Guiding Comprehension

Character • Literal

How does Amanda feel when her brothers take and destroy her pie?

She is mad.

then… use the skill and strategy instruction on
p. 25.

If… students have difficulty evaluating character,

Character

Character • Inferential

Amanda tries twice more to bake a pie. What does this tell you about her character?

Possible response: She refuses to give up; she is a very determined girl.

SKILLS
STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT

Character

TEACH

Tell students that character is often one of the four main components of a story.
Explain that sometimes the author clearly tells us what the character is like. Often, however, writers show us characters' traits through actions instead of words.
Help students recognize that a good understanding of a character can help them predict how that character might act in the future.
Have students do a choral
reading of the text on
pp. 24–25. Model how a reader
would use signals to describe
Amanda's character.

MODEL When Amanda's brothers tease her, she gets mad. I know this because she says so. Some kids might not have bothered trying to bake more pies. But Amanda tries twice until she is successful. This tells me that she will not give up easily.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

Have students reread the third paragraph on p. 25. Ask them to explain what Pa's actions reveal about his character. (Pa scoops Amanda up and whirls her around. These actions show that he is happy.)
To assess, use Practice Book 3.1, p. 6.

Practice Book 3.1 p. 6

with | without Answers

"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
	Extend Language Have students brainstorm together to develop a list of words that can be used to describe a wide variety of character traits. Write their responses on the board. Then have students work together to name categories into which the words they list can be placed.

"Boom Town!"by Sonia Levitin

"Boom Town!"
by Sonia Levitin