LESSON 17 TEACHER S GUIDE by Vidas Barzdukas Fountas-Pinnell Level M Realistic Fiction Selection Summary Miguel lives in the Dominican Republic and loves baseball. His hero is Pedro Sanchez, a major league superstar from Miguel s village, who hits balls that seem to go on forever. The village ball field is in disrepair, but with Pedro s help on a visit, everyone works to fix it up. Number of Words: 945 Characteristics of the Text Genre Realistic fi ction Text Structure Third-person narrative Some shifting between present events and information about past events Problem presented on fourth page of text Content Village in the Dominican Republic Villagers admiration for celebrity baseball player Community effort to rebuild a ball fi eld Themes and Ideas Children want to be like their heroes. Successful people can do good for others. By working together, people can solve problems and complete a big job. Language and Suspense and anticipation conveyed with descriptions Literary Features Dialogue with multiple speakers, all assigned Figurative language: looked like a tiger ready to pounce Sentence Complexity Variety in sentence complexity and length, with many sentences longer than 15 words Challenging sentence with multiple pronouns: Sometimes Ella laughed when she saw him pretending to swing like Pedro, but he knew that she did the same thing, too. Vocabulary Baseball terms: mitt, major league, batter s box, at bat, umpire, pitch, swing, outfi eld, dugouts, infi eld, diamond, bases, ninth inning, score was tied Words Words with varied phonic and syllable patterns, such as village, routine, scoreboard Illustrations Cartoon-like illustrations support text. Book and Thirteen pages; illustration on every page or spread Print Features Italics for emphasis and for words in Spanish 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. Copyright by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Permission is hereby granted to individual teachers using the corresponding (discipline) Leveled Readers to photocopy student worksheets from this publication in classroom quantities for instructional use and not for resale. Requests for information on other matters regarding duplication of this work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Attn: Contracts, Copyrights, and Licensing, 9400 SouthPark Center Loop, Orlando, Florida 32819. Printed in the U.S.A. 978-0-547-30292-8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0940 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format.
by Vidas Barzdukas Build Background Have children name local baseball fields where youngsters can play. Build interest by asking a question such as, What makes a field good for playing ball? Read the title and author, and use the cover illustration to discuss the problems with the field. Tell children that this story is realistic fiction, because it seems as if it could happen, even though the author made it up. Introduce the Text Guide children through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so that they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions: Pages 2 3: Tell children that this story takes place in a country called the Dominican Republic, where children like to play baseball. Suggested language: Turn to pages 2 and 3. In this story a boy named Miguel lives in a poor village. A famous baseball player grew up in the same village but now plays for a major league team in the United States. Which major league team is your favorite? Page 4: Tell children that the player with the bat is Miguel s hero, Pedro Sanchez. Who is standing behind Pedro? That s the umpire. The umpire rules on baseball plays during the game. Page 7: Direct children to the picture. Miguel and his friends are upset because they can t play baseball. Can you tell why? Look for details in the picture for clues. Pages 8 9: Have children look at both pictures. The children are very excited because of what Miguel reads in the newspaper. Pedro Sanchez is coming home to visit the village! Look at page 9. How do you think Miguel feels about this news? Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to fi nd out what happens when a famous baseball player comes back to his home village. Expand Your Vocabulary imagined formed a picture in one s mind, p. 9 league - a group of teams that compete mainly with each other, p. 2 major most important, p. 2 materials tools and other things needed to do a task, p. 10 umpire a person who rules on baseball plays, p. 4 2 Lesson 17:
Read Have children read silently while you listen to individual children read. Support their problem solving and fluency as needed. Remind children to use the Visualize Strategy happening in the story. to picture things that are Discuss and Revisit the Text Personal Response Invite children to share their personal responses to the story. Suggested language: How do you think Miguel felt at the end of the game? Have you ever had those kind of feelings? When? Ways of Thinking As you discuss the text, help children understand these points: Thinking Within the Text Thinking Beyond the Text Thinking About the Text Miguel is a big fan of Pedro Sanchez, a major league ballplayer who grew up in Miguel s village. Miguel and the other children love baseball, but their ball field needs to be fixed up. Pedro arrives to help everyone fix up the ball field. Children dream of being like their favorite sports stars. People feel proud of someone who grew up in their home town and became a big success. Pedro Sanchez paid for the field to be fixed up because he wanted to help the children in his home village. 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H. The description of Pedro Sanchez hitting a ball is like the description of Miguel at the end. The author includes details about the game of baseball. The children s faces in the pictures show their feelings. Choices for Further Support Fluency Invite children to choose a passage from the text to present as Reader s Theater. Remind them that each character s exact words are inside the quotation marks. Comprehension Based on your observations of the children s reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind children to go back to the text to support their ideas. Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples from the text. Ask children to fi nd each smaller word in these compound words from, and talk about how the meanings combine to form the meaning of the compound word: outfi eld, infi eld, dugout, scoreboard, workmen. 3 Lesson 17:
