Build Background Knowledge (5 minutes)
The article mentions the International Space Station, a structure in outer space where people live and work. To help students imagine life on the ISS, have them view our video “At Home in Space.” Then ask, “Do you think you’d enjoy living on the International Space Station? Why or why not?”
Preview Text Features (15 minutes)
Guide students to locate the article. Then preview the text features by asking the following questions:
- Find the large image that looks a bit like a Ferris wheel and read its caption. What is it a picture of? The image’s caption states that it’s what a “future space hotel” could look like.
- Find the image of the International Space Station. What does its caption tell you? The caption says that the ISS circles Earth and that six people live and work there.
Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)
- Point out the vocabulary box. Read the words (atmosphere, gravity, technology, spacecraft, orbit) aloud and discuss their definitions.
- Play the Vocabulary Slideshow.
Make a Plan for Reading
Before students start to read, walk them through a reading plan:
- Set a purpose for reading: Tell students that by reading the article, they’ll learn how and when vacations in space might become a reality.
- Point out the Pause and Think boxes. Tell students they can check their understanding of what they’ve read by answering these questions.
- Point out the activity at the end of the article, and tell students they will complete it after reading. Tell them to briefly scan the questions in the activity and to keep them in mind as they read.