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This week we are reading Dear Mr. Blueberry.  The story is told through friendly letters written by Emily and her teacher , Mr. Blueberry. When Emily finds a whale in her backyard pond, it starts a correspondance about whales between her and her teacher.

The story genre is informational. An informational story gives facts about a topic through a story plot. Look for : 1) characters that tell facts, 2) a plot with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

The vocabulary words for the story include-

1) details - small bits of information

2) disapoint - to make someone sad because something expected did not happen

3. forcibly - strongly: by force

4. information - facts about a person, place or thing

5. oceans - large bodies of salt water where whales and other animals live

6. stroke - to rub something gentely

Text story – Cool Ali – Genre – Realistic Fiction  Summary – One summer when it is too hot to stay indoors, Ali draws cool things, like snow, on the sidewalk. The pictures take everyone’s mind of the heat

Vocabulary:

     admired – noticed something and liked it

     fussed – showed unhappiness, complained

      haze – misty, smoky or dusty air

      mimicked – copied

       notice – be aware of

       pale – light in color

text story – The Emperor’s Egg  -summary: This selection tells how the Emperor

Penguin lives and cares for its offspring.

Genre: Informational Text – a book that gives facts about a topic

  A nonfiction informational book provides facts about real things To help children determine which information is factual have them ask themselves: Could I prove that this to be true by looking it up in a reference book such as a science book? If the information is yes, the information is true.

Vocabulary

1. Flippers – small fins used like hands or feet

2. hatch – break out of an egg

3. miserable – very unhappy

4. slippery- not sticky causing sliding

5. waddled – moved in a funny way like a duck

6. horizon – where the sky seems to meet the earth

Pine Park Mystery (A Play)  summary - It is a sunny day in Pine Park and the people of the town are out enjoying it. Suddenly things begin disappearing. They soon find out that the thief is an escaped Mynah bird.

Vocabulary

1. caused - make something happen

2. Clasp - a small hook that holds parts together

3. confused - to be uncertain or uncleat about something

4. cornered - to get a person or animal into a situation or position that is a trap

5. objects - things that you can see or touch but are not alive

6. removes - takes away

7. typical - normal or usual for a kind of thing

Focus Skill- Narrative Elements:

1. Every story has a plot with a beginning, middle and end.

2. Most plots include a problem that the character must solve.