Writing about Reading Critical Thinking Have children complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 17.9. Responding Have children complete the activities at the back of the book. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill. Target Comprehension ension Skill Sequence of Events Tell children that a story is told in a certain time order, and that readers think about the sequence of events to understand what happens before, during, and after other events. Model the skill, using a Think Aloud like the one below: Think Aloud On page 8, the children learn that Pedro Sanchez will be coming in a few weeks. On page 9, the first sentence is, The next few weeks went by quickly. The third paragraph begins, Finally it was time for Pedro s visit! I pay attention to words that tell about time passing, so that I understand when things are happening. Practice the Skill Have children reread page 12 and write three events using these words from the text: all week, then, finally. Writing Prompt: Thinking About the Text Have children write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think about the text, they reflect back on the text. They notice and evaluate language, genre, literary devices, and how the text is organized. Assessment Prompts In the fi rst paragraph on page 5, fi nd the word that means almost the same as hit very hard. How does Miguel feel as he waits for Pedro Sanchez to visit? 4 Lesson 17:
Read directions to children. English Language Development Reading Support In Introduce the Text (p. 2), use pictures, concrete objects, or demonstrations that will help children understand the concepts and ideas in the text. Don t ask children to read any text they will not understand. Vocabulary Use the illustrations to make sure children can identify the batter s box, umpire, pitcher, and diamond. Oral Language Development Check children s comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches their English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the child. Beginning/Early Intermediate Intermediate Early Advanced/ Advanced Speaker 1: Who is Pedro Sanchez? Speaker 2: a famous baseball player Speaker 1: How does Miguel feel about Pedro? Speaker 2: He wants to be like Pedro. Speaker 1: What needs to be fixed up? Speaker 2: a ball field Speaker 1: Where does the story take place? Speaker 2: It takes place in a village in the Dominican Republic. Speaker 1: Why are the children excited about Pedro s visit? Speaker 2: They want to see a famous ballplayer. They will get a new field. Speaker 1: Why does Miguel want to be like Pedro? Speaker 2: Pedro is a famous ballplayer who can hit balls so far they seem to go on forever. Miguel loves baseball and he wants to hit balls that hard, too. Name Read and answer the questions. 1. Who is Pedro Sanchez? Date Lesson 17 BLACKLINE MASTER 17.9 2. How do you think Pedro Sanchez feels about his village in the Dominican Republic? Why? 3. Why do you think Miguel practices Pedro s moves hundreds of times in the mirror? Making Connections Miguel really admires Pedro Sanchez. Is there someone you really admire? Why? What would you do if you could meet this person? Write your answer in your Reader s Notebook., Unit 4: Heroes and Helpers 5 Lesson 17:
Name Date Thinking About the Text Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two paragraphs. On page 4, the author says that Pedro looked like a tiger ready to pounce. On page 14, Miguel crouched like a tiger. What do you picture when you read those descriptions? Why do you think the author compared a person to a tiger? 6 Lesson 17:
Name Read and answer the questions. 1. Who is Pedro Sanchez? Date Lesson 17 BLACKLINE MASTER 17.9 2. How do you think Pedro Sanchez feels about his village in the Dominican Republic? Why? 3. Why do you think Miguel practices Pedro s moves hundreds of times in the mirror? Making Connections Miguel really admires Pedro Sanchez. Is there someone you really admire? Why? What would you do if you could meet this person? Write your answer in your Reader s Notebook. 7 Lesson 17:
Student Date Lesson 17 BLACKLINE MASTER 17.13 LEVEL M Running Record Form page Selection Text Errors Self-Corrections 4 Miguel watched Pedro step into the batter s box. The game was tied. It was Pedro s final time at bat. He put up his hand to the umpire, took a few practice swings, and then waited for the pitch. He looked like a tiger ready to pounce. Miguel knew the routine well. He had practiced Pedro s moves hundreds of times in the mirror. Sometimes Ella laughed when she saw him pretending to swing like Pedro, but he knew that she did the same thing, too. 5 CRACK! Sanchez blasted the first pitch out of the park. The crowd roared as the ball went up and up. It seemed to go on forever. Comments: Accuracy Rate (# words read correctly/110 100) % Total Self- Corrections Behavior Code Error Read word correctly cat 0 Repeated word, sentence, or phrase Omission cat 0 cat 1 Behavior Code Error Substitution cut cat 1 Self-corrects cut sc cat Insertion the ˆcat 1 Word told T 1 cat 0 1413628 8 Lesson 17: