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Lesson 14
Genre: Fantasy
Genre: Atlas Entry
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Focus Skill
Draw Conclusions
Remember that authors do not always tell readers everything that happens in a story.
Sometimes you must use story details and what you know to draw conclusions about
what is happening in the text. When you draw conclusions, you figure out something an
author has not directly explained.
Story Details
What You Know
Conclusion
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Read the paragraph and the information in the graphic organizer. Notice how using story details
with what you know can help you draw a conclusion about the paragraph.
Story Details
What You Know
Conclusion
A silver coin in the snow
feels warm.
A coin in the snow should be
cold.
The coin must have fallen out
of someone’s warm hand
or pocket.
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Vocabulary
Build Robust Vocabulary
Mountain Mystery
peculiar
occasionally
drab
fascinated
hermit
timid
trembling
dashed
Tuesday Morning
It’s our first week of vacation in the mountains. One thing is peculiar about this place.
Occasionally, early in the morning, we see a small dog in the woods nearby. The dog has a
drab coat, but it looks as if it’s being cared for. Dad says the dog must live in the woods.
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Wednesday Afternoon
I am fascinated by the dog. It never strays far from the woods. Mom thinks it might belong to a
hermit.
Thursday Evening
Today, we put food out for the dog. We left some slices of bacon at the edge of the woods. The
dog seems very timid. I wonder if it will eat the bacon.
Friday Morning
The dog came back. I watched as it nibbled on the bacon. I spoke softly to the dog. It was
trembling a bit, but it wagged its tail. Then it dashed back into the woods. I’m sure we’ll
see the dog again.
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The Stranger
by Chris Van Allsburg
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It was the time of year Farmer Bailey liked best, when summer turned to fall. He whistled as he
drove along. A cool breeze blew across his face through the truck’s open window. Then it
happened. There was a loud “thump.” Mr. Bailey jammed on his brakes. “Oh no,” he
thought. “I’ve hit a deer.”
But it wasn’t a deer the farmer found lying in the road, it was a man. Mr. Bailey knelt down
beside the still figure, fearing the worst. Then, suddenly, the man opened his eyes. He
looked up with terror and jumped to his feet. He tried to run off, lost his balance, and fell
down. He got up again, but this time the farmer took his arm and helped him to the truck.
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Mr. Bailey drove home. He helped the stranger inside, where Mrs. Bailey made him
comfortable on the parlor sofa. Katy, their daughter, peeked into the room. The man on the
sofa was dressed in odd rough leather clothing. She heard her father whisper “… must be
some kind of hermit … sort of fellow who lives alone in the woods.” The stranger didn’t
seem to understand the questions Mr. Bailey asked him. “I don’t think,” whispered Mrs.
Bailey, “he knows how to talk.”
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Mr. Bailey called the doctor, who came and listened to the stranger’s heart, felt his bones,
looked in his eyes, and took his temperature. He decided the man had lost his memory.
There was a bump on the back of his head. “In a few days,” the doctor said, “he should
remember who he is and where he’s from.” Mrs. Bailey stopped the doctor as he left the
house. He’d forgotten his thermometer. “Oh, you can throw that out,” he answered. “It’s
broken, the mercury is stuck at the bottom.”
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Mr. Bailey lent the stranger some clean clothes. The fellow seemed confused about buttonholes
and buttons. In the evening he joined the Baileys for dinner. The steam that rose from the
hot food fascinated him. He watched Katy take a spoonful of soup and blow gently across
it. Then he did exactly the same. Mrs. Bailey shivered. “Brrr,” she said. “There’s a draft in
here tonight.”
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The next morning Katy watched the stranger from her bedroom window. He walked across the
yard, toward two rabbits. Instead of running into the woods, the rabbits took a hop in his
direction. He picked one of them up and stroked its ears, then set it down. The rabbits
hopped away, then stopped and looked back, as if they expected the stranger to follow.
When Katy’s father went into the fields that day, the stranger shyly tagged along. Mr. Bailey
gave him a pitchfork and, with a little practice, he learned to use it well. They worked hard.
Occasionally Mr. Bailey would have to stop and rest. But the stranger never tired. He
didn’t even sweat.
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That evening Katy sat with the stranger, watching the setting sun. High above them a flock of
geese, in perfect V formation, flew south on the trip that they made every fall. The stranger
could not take his eyes off the birds. He stared at them like a man who’d been hypnotized.
Two weeks passed and the stranger still could not remember who he was. But the Baileys
didn’t mind. They liked having the stranger around. He had become one of the family. Day
by day he’d grown less timid. “He seems so happy to be around us,” Mr. Bailey said to his
wife. “It’s hard to believe he’s a hermit.”
