LESSON 4 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Sky-High Dreams
by Lee S. Justice
Fountas-Pinnell Level Q
Historical Fiction
Selection Summary
During the Great Depression, Gabe’s family takes in his cousin Hank,
whose family has lost its home. Hank is sad and barely involved in
family activities. However, he comes alive after visiting the building
site of what is to become the tallest building in the world, the Empire
State Building.
Number of Words: 1,123
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Historical fiction
• First-person narrative
• Organized chronologically
• Problem presented in beginning of story
• Events take place in the distant past
• Family takes in a needy relative during the Depression
• Construction of the Empire State Building
• Helping out a family member is a positive thing to do.
• You can watch history being made.
• Architecture can inspire.
• Conversational language
• First-person narrator
• Split dialogue
• Direct speech implied but no quotation marks for narrator’s words
• Compound and complex sentences with phrases. Example: Hank was older than I was,
but I remembered that he was always laughing and joking.
• Many construction terms that might not be familiar: beams, cable, columns, framework,
observatory, rivets, scaffolds
• Many compound words. Examples: framework, skyscraper, stickball, newsreel, sidewalk,
overnight, scrapbook, viewpoint, rooftop
• Drawings convey historic and architectural details.
• Eleven pages of text, four-color illustrations on many pages; some full page art
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Sky-High Dreams
by Lee S. Justice
Build Background
Help students think about what they know about skyscrapers. Build interest by asking
such questions as these: What is the tallest building where you live? What do you think
it means to be sky high? Read the title and the author’s name, and then talk about the
cover illustration. Tell students that this story is historical fiction, so some of the events
described in it really happened but the characters may not be real.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so that they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 2: Explain that this story takes place in New York City in the 1930s during
the Great Depression, when many people lost their jobs and their homes. The main
characters are Gabe and his cousin Hank.
Suggested language. Turn to page 2. Read aloud the last two sentences: Then I
heard Papa say, “That’s what family is for. No nephew of mine is going to be out on
the streets.” What does that tell you about the speaker, who is Gabe’s dad?
Page 5: Explain that this story shows how a very tall building called a skyscraper
is built. Read the sentence: Slowly we began to hear the nonstop noise of rivets
being hammered into steel. What do you think the rivets are holding together?
Pages 6–7: Point out that this story contains a number of terms related to
construction. Make sure students understand the words scaffolds, framework,
columns, beams, and cable. Help them find some of the terms illustrated in the art
on page 6. What would it be like to watch this building being built, floor by floor?
Imagine what it would be like if it were the tallest building in the world!
Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to find out how a new
skyscraper changes the lives of Gabe and Hank.
Expand Your Vocabulary
beams - long heavy pieces of
timber or metal used as a main
support of a building, p. 7
cable - a very strong thick rope,
wire, or chain, p. 7
columns - supporting pillars, p. 7
Grade 3
framework - a basic supporting
part or structure, p. 7
observatory - a place providing a
wide view, p. 10
rivets - metal bolts with a head at
one end used for uniting two
or more pieces, p. 5
2
scaffolds - elevated platforms
built as supports for workers,
p. 7
skyscraper - a very tall building,
p. 5
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Read
Have students read Sky-High Dreams silently while you listen to individual students read.
Support their problem solving and fluency as needed.
Remind students to use the Infer/Predict Strategy
them figure out more about the selection.
to find clues to help
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the story.
Suggested language: Do you think the way Gabe and Hank acted about the Empire State
Building was realistic? How is it the same and different from how you and your friends act
when you are excited about something new?
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
• Hank needs a place to stay until
his parents have a home of their
own again.
• Being away from your own
family can be hard.
• The family scenes help us to
understand how the Depression
affected people.
• Gabe tries hard to cheer up his
cousin.
• If someone is feeling sad, it
helps to have something exciting
to look forward to.
• Seeing the Empire State Building
being built helps Hank feel
excited and happy again.
• Watching something big and
historically important happen is
exciting.
• The details in the text and the
art about what the building site
looks and sounds like help us
feel as though we’re right there.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choose a passage from the text to act out, such as page 7,
which has both narrative and dialogue. Remind them to try to sound as if the narrator,
Gabe, is actually speaking.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify and extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Remind students that compounds are formed from shorter,
familiar words. For example, framework on page 7 is a compound that combines the
words frame and work. Explain that taking apart longer words can sometimes help
readers understand the meaning of compound words.
