3.4.4 The English Channel SUMMARY This nonfiction reader tells about some of the earliest attempts to swim across the English Channel and highlights a few of the cross-channel record holders. The book also describes the conditions in the Channel that make it such a challenging body of water for swimmers. LESSON VOCABULARY celebrate current medal strokes continued drowned stirred INTRODUCE THE BOOK INTRODUCE THE TITLE AND AUTHOR Discuss the title and the author of The English Channel. Ask students to predict what the English Channel is, based on the cover photographs. Discuss with students who the woman pictured on the cover might be. BUILD BACKGROUND By a show of hands, find out how many students in the class like to swim. Have volunteers talk about where they like to swim, such as in pools, lakes, or the ocean. Tell students to describe what they like most about swimming in these places and what they like the least. Have ELL students describe their favorite swimming places in their home countries and compare them with places where they have gone swimming in the United States. PREVIEW/USE TEXT FEATURES Explain to stu- dents that the selection is about a body of water called the English Channel. Have students look at the maps on pages 3 and 6. Discuss with students what conditions in the Channel might be like. Then have students skim through the rest of the pictures in the book. Ask students to describe the people in the pictures and what they seem to be doing. 84 FACT AND OPINION MONITOR AND FIX UP READ THE BOOK SET PURPOSE Invite students to look at the cover of the reader once again. Help them to set a purpose for reading by having them complete the following statement: “I would like to read this book about the English Channel to find out more about .” STRATEGY SUPPORT: MONITOR AND FIX UP As they read, have students write down one place where they monitor their reading and find that they do not understand something in the text. Tell students to write d