Guiding Comprehension

If you are teaching the selection in
two days, discuss the story so far,
including characterization and
vocabulary.

Draw Conclusions • Inferential

On p. 186, it says Francisco's shoulders and arms hurt, and
on p. 187, it says he had never
felt so good. What does it
mean that he feels good when
his body hurts?

Possible response: It is the
first time he has worked for
money, so he is proud of
himself. He doesn't mind
the fact that his body hurts.

Vocabulary

• Context Clues

Use context clues to find the
meaning of the word slammed
in the last paragraph on p. 187.

Clues: Ben is angry; he
slammed the cap against the van.

then… use vocabulary strategy instruction on
p. 187.

If… students have difficulty using context to determine the meaning of slammed,

Context Clues

Whole Group Discuss the Question of the Day.

Group Time
Differentiated Instruction

A Day's Work. See
pp. 174f–174g for the small
group lesson plan.

Reading

Language Arts
Use pp.197e–197h and
197k–197m.

Whole Group Discuss the
Reader Response questions on
p. 192. Then use p. 197a.

Grouping Options

VOCABULARY STRATEGY

Context Clues

TEACH

Explain to students that they
can help themselves understand unfamiliar words by using context clues.
Tell students to scan for context clues within a sentence, a paragraph, or even among visual elements such as drawings or photographs.
Reread p. 187, from when Ben
gets out of his van, aloud. Model using context clues to
determine the meaning of
slammed.

MODEL When I come across the word slammed at the end of the page, I have to go back and look for clues that will help me figure out what it means. I know that Ben is angry because Francisco and his grandfather pulled out all his plants and left all the weeds. I'd be angry too! It says he slammed his hat against the van. Since he's angry, I think slammed means to hit really hard.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

Have students use context clues to figure out the meaning of yanked in the last paragraph of p. 187. (pulled hard)

"A Day's Work"
by Eve Bunting

Student Edition
Unit 2, pp. 178–191

This Snapshot is a story that could really happen.
It is realistic fiction.

Francisco and his abuelo (grandfather) shivered in the early morning air. They were waiting to be chosen to work for the day. Trucks and vans drove by the parking lot.
Francisco's grandfather had just moved from Mexico. He came because Francisco's father had died, and Francisco and his mother were alone. Francisco was with his abuelo today to translate from Spanish into English for him.
A van marked "Benjamin's Gardening" drove up. Francisco ran to be first in line. He motioned toward his grandfather and showed Benjamin his excitement. He called, "You will get two for one."
Ben told Francisco and his abuelo to climb in the back. He would pay them $60 for their work, he said.
Abuelo, in Spanish, said that he didn't know a thing about gardening. He was a carpenter. But Francisco told him gardening is easy. When the van stopped, Ben said they were to weed a big bank of land. He would come back for them at 3:00 p.m.
Francisco pulled up a spiky plant and showed Abuelo. "Just do this," Francisco said. They left the flowers where they were. They worked fast and hard in the hot sun. They had the lunch and water Mama had packed. Francisco thought of how proud she would be. Sixty dollars could buy many things.
He and Abuelo finished pulling all of the weeds. They sat down to wait for Ben.
When he came, he looked at the bank and was shocked. He grew angry and slammed his cap against the van. They had pulled out the good plants and left the weeds!
Abuelo knew something was very wrong. He told Francisco with anger and sadness that the man had hired them on a lie. They knew nothing about gardening.
He told Francisco to tell Ben that they would come back the next day and do the job right. So Francisco told Ben what his grandfather had said. If they came early the plants would survive. They would replant them all and pull out the weeds they had left.
Ben said he would pick them up the next morning. Abuelo let Ben know they wouldn't accept money until they finished the job. And Ben told Francisco that he could use a good man for more than one day's work as a gardener.
Abuelo already knew the most important things about life, Ben said.



	Close
	Understand Idioms Explain to students that there are many words and phrases in English that we use to express surprise, wonder, amazement, anger, disappointment, and so on. Point out the idiom Holy Toledo on p. 187. Explain that this idiom is used when someone is surprised or amazed by something. Francisco misunderstands Ben's amazement, however. He thinks Ben is pleased because he did not expect them to do a good job. Discuss with students what Ben is really amazed about. (They didn't understand which plants were weeds and pulled up all the good plants.) Living Things What exactly is a weed? Simply put, weeds are plants that grow where you don't want them to. Most weeds can grow just about anywhere. That's part of what makes them weeds. Weeds grow so fast and so well that very often they crowd out other plants. There are several things you can do to control weeds. You can spray them, but if you are growing vegetables, you have to be careful not to use chemicals that can make you sick when you eat the vegetables. You can cover the ground with plastic, but sometimes this stops the good plants from growing too. Or you can pull them out, being careful to get the whole root. That's a backbreaking chore!

"A Day's Work"by Eve Bunting

"A Day's Work"
by Eve Bunting