Home-School Connection Word Workout WORDS TO KNOW barbecue collage glorious skyscrapers strutting swarms Test Me Look at each word and give me a clue to what it is. If I don t know the word, give me another clue. Let s see how many clues it takes me to say the word. SPELLING WORDS fishbowl lookout backyard undertake campfire overhead waterproof grandparent newborn bookcase bedroom blindfold yourself railroad desktop snowstorm bedspread overdo clothesline loudspeaker Match the Parts I ll give you just one part of a compound word. Let s see if you can name the missing word in the compound and spell the entire word. (fold here) Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Dear Family Member: This week we re reading Me and Uncle Romie. It s about a boy named James who goes to spend the summer with his aunt and uncle in New York City. When James meets his aunt, I can tell by all the places she takes him and from the things she says that she is a nice woman. I don t know anything about Uncle Romie yet, but I m sure in a while what he says and does will tell me what kind of man he is. This Week s Skills Comprehension: character, setting, and plot Vocabulary: context clues definitions and examples Spelling/Phonics: compound words Name 201
Dear Diary Suppose you are in a new place with a person you do not know. Let s read about each location and the person you re going to be there with. We can make up that character. What kind of person is this? How does he or she show that? What would she do? What would he say? You ve been chosen to join a group of students on a trip to a Central American rain forest. You ll spend your summer exploring the plants and animals that live there. Mr. Tanner will be your leader. When you get to the forest you are amazed at how green and beautiful it is. However, it rains every day, and soon you and everything you own are damp. You complain to Mr. Tanner. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill You ve loved dinosaurs your entire life, so when you re invited on a summer dinosaur dig, you jump at the chance. You are with a small group of paleontologists in a desert, and you share a tent with two other young people. It is very hot and you tire easily. You carefully dig hour after hour, but find nothing. 202
Conexión con el hogar Ejercicio de palabras PALABRAS DE VOCABULARIO barbecue collage glorious skyscrapers strutting swarms Ponme a prueba Mira cada palabra y dame una pista para indicarme qué es. Si no sé de qué palabra se trata, debes darme otra pista. Vamos a ver cuántas pistas necesito hasta descubrir cuál es la palabra. PALABRAS DE ORTOGRAFÍA fishbowl lookout backyard undertake campfire overhead waterproof grandparent newborn bookcase bedroom blindfold yourself railroad desktop snowstorm bedspread overdo clothesline loudspeaker Una parte y la otra Te voy a dar sólo una parte de una palabra compuesta. Vamos a ver si puedes decirme la palabra que falta y luego deletrear la palabra completa. (fold here) Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Queridos familiares: Esta semana estamos leyendo Me and Uncle Romie. Se trata de un niño llamado James que va a pasar el verano con su tía y su tío en la ciudad de Nueva York. Cuando James conoce a su tía, por los lugares adonde ella lo lleva y por lo que le dice, puedo ver que es una buena mujer. No sé nada sobre el tío Ramie todavía, pero con toda seguridad lo que él diga y haga me va a indicar qué clase de hombre es. Destrezas de la semana Comprensión: personaje, ambiente y argumento Vocabulario: claves del contexto definiciones y ejemplos Ortografía/Fonética: palabras compuestas Nombre 203
Querido diario Supón que estás en un lugar nuevo con una persona que no conoces. Leamos sobre cada lugar y la persona con la que estarás. Podemos crear ese personaje. Qué clase de persona es? Cómo lo demuestra? Qué hace esa persona? Qué dice? You ve been chosen to join a group of students on a trip to a Central American rain forest. You ll spend your summer exploring the plants and animals that live there. Mr. Tanner will be your leader. When you get to the forest you are amazed at how green and beautiful it is. However, it rains every day, and soon you and everything you own are damp. You complain to Mr. Tanner. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill You ve loved dinosaurs your entire life, so when you re invited on a summer dinosaur dig, you jump at the chance. You are with a small group of paleontologists in a desert, and you share a tent with two other young people. It is very hot and you tire easily. You carefully dig hour after hour, but find nothing. 204
