LESSON 24 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Friends with Wings
by Josie Strummer
Fountas-Pinnell Level R
Realistic Fiction
Selection Summary
When Maria’s family moves, she must leave her beloved pet birds
behind. Although the superintendent of her new apartment building
loves wild birds and feeds them, Maria misses her pets. Then, one
day, when two wild parrots come to the bird feeders, Maria realizes
she has new friends with wings.
Number of Words: 1,249
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
• Organized chronologically
• Problem introduced on the third page of text
• Bird behavior
• Training birds
• Moving and the loss accompanying it
• Moving entails loss, but offers new possibilities as well.
• Discoveries can be made by observing.
• Conversational language
• Third person narrator
• Dialogue is assigned, split.
• Many longer, more complex sentences: She tried to smile at Spice’s antics as he twisted
his way up the outside of the cage.
• Some short sentences for emphasis: It was a very long trip.
• Words relating to birds and bird training: “step-up” command, budgies, swoop, flocks,
chickadees
• Some multisyllable words: personality, superintendent
• Some compound words: caretaker, bookcase, mudslide
• Illustrations communicate details of family life.
• Illustrations support text, showing budgies and parrots.
• Twelve pages of text; some full-page text, one full-page illustration
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Friends with Wings
by Josie Strummer
Build Background
Help students think about things that get left behind when a family moves. Build interest
by asking a question such as the following: If you had to move, what might be some
things you couldn’t bring with you? Read the title and author and talk about the cover
illustration. Point out that the story is realistic fiction, so the characters are going to act
like real people.
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 3: Explain that this is a book about a girl who has to leave her pets behind
when her family moves.
Suggested language: Turn to page 3. Let’s read the first sentence: But what Maria
liked most of all were her two pet budgies, Sugar and Spice. This is a story about
a girl named Maria who loves the two pet birds her grandmother gave her. If you
look at the illustration, you’ll know what budgies look like.
Pages 4 and 5: Point out the highlighted word: perch. Maria’s grandmother taught
her about training and caring for the budgies. One bird likes to perch on Maria’s
shoulder. What other places in the room could the bird perch?
Pages 8–9: Point out that Maria is not smiling. Maria and her family have to move
and the birds can’t come. Even Spice’s antics don’t make her smile. How do you
think Maria is feeling? How can you tell?
Page 10: Draw attention to the illustration on page 10. When Maria settles in her
new apartment, she discovers the building superintendent also loves birds—wild
birds. How might this make Maria feel?
Now turn back to the beginning of the story and read to find out if anything makes
Maria feel better about having to move.
Expand Your Vocabulary
antics – playful or funny actions,
p. 8
companions – people or animals
who accompany others, p. 11
Grade 3
nuisance – an annoying person,
thing, or way of doing
something, p. 13
research – n. a careful study, p. 2
perch – v. to land, settle, or rest
on, p. 4
version – copy in appearance, p.
12
2
superintendent – a person who
manages something, p. 10
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Read
Have students read Friends with Wings silently while you listen to individual students read.
Support their problem solving and fluency as needed.
Remind students to use the Question Strategy
you read, while you read, and after you read.
to ask questions before
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the story.
Suggested language: How do you think Maria feels when she has to give up her birds
when her family moves? How would you feel?
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
• Maria loves her two pet budgies.
• Moving causes loss, but
offers the possibility of new
opportunities.
• The dialogue in the story sounds
realistic, the way people really
talk.
• You can make discoveries by
watching carefully.
• The end relates to the beginning
of the story, bringing the
grandmother and the budgies
back to mind.
• When Maria moves, she has to
leave her birds behind.
• Maria watches wild birds at her
new home and is most excited
when a flock of wild parrots
arrive.
© 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 read aloud. Remind
them to use expression to reflect the meaning of the text, especially Maria’s feelings.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the 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.
• Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples
from the text. Tell students that some words in the story end in –er or -or, suffixes that
indicate a person who is or does something. Have students make a list of words from
the story that end in –er or –or, such as caretaker, trainer, younger, and conductor.
