Cricket in Times Square

Genre: Fantasy Authors Purpose: Entertain Skill: Visualizing

Compiled by Terry Sams, Piedmont

By: George Selden

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!

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.

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.

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

 

 

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.

Practice Visualizing

TE 157a

Lets look at page 144 when Chester is in the picnic basket together.
Sights Sounds Feelings Taste Smell

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

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

Research Skills Newspapers/ Newspapers/ Magazines/Periodicals 157j

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

Research Skills Newspapers/ Newspapers/ Magazines/Periodicals 157j

 Magazines, also called periodicals are Magazines, 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.

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 140Tucker Mouse had . . .

Read to Find Out Pages 138 - 145

1.Where is Chester from? 2.How did he get to the newsstand in the subway station? 3.How does Chester feel about being in New York in the beginning? Why?

Read to Find Out Pages 138 - 145

1.How does Chester feel while traveling in the picnic basket? Why? 2.Find in the text the words the author uses to help you visualize Chesters journey inside the picnic basket?

Read to Find Out Pages 146-154

1.What does Chester hear, see, and feel when the cat arrives? 2.Why is Chester so concerned about Tucker? 3.How does the author help the reader picture the journey up the drainpipe?

Read to Find Out Pages 146-154

1. What are some details the author uses to help create a mental picture of New York City at night? 2. Visualize Chesters life in the country and in New York City. What are some of the differences?

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.

Fun Stuff
      Character Practice Match the Vocabulary Spelling Words Hangman Crickets Reading Test Spelling Test

More Good Stuff

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

Say It!
occasion furiously railroad melody subway venturing traffic chirp

More Words to Know

eavesdropping liverwurst scrounging sympathetically

chirp a short, sharp sound made by a cricket

furiously quickly; wildly

melody a succession of single tones in music; tune

occasion a special event

railroad the track with steel rails on which trains travel

subway an underground electric railway

traffic
 cars, trucks, and buses traveling along  roadways

venturing daring to go

eavesdropping listening to talk that you are not supposed to hear

liverwurst
a sausage made mostly of liver

scrounging
searching about for what you can find

sympathetically with kindness

She furiously jumped over the bike.

She furiously jumped over the bike.

The student was caught eavesdropping at the teachers door.

The student was caught eavesdropping at the teachers door.

My teacher talks sympathetically to me when I have had a bad day.

My teacher talks sympathetically to me when I have had a bad day.

The traffic is really busy.

The traffic is really busy.

Today is a very important occasion.

Today is a very important occasion.

He shared his liverwurst sandwich with me.

He shared his liverwurst sandwich with me.

The dog was scrounging under the bed for his lost bone.

The dog was scrounging under the bed for his lost bone.

Crickets love to chirp at night.

Crickets love to chirp at night.

The singers had a soft melody.

The singers had a soft melody.

The railroad tracks are very old.

The railroad tracks are very old.

The subway is very busy.

The subway is very busy.

I went venturing on my own.

I went venturing on my own.

Spelling Words Vowel Sounds in put/out put/out

stood took wood cushion football

brook bush July mountain cloud

Spelling Words Vowel Sounds in put/out put/out

proud butcher pudding power shower

however crowd loud house outside

This Weeks Word Wall Words

Click and type your own words for this week:

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.

stood

took

wood

football

brook

bush

July

cushion

butcher

pudding

power

however

shower

crowd

loud

house

outside

mountain

cloud

proud

GREAT JOB!