This selection is protected by copyright and is not available online. The Selection Snapshot has been provided in its place.
Go to page
DURING READING
Guiding Comprehension
4 REVIEW Realism and Fantasy
• Critical
Based on what you have read
so far, is this selection an
example of a realistic story or
of a fantasy? Why?
Students should identify the selection as an example of a realistic story because it is about something that could have happened.
Monitor Progress
then… use the skill and strategy instruction on
p. 125.
If… students have difficulty distinguishing realistic fiction from fantasy,
REVIEWRealism and Fantasy
5 Draw Conclusions • Inferential
What does Saruni hope to do with his piles of coins?
He wants to buy a bicycle.
6Target Skill Character • Inferential
What do the events on
p. 125 tell you about Saruni's character?
Possible responses: Saruni is very determined. He does not let failure stop him from trying to do things. He does not let the opinions of others stop him.
SKILLS
STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT
Realism and Fantasy REVIEW
TEACH
  • Tell students that a realistic story is about something that could happen. A fantasy is a story about something that could not happen.
  • Model how students might use the text on p. 124 to support the conclusion that the selection is an example of a realistic story.
Think Aloud MODEL I need to look at the events on this page to see if they could really happen. First, I read that Saruni keeps his coins in a secret money box. Then I read that Saruni dreams about using his coins to buy a bicycle. Both examples could certainly happen. That's why I think the selection is an example of a realistic story.
PRACTICE AND ASSESS
  • Have students reread p. 125. Ask them to explain how the events on the page are realistic. (Possible responses: Saruni's troubles are like most children's experiences. Sometimes kids like to laugh at other kids' troubles.)
  • To assess, use Practice Book 3.1, p. 46.
Practice Book
Practice Book 3.1 p. 46
with | without Answers
My Rows and Piles of Coins

"My Rows and Piles of Coins"
by Tololwa M. Mollel

Student Edition
Unit 1, pp. 120–134

Realistic fiction is about things that could really happen. Has anything like what happens to Saruni ever happened to you?

I help Yeyo, my mother, on market day. Today she gave me five coins and said, "Saruni, you have been a big help."
I fingered the coins and looked for something to buy. I saw many snacks and toys, and then I saw bicycles. I excitedly ran to them. One was red and blue. I could help Yeyo more if I had that bike. I could run errands if I had a bike. Then I heard a gruff voice shout, "What are you looking at, boy? Get away from my bikes!"
Just then I decided to save all my money until I could buy that bike. I twisted my coins in a cloth. At home, I unwrapped the coins and took out the rest of my money. I arranged all the coins in stacks and counted them. Every week I earned more coins, and every week I stacked and counted them.
At the same time my father, Murete, was teaching me to ride his bicycle. Every night he held it steady as I got on. At first, it wobbled and I could not ride straight. I was learning to ride, but I came dangerously close to crashing when I tried to ride with extra weight on the bike. To carry goods to market on the bike, I had to be able to ride with a load on the back.
Soon I had many coins. Before long I felt like a rich man who could afford a bike. I took my coins to the bike man and pointed to the red and blue bike. He laughed meanly, "You do not have enough coins to buy that bike." Then he laughed at me. I was deeply saddened.
Later Yeyo asked what troubled me. She was surprised that I wanted a bike so I could help her. She said that someday I would own a bike. The next day, Murete came home on an orange motorbike. Murete said that he did not need his bike and would sell it to me. I ran and got my coins. Murete gave me the bike and Yeyo the coins. Then Yeyo handed me the coins. "Am I to keep the coins and the bike?" I asked.
Yeyo and Murete nodded yes. "You are a great help to us!"
Now I put bundles of goods on the bike and walk it to the market. And I think about when I can buy a cart for my bike to pull.

From My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa M. Mollel. Text copyright © 1999 by Tololwa M. Mollel. Reprinted by permission of Clarion Books, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Copyright © Pearson Education.

 
   
Close  
ELL
Extend Language Review with students the meanings of this selection's Words to Know found on
pp. 124–125: arranged, wobbled, errands, steady. Help students to determine the meanings of any other words on these pages with which they are not familiar. For instance, they might not be familiar with the use of longed for wanted.