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DURING READING
Reader Response
Open for Discussion Personal Response
Think Aloud MODEL Some of the businesses are a livery stable, hotel, café, and bank. I would start a grocery store.
Comprehension Check Critical Response
  1. Amanda says that the town is lonely and boring. The illustrator shows her first looking bored, then smiling. Finally Amanda says, "There's excitement and bustle all around."
    Author's Purpose
  2. Possible response: The family could have settled on the moon instead of in California.
    Target Skill Realism/Fantasy
  3. People start businesses to sell things people want. That helped me predict other people in town would also want to start businesses.
    Target Skill Activate/Use     Prior Knowledge
  4. Possible response: Amanda would be a great mayor because she turned a town into a boom town.
     Target Skill Vocabulary
TEST PRACTICE Look Back and Write
 For test practice, assign a 10–15 minute time limit. For assessment, see the Scoring Rubric at the right.
Retell
Have students retell Boom Town.
SUCCESS PREDICTOR
Monitor Progress
then… use the Retelling Cards and Scoring Rubric for Retelling on p. 37 to assist fluent retelling.
If… students have difficulty retelling the selection,
Check Retelling Rubric
ELL
Check Retelling Have students use illustrations and other text features to guide their retellings. Let students listen to other retellings before attempting their own. See the ELL and Transition Handbook
Write Now
Look at the Prompt Have students identify and discuss key words and phrases in the prompt. (character from the story or a person you know who helps someone, description, vivid words)
Strategies to Develop Word Choice
Have students
  • make a graphic organizer to organize their ideas about the person.
  • visualize the character or person doing things and write what they see.
  • replace vague words with vivid ones.
NO: nice girl
YES: kind, generous friend
NO: walks slowly
YES: creeps like a snail
For additional suggestions and rubric, see pp. 41g–41h.
Hints for Better Writing
  • Carefully read the prompt.
  • Use a graphic organizer to plan your writing.
  • Support your ideas with information and details.
  • Use words that help readers understand.
  • Proofread and edit your work.
Retelling: SUCCESS PREDICTOR
Reader Response
Open for Discussion Look back at the story and talk about
the businesses you see in Boom Town. What new business
would you start in Boom Town?
1.
At the beginning of the story, Amanda was bored. How do
the author and the artist show a change in Amanda? Think Like an Author
This story is fiction, but it could have happened. What might
the author have done to make it a fantasy? Realism and Fantasy
What do you know or what have you read about starting a business? How did that help you as you read this story? Prior Knowledge
If Amanda were older, she might be elected Mayor of the boom town. Write some sentences that tell why she would be good at this job. Use words from the Words to Know list and from the story. Vocabulary
4.
2.
3.
Look Back and Write Look at pages 23–25. Write what happened the first, second, and third time Amanda baked a pie.
Use details from the selection in your answer.
Meet author Sonia Levitin on page 412.
TEST PRACTICE
Write Now: Character Description
Prompt
Boom Town describes a girl
who helps make a new town grow.
Think about a character from
the story or a person you know
who helps someone or something.
Now write a description of that
character or person, using vivid words.
Writing Trait
Vivid word choice helps readers imagine what a character or person is like.
First sentence tells who
is being described.
Student Model
Use the model to help you write your
own character description.
Careful word choice gives
a clear
picture of
the person.
Actions reveal a person's character traits.
 
   
Close  
Scoring Rubric
Look Back and Write
Top-Score Response A top-score response will use details from
pp. 23–25 of the selection to tell what happened the first, second, and third time Amanda baked a pie.
Example of a Top-Score Response The first time Amanda baked a pie it burned and turned hard as a rock. The second time, the pie was not done. The filling was too soft and spilled onto Baby Betsy. The third pie was perfect. The family ate the pie and Amanda was proud.
For additional rubrics, see p. WA10.
Scoring Rubric    Narrative Retelling
Rubric 4 3 2 1
Connections
Makes connections and generalizes beyond the text
Makes connections to other events, stories, or experiences
Makes a limited connection to another event, story, or experience
Makes no connection to another event, story, or experience
Author's
Purpose
Elaborates on author's purpose
Tells author's purpose with some clarity
Makes some connection to author's purpose
Makes no connection to author's purpose
Characters
Describes the main character(s) and any character development
Identifies the main character(s) and gives some information about them
Inaccurately identifies some characters or gives little information about them
Inaccurately
identifies the characters or gives no information about them
Setting
Describes the time and location
Identifies the time and location
Omits details of time or location
Is unable to identify time or location
Plot
Describes the problem, goal, events, and ending using rich detail
Tells the problem, goal, events, and ending with some errors that do not affect meaning
Tells parts of the problem, goal, events, and ending with gaps that affect meaning
Retelling has no sense of story
Retelling Plan
  • This week Assess Strategic Intervention
    students.
  • Week 2 Assess Advanced students.
  • Week 3 Assess Strategic Intervention students.
  • Week 4 Assess On-Level students.
  • Week 5 Assess any students you have not
    yet checked during this unit.
Use the Retelling Chart on
p. TR16 to record retelling.
Selection Test To assess with Boom Town, use Selection Tests, pp. 1–4.
Fresh Reads for Differentiated Test Practice For weekly leveled practice, use pp. 1–6.