Family Times

1. Family Times Daily Questions Prior Knowledge Plot and Character Vocabulary Suffixes Predictions Guided Comprehension Cause and Effect Point of View Independent Reader Punctuation Takes a Vacation Additional Resources

2. Study Skills: Genre : Humorous Fiction Vocabulary Strategy: Word Structure Comprehension Skill: Character and Plot Comprehension Strategy: Prior Knowledge

5. Question of the Week: How do we meet the challenges of learning? Daily Questions: Many of the descriptions of Mrs. Granger make her seem larger than life. Why do you think this is? How do you think Nick will describe his first class with Mrs. Granger to his friends or family? What is a challenge facing the students in Mr. Wright's class?

6. Activate Prior Knowledge Challenges of a New School Year Ways to Meet Challenges • New Teacher • New classroom rules • New school • More homework • New students 1. Understand his or her expectations

7. Plot • The plot is the pattern of events in a story. • A plot includes • 1. a problem or conflict • 2. rising action, as conflict builds • 3. a climax, when the problem or conflict is faced • 4. a resolution, when the problem or conflict is solved Problem or conflict Rising Action Climax Resolution

8. Character • Characters are people or animals in a story. • Characters show you what they’re like by what they say and do and how they treat each other.

10. WRITE ACTIVITY (STUDENT BOOK PAGES 18-19) • Read “Homework Help.” As you read, make a story map like the one above. • Write a new resolution for “Homework Help.” Use your story map and your own knowledge of homework to help you.

14. VOCABULARY WORD LIST acquainted assignment essential expanded guaranteed procedures reputation worshipped Introduce Vocabulary Predict a definition and write a sample sentence for each word. Underline the word in each sentence, then verify its meaning in the dictionary. Check all sentences to be sure that all words are used correctly. Rewrite any sentences that are incorrect.

15. acquainted Made aware; informed

16. Assignment Something assigned, especially a piece of work to be done.

17. Essential Absolutely necessary; very important

18. Expanded Made larger; increased in size; enlarged

19. Guaranteed Made certain that something would happen as a result.

20. procedures Ways of proceeding; method of doing things

21. Reputation What people think and say the character of someone or something is

22. Worshipped Paid great honor and reverence to

23. More Words to Know Cameo: a semiprecious stone carved so that there is a raised design on a background, usually of a different color Shutdown: a stopping; a checking of Sidetrack: to draw someone’s attention away from something

24. Practice Lesson Vocabulary: Is it guaranteed that every student will love a new challenge? Are students acquainted with other students in class? Have students expanded their vocabulary if they have learned and use new words? Mrs. Granger has a _________as a strict teacher. One thing that is _________ for success in school is good study skills. The class received a homework _________ in spite of Nick’s delaying question about dictionaries. Classroom __________ are important for keeping order.

25. Vocabulary Strategy (Pg. 20) • Suffixes: -tion, -ation, -ment • Word Structure: When you come to a longer word you don’t know, see if it ends with –tion, -ation, or –ment. These suffixes are added to verbs to turn them into nouns that mean “the act or state of __________________” or result of _______.” For example, development means “the act of developing” or “ the result of developing.” You may be able to use the suffix to help figure out the unknown word’s meaning. • Cover the suffix –tion, -ation, or –ment. • Look at the base word. Do you know what it means? (Try this with assignment.) • Add the meaning of the suffix. Remember, the part of speech will change. • Reread the sentence to see if your meaning makes sense. • As you read “Becoming a Word Wizard,” look for base words that end in –tion, -ation, or –ment. Use the suffixes to help you figure out the meanings of the words.

28. Genre: Humorous Fiction Has characters and action that make you laugh. Examples:

29. How do Nick and Mrs. Granger meet the challenge of getting to know each other?

30. Preview and Predict Preview the selection title and illustrations and discuss the topics or ideas you think the selection will cover. Use selection vocabulary words as you talk about what you expect to learn.

