Guiding Comprehension

Graphic Organizers
• Literal

What events could be listed on a time line for the narrator's life?

Possible response: He grew up in Japan. He went to the United States as a young man. He had a daughter there. He stayed in the United States.

Theme • Inferential

What does the narrator mean when he says, "I think I know my grandfather now"?

Possible response: He understands how his grandfather thought and felt. He loves both countries, just as his grandfather did.

Plot • Critical

Text to World Ask students to recall what they know of World War II. Why do they think this war prevented the grandfather from returning to the United States?

Possible response: Japan and the United States were at war, and Japanese Americans in the U.S. were mistrusted.

Some students may want to know more about the grandfather's homeland of Japan. They can use a student-friendly search engine to learn more about this country. Suggest that they use the keyword Japan.

STRATEGY SELF-CHECK

Graphic Organizers

Remind students that good readers use graphic organizers to help them remember what they have read. Have each student complete a time line that shows the order of the most important events in this story. For more practice, use Practice Book p. 27.

SELF-CHECK

Have students ask themselves these questions to assess their understanding of the story.

Did I list the most important story events on my time line?
Did I list the events in the order in which they happened?

then… use the Reteach lesson on
p. 87b.

If… students have difficulty using a graphic organizer to sequentially organize the events in this story,

Sequence

Practice Book p. 27

with | without Answers

"Grandfather's Journey"
by Allen Say

Student Edition
Unit 1, pp. 70–81

In historical fiction, which is set in the past, some details are factual while others are made up or are loosely based on history.

Grandfather left Japan when he was a young man. He took a steamship and did not see land for three weeks, until they docked in the New World. On his own, he traveled through the United States. He saw many beautiful sights. He was amazed by rocks in the desert that looked like enormous sculptures. He was bewildered and excited by huge cities with factories and towering buildings. He met many new people of all types.
He liked California best. He loved the sunlight, the mountains, and the seacoast. He returned to his homeland and married his childhood sweetheart. Together they moved near San Francisco Bay and had a baby girl. But, as she grew older, Grandfather began to think of his own childhood in Japan. He longed for the mountains and rivers of his childhood. Finally, when the daughter was nearly grown, the family moved back to Japan. They moved to a city near his childhood village.
The daughter fell in love, married, and had a son. When the boy was young, he loved to go to his Grandfather's house to hear his stories about California. Grandfather wanted to go back to visit the mountains and rivers he remembered.
But World War II came. The grandparents' city was bombed, and they returned to the village of their childhood. Grandfather died before he could go to see California.
When the grandson was a young man, he left Japan to see California for himself. He grew to love his new country and stayed until he had a daughter of his own. But then he began to miss the mountains and rivers of his own childhood. He went back to Japan, but now he lives in the United States. Sometimes, though, he cannot still his homesickness for Japan. When he returns there, he grows homesick for the United States. Now he feels that he understands his grandfather, and he misses him.



	Close
	Graphic Organizers For the Strategy Self-Check, have students create time lines. Use Practice Book p. 27. Extend Critical Thinking Discuss how this author makes Japan and California both sound desirable. How would the story have been different if the author had shown a strong preference for one place or the other? Access Content Students may be unfamiliar with the phrase "I cannot still the longing in my heart" (p. 81, paragraph 1). Restate using the parallel structure "I cannot stop the desire in my heart". See if students can infer the meaning of the phrase "he longed to see California" (p. 80, paragraph 1). PRACTICE LESSON VOCABULARY Write these vocabulary words on the board: homeland, still, longed. Then have students select the correct word for each blank. 1. My neighbor missed her _____ and hoped to return soon. (homeland) 2. She _____ to see her childhood friends again. (longed) 3. She could not _____ the aching in her heart. (still) BUILD CONCEPT VOCABULARY Review previous concept words with students. Ask if students have come across any words today in their reading or elsewhere that they would like to add to the Traveling America Concept Web, such as mountains and rivers.

"Grandfather's Journey"by Allen Say

"Grandfather's Journey"
by Allen Say