CONTENTS
TRAVEL
SHOW
“Welcome to Chinatown!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
illustrated by Tomer Hanuka
Build Fluency
• Read with proper intonation.
• Read at an appropriate rate.
Build Vocabulary
• Read, write, and learn the meanings of new words.
Review Vocabulary
• Read theme Vocabulary Words in a different context.
REALISTIC
FICTION
“Amelia’s Garden” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
by Miriam Kirby
Use Story Structure
• Review how to use story structure to understand how the
characters, setting, and plot events fit together in a story.
Ask Questions
• Review how to ask questions about the text to clarify
meaning.
648
r
The a t e
’
s
r
e
W
Re a d
L SHO
TR AVE
by Miriam Kirby
Re a ding Fic t ion
REAL I ST I C F I CT I ON
649
destinations
aspects
vigorously
reconstruct
gorgeous
festive
ornate
symbolize
expectantly
misfortune
Reading for Fluency
When reading a script aloud,
• Match your intonation to
the character’s mood.
• Make sure your reading
rate is fast enough to hold
listeners’ attention.
650
Characters
Kim Richards, Co-host of New Destinations
Tom Taylor, Co-host of New Destinations
Garrett, History Correspondent
Maria, History Correspondent
Kim: Hello again, everyone, and welcome to
another episode of New Destinations! I’m
Kim Richards, and with me, as always, is
my co-host, Tom Taylor.
Connor, On-the-street Correspondent
Aimee, On-the-street Correspondent
Emily, Shopping and Dining Correspondent
Monica, Shopping and Dining Correspondent
Tom: Hi, everyone! Today’s new destination is
one that’s rich in history and culture. Today,
Kim and I welcome you to Chinatown!
651
Flue ncy Tip
To improve your reading
rate, practice reading
portions of text that
have unfamiliar terms.
Kim: We have a great show planned for you!
Today, you’ll learn about Chinatown’s
history as part of San Francisco and
California. We’ll also talk about
Chinatown’s architecture and other aspects
of the area that make it unique.
Tom: Then we’ll tell you about some of the
interesting things you can to do when you
visit Chinatown.
Kim: We hope to give you a sense of what
it’s like to visit and to live in this unusual
community.
Tom: You might even become curious enough
to want to see for yourself the remarkable
things we describe!
Kim: Let’s start by turning things over
to Garrett and Maria, our history
correspondents.
Garrett: Thanks, Kim. There are Chinatowns
in major cities all over the world. San
Francisco’s Chinatown is one of the oldest.
It’s also the third-largest Chinatown in
North America.
652
Maria: That’s right, Garrett. As old as it is,
however, this Chinatown is not the one that
was built by Chinese immigrants in the
1850s. That Chinatown was destroyed in the
1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Garrett: The earthquake and the fires caused
by the earthquake destroyed more than 500
city blocks!
Maria: The first large groups of Chinese
immigrants made the journey to the United
States in the 1850s. The immigrants came
here for opportunities to earn a suitable
living by working on the railroads.
Garrett: Many immigrants also came hoping
to find gold in California. The California
gold rush of 1848 brought miners from all
over the world.
Maria: These first immigrants settled in what
is today the heart of Chinatown. They built
homes, opened restaurants, and started
businesses.
Garrett: After the earthquake, the residents
worked vigorously to reconstruct Chinatown.
To encourage tourists to visit, they designed
the buildings and streets with the features
that everyone now recognizes as typical of
Chinatown.
Maria: Starting in the 1950s, more groups of
Chinese immigrants settled in the United
States.
Garrett: The population of San Francisco’s
Chinatown boomed. New residents built
smaller Chinatowns in neighboring areas,
but the original Chinatown is still the one
tourists visit most often. Back to you, Kim
and Tom.
Tom: Thanks, Garrett and Maria. Chinatown is
such an interesting place to visit!
Kim: It’s a major tourist attraction. Did you
know that Chinatown attracts more visitors
than San Francisco’s famous landmark, the
Golden Gate Bridge?
Tom: One of the main streets in Chinatown
is Grant Avenue. Our on-the-street
correspondents, Connor and Aimee, are
there now to tell us what people can see and
do on Grant Avenue.
