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General Sherman
By Erin Horner Last summer I met a General Sherman. He is very famous. But this general is not famous because he fought in a war. He is famous for being so big. His base is more than 36.5 feet in diameter. One of his limbs is seven feet wide! He is also famous because he is very old. He is between 2,300 and 2,700 years old. If you'd like to, you can meet General Sherman too. There's no need to rush, though. This general is not going anywhere. He is General Sherman the redwood tree! He lives in the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park. It is in northern California. This massive tree is one of the tallest in the world. General Sherman is gigantic!

General Sherman

Questions
1. Why is General Sherman famous?

2. What is this passage mainly about? A. The best place to see big trees B. How to visit the forest C. The giant redwood tree D. The civil war soldier, General Sherman 3. Choose the best title: A. The Tiny Tree B. Where's the Wood? C. Small Sequoias D. The Gigantic General 4. In this passage the word base means: A. the bottom layer of paint B. headquarters C. the bottom of the trunk of a tree D. one of the four corners of a baseball diamond

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Pretend that you are a park ranger. You are in charge of planning a birthday party for General Sherman. How will the park celebrate this giant tree? Write a press release that will be published in the local paper. Be sure to include the five W's in your announcement: who, what, where, when, and why.

Write a postcard to a friend telling about your family's trip to the Sequoia National Forest. Tell what it was like to see General Sherman. Write it, however, without using the word big. Instead, use other adjectives in your description.