Prereading Strategies

	Identify elements of realism and fantasy.
	Activate and use prior knowledge.

GENRE STUDY

Historical Fiction

Boom Town is historical fiction. Explain that historical fiction takes place in the past. Made-up characters are placed in a real setting; their actions are fictional.

PREVIEW AND PREDICT

Have students preview the selection title and illustrations and tell what they think the story will be about. Encourage students to use lesson vocabulary as they talk about what they expect to learn.

Generate Questions Based on their preview, have students write questions in their strategy response logs. Students will record their answers in the Strategy Response Log activity on p. 27.

SET PURPOSE

Allow students to read through the selection once simply to enjoy the story, then go back and reread for skill and strategy practice and instruction.

Remind students to read for realistic details.

STRATEGY RECALL

Students have now used these before-reading strategies:

preview the selection to be aware of its genre, features, and possible content;
activate prior knowledge about that content and what to expect of that genre;
make predictions;
set a purpose for reading.

Remind students to be aware of and flexibly use the during-reading strategies they have learned:

link prior knowledge to new information;
summarize text they have read so far;
ask clarifying questions;
answer questions they or others pose;
check their predictions and either refine them or make new predictions;
recognize the text structure the author is using, and use that knowledge to make predictions and increase comprehension;
visualize what the author is describing;
monitor their comprehension and use fix-up strategies.

After reading, students will use these strategies:

summarize or retell the text;
answer questions they or others pose;
reflect to make new information become part of their prior knowledge.

AudioText

"Boom Town!"
by Sonia Levitin

Student Edition
Unit 1, pp. 16–35

Historical fiction is a made-up story that takes place in the past. Can you tell when this Selection Snapshot took place? What clues can you use?

A stagecoach carried Ma, my brothers, Baby Betsy, and me, Amanda, to California. Pa was already here. He was working in the gold fields. Every day he swung a pick and panned for gold. Ma said that she wasn't going to raise her family in a gold field. So we lived in town, and Dad stayed in the fields.

Town was little more than a couple of cabins. It was a small, lonely place. Every day was the same. I fetched water and helped clean and cook. I helped with the mending. We always had something that needed to be sewed. We worked hard all week. But we all looked forward to the weekend. That's when Pa came home.

One day I had a hankering for pie. Now, we didn't have a proper oven or pie tins. But I found a skillet. I put the pie in that old frying pan and baked it in the wood stove. Pa really liked it. He took some back to the fields. Guess what happened. The next weekend Pa came home with coins. He did not strike gold. He had sold pieces of my pie! Soon we had a business going. I made pies, and Pa sold them.

One day, a peddler stopped by. I bought some pie tins and a bucket. I told the peddler that people in town needed lots of things. We didn't have a store. So he opened one. He did real well too.

Then one day a man came to town looking for someone to wash his clothes. But our town did not have a laundry. I told him he could make a lot of money if he opened one. And that's just what he did.

Then a cowboy came by. He was tired and wanted to rest for a spell. He needed a place to keep his horse. But we didn't have a stable in town. I told him he should open one. And that's just what he did.

Well, more and more people came to town. Soon the town had a hotel and a cafe. Then a bank opened. The town even built a school. Pa took over my pie business. Now he stays in town baking pies. I help him when I'm not in school. Our town is no longer a small, lonely place. It's a lively boom town!



	Close
	Access Content Review the genre with students and preview the illustrations. Have students share ideas about what they think this story will be about. Consider having students read the selection summary in English or in students' home languages. See the multilingual Summaries in the ELL Teaching Guide, pp. 5–7.

"Boom Town!"by Sonia Levitin

"Boom Town!"
by Sonia Levitin