages 4-8
  • Lourie, Peter. Hudson River: An Adventure From the Mountains to the Sea. Boyds Mill Press, Honesdale, Pennsylvania: 1998. Ages 9-12.
  • McKinney, Barbara. A Drop Around the World. Dawn Publications, Nevada City, California: 1998. Ages 4-8.
  • Wallace, Karen. Think of an Eel. Candlewick Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts: 2004. Ages 4-8.
  • Whitcraft, Melissa. The Hudson River. Franklin Watts, a Division of Grolier Publishing, New York: 1999. Ages 9-12.