Open for Discussion Personal Response
MODEL New England is hotter in the summer and colder and snowier in the winter than England. William had to make changes to his house in order to survive.
Comprehension Check Critical Response
- Responses will vary, but some details include the use of dialogue, the characters' problems, and the illustrations. Author's Purpose
- Possible response: They looked different from the houses in England.
Draw Conclusions
- Possible response: I asked questions about words I didn't know, so I understood the story better.
Ask Questions
- Clearing: so trees wouldn't fall on his house; pegs: hung clothes on them; cellar: stored food in it; barrels: kept food and cider in them.
Vocabulary
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 William's House.
then… use the Retelling Cards and the Scoring Rubric for Retelling on p. 267 to assist fluent retelling.
If… students have difficulty retelling the story,
Check Retelling

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 Explain that each sentence in the prompt has a purpose.
- Sentence 1 presents a topic.
- Sentence 2 suggests students think about the topic.
- Sentence 3 tells what to write.
Strategies to Develop Focus/Ideas
Have students
- draw a picture of their home and discuss its features with a partner.
- list details about the environment.
- use specific details to describe a home.
NO: things to raise the house
up
YES: tall stilts to keep the
house from flooding
For additional suggestions and rubric, see pp. 271g–271h.
Writer's Checklist
- Focus Do all sentences stick to the topic?
- Organization Are ideas in order? Do transitions, such as so, show connections between ideas?
- Support Do details give readers information and help them picture the topic?
- Conventions Are grammar, punctuation, and spelling correct?