LESSON 9 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Searching for My Father
by Edwin Hernandez
Fountas-Pinnell Level X
Realistic Fiction
Selection Summary
Matino knows two things about his father— Roberto Clemente had
been a big influence in his life and he always had more time for other
people than for his own family. After his father dies, Matino goes to
Puerto Rico where a visit to The Roberto Clemente Sports City helps
him gain insight about his father.
Number of Words: 2,703
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Realistic fiction
• Six chapters with descriptive subtitles
• Details to help readers understand causes and effects
• Roberto Clemente and his legacy
• Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Real-life heroes and legends
• Personal integrity
• Achieving dreams
• Some unassigned dialogue
• Use of figurative language: fit . . . like a glove
• Complex sentences—phrases, clauses, compound
• Split dialogue
• Words related to Old San Juan: El Morro, ramparts, dungeons, sentry posts
• Proper nouns: Brooklyn; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Nicaragua
• Spanish words: barrios, piraqua, niños, garitas, Tía, poppi, Señor
• Compound words such as broomstick, countryside, earthquake, freeway
• Illustrations without captions
• Illustrations that show characters’ emotions and story setting
• Seventeen pages of text, some without illustrations
• Main character’s thoughts in italicized sentences
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Searching for My Father
by Edwin Hernandez
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge about Puerto Rico to visualize the text. Build interest by
asking questions such as the following: Where is Puerto Rico? What language do people
speak in Puerto Rico? What’s the climate like there? Do you know anyone who has lived
in Puerto Rico? Read the title and author and talk about the cover illustration. Tell students
that this selection is realistic fiction, and ask them what kind of features they can expect to
find in this type of selection.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Pages 2–3: Explain that this is a story about Matino, a boy who travels to Puerto
Rico to learn something about his father who died recently. Suggested language:
Look at the illustration of Matino on page 2. Where do you think he is? What do
you notice about the scene outside the window?
Page 4: Point out the Spanish word barrios on this page. Suggested language:
There are many Spanish words in this text. They are printed in italics.
Page 15: Read the subtitle on page 15 and look at the illustration. Who do you
think Roberto Clemente was? What do you think Roberto Clemente has to do with
the story?
Pages 17–18: Draw students’ attention to the illustration on page 18. Matino
notices that children are playing baseball with rudimentary gear, such as a
broomstick for a bat. What do you think rudimentary means? What other
rudimentary gear could be used in a baseball game?
Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to find out what Matino
learns about his father, during his trip to Puerto Rico.
Target Vocabulary
array – an impressive, orderly
arrangement of things, p. 6
permeated – spread or flowed
throughout, p. 4
consequences – the natural, or
logical, results of an action or
a condition, p. 18
poised – something still and
carefully positioned to carry
out a task or move at any
moment, p. 15
defy – to challenge, resist, or
oppose, p. 16
immaculately – something that is
done perfectly, p. 4
Grade 6
rudimentary – something simple,
basic, or in an early stage of
development, p. 17
sparsely – with few things, p. 17
venture – to do an activity
bravely, despite the risk, p. 7
rigid – something strong and
unbending, p. 10
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Visualize Strategy
to use details from the
text to create their own images of what is happening as they read the text.
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the text.
Suggested language: This story is an example of realistic fiction. Do you think the
problem in the story is realistic? Why or why not? Do you think Matino is a realistic
character? Why or why not?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Roberto Clemente dedicated his
life to helping others.
• Dreams can sometimes be
attained as a result of hard work.
• The inclusion of Spanish words
makes the text more authentic.
• Roberto Clemente was a huge
influence on Matino’s father.
• Real-life heroes can have a big
influence on people.
• By gaining an understanding of
Roberto Clemente, Matino was
able to appreciate his father.
• The trip to Puerto Rico helped
Matino deal with his father’s
death.
• The chapter subtitles help
readers make predictions about
the story.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to participate in choral reading. Remind them to use a louder
tone to reflect the importance of certain words, as one would do in oral language to
emphasize important words. Also have students use a louder tone to express when
a character might be exclaiming.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with using the context of a sentence
or a paragraph to help determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Demonstrate
how to figure out the meaning of the word imposing in this text on page 15: “Señor
Martinez was a very imposing figure. He wore an expensive straw hat and a fine suit
of clothes.” Discuss that Señor Martinez’s clothing sounds impressive, so an imposing
figure could be an impressive person. Discuss how the word expensive in this passage
contributes to deciphering the meaning of imposing.
