LESSON 25 TEACHER’S GUIDE
A Hero Weighs In
by Barbara A. Roenz
Fountas-Pinnell Level S
Science Fiction
Selection Summary
Dex and his family live in special domed space station on Mars.
As a young teenager, Dex is expected to work outside the dome, in
an airless environment. To prepare for this, Dex has to complete a
weightless training program, but his fear prevents him from doing it.
Dex finally overcomes this fear and he becomes a hero in the end.
Number of Words: 1,488
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Science fiction
• Third-person narrative
• Plot with detailed episodes
• Details help the reader to determine the author’s purpose
• Life in a space station on Mars
• Weightlessness
• Overcoming fear
• Fear can prevent you from trying something new or accomplishing a goal.
• People have different ways of approaching new experiences.
• Descriptive language important to understanding setting and characters
• Complex plot, creating suspense, leading toward conflict resolution
• Setting distant in time and space
• A mix of short and complex sentences
• Multiple items in series
• Questions in dialogue
• Many vocabulary words that require use of context or dictionary, such as encased,
essential, virtual
• Many words with affixes, such as allergic, weightlessness, Martian, disconnected
• Lively drawings add interest.
• Thirteen pages of text with illustrations
• Italics for emphasis and to highlight characters’ thoughts
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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A Hero Weighs In
by Barbara A. Roenz
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge of space exploration to visualize the story. Build interest
by asking a question such as the following: What do you think you would enjoy about
living on another planet? Read the title and author and talk about the cover illustration.
Explain that this story takes place in the far-distant future on the planet Mars. Tell students
that this story is science fiction, a fantasy in which events are based on a combination of
imagined and scientific ideas.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 2: Tell students that a boy named Dex and his family live in a protective dome
on the space station. Suggested language: Turn to page 2 of this book. Here is a
picture of Dex and his teacher Ms. Luna. What is Dex wearing? Look at Dex’s face.
How would you describe his expression?
Page 3: Explain that outside the dome, there is no gravity on Mars. Ask: What
might it feel like to be in a space without gravity? Tell students that Dex has just
been practicing being in a space unit without gravity. Then read this sentence Dex
was scared! Ask: What do you think the problem in this story might be?
Page 4: Tell students that people wanted to learn to grow plants on Mars.
Ask: Why would growing plants be important?
Page 5: Read this sentence: Now, however, a century of research had made it
possible to plant and harvest crops in greenhouses. Explain that teenagers had
to help plant and harvest crops outside the dome. Ask: What might they need to
know, and have, to work in this space?
Page 8: Explain that the boy in the illustration is Dex’s younger brother, Jace.
Suggested Language: Look at the picture of Dex’s brother Jace. Ask: What do you
think Jace might be thinking about?
Now turn back to the beginning and read about how Dex faces his fear.
Target Vocabulary
average – typical or normal, p. 7
calculated – worked with
numbers to find an answer
insert – to put one object inside
another, p. 13
centuries – periods of one
hundred years, p. 2
inspector – a person who checks
to make sure that things are
working as they should be, p. 6
dispute – to state that something
is not true, p. 3
mechanical – a machine with
movable working parts, p. 3
Grade 4
2
progress – improving, p. 4
superior – better than other
things of its type, p. 6
waste – to spend or throw things
away thoughtlessly, p. 4
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Question Strategy
questions as they read.
and to think of
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the story.
Suggested language: How do you think Dex managed to overcome his fear? How do you
think Dex will act in the future when confronted with situations that frighten him?
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
• Dex lives on a space station on
Mars and is required to work in a
place without gravity.
• Fear can prevent someone from
trying to do something new or
different.
• The suspense builds throughout
the story until the problem is
solved at the end.
• Dex hasn’t been able to pass the
training requirement because
he’s scared of being in the antigravity unit.
• You may have to take risks in
order to overcome a fear.
• The author uses italics to stress
some words and to highlight the
characters’ thoughts.
• After he helps his brother get
out of the anti-gravity unit, Dex
realizes that he’s not afraid of
being in it anymore.
• People who are different from
each other can learn from each
other.
• The author includes lots of
details about science to help the
reader understand the story.
© 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 use for readers’ theater.
Encourage them to stress words written in italic print, read at a rate that is not too fast
or too slow, and to use expression that would sound as if each character was actually
speaking.
• 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.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts,
using examples from the text. Draw student’s attention to these words on page 5:
weightless, breathless, and airless. Point out that all three words contain the suffix
-less. Have students explain the meaning of the suffix and the meaning of each word.
Then discuss how the addition of the suffix –less changes the nouns weight, breath,
and air to adjectives.
Grade 4
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 25.8.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s
Notebook. 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 determine an author’s
purpose for writing a story by looking at and analyzing details in the story. Model how to
add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below:
Think Aloud
On page 5, the author writes “Unfortunately, the marvels of Martian
agriculture frightened Dex breathless!” On page 9, it states that
Granddad had told Dex a story about a man whose weightless suit failed
and he ended up as the “man in the moon.” Both of these details are
entertaining. Add these details to the chart to contribute to the author’s
purpose of entertaining.
