Embedded Files
This week your child is reading the story A Fine, Fine School, in which an overly enthusiastic principal keeps his fine school open seven days a week, 365 days of the year!
Home Connection Activities!
Home Connection Activities!
The Time of Your Life With your child, create a time capsule at the beginning of the school year. Fill a shoebox with things that represent your child’s life at this point in time: an ad or ticket stub for a popular movie, recent photos, school schedules, sports headlines, favorite candy wrappers. Tape the box shut and promise not to open it until the last day of school. Together, brainstorm goals that you and your child want to accomplish this year, and include these in the time capsule. Be realistic but also try to stretch yourselves a little.
Vocabulary on the Go Kids love hearing stories from when you were their age. Tell your child stories about your own school experiences (especially comical ones!). If you happen to have any yearbooks or photos from your school years, share those, too. Write the words below on paper, and try to use some of them together as you share stories.
principal soared strolled worried proud announced
Get a Toon-Up The illustrator of A Fine, Fine School is also a cartoonist. Find some of your child’s favorite cartoons on TV, in the newspaper, or in comic books. Compare some funny illustrations in books to the cartoons. What is the same about them? How are theydifferent? Talk about how the art adds humor and meaning to the stories and cartoons you and your child like best.
Cool Schools Together, make a list of books and TV programs that are set in schools. Talk about why the setting is important and how those books and shows would be different if they were set somewhere else.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
Build Background: Education
Build Background: Education
American School System
American School System
In the United States, children go to school five days a week for most of the year. On Saturdays and Sundays, children stay home to play, do chores, and spend time with their families. The weekends also can be a time for learning outside of school.
In A Fine, Fine School, you’ll read about a school that begins to do things differently. You’ll find out how the students feel about it. You may even wonder how you would feel if you went to this fine, fine school.
Read the Story: "A Fine, Fine School"
Read the Story: "A Fine, Fine School"
GENRE
GENRE
Humorous fiction characters and events that are funny. As you read, look for:
mostly realistic characters and events
a setting that is familiar to most readers
funny situations or events
Read Aloud: A Fine, Fine School
Read Aloud: A Fine, Fine School
Read "A Fine, Fine School" on page 15 of your Journeys Textbook
Click for Story Comprehension Questions
Click for Story Comprehension Questions
How is learning at school different from learning at home?
How is learning at school different from learning at home?
Continue your discussion of A Fine, Fine School by explaining your answers to these questions:
Why does Mr. Keene start changing the days that school is held?
What finally makes Tillie talk to Mr. Keene about going to school all the time?
Do you think the author agrees more with Tillie or with Mr. Keene about learning? Use text evidence to explain your answer.
Response
Tillie helps Mr. Keene see that some important things are learned outside of school. What are some important things you learn outside of school? Why are they important? List three or more things and write your opinion about why each is important.
Tip: State the things you learn outside of school at the beginning of your response. Then give a reason why each one is important. End your response with a statement that sums up your ideas.
Target Skill: Story Structure
Target Skill: Story Structure
As you read A Fine, Fine School, look for the setting, or where the story takes place. Look for the main characters, or the people in the story. Note the problem that the characters face and how they solve it. That is the plot of the story. Use a story map to keep track of the setting, characters, and plot.
The elements of a story include:
the setting (where and when the story takes place),
characters,
and plot (conflicts, events, and resolution).
The structure of a story includes the characters, the plot, and the problems the characters face. The plot is what happens in the story. The events in the plot fit together to form the structure of the story. You can use a story map to gather details about characters, setting, and plot as you read. Doing so can help you keep track of events and understand how the story’s scenes fit together.
Story Vocabulary
setting where and when a story takes place
characters the people in a story
plot the problem characters face and the events of the story
illustrations drawings or artwork that show a story’s events
mood the overall feeling of a story
In A Fine, Fine School, you read about Tillie and her school. You also read about the school’s principal, Mr. Keene, and his plans. Where the story takes place is called the setting. The people in the story are the characters. Last of all, everything that happens in a story is called the plot. The events that make up the plot often happen because of how the characters act and what they say.
Look back at page 20 in A Fine, Fine School. In this section of text, you find out what the problem will be. As you keep reading, watch how the problem grows and how it is solved by the characters.
Story Structure Lesson
Story Structure Lesson
Target Strategy: Summarize
Target Strategy: Summarize
As you read A Fine, Fine School, summarize, or retell the important parts of the story in your own words. This helps you to keep track of the main events.
SWBST
SWBST
Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then
Method for Retelling/Summarizing
Compare Texts: One-Room Schoolhouses
Compare Texts: One-Room Schoolhouses
GENRE
GENRE
Informational text gives factual information about a topic. This is an online encyclopedia article.
TEXT FOCUS
TEXT FOCUS
Photographs show true pictures of important text details. Captions explain a photo or picture. Look at the photos and captions before you read to see what the text will be about.
One-Room Schoolhouses
One-Room Schoolhouses
Read about One-Room Schoolhouses on page 38
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