Guiding Comprehension

Draw Conclusions • Critical

Why do you think many people prefer to use checks rather than cash?

Possible responses: It is safer to use checks than to carry around large amounts of money; it is easier to use checks because a large amount of cash can take up too much space and weigh too much.

Graphic Sources • Literal

What does the picture on the bottom of p. 102 show you?

The picture shows you an example of what a check looks like.

Sequence • Inferential

What happens next to your money after you pay with a check?

The person you paid the check to gives it to his or her bank.

then… use the skill and strategy instruction on
p. 103.

If… students have difficulty determining the sequence of events,

Sequence

SKILLS

STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT

Sequence

TEACH

Remind students that sequence is the order in which events happen in a story. Tell students to pay attention as they read what happens first, next, and last.
Authors often indicate sequence by including clue words and phrases such as now, then, after, and finally.

MODEL The last paragraph
on p. 103 begins with the
word after. This clue word
tells me that the events in
this paragraph happen after the
events in the previous paragraph.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

Have students skim the selection and list the monetary amounts in order, starting with a penny (at the beginning of the selection) and going up to a thousand dollars (on p. 103). Have them use appropriate clue words as necessary to indicate sequence.
To assess, use Practice Book 3.1, p. 36.

Practice Book 3.1 p. 36

with | without Answers

"If You Made a Million"
by David M. Schwartz

Student Edition
Unit 1, pp. 90–109

Nonfiction text explains something about real life. What do you think you may learn about from this Selection Snapshot?

Have you ever earned a penny, a nickel, or a dime? What are these coins worth? A penny is worth one cent. Five pennies is equal to a nickel. A dime has the same value as two nickels or ten pennies.
Suppose someone gave you 25 cents. They might give you a quarter, which is equal to five nickels, or two dimes and one nickel, or three nickels and one dime, or even 25 pennies.
If you earned a dollar, you would have an amount equal to four quarters, or 10 dimes, or 20 nickels, or 100 pennies. You could buy bubbles with your dollar, or you could put it in the bank. The bank will pay you interest for letting it use your money. The longer your money stays in the bank, the more interest it earns. After twenty years, your dollar plus interest would equal about $2.70.
You could take five one-dollar bills and trade them in for one five-dollar bill. Money works that way. Every large bill is equal to bills of a smaller amount. The biggest bill is a hundred-dollar bill. Suppose you wanted to buy something that cost a lot, like a big, expensive elephant. That elephant might cost a thousand dollars. You could pay for it with ten hundred-dollar bills or 100,000 pennies.
But do you want to carry so much money around? Instead you could write a check for $1,000. The seller puts the check in his bank. His bank gets $1,000 of your money from your bank and adds it to the seller's money. That's how checks work.
Now think about how you could buy something bigger than an elephant, like a house. Do you have enough money for a house? If not, you could ask a bank to lend you some. You could pay back a little every month. You would also pay interest to the bank for letting you use its money.
You'll need a job to pay back your loan. Try to find something you like to do. Maybe you would like to train ogres. You could make a lot of money doing that. You might even make a million dollars. Now that's big money. A million dollars in one-dollar bills would weigh over a ton. (That's 2,000 pounds.) Maybe you want to take a check. As you can see, dealing with money means making choices.

If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz, 1989. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.



	Close
	Context Clues Some students may have difficulty defining the word clearinghouse on p. 103. Help students use context clues (as well as word structure as it relates to compound words) to define a clearinghouse as "a place where checks are cleared—or balanced—between banks." Life Cycle: Endangered Species The hippopotamus is a large animal that is only found in the wild in parts of Africa below the Sahara Desert. The hippopotamus spends most of its time in and around rivers, lakes, and ponds. Many people are afraid that the hippopotamus may soon become an endangered species. An endangered species is an animal that is in danger of becoming extinct, or no longer living. Many people and nations are working together to keep the hippopotamus from disappearing forever. Special parks have been set aside to protect the hippopotamuses from the main threat faced by the hippopotamus—human hunters.

"If You Made a Million" by David M. Schwartz

"If You Made a Million"
by David M. Schwartz