31. Guided Comprehension: Use context clues to determine the meaning of monopoly on pg 25, paragraph 2, sentence 3. What kind of teacher is Mrs. Granger? What do you learn about Mrs. Granger from the simile “Mrs. Granger seemed like a giant”? What happened to the students that Mrs. Granger caught chewing gum? Nick receives a letter from school before school starts. Has this ever happened to you? How did this make you feel? How does Mrs. Allen’s reaction to Mrs. Granger’s letter compare to Nick’s reaction? What does the author tell you about Nick on p. 29, and how does it help you predict how Nick and Mrs. Granger will get along? Have students use their knowledge of the suffix –ment to figure out the meaning of assignment on p. 31, paragraph 3.

32. Guided Reading Continued: Why did the author tell us about Nick’s success with delaying questions? Reread the last paragraph on p. 31. What do you think Nick will do next? Use what you know about Mrs. Granger’s character to tell whether Nick’s question will prevent her from giving a homework assignment. Explain your answer. Text to Self: The characters in this story learned to overcome their problems with each other. Does this remind you of an experience you’ve had with someone you did not get along with at first?

33. Cause and Effect (TM 27) • An effect is what happens and a cause if why it happens. • Clue words such as if and then sometimes signal causes and effects • An effect may have more than one cause and a cause may have more than one effect. Have students identify a cause-and-effect relationship in the story.

35. Point of View • The perspective from which an author tells a story is called point of view. Who the author chooses to tell the story determines what we learn about the characters and their actions. • In first-person point of view, a character tells a story and uses the pronoun I or we. • In third-person point of view, the narrator tells the story and describes the events. The narrator uses the pronouns he, she, they, or it. • Authors sometimes mix points of view within a story. • Reread p. 29. Write responses to these questions. • Who is the narrator of the story? • How would the story be different if it were told from Nick’s point of view?

36. SUMMARY The story is about Kate, a fifth grader with dyslexia. After being tested and diagnosed, Kate had to give up going to camp with her friends over the summer, and instead worked on improving her reading. Her effort paid off when she excelled at the school spelling bee. Comprehension Questions: What did you learn about Kate’s character through her interactions with Mr. Harper? (Pgs. 3-7) How did you feel when you read about Kate having to stay home from camp? (pgs. 12-13) Think about challenges in your own life. How does this help you understand what Kate was going through? (Pg. 16) What do you think the climax, or high point, of the story is? The resolution, or outcome? (Pg. 19)

39. SUMMARY Students from Miss Jacobson’s class present three reports on education in the United States in 1725, in 1830, and in 1925. The class learns about the history of public education in this country. Comprehension Questions: What do you notice about Ben’s character? (pg. 3) Why did Lizzie and Haley tell so much about Katie’s chores at home? (pg. 6) How did the boy’s education differ from a girl’s in Connecticut in 1725? (pgs. 7-9) What state first passed a law requiring public education? What was that law? (pg.12) How did public education change between the 1720s and the 1830s? (pg. 15) Why was education in the South different from education in New England? (pgs. 17-18)

42. SUMMARY A new teacher arrives and the fifth grade class gets a lesson in what it feels like to walk around in somebody else’s skin. Some of the class big shots learn what it’s like to be treated like a nobody, and one student who has been looked down on by the class gets a chance to feel like somebody. Comprehension Questions: What was the first thing that the new teacher did? (pg. 4) According to Ms. Liang, what have scientists discovered? (pg. 7) What flashback does the narrator have in class when she’s trying to think of something to write? (pg. 11) Why did Ms. Liang tell students not to sign their names on their first writing assignment? (pg. 13) What was the topic for Ms. Liang’s second writing assignment? (pg. 16) What is the name of the poet who wrote the poem that Ms. Liang put on the board? (pg. 19)

45. Preview the story “Punctuation Takes a Vacation. What do you think this story is about? What is bothering Mr. Wright? Why? Who is upset and why? What makes this a happy ending? Reading Across Text Which character do you think is a stronger, more confident person, Mrs. Granger in Frindle or Mr. Wright in Punctuation Takes a Vacation?

46. Understanding setting, Understanding setting, plot and theme Interactive Elements of a story