| Topic: | Statement From the Story: | In Your Own Words |
| SETTING |  "Now here we were, on our own in the swampy backwater of a small river." |
We were in a swampy area near a small river. |
| EGRETS | "A flock of long-plumed egrets was perched on tree branches overhanging the riverbank." |
We saw some lovely egrets that were sitting on branches that hung over the river. |
| RUNNING AGROUND | "We must have been distracted, because the next thing we knew, our canoe ran aground in shallow water." |
We weren't paying attention, and suddenly our canoe was stuck on the river bottom. |
| WATER MOCCASIN | "Water moccasins are aggressive poisonous snakes that live along muddy banks of rivers and swamps." |
Water moccasins are dangerous because they're poisonous and do attack. They live on the edges of swamps and rivers. |
| ALLIGATOR | "Luckily, it didn't seem particularly interested in us and eventually swam away with an expressionless stare on its face." |
The alligator didn't pay attention to us. It just swam away looking uninterested. |
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