Summarize Comprehension Check Use a graphic organizer to record information from the book. Then use the information to summarize the story. Event Event Event Setting Character s Reaction Character s Reaction Character s Reaction Think and Compare 1. Look back at page 14. How does Carly change as she tries to figure out the secret of the photographs? Where does this take place? (Analyze Character, Setting, and Plot) 2. Carly enjoyed photographing the sights around Fort Peck Lake. If you were taking pictures of Fort Peck Lake, which subjects would you photograph? Why? (Apply) 3. Look at the Margaret Bourke-White photographs in Chapter 3. How do photographs sometimes make ordinary things look glorious? (Evaluate) Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Beautiful or Not Beautiful or Not by Kirsten Anderson illustrated by Matthew Archambault Table of Contents Chapter 1 The Perfect Picture.........................2 Chapter 2 A Tip from a Visitor.......................7 Chapter 3 Learning from the Past....................12 Chapter 4 The Perfect Picture, Part II................16 Comprehension Check.....................20 20
Chapter 1 The Perfect Picture Carly held her breath as the broad-tailed hummingbird fluttered near the cluster of wildflowers. She stared into her camera, waiting. A fly landed on Carly s arm. She flicked it away with a finger. The bird flew near a flower. The flower wasn t red enough, though. Carly waited. The bird flew to another flower. This one was too small. Finally the bird hesitated over the largest, reddest flower. Carly began to snap pictures. She was certain that these would be some of the best pictures she had ever taken. Yes, Carly said. They look like they re big enough to hold up a building. That s good, he said. Ugly things in dull places, Carly reminded him. She printed out the pictures she liked, and pinned them next to the collage of Margaret Bourke-White photos. It s not what it is, I guess, Carly wrote in her photo journal. It s how you see it. You can see something a million different ways and that can be better than one beautiful way. 2 19
What are you doing? Dad asked. Trying something new, Carly said. When Carly went home, she uploaded her pictures. Some weren t very good. Others definitely were different. The fishing poles looked gigantic. The floorboards had contrasting patches of sun and shadows. They might have been part of a railroad track. Carly called Brad in to look at the pictures. Are those fishing poles? he asked, staring closely at one picture. Carly raced home and uploaded the pictures onto her computer. She couldn t wait to see the results. But when the pictures came up on the screen, she was disappointed. Carly studied them, then opened her photo journal. She wrote: Hummingbird pictures: The bird s wings are a blur, not enough detail on flower, bird isn t close enough to the flower in any shot. Why aren t these the way I thought they would be? Carly, Mom says it s time for dinner. 18 3
Carly s brother Brad stood in the doorway, drumming his fingers on the door. He played the drums, and he practiced on everything. Look at these. Carly pointed to the computer screen. They re nice, he said. That s it, sighed Carly. They should be more than nice. It s a beautiful day. The bird is exciting and the flowers are gorgeous but they re just boring. Here. She handed Brad her camera. You can have it. I m done with photography. Thanks, said Brad, taking the camera. Carly kept her camera out as she walked to the store. She took pictures of cars, gates, and the empty pathways and streets. She took pictures of puddles and rocks, from close up and from far away. When she got to the store, she picked out a group of fishing poles. She brought them out on the porch and leaned them up against a wall. Then she took picture after picture of them. She went into the store and took pictures of the counter. She knelt down on the floor and took pictures of the floorboards. 4 17
Chapter 4 The Perfect Picture, Part II The next morning Carly took her camera and ran out to the front porch. The family had been cleaning out the cellar and attic. The whole jumble was now on the front porch. There were games, books, lamps, and equipment for a variety of sports. The dogs, Rusty and Scout, slept in the middle of it all. Carly knelt down. She took pictures of everything. She tried different angles. She looked for shadows and blocks of sun. Carly stared at him nervously. Brad waited a moment, then handed it back. You quit photography almost every day, he said. Don t worry. I just want to take beautiful pictures of beautiful things in wonderful places, Carly said, shaking her head. Maybe you should take ugly pictures of ugly things in dull places, Brad said. Very funny, Carly said. I m about to feed your barbecue to Rusty and Scout, Mom called. 16 5