Grade 6
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 9.8.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s
Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding
of the comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Cause and Effect
Remind students that when they look for causes and
effects in text, they think about how events are related and how one event causes another.
Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one
below:
Think Aloud
“He liked baseball” is a cause entered on the chart. The effect can
be figured out by saying a sentence that begins with “because.” Say,
“Because his father liked baseball, Matino became interested in baseball.”
Add this detail to the chart. Under cause add that Matino’s father believed
in hard work. Under effect list that this helps Matino understand why his
father admired Roberto Clemente. In this way, causes and effects have
been clarified.
Practice the Skill
Have students share other examples of causes and effects in other stories they have read.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.
Assessment Prompts
• Which sentences from page 2 support the idea that Matino didn’t understand his
father completely?
• What does the word spellbound mean in the last line on page 15?
• What can the reader conclude about Old San Juan as described in this story?
Grade 6
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English Language Development
Reading Support Check regularly on students’ oral reading to determine accuracy,
fluency, and comprehension.
Cognates Draw attention to selection words with Spanish cognates. Some of these
words are baseball (béisbol), hero (héroe), emergency (emergencia), police officer
(policía), and discrimination (discriminación).
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: Why did Matino go to
Puerto Rico?
Speaker 1: Why did Matino want to go
to The Roberto Clemente Sports City?
Speaker 1: Why did Matino not
understand his father?
Speaker 2: to learn about his father
Speaker 2: He wanted to understand
why Roberto Clemente was his dad’s
hero.
Speaker 2: His father spent a lot
of time helping strangers and not
much time with him.
Speaker 1: How were Roberto Clemente
and Matino’s dad alike?
Speaker 1: At the end of the story,
Matino feels that he sees his
father “in a whole new light.”
What does that mean?
Speaker 1: Who was his father’s hero?
Speaker 2: Roberto Clemente
Speaker 1: Who was Roberto
Clemente?
Speaker 2: a baseball player
Speaker 2: They both helped other
people.
Speaker 2: It means that instead
of not understanding his father,
he now sees him as a giving
person who always helped those
in need.
Lesson 9
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.8
Date
Critical Thinking
Searching for My Father
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text Why does Matino hear Puerto Rican tree frogs
for the first time?
Matino has never been to Puerto Rico before.
2. Think within the text Why are Julia and Isabel hesitant to send the
boys to Sports City alone?
Julia and Isabel believe the boys might get lost.
3. Think beyond the text What elements of Matino’s story do you best
relate to? Explain.
Matino’s need to understand his father better is what I best relate
to. The things my parents do sometimes make me confused, and I
wish I could understand them better.
4. Think about the text What characteristics of Searching for My Father
make it realistic fiction?
The story deals with the death of loved ones. I think that’s very
realistic subject matter. I also think Matino’s confusion over his
father’s death seems very real.
Making Connections What other stories have you read about relationships
between children and their parents? Compare one of these stories to
Searching for My Father.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
10
Critical Thinking
Grade 6, Unit 2: Common Ground
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Name
Date
Searching for My Father
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
At the end of the story, Matino puts on his new baseball jersey. He is proud
to wear number twenty-one. How do you think Matino would have felt if he
had been given the same jersey before he visited The Roberto Clemente
Sports Center? By helping strangers, do you think Matino’s father set a
good example for Matino? Why or why not?
Grade 6
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Lesson 9
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.8
Date
Critical Thinking
Searching for My Father
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text Why does Matino hear Puerto Rican tree frogs
for the first time?
2. Think within the text Why are Julia and Isabel hesitant to send the
boys to Sports City alone?
3. Think beyond the text What elements of Matino’s story do you best
relate to? Explain.
4. Think about the text What characteristics of Searching for My Father
make it realistic fiction?
Making Connections What other stories have you read about relationships
between children and their parents? Compare one of these stories to
Searching for My Father.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 6
7
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Student
Lesson 9
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 9.12
Searching for My Father • LEVEL X
page
2
Selection Text
Searching for My Father
Running Record Form
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
As soon as the in-flight movie ended, Matino Torres raised his
window shade. The island he had come to see was now
entirely visible beneath him. They would be landing soon and
then his search would begin in earnest. Matino had high hopes
for this trip. He wanted to find answers to the questions he had
about his father, who had died three months earlier.
While the flight attendants prepared for landing, Matino
remembered his father’s funeral. He had stood beside his
mother in church during the service.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/89 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 6
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414505
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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