Page 165 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade6_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 2.16
Traveling with Charley: Literary Nonfiction
LearNING STraTeGIeS:
Chunking, Diffusing, Visualizing
my Notes
Introducing the Strategy: Diffusing
With this strategy, you use context clues to help find the meaning of unknown words. When diffusing, underline words that are unfamiliar. Think of two possible substitutions (synonyms), and confirm your definition. You can confirm your definition by checking reference sources such as a dictionary or a thesaurus.
Literary Terms
Nonfiction text is writing that is based on facts and actual events. In contrast, fiction
is writing that consists of imagined events.
Imagery refers to the descriptive or figurative language used to create word pictures.
About the Author
John Steinbeck (1902—1968) was born in California. He wrote several novels and short stories but is best known for The Grapes of Wrath. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. In the fall of 1960, Steinbeck decided that he had lost touch with America. He outfitted a three-quarter-ton pickup truck with a camper shell and set off from his home in New York with his French poodle, Charley, to drive cross-country. The idea was that he would travel alone, stay at campgrounds, and reconnect with the country by talking to the locals he met along the way. Steinbeck’s account of his journey, Travels with Charley: In Search of America, became a bestseller and classic of American travel writing.
Learning Targets
• Analyze the genre of literary nonfiction and summarize key ideas.
• Find textual evidence to support my analysis of a text.
Your teacher will model how to diffuse a text, starting with the first chunk of
the excerpt from Travels with Charley. In a small group, use context clues and dictionaries to diffuse the text of an additional chunk. Finally, meet with students who diffused the other chunks in order to share your notes and diffuse the rest of the text.
Preview
In this activity, you will read an example of literary nonfiction and write an analysis of the text.
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• Travels with Charley is a nonfiction story. As you read, mark the text by highlighting passages with strong imagery and description that you can picture in your head.
138 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 6
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.