LESSON 9 TEACHER’S GUIDE
The River Kept Rising
by Valerie Ross
Fountas-Pinnell Level T
Historical Fiction
Selection Summary
In early 1927, the Mississippi River broke its levees in many places
and flooded surrounding areas. In Greenville, Mississippi, two boys
become heroes as the rising waters threaten all those around them.
Number of Words: 2,707
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Historical fiction
• Third-person continuous narrative
• Life on the Mississippi River
• Preparing for a disaster
• Helping others
• It is important to prepare for impending disasters.
• During an emergency, people should help one another.
• Having hope during a time of crisis is sometimes necessary for survival.
• Setting distant from reader’s own experiences
• Suspenseful descriptions about dangerous events
• Detailed episodes of man against nature
• A mix of short and complex sentences
• Multiple items in series
• Dashes and exclamations
• Many river-related terms: waterways, levees, breaches, floodwaters, delta.
• Many multisyllable words, some of them challenging, such as anguished, prominent,
saturated, and frantically
• Historical-looking drawings support the text.
• Seventeen pages of text with illustrations on most pages.
• Foreword explains setting of the story.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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The River Kept Rising
by Valerie Ross
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of flooding to visualize the story. Build interest by
asking questions such as the following: What do you know about floods? What kinds
of destruction can happen if a large river overflows its bounds? Read the title and author
and talk about the cover illustration. Tell students that this story is historical fiction, so
the while the story isn’t true, details in the story are based on real events that happened
in history.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that this is a story about two brothers who help their town during
a flood on the Mississippi River. Suggested language: Turn to page 2 of this
book. The foreword in a book provides background information. Find the phrase
Mississippi Delta. The delta refers to the large land area near where the Mississippi
River empties into the ocean at the Gulf of Mexico. Look at the last line on the
page. This story is a fictional account of two brothers from Greenville who lived
through the Great Flood of 1927. This sentence tells that the flood of 1927 really
happened, but that the story itself is not real.
Page 4: Read the sentence: The hundreds of men trying to save the levee created
quite a din, but even all that commotion could not drown out the rush and roar of
the river. Ask: What might be an example of the commotion? What details in this
sentence tell you this is a serious situation?
Page 6: Have students look at the picture on the page. Explain that the boys’ father
wanted their boat secured to the back porch in case they needed it. What did the
boys’ father want them to do with the boat?
Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to find out how the boys
were able to help their town during a disaster.
Target Vocabulary
annoyance – something that is
irritating, p. 6
commotion – a lot of noise and
confusion, p. 4
bundle – dress or wrap someone
warmly, p. 11
critical – of great importance,
p. 12
clammy – cold, sticky, and moist,
p. 11
demolished – completely
destroyed, p. 9
elite – a group of individuals who
are the best at what they do,
p. 12
realization – a sudden
awareness, p. 17
secured – held down tightly, p. 6
squalling – loud crying, p. 11
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Infer/Predict Strategy
and to use text clues
to figure out what the author means or what might happen in the future.
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the story.
Suggested language: Why was it important that the boys remained calm as they tried to
rescue people from the flood?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Jimmy and Jess helped their
family prepare for the rising
flood waters.
• It is necessary to be prepared for
impending disasters.
• The clothing and scenery in
the illustrations help the reader
visualize the time period.
• After the levees broke, Jimmy
and Jess worked together to help
save others.
• Even after Jimmy’s dog fell in the
water, he didn’t give up hope that
the dog would be found.
• During an emergency, it is
important for people to help one
another.
• Having hope during a time of
crisis is sometimes necessary
for survival.
• The foreword gives historical
background and helps the reader
understand when the story takes
place.
• The author includes many details
about what happens during a
flood to make the story more
realistic.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the story to act out for a readers’
theater. Remind them to pay attention to punctuation, and to stress certain words to
sound as if the people were really speaking and reacting to an emergency situation.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Remind students that words can be made of prefixes and
suffixes attached to a root word. Give some examples of multisyllabic words from the
text and point out their word parts. For example, submerged (p. 12) has a prefix sub-,
(meaning under) and a suffix, -ed (meaning in the past). Ask students to look at the
vocabulary words and separate any prefixes and suffixes from their root words.
