Guiding Comprehension

Draw Conclusions
• Inferential

When do you think this story
takes place?

In the evening.

then… use
the skill and
strategy
instruction
on p. 337.

If… students
do not arrive at the conclusion
that the story
takes place
in the evening,

Draw Conclusions

Mood • Inferential

What mood do the words and
illustrations create?

Quiet, restful.

Tone • Critical

In what tone of voice would
you read this story aloud?
Why?

Hushed, quiet, slow. I see words
like low and sleepy on the page.

SKILLS
STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT

Draw Conclusions

TEACH

Explain to students that to draw a conclusion is to think about facts and details and decide something about them. Explain that draw in this context does not mean to draw a picture. It means to figure out by thinking.
Model drawing a conclusion
about p. 336.

MODEL I read that supper
is over and the dishes done.
Most people eat supper in the evening. The clouds are turning red,
so the sun is probably setting. In the
picture, the girl is still awake, so it is
not time for bed. All of these details
together make me think the story
takes place in the evening.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

Have students reread p. 336. Ask
students where they think the story
takes place. Have them point out
clues in the story that led them to
this conclusion. (Possible responses:
I think this story takes place in the
country. The only noise the narrator
hears is a low harmonica, so this is
probably a quiet place. Also, the
place in the picture looks like
the country.)

"Night Letters"
by Palmyra LoMonaco

Student Edition
Unit 3, pp. 334–349

Realistic fiction has settings that can seem real, but the stories are made up. What details in this Snapshot make the setting realistic?

When evening comes, before the light fails and darkness falls, Lily runs outdoors. This is her time to look at nature before all the creatures settle in for the night. Lily takes her notepad so she can record everything she sees and hears. She imagines that all the creatures and things in nature write her letters, telling her about their day.
First there are the ants. A line of them marches back to their hill. What would their letter say? It would thank Lily for the bread crumbs that fell from her lunch today. She writes this onto her notepad.
Lily watches a hawkmoth flutter from flower to flower, drinking in each one's nectar. The moth would tell her that it visits only the fully opened blossoms, not the small budding ones. Lily writes this on her notepad.
She looks at the large, cracked rock in the tomato patch. She writes that today the rock touched drops of dew and a spider web. Tonight it will look for stars.
Soon Lily sees a blinking light, first on a blade of grass and then in the bushes. Then more and more lights blink on and off. The fireflies are inviting Lily to catch them. She writes their message on her notepad. "Catch us if you can!"
Lily sits under her favorite tree in the backyard. The big old sycamore has many stories to tell. It has told her about buds that burst into green leaves in the spring. It has told her about birds that sing as they build comfortable nests in its branches, and about how silent the tree is when the birds fly south. The old sycamore has told Lily of the winter, when evenings are too cold and dark for a nature walk. But this summer evening, as the sky fades, Lily writes what she hears the tree say to her now. "Dear Lily, Please climb me tomorrow."
She gets up from her seat against the tree's huge trunk. She stands and looks back at the sycamore. She is ready to go indoors now and think about the day and what she will write back to her backyard friends.
Lily is ready to write one more night letter about this day.



	Close
	Weather Patterns Weather forecasters study clouds closely because clouds give important clues about the weather to come. Certain types of clouds often appear, and in the same order, before a storm. The first clouds to appear, in the west, are the wispy white cirrus clouds that build up until they merge into cirrostratus clouds, which cover the sky. These are followed by the altostratus clouds, which are thicker and therefore block the sun. Light rain or snow may fall from these clouds. They are followed by the nimbostratus clouds, which are lower and heavier; these clouds carry heavier rain or snow. Cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds can develop over these, bringing even heavier rain or snow.

"Night Letters" by Palmyra LoMonaco

"Night Letters"
by Palmyra LoMonaco