653
Connor: Thanks, Tom. Here on Grant
Avenue colorful lanterns, curved roofs, and
gorgeous columns carved from stone all
give Chinatown its festive look.
Aimee: They definitely do, Connor! Grant
Avenue is also where you’ll find the famous
Dragon Gate, an arch that stands at the
southern entrance to Chinatown. The
Dragon Gate gets its name from the two
ornate dragon sculptures that sit on top of
the arch.
Connor: On Grant Avenue you’ll find many
restaurants and shops. You can buy the
perfect souvenir to remember your visit!
Aimee: Be sure to visit Portsmouth Square, too.
There’s always something interesting going
on there.
Connor: In the mornings, you can watch
groups of people practicing tai chi. It’s
a form of Chinese exercise that helps
people develop better balance and
flexibility.
654
Flue ncy Tip
Exclamation points are
clues to the correct
intonation to use when
you read aloud.
Aimee: We’ll be back a little later in the
program to tell you about the Chinese New
Year parade, which will be starting here in
just a few minutes! For now, let’s go back to
Kim and Tom.
Kim: Chinatown has many interesting
grocery stores and markets. You might be
surprised by how different they are from the
supermarket where you shop!
Tom: Chinatown grocers import many of the
items they sell from countries in Asia. They
provide the ingredients to area restuarants,
where you can eat Vietnamese, Chinese,
Thai, and Malaysian food. For a report
on all the great food and shopping in
Chinatown, let’s go to Emily and Monica,
live at the Good Luck Grocery on Stockton
Street!
Emily: Thank you, Tom! For many years,
markets like the Good Luck Grocery were
the only places you could get things like
jasmine rice from Thailand, oolong tea
from China, or oyster sauce from the
Philippines.
Monica: A market in Chinatown may also sell
fish and other select seafood items. Don’t be
surprised if you see large aquariums filled
with fish, lobsters, and crabs in a Chinatown
market. Seafood is a popular ingredient in
traditional Chinese recipes.
Emily: Depending on what time of year you
visit Chinatown, you might find different
things at the market. For example, around
the time of the Chinese New Year, usually
near the end of January, you’ll find many
people buying oranges and tangerines.
Monica: In Chinese culture, oranges and
tangerines symbolize happiness. People
give them as New Year’s gifts to friends
and relatives. In fact, the Chinese word for
“orange,” ju, sounds a lot like the word
for “good luck” in Chinese!
Emily: The markets are not the only places you
can buy fruits and vegetables in Chinatown.
When you walk down Grant Avenue, you’ll
see street vendors with carts just about
everywhere!
Monica: These merchants also sell newspapers,
clothes, and souvenirs. You could spend an
entire day just looking at what everyone has
for sale.
Emily: You can also go into the many shops
that line the street. Like the markets, these
shops import much of what they sell from
countries in Asia.
Monica: Of course, no visit to Chinatown
would be complete without a meal. You’ll
have no trouble finding a restaurant. The
hard part will be choosing which one to try!
Flue ncy Tip
Practice reading your
lines until you can read
them at a consistent
reading rate.
Emily: Many restaurants in Chinatown serve
dim sum in the afternoon. Dim sum
means “heart’s delight.” Dim sum menus
offer a lot of choices, but everything comes
in small portions, so you can try a lot of
different things.
Monica: A typical order consists of steamed
buns and dumplings filled with a mixture of
beef, chicken, or pork and vegetables. Tea is
also served with dim sum.
Emily: If you’re in a large group, everyone can
order different things. Sharing and trying
what everyone orders is part of the fun of
eating dim sum! Kim and Tom, you have
to get over here to try this!
Tom: Thanks, Emily! Save us some if you can!
656
Kim: If you intend to go to Chinatown, think
about visiting when the Chinese celebrate
the New Year. As you may recall, Emily said
earlier that the Chinese New Year usually
falls around the end of January.
Tom: Chinese New Year is among the most
important traditional Chinese holidays.
The celebration lasts for fifteen days. Let’s
go back now to Connor and Aimee for their
report on the parade.
Aimee: Thanks again, Tom. On the first day
of the celebration, you’ll see throngs of
people along the streets. They’re expectantly
waiting for the Chinese New Year parade and
the lion dancers.
Connor: Lion dancing plays an important part
in any Chinese New Year celebration. The
tradition of the lion dance can be traced
back more than a thousand years
in Chinese culture!