Brad rushed out the door. Carly looked at the hummingbird pictures again. She had always been fascinated by cameras and photographs. Her father had let her take pictures with his camera as soon as she could hold one. At first it was just fun. She took pictures of anything. Now Carly wanted something more. I want to take the kinds of pictures that make people stop and look, she thought. Rusty s eating your dinner! Brad yelled. 6 15
The pictures that fascinated Carly the most were some of the least glamorous. Margaret had taken a series of pictures of a Cleveland steel factory in the late 1920s. It wasn t a particularly exciting subject it was just the factory at work. Still, Carly loved the pictures, especially the one of a giant ladle pouring liquid steel. The light, shadows, and bigness of everything made it all seem somewhat glorious. Carly cut out the Margaret Bourke-White photographs she had found. She taped them on a corkboard and made a collage. She stared at them, trying to figure out the secret. Maybe, she wrote, great pictures aren t just about looking for beautiful things. Maybe it s looking for the beauty in everyday things that is important. Carly looked back at the collage and smiled. She was ready to start over. Chapter 2 A Tip from a Visitor I m going to the stockroom, Carly, Dad said. Call me if you need help. Sure, said Carly. Carly s family lived near Fort Peck Lake in Montana. Her parents owned a fishing tackle and camping supply store. During the busy summer season, swarms of tourists came to fish at the lake and camp in the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. Carly and Brad helped their parents in the store. 14 7
Carly loved talking to visitors about the area. Fort Peck Lake was so big that she couldn t see where it ended. Ducks skimmed across the surface of the lake. Geese strutting along the shore were a regular sight. Kingfishers sat on the rocks at the water s edge. In the forested areas, Carly saw deer, raccoons, owls, and even foxes. She spent hours looking for subjects for her pictures. Each season everything changed, and she was never bored. Carly searched for other Margaret Bourke-White pictures. Many were of things that Carly wouldn t usually have found very interesting: ordinary bridges, towers, buildings. But these pictures caught her attention somehow. Maybe it s that they re in black and white, Carly wrote. She looked at some of her own pictures on her computer. She changed them from color to black and white, but they looked pale and faded. That wasn t the answer. 8 13
Chapter 3 Learning from the Past When Carly got home that afternoon, she looked online for the Fort Peck Dam picture. She printed it and looked at it closely. Carly wrote in her photo journal: It isn t that the dam is beautiful. I think it has something to do with the angle of the picture. Maybe it s the clouds. Did she wait for the perfect day, with the perfect piece of sky, to take the pictures? Carly had visited her cousins in Seattle many times. The streets were filled with cars, and the houses were close together. Carly wondered what it must be like in Chicago or New York, where people were packed into apartment buildings, and skyscrapers blocked the sun. She looked at pictures of cities, and thought the big, gray buildings were dull. Carly thought it must be hard to be a photographer in the city. 12 9
A young couple came into the store. The man went to get some batteries. The woman told her that they were on their way to Fort Peck Dam. The dam had been built in the 1930s. It had blocked off the Missouri River, creating Fort Peck Lake. Carly made a face. Really? The dam s pretty boring. Oh, not at all! the woman said. Look. She pulled a magazine out of her knapsack. She opened it and handed it to Carly. Carly looked at the photograph. She had never seen the dam like this before. It looked like a giant castle. Its towers seemed to brush the clouds in the sky. At the bottom of the picture were two tiny figures. They made the dam look even bigger and more impressive. Who took this? Carly asked. Margaret Bourke-White, said the woman. It s from 1936. Carly looked at the picture again, and wrote the photographer s name on a slip of paper. She couldn t wait to find out more about the photographer. 10 11