Ask them to break each word into the base word and the suffix to help them
understand the meaning of the word.
Grade 3
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 24.9.
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
Author’s Purpose
Remind students that they can use text details to tell
why an author writes a book. Model the skill, using this Think Aloud:
Think Aloud
Why did the author write this book? I think she wanted to entertain us
with a good story. I also think she wanted to teach us about taking care
of pet birds. We learn about wild birds in this book, too. For example,
I never knew there were wild parrots in this country! But, on page 12,
Maria sees them out her window.
Practice the Skill
Have students write two sentences about why the author might have used so many details
to describe the yard at Maria’s new apartment.
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 what they know to think about what the characters do and
why they act as they do.
Assessment Prompts
• Find a sentence on page 14 that shows Maria might be feeling better about the move.
• In paragraph 4 on page 13, find the word that means almost the same as “a bother.”
• Tell one word that best describes Maria’s feelings about birds.
Grade 3
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Give English learners a “preview” of the text by holding a brief
small-group discussion with them before reading the text with the entire group.
Vocabulary Help students understand names of birds, such as budgies, parrots,
chickadees, nuthatches, finches, and mourning doves.
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: What is the girl’s name in
the story?
Speaker 1: Why does Maria have to give
up her pets?
Speaker 2: Maria
Speaker 2: Her family is moving.
Speaker 1: What does Maria see
in her backyard that makes her
excited?
Speaker 1: What kind of pets does she
have?
Speaker 1: What does Mr. Binter ask
Maria to help him with?
Speaker 2: birds
Speaker 2: He wants her to fill bird
feeders.
Speaker 1: Who takes care of her birds
when she moves?
Speaker 2: She sees a flock of
wild parrots.
Speaker 1: Why does Grandma
Nana say Maria is lucky?
Speaker 2: She has friends with
wings in two places.
Speaker 2: her grandmother
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Lesson 24
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
BLACKLINE MASTER 24.9
Friends with Wings
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text Why can’t Maria take her pets
with her to Connecticut?
Birds can’t ride on the train, and her new apartment doesn’t allow pets.
2. Think within the text How does Maria stay in touch
with Grandma Nana?
She writes postcards and talks to her on the phone.
3. Think beyond the text What is a good way to get birds
to come to an area?
Put food out for them.
4. Think about the text Why do you think the author has
wild parrots come to Maria’s new home in Connecticut?
Responses will vary.
Making Connections Compare and contrast Dog-of-the-SeaWaves to the wild parrots Maria meets.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Read directions to students.
11
Critical Thinking
Grade 3, Unit 5: Going Places
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Grade 3
5
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Name
Date
Friends with Wings
Thinking Beyond the Text
Read the paragraph. Then write your journal entry below.
Imagine you are Maria. Write a journal entry about life in your new
apartment. Tell how much you miss Sugar and Spice and about watching the
wild birds. Use details from the story in the journal entry.
Grade 3
6
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Lesson 24
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
BLACKLINE MASTER 24.9
Friends with Wings
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text Why can’t Maria take her pets
with her to Connecticut?
2. Think within the text How does Maria stay in touch
with Grandma Nana?
3. Think beyond the text What is a good way to get birds
to come to an area?
4. Think about the text Why do you think the author has
wild parrots come to Maria’s new home in Connecticut?
Making Connections Compare and contrast Dog-of-the-SeaWaves to the wild parrots Maria meets.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 3
7
Lesson 24: Friends with Wings
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Student
Lesson 24
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 24.13
Friends with Wings • LEVEL R
page
3
Friends with Wings
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
Maria instantly adored her new friends with wings. She gave
them their names because Spice could be noisy and had a
personality to match, and Sugar was, well, sweet!
4
Grandma Nana had owned budgies when she was younger, so
she taught Maria all she knew about training them and caring
for them.
Maria became an expert budgie caretaker and trainer. She was
thrilled when she taught Sugar and Spice the “step-up”
command. Whenever she said “step-up!” they stepped onto
her finger!
Sugar and Spice loved to exercise their wings by zooming and
swooping around the room once a day.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/101 ×
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
1414030
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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