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 9.8.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s
Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding
of the comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Conclusions and Generalizations
Remind students that they can draw
conclusions about a character or situation by looking for key details in a story. Model how
to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
The details of a story can help with drawing conclusions about it. The
boys rescued a baby and helped a family off the roof of their house. Add
these details to the organizer. They support the conclusion that the boys
were brave and helpful in a time of need.
Practice the Skill
Have students share an example of another story in which they drew a conclusion or
made a generalization about a character.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.
Assessment Prompts
• On page 8, why do the hundreds of frightened people gathered at the levee
carry bundles?
• What is the meaning of clambered on page 15?
• This story was most likely written to
________________________________________________________________.
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair advanced and intermediate readers to read aloud a few
paragraphs of the story. Remind them that after the levee breaks, Jimmy and Jess work to
save others in danger.
Idioms The story includes many idioms that might be unfamiliar. Explain the meaning of
expressions such as sinking in (page 17) and in a flash (page 14).
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: What river flooded in 1927?
Speaker 1: How did people try to keep
the floodwaters out of the town?
Speaker 1: Why does Jimmy and
Jess’s mom call them heroes?
Speaker 2: They stacked sandbags along
the levees.
Speaker 2: She calls them heroes
because they saved many people
from the rising floodwaters.
Speaker 2: the Mississippi River
Speaker 1: Who helped people?
Speaker 2: Jimmy and Jess
Speaker 1: How did the boys get
around?
Speaker 2: in a boat
Speaker 1: Why was Jimmy and Jess’s
house spared from the flood?
Speaker 2: The house was on high
ground.
Lesson 9
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
Responding
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.8
The River Kept Rising
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text How would the Travers family know if a
Conclusions and
Generalizations Think about what Jess and
Jimmy did after the Mississippi River flooded. What
conclusion can you draw about the brothers? Copy
and complete the chart below.
TARGET SKILL
levee breached near them?
A fire whistle would blow.
2. Think within the text How did Jimmy and Jess rescue the mother
and newborn infant?
They helped them out through a window and onto their boat.
Detail
Jess and Jimmy rescue
a family with a
new baby.
Conclusion
?
Detail
?
3. Think beyond the text Why does Jimmy conclude that his father
would be proud of his and his brother’s actions?
Helping other people was very important to their family. Because
the boys were willing to help other people in trouble, Jimmy thinks
Detail
The brothers go out again
to help other people.
Detail
?
his father would be proud.
4. Think about the text What is the author trying to tell us to do
during a disaster?
Take all precautions to keep yourself and your family safe. Then
Write About It
do whatever you can to help those in the greatest need first.
Text to Self Think about how the Travers family
responded to the Great Flood of 1927. Do you agree
with the generalization that helping others during
a natural disaster is rewarding work? Write a few
paragraphs explaining and supporting your opinion.
Making Connections Think of a time when another person was dependent on
your help. Describe the situation. How did helping that person make you feel?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Critical Thinking
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Grade 5, Unit 2: Wild Encounters
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Name
Date
The River Kept Rising
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two or three
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
On page 6, Doc Travers says that “it’s better to be safe than sorry.” What
does he mean? Why do you think it is important to prepare for an
emergency? What did the characters in the story do to help them prepare
for their emergency?
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Lesson 9
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.8
The River Kept Rising
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text How would the Travers family know if a
levee breached near them?
2. Think within the text How did Jimmy and Jess rescue the mother
and newborn infant?
3. Think beyond the text Why does Jimmy conclude that his father
would be proud of his and his brother’s actions?
4. Think about the text What is the author trying to tell us to do
during a disaster?
Making Connections Think of a time when another person was dependent on
your help. Describe the situation. How did helping that person make you feel?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 5
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Student
Lesson 9
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.12
The River Kept Rising • LEVEL T
page
8
The River Kept Rising
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
What they saw on the way to the levee stunned them. The
town was awash in the muddy, turbulent waters. Some homes
and businesses were halfway submerged, while others
apparently had been pulled off their foundations and were
completely gone.
At the levee they found more chaos, with hundreds of
frightened delta folk huddled together in small groups. They
carried bundles of the few belongings they had managed to
save. Doc Travers went ashore and learned that many other
residents were still stuck in their homes. He shared the news
with Jess.
“Son, it’s worse than I thought possible.”
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/99 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
Omission
Code
✓
cat
®
cat
—
cat
Grade 5
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414289
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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