An alligator opens its mouth, revealing dozens of sharp teeth
Thierry Eidenweil/Shutterstock.com
You Be The Editor,

Alligator on the Loose

How did a 5-foot-long gator end up living in a Chicago park?

From the February 2020 Issue
Featured Skill: Descriptive Writing,
Common Core Standards
  • Anchor Standards
    R.1, W.5, L.3

  • Grade 6
    RI.6.1, W.6.5, L.6.3
  • Grade 7
    RI.7.1, W.7.5, L.7.3
  • Grade 8
    RI.8.1, W.8.5 , L.8.3
TEKS Standards
  • Grades 6, 7, 8
    10b, 10c, 10d

Presentation View
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2.

Rewrite this sentence so it begins with “Because.”    
1.

Add a few descriptive words before “alligator” to help readers picture what Chance looks like.    
5.

Combine this sentence with the two previous sentences.    
4.

The writer already used the word “liberty.” Replace it with another word that has the same meaning.    
3.

Oops! Looks like the author forgot about this subheading. Write one here.

Directions

We love this story, but we need your help to edit it.

Directions:

1. Read the article below.

2. Click on the words and phrases in bold.

3. Follow the prompts that pop up to revise and polish the writing.

A police helicopter circled overhead. News crews set up cameras. People crowded around, hoping to catch a glimpse. All this excitement last summer wasn’t for a movie star or a sports champion. It was for an alligator living in a public park in Chicago, Illinois.

In the United States, alligators usually live in hot, swampy places in the Southeast, like Florida and Louisiana—not in Midwestern states like Illinois, where winter temperatures drop below freezing. So the alligator was a very unusual sight. Locals started calling him Chance the Snapper, after the famous Chicago musician Chance the Rapper.

Kelley Gandurski/Chicago Animal Care and Control via AP Images 

The alligator that became known as Chance the Snapper    

Exotic Pets

How did Chance end up in the park? Experts think he may have been a pet that someone no longer wanted.

In many states, owning wild animals—like alligators, tigers, and monkeys—is illegal. Nevertheless, thousands of Americans keep these kinds of exotic pets. When they’re young and small, exotic pets can be adorable and are generally pretty harmless, but these animals require special food, care, and housing. Kept in human homes, they can suffer. And some grow up to be ferocious and dangerous.

Humans often abandon exotic pets because they can be so difficult to care for. Chance’s owner likely left him in one of the park’s ponds once the gator got too big to fit in the bathtub.

Subheading Needed

Although Chance appeared to enjoy his liberty, reptile experts said he would probably not survive the freezing Chicago winter. No one could seem to catch him though. Some people attempted to lure him into a trap using peanut butter and chicken. But after a few days (and a lot of wasted food), Chance was still loose in the park.

Finally, authorities called Frank Robb, an alligator expert from Florida. Robb spent nearly 36 hours searching for Chance before he spotted the reptile’s shining eyes on the surface of a pond. Robb quickly snagged the gator with a fishing rod.

During his week of   liberty, Chance  captured the imaginations of many admirers in Chicago. Musicians wrote songs about him. He became popular on social media. Fans printed alligator T-shirts. 

Today, Chance lives at an alligator farm in sun-soaked Florida. But he will no doubt remain in the hearts of Chicagoans forever. 

This article was originally published in the February 2020 issue.

Activities (1)
Writing Support
Activities (1)
Writing Support
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

Close Reading, Critical Thinking, Skill Building

Download the Lesson Plan
  • Suggested time: 1 day (based on using Scope during a 60-minute block per day)

READ THE PASSAGE

  • Have students read the passage in the magazine as a class or independently. For the first read, they should ignore the prompts in the circles.
  • Have students go back through the article and reread the boldface words and phrases and the prompts to which they correspond.

WRITE

  • Direct students to follow the prompts in the circles to develop and strengthen the writing in the passage. Have students share their revisions by reading their new and improved passages aloud. An entry form is available if students would like to enter their passages into the You Be the Editor contest.

TIP!

  • Have students watch the video below for the paired-text feature “Killer Smog,” from the April 2016 issue of Scope, which is full of vivid descriptive writing. In the behind-the-scenes video, author Lauren Tarshis shares her techniques for creating mood, writing with sensory details, and building pictures in her readers’ minds. Have students read the article and watch the video before completing this issue’s You Be the Editor. Students can use the activity as a starting point to try out the techniques Lauren mentions in the video.
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