Grade 3
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 4.9.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book. Use the instruction below as
needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Compare and Contrast
Remind students that recognizing how one
character is alike or different from another will help them to understand why those
characters think or behave as they do. Model the skill, using a “Think Aloud” like the
one below:
Think Aloud
Look at the Venn diagram on page 14 of your book. Both Hank and Gabe
are interested in the Empire State Building. So in the Venn diagram,
that appears under “Both.” What do we know about Gabe that is not
necessarily true of Hank? Gabe is living at home with his parents. That
detail would appear under Gabe’s name in the chart.
Practice the Skill
Have students write two sentences that compare and contrast what Hank was like at the
beginning of the story and what he was like at the end of the story.
Writing Prompt: Thinking About the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think about the text, they reflect back on the text. They notice and evaluate language,
genre, literary devices, and how the text is organized.
Assessment Prompts
• On page 3, what is the last paragraph mainly about?
• Tell one word that best describes how Hank felt as he looked over the city from the
observatory on the 86th floor. Use details from the story to support your answer.
• This story was most likely written to _____________________________________.
Grade 3
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support After reading aloud, help students to make a list of interesting
language and/or new words, such as the list of words pertaining to construction.
Idioms Explain any idioms students might find unfamiliar such as, on page 8, That
skyscraper had captured Hank’s interest; and on page 9, You lifted Hank’s spirits!
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: Who is telling the story?
Speaker 1: What does Doris learn from a
newsreel at the movie theater?
Speaker 1: What does Hank think
about the new skyscraper?
Speaker 2: She learns about a
skyscraper being built.
Speaker 2: He thinks it is the most
beautiful thing he ever saw.
Speaker 1: What is special about the
skyscraper?
Speaker 1: How does Hank keep
track of the new building?
Speaker 2: It will be the tallest
skyscraper in the world.
Speaker 2: He keeps a scrapbook
of articles and pictures.
Speaker 2: Gabe
Speaker 1: Where does the story take
place?
Speaker 2: in New York City
Speaker 1: Why does Gabe’s cousin
Hank feel sad?
Speaker 2: His family lost their home.
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Lesson 4
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.9
Critical Thinking
Sky-High Dreams
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text Why did Hank come to live with
Gabe’s family?
His father lost his job, and they could no longer afford to pay rent for a home.
2. Think within the text What was special about the new
office building going up on Thirty-Fourth Street?
It would be the tallest skyscraper in the world.
3. Think about the text How was Hank different from the
way his cousin Gabe remembered him?
Possible response: Hank used to laugh and joke a lot. Now he looked sad and
stayed by himself much of the time.
4. Think beyond the text Why did Hank seem to “come
alive” during the summer?
Possible response: He was excited by the construction of the Empire State Building.
This new interest took his mind off the trouble his family was experiencing.
Making Connections Think about a time when someone or
something cheered you up. Describe what happened.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Read directions to students.
Critical Thinking
11
Grade 3, Unit 1: Good Citizens
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Grade 3
5
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Name
Date
Sky-High Dreams
Thinking About the Text
Think about the question below. Then write your answer in one or two
paragraphs.
Most of this story is about watching all the steps of a skyscraper being built.
At the end of the story, the main characters are standing near the top of the
skyscraper so they can’t actually see the building. Why do you think the
author ended the story with this scene?
Grade 3
6
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Lesson 4
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.9
Critical Thinking
Sky-High Dreams
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text Why did Hank come to live with
Gabe’s family?
2. Think within the text What was special about the new
office building going up on Thirty-Fourth Street?
3. Think about the text How was Hank different from the
way his cousin Gabe remembered him?
4. Think beyond the text Why did Hank seem to “come
alive” during the summer?
Making Connections Think about a time when someone or
something cheered you up. Describe what happened.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 3
7
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Student
Lesson 4
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 4.13
Sky-High Dreams • LEVEL R
page
10
Sky-High Dreams
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
New York is nicknamed the Empire State, and the name of the
new skyscraper was the Empire State Building. It opened in
May, right on schedule. Our whole family joined the crowds
eager to take a tour.
“Just swallow, and your ears won’t hurt,” advised the elevator
operator. The elevator soared to the eighty-sixth floor in a
flash. Everyone stepped out to the observatory.
I peered over the wall and stumbled back, dizzy. Then I took a
deep breath and looked again. The city spread out below me. I
could see tiny cars crawl on the streets and toy bridges stretch
across water.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/104 ×
100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 3
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1413989
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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