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Sequence • Literal
Sequence
Predict • Critical
Compare and Contrast
MODEL The first thing that happened is that Ikarus's wings blocked the board. Then the teacher complained. Third, the teacher told Ikarus to leave class. Fourth, a boy laughed at Ikarus while he was leaving the classroom. Soon everyone was laughing at him. So the answer to the question is after.
Student Edition
Unit 4, pp. 16–27
A fantasy is a story in which unbelievable things happen. What happens to make this Selection Snapshot a fantasy?
Ikarus Jackson is a new boy on my block. He has wings and can fly. I have seen him swooping down toward the ground and soaring up into the sky. I have watched him looping in big circles above the rooftops. Ikarus Jackson is wonderful.
Yet the kids at school didn't think so. They talked about him because he was different. They made fun of his wings, and they laughed at his hair and shoes. I felt bad for Ikarus because I knew how it felt to be singled out by the other kids.
They talk about me because I am quiet. This has made me feel lonely and sad, and I could tell that Ikarus felt the same way.
Even our teacher complained about Ikarus. He once sent Ikarus out of the room, saying the other students couldn't pay attention with him and his wings around.
In the schoolyard, kids pointed at Ikarus and made fun of him. I heard a snicker from one kid and a giggle from another. Soon everyone was laughing at Ikarus. They said his wings were useless.
At first, Ikarus struggled to keep from crying. Then he just looked up, flapped his feathers, jumped into the air, and began flying up higher and higher.
I thought people would be amazed, but their glaring looks told me differently. They said that Ikarus was nothing but a show-off.
Then Ikarus began drifting down toward the top of a building. His wings drooped, and his head was down. He sat on the roof with the pigeons until a police officer called for him to come down.
When kids saw the officer yelling at him, they laughed even louder. Ikarus dropped to the ground, hanging his head low.
I had to do something, so I yelled for everyone to be quiet. To my surprise, they stopped laughing. Ikarus came toward me, and I told him that I liked watching him fly.
For the first time, he smiled. Then he soared up again and swirled through the sky. I told everyone to look up and see my amazing new friend fly.
Updated from Wings by Christopher Myers. Published by Scholastic Press/Scholastic Inc. Copyright © 2000 by Christopher Myers. Reprinted by permission.
Copyright © Pearson Education.
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Access Content If students are familiar with the meaning of block as a piece of wood, such as the toy blocks young children play with, its use in the selection could be confusing. Explain that in this sentence, block is a verb. It means to obstruct or cover, making something difficult or impossible to see. You can show students the meaning by blocking the board with your body.
 
Life Science
The size and shape of a bird's wings control the kind
of flight a bird is able to do. For example, think about the differences between a hummingbird's flight and an eagle's flight. The same basic ideas apply to all birds' flight. All birds' wings are specially shaped to create air flow under and over the wings; this lifts the bird. It's what gets the bird into the air. This airflow can also pull birds backwards, though. To move forward, birds must flap their wings. Flapping takes energy, so many birds, especially the bigger birds, follow a flap-and-glide pattern. Eagles and other large birds that hunt can glide for long periods of time; hummingbirds hardly glide at all, they hover by staying in the same place for a period of time. |
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