Pushing Up the SkyBy: Joseph Bruchac

Day 3

Pushing Up the Sky

Author: Joseph BruchacIllustrator: Teresa FlavinGenre: PlayComprehension Skill: Author’s PurposeComprehension Strategy: Summarize

Question of the Day

Why aren't the people successful in pushing up the sky the first time they try?

Small Group

Read “Pushing Up the Sky”, pages 314-320.

Reader Response

Open for Discussion Stage directors use sound effects and movements to help a play seem real for the audience. What sound effects and movements would you put into this play to help it seem real?

1. When does the narrator talk in this play? Why do you think the author includes a narrator? Think Like an Author

2. The author's purpose is the writer's reason for writing. Give one important purpose the author might have for writing Pushing Up the Sky. Author's Purpose

3. If someone asked you what Pushing Up the Sky is about, how would you summarize it for them? Think about the problem the tribes have and how they solve it to help with your summary. Summarize

4. Narrator is a word that often appears in plays. What other words in the story are "play words"?

Look Back and Write

How does this play explain something in nature? Write what it is and how the people explained it. Use details from the play to support your answer.

Time for the Test!

Fluency

I’m going to read aloud p. 314. Listen how my voice changes as I read the dialogue of the different characters. Practice doing Readers’ Theater readings of this page in groups of five.

Pushing Up the Sky

Grammar

Day 3

Daily Fix-It

1. The hunters spoted a brown bare among the trees. The hunters spotted a brown bear among the trees.

2. They went after the animal but it dissapeared into the woods. They went after the animal but it disappeared into the woods.

Main and Helping Verbs

Describing the precise time of an action makes writing clearer. Helping verbs express time. The men have seen bearsmany times before.Homework/Classwork Grammar andWriting Practice Book p. 46

Pushing Up the Sky

Writing

Day 2

Writing Prompt

Pushing Up the Sky tells about people working together to do something important. Think about a real or imaginary time when a group worked together. Now write a skit about that time.

Test-taking Tips

Use only a few characters. Have their speeches move the skit’s action along.Use a narrator to help set up the story and identify the conflict or the problem to be solved. Use strong verbs in sentences in parentheses to describe the characters’ actions.

Pushing Up the Sky

Spelling

Day 3

Spelling - Prefixes

Objective:Spell words with prefixes un-, re-, mis-, dis-.

When the prefixes un-, re-, mis-, or dis-are added to words, no change is made to the base word: unhappy, recall, mistake,dislike.

Adding certain prefixes to base words does not usually change the pronunciation of the base word.

Journal Entry

Write a journal entry about something that happened in your life.

Use at least four spelling words.

Classwork/Homework

Spelling Practice Book p. 47

Frequently misspelled words:a lot offsaid

Great Job!