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Another week passed. Farmer Bailey could not help noticing how peculiar the weather had
been. Not long ago it seemed that autumn was just around the corner. But now it still felt
like summer, as if the seasons couldn’t change. The warm days made the pumpkins grow
larger than ever. The leaves on the trees were as green as they’d been three weeks before.
One day the stranger climbed the highest hill on the Bailey farm. He looked to the north and
saw a puzzling sight. The trees in the distance were bright red and orange.
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But the trees to the south, like those round the Baileys’, were nothing but shades of green. They
seemed so drab and ugly to the stranger. It would be much better, he thought, if all trees
could be red and orange.
The stranger’s feelings grew stronger the next day. He couldn’t look at a tree’s green leaves
without sensing that something was terribly wrong. The more he thought about it, the more
upset he became, until finally he could think of nothing else. He ran to a tree and pulled off
a leaf. He held it in a trembling hand and, without thinking, blew on it with all his might.
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At dinner that evening the stranger appeared dressed in his old leather clothes. By the tears in
his eyes the Baileys could tell that their friend had decided to leave. He hugged them all
once, then dashed out the door. The Baileys hurried outside to wave good-bye, but the
stranger had disappeared. The air had turned cold, and the leaves on the trees were no
longer green.
Every autumn since the stranger’s visit, the same thing happens at the Bailey farm. The trees
that surround it stay green for a week after the trees to the north have turned. Then
overnight they change their color to the brightest of any tree around. And etched in frost on
the farmhouse windows are words that say simply, “See you next fall.”
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Think Critically
1 How does the Bailey family meet the stranger? NOTE DETAILS
2 How do you know that the Baileys are a kind and generous family? CHARACTER’S
TRAITS
3 How might things change at your home if the stranger visited you? MAKE CONNECTIONS
4 Who do you think the stranger is? DRAW CONCLUSIONS
5 WRITE Tell how the Baileys’ farm is DIFFERENT after the stranger’s visit. Use details from
the story to support your answer. SHORT RESPONSE
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About The Author
Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburg starts a book by creating a picture in his mind. Then he asks himself
questions about the picture. From his questions, a story forms. Chris Van Allsburg believes
that good stories make readers wonder about what happens next. “I want my stories, my
plots, to unfold as pieces of a puzzle.”
Three of Chris Van Allsburg’s books have been made into movies: Jumanji, The Polar
Express, and Zathura. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island, with his wife and two
daughters.
www.harcourtschool.com/storytown
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A Place in the Sun
Science
Atlas Entry
Without the Sun to light and heat it, Earth would be nothing more than a cold, dark, and lifeless
rock. Orbiting at a distance of 93 million miles (150 million km) from the Sun, our planet
is in an ideal position—between burning hot Venus and freezing cold Mars. With an
average temperature of 59°F (15°C), Earth is the only planet known in our solar system
that can support life. Because of Earth’s shape — a gigantic ball that is slightly flattened
out—it does not receive the Sun’s heat equally over its surface. Countries near Earth’s
equator get most of the Sun’s rays, and so they have hot climates. Countries lying closer to
the polar regions, as well as the North and South Poles, get the Sun’s rays more indirectly.
These regions all have much colder climates.
Earth’s hemispheres and poles
North Pole
Northern Hemisphere
Equator
Southern Hemisphere
South Pole
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The Cycle of the Seasons
Earth revolves around the Sun on a journey that takes one whole year to complete. It orbits in a
slightly tilted position so that the North and South Poles are not sitting precisely at the top
and bottom of the globe. This means that, depending on the time of year, either the
Northern or the Southern Hemisphere is receiving more of the Sun’s rays. It is the changes
in Earth’s position that are responsible for the seasons. In July, the Northern Hemisphere is
tilted toward the Sun, giving North Americans their summer. At the same time of year, the
Australians in the Southern Hemisphere are having their winter. Six months later, the
opposite happens.
During the spring and autumn equinoxes, day and night are the same length. The Northern
Hemisphere receives the same amount of sunshine as the Southern Hemisphere.
Spring equinox (March 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere)
December 21 or 22 is called the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the shortest
day of the year, with the fewest hours of sunlight. Autumn equinox (September 22 or 23 in
the Northern Hemisphere)
In the Northern Hemisphere, generally June 21 is called the summer solstice. This is the longest
day of the year, with the most hours of sunlight.
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Connections
Comparing Texts
1. Are you fascinated by the stranger? Explain.
2. What science concepts do you find in both “The Stranger” and “A Place in the Sun”?
3. What can you learn from “The Stranger” about helping people?
fascinated
occasionally
timid
hermit
peculiar
drab
trembling
dashed
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