Name ______________________________

1. Name ______________________________ I’m In Charge Of Celebrations By Byrd Baylor Pictures by Peter Parnall Prediction ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Author’s Purpose inform persuade entertain

2. I’m in Charge of Celebrations • Focus Skills: • To summarize important information in text • To read and understand a free-verse poem • Genre • Poem- uses imagery, figurative language, and imagination to express feelings and ideas. • Summary • A young girl explores an American Southwest desert. When she witnesses a natural wonder, she records the date in her notebook and creates a way to celebrate the event. Every year, she celebrates each of her special days. • Reading Strategy • Create Mental Images • This is a free-verse poem. Imagination is important in reading poetry. Imagination helps the reader create the image that the poet describes. This helps the reader better understand the ideas an author is trying to communicate.

3. Page 304 Write text details that tell you what the desert is like. plants landforms animals How do you know? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Does the poet feel lonely in the desert? Yes No Page 306 What does the poet say the whirlwinds do that only people can really do? How does the poet feel when she sees the whirlwinds? _____________________ What words help you know that? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Draw a picture to show what happens on Dust Devil Day.

4. Page 308 Was it special to see a triple rainbow and a rabbit? How do you know? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Describe Green Cloud Day. What did the poet see? Page 310 Why does the poet think she is lucky? Page 312 How does the poet celebrate Coyote Day? How do the meteor showers affect the poet?

5. Pages 314- 316 What do the girl and the man talk about? What holiday celebrated by the poet is your favorite? Draw a picture showing what she saw.

6. Think and Respond • Why does the narrator choose her own celebrations? How will she remember them all? • ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • Why does the narrator laugh out loud when people ask if she is lonely? • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • Why does the narrator have her New Year Celebration in April instead of January? • ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • Which of the celebrations in the poem is your favorite? Why do you like it? • ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Use the graphic organizer to answer the following questions. Highlight the answers on the organizer. • Why is this selection most like a narrative poem? • How does the poet keep track of the many events she celebrates? • What does the poet mean when she says “your heart will POUND?” • Swirling, swaying and dancing are ways that dust devils _______________. • What is a dust devil? • How do the dust devils affect the poet and her friends? • Why does the poet draw the jackrabbit in her picture of the triple rainbow? • Why does the poet feel lucky on Green Cloud Day? • Why will the poet never feel quite the same after seeing the coyote? • Where do the events that the poet celebrates take place? • What sort of things does the poet celebrate? • Why does the poet laugh when people ask if she is lonely? • Be able to describe the fireball the poet sees during the Time of the Falling Stars. • How is the time when the poet celebrates New Year’s different from the time many people celebrate?