For months, Thailand has been experiencing a devastating flood.
The waters are wreaking havoc in 25 provinces, flooding farmlands, homes and businesses. The water gathers in the country’s central plains and makes its way south to the sea, going through Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok, on its route.
More than 500 people have died in the floods. It is estimated that more than three million people have been affected.
At least a fifth of Bangkok is now under water. Bangkok has many canals and rivers that cut through it. The polluted water is a health hazard; it is up to chest-high in some areas of the city.
Half the stalls in the city’s famous Chatuchak Market have been closed. The market is a major outdoor shopping centre and tourist attraction, with thousands of vendors.
Thailand’s government has been criticized for not being prepared to cope with the flood. Some people have said that supplies like food and clean drinking water have not reached all of the flood victims, and that the government needs people with more expertise to handle the crisis.
Thailand’s prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, has announced a 100-billion baht ($4-billion dollar) recovery plan to rebuild homes and help restore the country’s economy.
She told the Bankok Times newspaper that, “this task has really exhausted me, but I will never give up.”
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
What do you know about floods? How does a flood happen? Where do floods happen the most? What do people do to stop flooding?
Reading Prompt: Demonstrating Understanding
How have people in Thailand been affected by the flood? Use information from the article and your own ideas to write down all of the ways that the flood has changed life for people in Thailand.
Primary
Demonstrate understanding of a text by retelling the story or restating information from the text, with the inclusion of a few interesting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Junior
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by summarizing important ideas and citing supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Intermediate
Demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing important ideas and citing a variety of details that support the main idea (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Grammar Feature: Nouns
Nouns are people, places and things. Proper nouns are specific people, places and things, such as Thailand. Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter. Common nouns are not specific people, places and things, such as water. Common nouns are not capitalized.
Look through the article and identify all of the common and proper nouns. How did you know which was a common noun and which was a proper noun?