Practice the Skill
Have students share an example of another story in which text details demonstrated that
the author’s purpose was to entertain the reader.
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 their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.
Assessment Prompts
• Why is Dex opposed to the weightlessness training requirement?
• Which words in the last paragraph on page 7 help the reader understand what
exaggerating means?
• When the author says that the “adults’ eyes were glued to the screen,” on page 10,
she means
________________________________________________________________.
Grade 4
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Check regularly on students’ oral reading to determine accuracy,
fluency, and comprehension.
Idioms The story includes idioms that might be unfamiliar. Explain the meaning of
expressions such as population had mushroomed (page 3), stop bouncing off the walls (p.
8), and eyes were glued to the screen (page 10).
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 this story mainly
about?
Speaker 1: What is Dex’s problem in this
story?
Speaker 2: Dex
Speaker 2: Dex is afraid of being in the
weightless training unit.
Speaker 1: How does Dex
overcome his fear of the antigravity unit?
Speaker 1: How does Dex feel about
being in the anti-gravity unit?
Speaker 2: scared
Speaker 1: How does Dex become a
hero?
Speaker 2: by saving Jace
Speaker 1: Why does Dex need to go
into the weightless training unit?
Speaker 2: He needs to be able to help
with farming activities outside the
protective dome.
Speaker 2: Dex’s little brother Jace
goes into the anti-gravity unit
on his own and panics. When
Dex sees Jace, he knows that he
has to save him. He puts on a
spacesuit and goes into the unit.
He saves Jace and realizes that
he wasn’t even scared.
Lesson 25
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 25.8
Date
Critical Thinking
Responding
A Hero Weighs In
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text How are Jace and Dex different?
Author’s Purpose What
was the author’s purpose in writing this book?
What other text details support her purpose?
Copy and complete the chart below.
TARGET SKILL
Jace is wild and rushes into things. Dex is more careful.
2. Think within the text What is the purpose of the required
training Ms. Luna is giving Dex?
The Mars colony needs all its members to help with planting and harvesting crops
Text detail
Students were
demonstrating
Planetary Pizza,
made from a
cheese called
Mars Moos.
Text detail
?
Text detail
?
outside the dome.
3. Think beyond the text What features of this story make it
science fiction? How is it like or unlike other science fiction
stories you’ve read?
The story is science fiction because it takes place in the future, in a colony that
has been created on Mars. Unlike many other science fiction stories, this story
deals with kids who are growing up and going to school in space.
Purpose To entertain
4. Think about the text Why do you think the author includes
Granddad’s story? What does it tell the reader about Dex?
The author includes the story to explain why Dex was afraid of the a-g unit. Dex
Write About It
did not understand that his granddad was teasing him, and he could probably
imagine himself floating away in space too.
Text to World Imagine that you had to write
a paper on life in another country. Brainstorm
topics that would be important to include.
Organize the topics into correct outline form.
Making Connections In this story, many things are done differently in the
Mars colony. Think of an activity you like to do. Invent a new way to do the
same activity on Mars in the future.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
15
Critical Thinking
10
Grade 4, Unit 5: Change Is All Around
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First Pass
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Name
Date
A Hero Weighs In
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
In this story, Dex becomes a hero. Why would you call Dex a hero? Do you
think it was difficult for Dex to become a hero? Why or why not? Include
details to support your answer.
Grade 4
6
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Lesson 25
Name
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 25.8
Critical Thinking
A Hero Weighs In
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text How are Jace and Dex different?
2. Think within the text What is the purpose of the required
training Ms. Luna is giving Dex?
3. Think beyond the text What features of this story make it
science fiction? How is it like or unlike other science fiction
stories you’ve read?
4. Think about the text Why do you think the author includes
Granddad’s story? What does it tell the reader about Dex?
Making Connections In this story, many things are done differently in the
Mars colony. Think of an activity you like to do. Invent a new way to do the
same activity on Mars in the future.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 4
7
Lesson 25: A Hero Weighs In
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Student
Lesson 25
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 25.12
A Hero Weighs In • LEVEL S
page
10
A Hero Weighs In
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
The following Thursday, everyone gathered at Mars Middle
School for family night. The teachers and students had worked
hard to arrange presentations.
In the cafeteria, seventh graders were demonstrating Planetary
Pizza, which was made with a super cheese called Mars Moos.
In the gymnasium, sixth graders were performing gymnastics
on space foam. (Some students bounced almost 40 feet into
the air.) In the library, fifth graders (including Dex) were using
the school’s space cams to take visitors on a virtual tour of
Pluto.
Mrs. Johnston, Dex’s granddad, and Jace had arrived just as
Dex’s class was about to begin their virtual tour.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/102 ×
100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 4
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414001
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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