Guiding Comprehension

Vocabulary • Word

Structure

Have students use word
structure to help them define
the word chilly on p. 130.

Students should identify the
base word chill and the suffix -y ("somewhat ___") to define the word.

then… use vocabulary strategy instruction on
p. 131.

If… students have difficulty using word structure to figure out chilly,

Word Structure

Plot • Inferential

What happens when Saruni
tries to buy the bicycle? Given the plot so far, were you surprised? Why? Why not?

Saruni does not have enough
money to buy the bicycle.
Students should note that the plot
so far has centered on how he has been saving money to buy one. So when it turns out that he does not have enough money, this is a surprise, or plot twist.

VOCABULARY STRATEGY

Word Structure

TEACH

Remind students to look for the prefix
un- or the suffix -ly to help them define unknown words. Read the first sentence on p. 131. Model how you would use word structure to determine the meaning of the word unwrapped.

MODEL I wonder what the word unwrapped means. I need to look closely at the word. The word has the prefix un- at the beginning. The prefix un- makes a word mean "not" or "the opposite of." When something is wrapped, it is rolled into a package. Unwrapped, therefore, must mean "not rolled into a package."

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

Have each student use word structure
to determine the meaning of the words
proudly and deeply on p. 131. Have
advanced students scan the selection
for other words they can combine with
un- or -ly to create new words.

Dialogue

Review with students how writers
use quotation marks to indicate that
a character is speaking. Help students understand how to punctuate various forms of speech such as statements, questions, and exclamations.

"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.



	Close
	Understanding Idioms Direct students' attention to the phrases handed down and feeling like a king on p. 130. Make sure students understand the meanings underlying these idioms. Encourage students to record English idioms and their meanings in language journals, word lists, or computer files of English vocabulary.

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

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