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DURING READING
Reader Response
Open for Discussion Personal Response
Think Aloud MODEL Lydia Grace always has a positive attitude. She knows she has to leave her family, but she is still excited because she wants to learn to bake!
Comprehension Check Critical Response
  1. Letters give us personal details about the main character, but they only give us that character’s point of view. Author’s Purpose
  2. Lydia Grace’s visit made him happier. He almost smiled when he read the poem she gave him, and he made her a cake covered with flowers.
    Target Skill Cause and Effect
  3. She wanted to make him smile. He did not smile literally, but he made Lydia Grace a cake that she said “equals one thousand smiles.” Target Skill Story Structure
  4. They call her “the gardener” because she sprouts seeds and bulbs. Target Skill Vocabulary
TEST PRACTICE 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 The Gardener.
SUCCESS PREDICTOR
Monitor Progress
then… use the Retelling Cards and the Scoring Rubric for Retelling on
p. 299 to assist fluent retelling.
If… students
have difficulty
retelling the
story,
Check Retelling Rubric
ELL
Assessment Have students tell what is happening in each illustration. Let them listen to other students’ retellings before having them attempt their own. See the ELL and Transition Handbook.
Write Now
Look at the Prompt Have students identify and discuss key words and phrases in the prompt. (special place in nature, journal entry, vivid words)
  • Sentence 1 presents a topic.
  • Sentence 2 suggests students think about the topic.
  • Sentence 3 tells what to write—a journal entry.
Strategies to Develop Word Choice
Have students
  • write a list of places they go when they are alone.
  • draw a picture or visualize the place they are describing.
  • use vivid words to tell what they see, hear, smell, taste, or touch in that place.
NO: a place in the attic
YES: a warm, dusty corner of the attic
For additional suggestions and rubric, see pp. 303g–303h.
Hints for Better Writing
  • Carefully read the prompt.
  • Use a graphic organizer to plan your writing.
  • Support your ideas with information and details.
  • Use action verbs that help readers understand.
  • Proofread and edit your work.
Retelling: SUCCESS PREDICTOR
Reader Response
Open for Discussion Lydia Grace certainly makes the best of things. Some people would say that when life handed her a lemon, she made lemonade. Tell some ways in which Lydia Grace shows she is that kind of person.
1.
The author writes this story in the form of letters. What did you think of this way of writing? What kind of information can you get from a letter? Think Like an Author
What effect did Lydia Grace's visit have on Uncle Jim? Why do you think so? Cause and Effect
What was Lydia Grace trying to achieve when she first arrived at Uncle Jim's? By the end of the story, did she succeed? Story Structure
Uncle Jim's customers began calling Lydia Grace "the gardener." Explain this new name. Use words from the Words to Know list. Vocabulary
4.
2.
3.
Look Back and Write Lydia Grace writes a poem for Uncle Jim. How did he feel about the poem? How do you know? Look back at page 290. Use details from the story in your answer.
Meet author Sarah Stewart on page 410 and illustrator David Small on page 421.
TEST PRACTICE
Write Now: Journal Entry
Prompt
Writing Trait
Vivid word choice helps readers picture a setting. Use words that appeal to the senses.
The Gardener describes a special garden.
Think about a special place in nature.
Now write a journal entry about that place, using vivid words.
Writer expresses feelings
in the first sentence.
Student Model
Student Model
Use the model to help you write your own journal entry.
Vivid word
choice
 appeals
to readers'
senses.
Writer
engages
readers in
the final
sentence.
 
   
Close  
Scoring Rubric
Look Back and Write
Top-Score Response A top-score response will use details
from p. 290 to tell how Uncle Jim feels about the poem Lydia
Grace writes for him.
Example of a Top-Score Response Uncle Jim doesn’t smile
when Lydia Grace writes him the long poem. Uncle Jim likes
the poem. He reads it aloud. He also pats the poem after he
puts it in his pocket. Uncle Jim is happy Lydia Grace writes
him a poem.
For additional rubrics, see p. WA10.
Scoring Rubric    Narrative Retelling
Rubric 4 3 2 1
Connections
Makes connections and generalizes beyond the text
Makes connections
to other events, stories, or experiences
Makes a limited connection to
another event,
story, or experience
Makes no connection to another event, story, or experience
Author's
Purpose
Elaborates on author's purpose
Tells author's purpose with
some clarity
Makes some
connection to
author's purpose
Makes no connection to author's purpose
Characters
Describes the main character(s) and
any character development
Identifies the main character(s) and gives some information about them
Inaccurately identifies some characters or gives little information about them
Inaccurately
identifies the characters or gives no information
about them
Setting
Describes the time and location
Identifies the time
and location
Omits details of time or location
Is unable to identify time or location
Plot
Describes the problem, goal, events, and ending using rich detail
Tells the problem, goal, events, and ending with some errors that do not affect meaning
Tells parts of the problem, goal, events, and ending with gaps that affect meaning
Retelling has no sense of story
Selection Test To assess with The Gardener, use Selection Tests, pp. 41–44.
Fresh Reads for Differentiated Test Practice For weekly leveled practice, use pp. 61–66.
Retelling Plan
  • This week assess Strategic Intervention
    students.
  • Week 2 Assess Advanced students.
  • Week 3 Assess Strategic Intervention students.
  • Week 4 Assess On-Level students.
  • Week 5 Assess any students you have not yet
    checked during this unit.
Use the Retelling Chart on
p. TR16 to record retelling.