Aimee: Lion dance performers wear a lion
costume, which usually has a very large
head. A single performer operates the head,
moving its eyes and jaw, while dancing
energetically.
Connor: Sometimes a pair of dancers operates
a lion costume. The second dancer forms
the back and the rear legs of the lion. This
requires coordination and practice. The two
dancers huddled under the costume must
move together perfectly.
Aimee: To those who celebrate the Chinese
New Year, the lion symbolizes courage.
Performing the lion dance is believed to
frighten away misfortune.
Connor: Residents celebrate the fifteenth day
of the New Year with the Lantern Festival.
On the night of the Lantern Festival, you’ll
see children everywhere carrying lanterns
with many complex shapes and designs.
Aimee: You’ll also find parades during the
Lantern Festival. Light fills the streets as
lanterns of every shape and color brighten
the night. Back to you, Kim and Tom.
Tom: Thank you, Aimee! Thanks to all our
correspondents for their interesting reports
on our show today.
Kim: Thank you for joining us. No matter
what time of year you choose to visit
Chinatown, you’ll have a wonderful
experience. We’ll see you again soon, on the
next episode of New Destinations!
Tom: Good bye!
657
Lesson 25
Reading Fiction
Bridge to Reading for Meaning Realistic fiction has
characters, settings, and events that are like people, places,
and events in real life. In realistic fiction, a character’s
actions are affected by his or her motivations, the plot, and
the setting. The notes on page 659 point out some features
of realistic fiction, including setting, characters, and plot
events. How can understanding these features help you read
realistic fiction?
Review the Focus Strategies
If you do not understand what you are reading, use the
comprehension strategies you learned about in this theme.
Use Story Structure
Use story structure to understand how
the characters, setting, and plot events
fit together in a story.
Characters
Setting
Plot Events
Ask Questions
As you read, stop to ask yourself questions about the
characters, the setting, or the plot events to make sure you
understand what you are reading.
As you read “Amelia’s Garden” on pages 660–663, think
about where and how to use the strategies.
658
CHARACTERS
Characters are the people in a
story. They are like real people, and
they often learn a lesson or change
by the end of a story.
by Miriam Kirby
illustrated by Sarajo Frieden
To Amelia, it seemed the whole world had traveled to
Adams Avenue. Her neighbors came from far away and
spoke many languages. Amelia’s grandmother said, “All
those strange-sounding words, what an awful noise!”
Amelia thought the mixed-together voices sounded like
music.
Mrs. Yasdani chanted in Persian. Mr. and Mrs. Quon
called to their four children in Chinese. Mr. Leder and
Mr. Strauss played chess and bickered happily in Hebrew
and German. Señor Sanchez always greeted Amelia
in Spanish, “¡Buenos dias! (BWAYN•ohs DEE•ahs) Good
morning, Amelia.”
SETTING
The setting is where and when a
story takes place. The authors of
realistic fiction use a setting that is
real or could be real.
When Amelia said
buenos dias to Mrs.
Yasdani, she turned away.
Mrs. Quon was leaning
out her window, hanging
laundry. Amelia shouted,
“¡Buenos dias!” Mrs. Quon
screeched and dropped a soggy
sock on Amelia’s head.
That day, Amelia realized her
neighbors didn’t speak to each other.
Everyone said “hello” to Amelia. They
smiled and waved when she walked down the
street. Why did people talk to her but not to each
other?
Amelia asked her grandmother about it. Gran said, “Peas
grow in pods, crows fly in flocks.”
“What does that mean?”
Gran explained, “People like people just like themselves.
They are afraid of anyone different.”
“But Gran, people are just people.”
“Yes child, but their different languages make them different.”
“That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Amelia.
Amelia studied what made people different. She decided people
were not alike at all. They only thought they were. Strangest of all,
thinking you were the same as a few people made you different from
everyone else.
People were like flowers, all of them pretty in their own way.
Amelia imagined a garden with nothing but blue petunias. How
boring!
She could help her neighborhood be like a garden
brimming with every kind of flower.
PLOT EVENTS
Plot events are the actions
that take place in a story. The
characters and the setting affect
the plot events.
