Guiding Comprehension

Cause and Effect • Critical

What would happen if Lily
blinked while watching
the fireflies?

She would miss part of their
code and wouldn't be able to understand what they were
saying.

Ask Questions • Critical

Text to World Reread p. 342.
What code is Lily talking
about?

The Morse Code, in which letters
of the alphabet are represented
by dots, dashes, and spaces.

Summarize • Literal

How many night letters has
Lily received so far and
from whom?

Four; from the ants, a hawkmoth,
a rock, and the fireflies.

STRATEGY SELF-CHECK

Ask Questions

Have students ask questions and draw conclusions about what they have read so far. Asking questions and looking for the answers can help students better understand what they are reading. Remind them to consider the facts and details and what they already know to ask questions and draw conclusions.

SELF-CHECK

Students can ask themselves these
questions to assess their
understanding of the selection.

How did I arrive at the
conclusions I have drawn in
my reading?
Did I base my conclusions on
accurate facts?
Do my conclusions make
sense?
Do my questions help me
understand what I have read?

then…
revisit the skill
lesson on
pp. 330–331.
Reteach as
necessary.

If… students
are unable to draw conclusions about what they have read so far,

Draw Conclusions

Check Predictions Provide the
following prompt: Go back to p. 334
and look at your prediction for the
selection. Was your prediction
correct? Revise your old prediction
or make a new one about the rest
of the selection.

If you want to teach this selection
in two sessions, stop here.

"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
	Understanding Idioms Have students use context clues to understand the idiom switch on. Have students ask questions to help them arrive at its meaning. (What do you do when you want to see in a dark room? Turn on the lights. What are the fireflies doing? They are lighting up. What is another way to say turn on or light up? Switch on.) PRACTICE LESSON VOCABULARY Students orally respond to each question and provide a reason for each answer. Was the rock wet at some point during the day? (Yes; it touched dew, and dew is condensed water.) How much grass is there in a blade of grass? (One piece) What kind of motion does a moth make when it flutters? (It flies; it moves its wings up and down, like a bird.) BUILD CONCEPT VOCABULARY Review previous concept words with students. Ask if students have met any words today in their reading or elsewhere that they would like to add to the Concept Web.

"Night Letters" by Palmyra LoMonaco

"Night Letters"
by Palmyra LoMonaco