Compacitat en espais m` etrics

Genre: Nonfi ction/Expository

Comprehension Strategy: Monitor Comprehension Think-Aloud Copying Master number 8

A3RAA_TXNA_U2W02_RD11.indd Page 34 2/4/09 5:11:50 PM user

A3RAA_TXNA_U2W02_RD11.indd Page 34 2/4/09 5:11:50 PM user /Volumes/114/MHS00091/work%0/indd%0/Grade 3/Unit2_Pages/Volumes/114/MHS00091/work%0/indd%0/Grade 3/Unit2_Pages

by Rachel Buchholz

Snowshoeing across a frozen lake in Minnesota, photographer Jim Brandenburg couldn’t believe his eyes.

Trotting straight toward him was a gray wolf.

Brandenburg dropped to the ice, aimed his camera—and waited. Did the wolf see him? Yes. It advanced slowly toward the funny-looking lump on the ground.

“Maybe it’s a dead moose for dinner,” the wolf may have been thinking.

Suddenly, the wolf stopped, realizing that Jim was human.

Th e animal seemed embarrassed.

“Th e wolf simply walked away,” Jim said. “He looked at me over his shoulder once like, ‘Oh, no! I can’t believe it!’”1

Brandenburg was sorry to see the wolf go, but not surprised.

Aft er 25 years of photographing wolves, he knows they are shy around people.

B

, B

W

As a boy, Jim held the common view that wolves are bad. But by reading and observing, he learned that they are a valuable part of the wilderness. Th ey cull weak and sick animals and help preserve the balance of nature.

Wolves may fi ercely hunt deer, elk, and other prey, but they would rather run away than face a human. (Like all wild animals, they should be treated with respect and caution.)

To keep from scaring the wolves, Jim moves slowly when photographing them. He watches their actions to see if they’ve been startled. He avoids eye contact and pretends to ignore them.

“You kind of have to pretend you’re a cow munching on some grass,” he says.

W

A

S

Wolves belong to packs, as we belong to families. A pack usually has a mother, father, and three to six off spring that hunt and play together. Each pack considers a certain area its territory—and will protect it against other wolves.

Genre Study Nonfi ction/

Expository: Some nonfi ction articles begin with an interest-ing event that grabs the readers’ attention and makes them want to continue reading in order to learn more.

1 I notice that Jim is speaking here, but there is another quote within the quote. I will reread to fi gure out whose words Jim is including in his own quotation. It turns out that Jim only imagines that the wolf is speaking to him.

The Wolves of Winter 35

A3RAA_TXNA_U2W02_RD11.indd Page 35 2/4/09 5:11:51 PM user

A3RAA_TXNA_U2W02_RD11.indd Page 35 2/4/09 5:11:51 PM user /Volumes/114/MHS00091/work%0/indd%0/Grade 3/Unit2_Pages/Volumes/114/MHS00091/work%0/indd%0/Grade 3/Unit2_Pages

Wolves “talk” to each other. Th ey whimper to express friendliness. Th ey howl to call the pack together or to warn away another wolf or pack. Th eir howls can be heard from 10 miles away.2

Wolves are clever hiders.

“Many times I’ll be in the woods,” Brandenburg says,

“and I’ll know that a wolf is there—I’ll either hear it or see its tracks—but I’ll never see it.” So Jim has had to be clever, too.

He started by building a cabin in wolf country, the boundary waters area near Ely, Minnesota. It is the only region in the lower 48 states (outside Alaska) where large numbers of wolves live. But just being there wasn’t enough.

Sometimes Jim would drag a deer killed by a car into his yard. Th at might draw hungry wolves in close enough to photograph. Other times Jim would track a pack for days, following the wolves’ paw prints, as they stalked their prey. He would even howl at the wolves and listen to their reply to see how close they were. Th e more time he spent stalking wolves, the better he got at it.

W

H

While many animals, including squirrels and some bears, hibernate in winter, wolves don’t. Th ey stay awake, hunting.

Th eir soft , snowshoe-like paws keep them from sinking in frozen snow. Th e graceful predator can attack big game like elk or moose clumsily trying to fl ee. Wolves might even attack a hibernating bear. Most wouldn’t dare do that when the bear is awake.

P

G

L

Jim must be patient to get photos. Sometimes he goes for weeks without shooting a picture. Other times he gets lucky.

Once, a mother wolf let him peek inside her den, where pups were sleeping.3

Brandenburg wants his photographs to tell the real story of wolves. Th en, people might not fear them so. And perhaps someday more of our country will be like Minnesota, where wild wolves roam free.

2 The author presents some interesting facts about wolves. I had no idea a wolf’s howl could be heard ten miles away.

Do members of a pack ever get so far from each other?

3 I wonder what it felt like to peek inside a wolf den.

A3RAA_TXNA_U2W02_RD11.indd Page 36 2/4/09 5:11:57 PM user

A3RAA_TXNA_U2W02_RD11.indd Page 36 2/4/09 5:11:57 PM user /Volumes/114/MHS00091/work%0/indd%0/Grade 3/Unit2_Pages/Volumes/114/MHS00091/work%0/indd%0/Grade 3/Unit2_Pages

After Reading

Take Notes: Have students write down three facts they learned about wolves. Ask students to share how these facts change the way they think about wolves.

Use Copying Master number 8 to prompt students to share strategies for reading and comprehending the material in the article.

Cultural Perspectives

About 12,000 years ago, people in the Middle East realized wolves could lead them to food and warn them of danger. People learned to raise wolf pups and trained them not to fear humans. These wolves were the ancestors of the dogs we keep as pets today.

Think and Respond

1. The writer says many people fear wolves. List one fact about wolves that might surprise people. Possible responses: Wolves are actually shy around people; wolves would rather run away than attack a human. Critical

2. The writer uses facts and descriptive details to help the reader picture what the wolves are doing. Describe a place in the article where you could picture the wolves in your mind. Possible response: I could picture the wolves walking across the snow. The writer says they have big paws like snowshoes. Genre

3. At the end of the article, the author explains that Jim Brandenburg wants to teach people about wolves so they won’t fear them. Do you think the author feels the same way? Possible response: Yes, because she wrote this article and it gives us information about what wolves are really like. Author’s Purpose

“When I