659
Apply the Strategies Read this story about Amelia and her
neighbors. As you read, use different comprehension strategies,
such as asking questions, to help you understand the text.
by Miriam Kirby
illustrated by Sarajo Frieden
To Amelia, it seemed the whole world had traveled to
Adams Avenue. Her neighbors came from far away and
spoke many languages. Amelia’s grandmother said, “All
those strange-sounding words, what an awful noise!”
Amelia thought the mixed-together voices sounded like
music.
Mrs. Yasdani chanted in Persian. Mr. and Mrs. Quon
called to their four children in Chinese. Mr. Leder and
Mr. Strauss played chess and bickered happily in Hebrew
and German. Señor Sanchez always greeted Amelia
in Spanish, “¡Buenos dias! (BWAYN•ohs DEE•ahs) Good
morning, Amelia.”
660
d
Stop an Think
Pay attention to the characters’ words and actions to help you
understand the plot. USE STORY STRUCTURE
When Amelia said buenos
dias to Mrs. Yasdani, she
turned away.
Mrs. Quon was leaning out
her window, hanging laundry.
Amelia shouted, “¡Buenos dias!”
Mrs. Quon screeched and dropped
a soggy sock on Amelia’s head.
That day, Amelia realized her
neighbors didn’t speak to each other.
Everyone said “hello” to Amelia. They
smiled and waved when she walked down the
street. Why did people talk to her but not to each
other?
Amelia asked her grandmother about it. Gran said, “Peas
grow in pods, crows fly in flocks.”
“What does that mean?”
Gran explained, “People like people just like themselves.
They are afraid of anyone different.”
“But Gran, people are just people.”
“Yes child, but their different languages make them different.”
“That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Amelia.
Amelia studied what made people different. She decided people
were not alike at all. They only thought they were. Strangest of all,
thinking you were the same as a few people made you different from
everyone else.
People were like flowers, all of them pretty in their own way.
Amelia imagined a garden with nothing but blue petunias. How
boring!
She could help her neighborhood be like a garden
brimming with every kind of flower.
661
Amelia earned some money by babysitting the Quons’ four
children. She bought marigold seeds and a little shovel. Then she
walked up Adams Avenue to the lot across from Mrs. Yasdani’s house.
The lot was piled with old tires and wooden boxes, cans and
cardboard, pieces of automobiles, rags and ropes and cracked china
cups. Cats hid among the trash and hissed if anyone came close.
Amelia tugged a tire away. She turned the earth with her shovel,
scattered the marigold seeds, and covered them with dirt. Then she ran
home for water to pour over the seeds to make them grow.
One day, tiny green leaves pushed up from the soil. Amelia called
to Mrs. Yasdani, “My marigolds are growing!”
Mrs. Yasdani broke a branch from the geranium on her windowsill.
She dug a hole for the geranium in Amelia’s garden, tucked dirt
around the stem, and watered it from her tea cup.
Every day, Mrs. Yasdani carried water to her geranium. Soon, the
geranium grew new leaves. Amelia’s marigolds grew little buds.
662
d
Stop an Think
As you read, stop to ask yourself questions about how the
characters, the setting, and the plot events work together to tell
the story. ASK QUESTIONS
Next, Amelia discovered two small palm trees near her marigolds.
Señor Sanchez sloshed buckets of water on the trees to keep them green.
Mr. Strauss and Mr. Leder pushed wooden boxes together to make a
table and chairs in Amelia’s garden. They unfolded their chessboard and
played there every afternoon.
Day after day, plants grew taller and the garden grew larger. People
admired Amelia’s marigolds. Bit by bit, they carried trash away and
planted roses and daisies.
Señor Sanchez planted corn. Gran planted blackeyed peas. Mr. Strauss
planted tomatoes. Mr. Leder planted lettuce so they could make salads.
The Quon children filled stacked tires for blackberry vines.
In Amelia’s garden, people talked to each other and smiled. Señor
Sanchez learned to say “Ni hao. Ni hao ma?” (NEE•HOW•MAH), which
means “Hello, how are you?” in Chinese. Mrs. Quon learned from Mrs.
Yasdani that the best part of Persian rice is the golden stuff on the bottom
of the pot. Mr. Leder finally beat Mr. Strauss at chess and told everyone—
twice, at least.
Gran agreed with Amelia. All those different languages did sound like
music when you listened in just the right way.
663