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Lady Liberty Two Ways: Time Order and Description

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Lady Liberty Two Ways: Time Order and Description

Compare a history text and a describing text about the Statue of Liberty.

Read the two texts

Read Text A and Text B. Both texts are about the Statue of Liberty.

Text A: From Paris to New York Harbor

1The Statue of Liberty did not appear in New York Harbor overnight. Building her took many years and the work of people in two countries. Her story began in France.

2In the 1870s, a French sculptor named Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi began to design a giant statue. It would be a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. The gift was meant to celebrate the friendship between the two nations and their shared love of freedom.

3First, workers in Paris built the statue piece by piece. They hammered thin sheets of copper into shape to form her outer skin. Gustave Eiffel, the engineer whose company later built the Eiffel Tower, designed an iron frame inside to hold the copper skin in place. By 1884, the statue was finished, and she towered over the rooftops of Paris.

4Next, the statue had to cross the Atlantic Ocean. In 1885, workers took her apart and packed the pieces into hundreds of wooden crates. A ship carried the crates across the ocean to New York.

5Meanwhile, Americans were building a tall stone pedestal for the statue to stand on. Raising money for the pedestal was slow at first. Then a New York newspaper asked its readers for help, and many ordinary people, including children, mailed in small donations. The pedestal was completed in 1886.

6Finally, workers put the pieces back together on top of the pedestal. In October 1886, crowds gathered for a grand celebration as the statue was dedicated. Since then, millions of visitors have traveled to see her.

Text B: A Closer Look at Lady Liberty

1The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. She is one of the most famous statues in the world. Let us look at her closely, starting at her feet and moving up to the top of her torch.

2At her feet lies a broken chain, which is hard to see from the ground. Many people see the broken chain as a sign of freedom. Her right foot is raised, as if she is stepping forward.

3She wears a long robe that falls in deep folds. In her left arm, she holds a tablet. The date July 4, 1776, appears on the tablet in Roman numerals. That is the date when the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

4On her head sits a crown with seven spikes, or rays. Below the rays is a row of windows. Visitors who climb the long staircase inside the statue can look out through these windows over the harbor.

5Even higher, her right arm stretches above her head, holding a torch. The flame of the torch is covered in a thin layer of gold, so it gleams in the sunlight.

6Perhaps the most surprising detail is her color. The statue's skin is made of copper. When she was new, she was a shiny reddish-brown, like a new penny. Over many years, air and water slowly turned the surface of the copper pale green. This green layer actually protects the copper underneath.

How is each text organized?

Look at how each author put the information in order.

1.
How is Text A mostly organized?
Question 1 options
2.
Text B describes the parts of the statue in a certain order. Which order does it follow?
Question 2 options
3.
Each phrase below comes from one of the texts. Does it tell when something happened, or where something is on the statue? Sort the phrases.
4.
Number these events from Text A in the order they happened. Write 1, 2, 3 or 4 next to each event.

Workers put the statue back together on top of the pedestal.
Bartholdi begins to design a giant statue.
Workers take the statue apart and pack it into crates.
Workers in Paris hammer copper sheets into shape.

5.
Read paragraph 1 of Text B. Underline the sentence that tells how the author will organize the description.

Compare the two texts

Think about how the structures of the two texts are alike and different.

6.
A student wants to take notes on each text with a graphic organizer. Which pair of organizers fits the two texts best?
Question 6 options
7.
The sentences below are not in either text. Which text would each sentence fit into best? Sort the sentences.
8.
Read paragraph 5 of Text A. Write the one word that tells the reader the pedestal was being built at the same time as the statue.

Signal word:

9.
Why does the author of Text A include dates such as 1884, 1885 and 1886?
Question 9 options
10.
Both texts give information about the Statue of Liberty. Explain how the structure of each text helps the reader learn something different. Use one detail from each text.