By Gary Soto
What
does it
mean?
How does
one learn
this?
Honesty
Who or
what has
this
quality?
What
does it
mean?
How does
one learn
this?
Dishonesty
Who or
what has
this
quality?
deceitful
fidgeted
privacy
wrongdoing
mimicked
confident
1. Two of the words are adjectives that describe
people. One is positive. The other is
negative. What are they?
Because the teacher was ____________ that
Robert was not a ____________ boy, she
believed him when he said he had not
broken the window.
deceitful
fidgeted
privacy
wrongdoing
mimicked
confident
2. Two of the words are abstract nouns. One
names a state or condition. The other
names an action. What are they?
Maria was furious with her mother. She didn’t
think it was a ___________ for her to simply
want the ____________ of her own room.
deceitful
fidgeted
privacy
wrongdoing
mimicked
confident
3. Two of the words are verbs. One, you probably
do when you’re nervous. The other you might
do when you admire someone. What are they?
Fausto _____________ in his seat at the talent
show. He sure hoped he ____________ his idol
well enough that everyone would recognize
who he was trying to be.
How do you predict the conversation will go
between Fausto and his mother?
Read pages 136-137 to find out.

Certain details in the story are clues and making
connections between the clues allows readers to
predict outcomes as they read. For example:
 Wondering how he could get enough money to get a
guitar
 This dog looked like h e belonged to rich people.

We can predict that Fausto may use the
opportunity of meeting rich people to get
money for a guitar.

What outcomes are you able to predict based
on these details:
 It took three hours to find one little job.
 He only earned a quarter and an orange.
These details help us to predict that Fausto needs
another way to earn money.

What does Fausto want most of all?

Do you think Fausto is being dishonest? Why
or why not?

What do you think the dog owners think of
Fausto? How do they treat him?

Writers often give readers time clues to help
readers see how much times goes by.
Keeping track of the passage of time is
important to understanding the sequence of
events in a story. For example, Soto gives at
least three time clues on page 141:
 His mother called him to dinner.
 The next day…
 Eight o’clock Mass

Use the authors clues about time to
determine tow exact points in the story
where new days begin.

Why did Fausto give the money to the
church?

How will Fausto learn to play the guitar?

How do you think Fausto might have felt if he
hadn’t gotten the guitar after all?

Choose one or more of the following from pages
144-145:
 Clusters Around Characters
 How Can I Get…?
 What Did Fausto Find?
Then answer the following questions…
1. Why is getting his grandfather’s guitar so important
to Fausto?
2. What is the most important decision Fausto made in
this selection?

Does Gary Soto want his readers to predict
that Fausto will learn to play the guitar? Fill
in the chart with clues from each category…
Prediction: Fausto will learn to play the guitar.
Character Clues
Story Clues
Personal Experience



Fausto was a Mexican American teenager.
Fausto wanted a guitar.
Fausto, a Mexican American teenager,
wanted a guitar.



Fausto is a teenager.
He lives in Fresno, California.
____________________________________
____________________________________



Fausto’s father is a warehouseman.
He does not earn a lot of money.
____________________________________
____________________________________



Lawrence is Fausto’s older brother.
Lawrence likes to read.
____________________________________
____________________________________

Handout: LAB pages 56 & 58
What purpose do the apostrophes serve in this
sentence?
Fausto’s riding his sister’s bike.
Fausto’s --- Fausto is
sister’s --- the bike belonging to his sister.









Couldn’t
‘bout
Can’t
We’ll
Fausto’s
Dog’s
He’d
What’s
There’s
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________

Transparency 2-6

Handout: LAB pages 59 & 63