By: George Selden

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Cricket in Times Square
Genre Fantasy Authors Purpose Entertain Skill
Visualizing
Compiled by Terry Sams, Piedmont

• By George Selden

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Summary

•   Chester Cricket got much more
• than he bargained for when he climbed into a
  picnic basket in his Connecticut meadow.  He got
  a trip all the way to New York City.  There, in
  the Times Square subway station, Mario Bellini,
  the son of the newsstand owners, finds Chester
  and makes a home for him in a matchbox.  One
  evening, after the newsstand closes, Chester
  makes friends with Tucker Mouse and Harry the
  Cat, who take him above ground to see the sights
  of the city!

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Genre Fantasy

• In fantasy, animals talk, miniature creatures
  inhabit  a world beneath the floorboards, and a
  peach swells to the size of a house. Some of the
  characteristics found in fantasy extend to
  science fiction, which is set most often in the
  future and deals with the impact of technology
  and science on humans. In science fiction, robots
  talk, people travel faster than light, and
  Martians exist.

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Extend Skills - Fables

• A fable is a brief story that teaches a lesson.
• The characters in fables, such as The Ant and
  the Grasshopper are usually animals.
• They talk and act like people and reveal the good
  and bad points of human nature.

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Compare Fantasy and Fable

• Fantasy
• about something that could not happen
• may or may not have talking animals as characters
• may be short or long
• may or may not teach a lesson

• Fables
• about something that could not happen
• usually has talking animal characters
• is short
• teaches a lesson

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Comprehension Skill - Visualizing
When we visualize while reading, we create
pictures in our minds. Visualizing helps us to
relate to the characters in a text. We imagine
what things look like, smell, sound, taste, and
feel.
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Practice Visualizing TE 157a
Lets look at page 144 when Chester is in the
picnic basket together.
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Comprehension Review Making Judgments TE 157b

• When you form opinions about what people are
  like, you are making judgments.
• You form opinions about characters in stories by
  using story events and your own experiences to
  make judgments as you read.
• Look for story evidence to support your judgment

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Vocabulary Skill - Synonyms

• Words with similar meanings are called synonyms.
• You can often find out the meaning of unknown
  words by finding a clue in the words around it.
• Examples melody and song
• subway underground train

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Research Skills Newspapers/ Magazines/Periodical
s 157j

• Newspapers are published daily or weekly.
• Newspapers contain news, advertisements, feature
  stories, editorials, and other useful, current
  information.

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Research Skills Newspapers/ Magazines/Periodical
s 157j

• Magazines, also called periodicals are published
  at set intervals (weekly, monthly, quarterly and
  so on).
• They may contain news articles, opinion columns,
  advertisements, cartoons, reports, and other
  current information.
• They often focus on a particular subject.
• The name of the magazine will usually tell you
  what subject is covered.

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Weekly Fluency Check -Read with Attention to
Punctuation TE 157d

• Students should read with attention to
  punctuation. Let the punctuation be your guide
  as you read.
• Students should let their voices fall at the end
  of a sentence, and rise at the end of a question.
• Students should pause at commas, semicolons,
  dashes, and colons.
• Go to pages 140-141, beginning with
  Tucker Mouse had . . .

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Read to Find Out Pages 138 - 145

• Where is Chester from?
• How did he get to the newsstand in the subway
  station?
• How does Chester feel about being in New York in
  the beginning? Why?

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Read to Find Out Pages 138 - 145

• How does Chester feel while traveling in the
  picnic basket? Why?
• Find in the text the words the author uses to
  help you visualize Chesters journey inside the
  picnic basket?

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Read to Find Out Pages 146-154

• What does Chester hear, see, and feel when the
  cat arrives?
• Why is Chester so concerned about Tucker?
• How does the author help the reader picture the
  journey up the drainpipe?

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Read to Find Out Pages 146-154

• What are some details the author uses to help
  create a mental picture of New York City at
  night?
• Visualize Chesters life in the country and in
  New York City. What are some of the differences?

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Writing Assignment

• Choose one of the following and write a
  paragraph
• Write a paragraph and persuade me to live in
  either the country or the city. You may choose
  which place and then add details as to why you
  think that is the best place to live. Be sure to
  include a topic sentence that includes which
  place you are writing about.
• What are some of the problems that cities have?
  Write a letter of complaint to a citys mayor,
  expressing your complaint clearly and politely.

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Fun Stuff

• Character Practice
• Match the Vocabulary
• Spelling Words Hangman
• Crickets
• Reading Test
• Spelling Test

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More Good Stuff

• ABC order This weeks word list
• New York City Tour
• Whats Beneath a City Sidewalk?
• Crickets Care Sheet

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Say It!

• chirp
• furiously
• melody
• venturing

• occasion
• railroad
• subway
• traffic

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More Words to Know

• eavesdropping
• liverwurst
• scrounging
• sympathetically

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chirp

• a short, sharp sound made by a cricket

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furiously

• quickly wildly

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melody

• a succession of single tones in music tune

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occasion

• a special event

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railroad

• the track with steel rails on which trains travel

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subway

• an underground electric railway

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traffic

• cars, trucks, and buses traveling along
• roadways

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venturing

• daring to go

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eavesdropping

• listening to talk that you are not supposed to
  hear

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liverwurst

• a sausage made mostly of liver

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scrounging

• searching about for what you can find

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sympathetically

• with kindness

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She furiously jumped over the bike.
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She furiously jumped over the bike.
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The student was caught eavesdropping at the
teachers door.
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The student was caught eavesdropping at the
teachers door.
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My teacher talks sympathetically to me when I
have had a bad day.
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My teacher talks sympathetically to me when I
have had a bad day.
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The traffic is really busy.
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The traffic is really busy.
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Today is a very important occasion.
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Today is a very important occasion.
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He shared his liverwurst sandwich with me.
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He shared his liverwurst sandwich with me.
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The dog was scrounging under the bed for his lost
bone.
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The dog was scrounging under the bed for his lost
bone.
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Crickets love to chirp at night.
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Crickets love to chirp at night.

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The singers had a soft melody.
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The singers had a soft melody.
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The railroad tracks are very old.
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The railroad tracks are very old.
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The subway is very busy.
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The subway is very busy.
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I went venturing on my own.
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I went venturing on my own.
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Spelling WordsVowel Sounds in put/out

• stood
• took
• wood
• cushion
• football

• brook
• bush
• July
• mountain
• cloud

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Spelling WordsVowel Sounds in put/out

• proud
• butcher
• pudding
• power
• shower

• however
• crowd
• loud
• house
• outside

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This Weeks Word Wall Words
Click and type your own words for this week
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Lets review our spelling words. Watch
carefully because they will flash on the screen
for just a moment. We will clap as we spell the
word.
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stood
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took
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wood
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football
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brook
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bush
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July
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cushion
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butcher
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pudding
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power
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however
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shower
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crowd
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loud
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house
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outside
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mountain
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cloud
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proud
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GREAT JOB!