Grace and the Time Machine

Grace and the Time Machine adapted for Story Theater by Donald Abramson illustrated by Matthew Faulkner

Vocabulary to know: • Aboard • Atlas • Awkward • Capable • Chant • Mechanical • Miracle • Reseats • Vehicle

Vocabulary to know: • Aboard- on board; in or on a ship, train, • bus, airplane, etc. • Atlas- book of maps • Awkward- not graceful or • skillful in movement or shape; not easily managed

Vocabulary to know • Capable- having fitness, power, or ability; able; efficient; competent • Chant- to call over and over again • Mechanical- like a machine; automatic; • without expression

Vocabulary to know • Miracle- a wonderful happening that is contrary to, or independent of, the known laws of nature • Reseats- sits again

Vocabulary to know: • Vehicle- device for carrying people or things, such as a car, bus, airplane, etc.

Drawing Conclusions • Facts and Details “add up” to a conclusion- a decision or opinion the author or the reader forms that must make sense. • You draw a conclusion by using facts, details, and logical thinking. • Answers to questions may be found in the book or in your mind.

Drawing Conclusions • Let’s practice drawing conclusions: • I am at a place that has popcorn, cokes, tickets, and large screens- Where am I? • I am at a place that has pizza, songs, arcade games, and tickets- Where am I? • How did you draw the conclusion about where I was?

Drawing Conclusions using the Time Traveler page 189 • Look at the pictures on page 189. What conclusion can you draw about this story? What do you think this story is about? • We are going to read the story and write our thinking along the side of the paper. This activity will help us understand what we are reading.

Drawing Conclusions Page 189 • A storm was approaching, but Peter crawled through the strange little hole in the fence anyway. The last thing he expected to see was a man dressed in peculiar clothes holding a kite. • Surprised, Peter yelled,” Are you going to fly that kite? It could be dangerous! It looks like a storm’s coming!” • “Why my boy, I’m conducting an experiment. I’m trying to demonstrate that lightning is electricity. If I’m correct, when lightning strikes the kite, it will travel down the string. I just don’t know how to keep it from giving me a shock.” • “That’s easy!” said Peter. “We learned about electricity in science. You need to redirect the electricity.” • “What genius! I’ll tie this key to the kite string.” said the man. • “Well, it worked for Ben Franklin, didn’t it?” said Peter. The man was astonished. “My boy, how did you come to know my name?” • Before Peter could reply, he heard his mother calling him as if from very , very far away. “I have to go now,” he said. Peter scurried back through the hole in the fence. But when he turned around to wish the strange man good luck, the hole had vanished.

Vocabulary Strategy for Prefixes • Prefixes are letters added to the beginning of a word that change its meaning. • Prefix re- means again Example: retie- tie again, rewind- wind again • The prefix a- means “ on, in or at” abed- you are in bed

Vocabulary Strategy for Prefixes • Listen as we read page 191, Riding Into History. If you hear a word with a prefix raise your hand. If you hear a vocabulary word raise your hand. • Complete blue workbook page 75 1-3 as a class and 4-5 for homework.

Grace and the Time Machine • Grace and the Time Machine is a play. Readers learn about characters and events in a play by focusing on the dialogue and stage directions. • Let’s picture walk through the story!

Grace and the Time Machine • Summary page 194 • Grace is home for summer vacation. Her mother works at a hospital. Grace’s Nana is home to baby-sit Grace. • Grace’s mom says, “Well, try not to leave the house in shambles.”- This means don’t leave the house a mess • Setting: Part of the story takes place in the kitchen and the other part takes place in the backyard.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 195 • Grace is helpful because she helps Nana with things that Nana can’t do on crutches. For example, Grace gets Nana a cup of coffee. This shows that Grace is capable of taking care of Nana. • Nana is on crutches because she tripped over the cat, Paw-Paw. • Grace’s friends are on their way over to play.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 196 • The children are trying to come up with some ideas for inventions. They all think of things that don’t exist but would be helpful. They are using their imaginations. • The children agree to make a time machine. Each of them thinks of a way he or she could use the time machine for something useful. They are pretending!

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 198 • The children use various (different items) to construct a time machine. They all agree to first visit the future. • They use the clock dial to set the time machine to the future.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 199 • Grace and her friends notice that the future is full of robots. Compare/Contrast robots to human. Tell how they are alike and different. • Compare- • Contrast-

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 199 • Check out these people- means look at these people • The robots say they got rid of humans a hundred years ago. Perhaps they will try to get rid of Grace and her friends too. Grace and her friends decide to leave the future.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 200 • Raj decides to drive the time machine. They choose to visit the past. The children go back millions of years when we still had dinosaurs. • Raj reminds the others that they can’t change the past. If they change the past then the future is changed too. • At first the children notice lots of plant eating dinosaurs.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 201 • Raj suddenly says, “This is a different story.” He means that this dinosaur is different. • The children notice a Tyrannosaurus. They use their prior knowledge about the dinosaur to know they should be scared. They are afraid of being eaten by the tyrannosaurus.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 202 • Grace decides to go back to Gambia- a place that she has actually been. Grace and Nana went to Gambia last year. • What part of the play is realistic and what part is fantasy? The beginning of the play where the children make the time machine is realistic. The make-believe trips to other places and times are fantasy.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 203 • Nana chooses to go on the time machine because she sees the children having fun. Nana trusts the children to help her in the time machine. • Nana chooses to visit Trinidad, a small island where she was born.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 204 • What details help you imagine what Trinidad is like? The purple flowers growing on the house, a path down to the beach, and the sound of the sea help me imagine Trinidad. • Mrs. Myerson, the neighbor sees the children and Nana having fun.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 205 • Mrs. Myerson doesn’t leave her house because of her experiences during World War II, she doesn’t trust people. • Why does Mrs. Myerson decide to try the time machine? Nana says that the children seem to be bringing her back to life. Maybe she is less fearful of children than adults. • Sometimes people find it easier to trust children than adults.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 206 • Actors 1 and 2 and Actresses 1 and 2 play the other characters the children come across during their travels. They give more information about the setting. • Mrs. Myerson begins to cry on the time machine ,because she remembers her life as a little girl.

Grace and the Time Machine • Page 207 • Nana says that the time machine was a miracle. The machine is a miracle, because it got Mrs. Myerson out of her house. Mrs. Myerson also told the children about her childhood. • Do you think the time machine really took the children to different times and places? No; they were pretending. One detail that makes me conclude this is that Grace says, at the end, “It was just as if she really did travel back in time.”

Summary Grace and her friends build a time machine powered by imagination. Using the memories of Grace’s grandmother and Mrs. Myerson, a neighbor, everyone has fun experiencing far-off places such as Gambia, Trinidad, and Heidelberg.

Study Skills • Genre: Fiction • Comprehension Skill: Drawing Conclusions • Comprehension Strategy: Answer Questions • Comprehension Review Skill: Compare Contrast • Vocabulary: Prefixes

Genre: Play • A play has all the elements of a story-characters, setting, plot, and theme- but it doesn’t look like a story because it’s written to be performed. As you read, think about how this play might be different as a chapter in a book.

Comprehension Skill Review: Compare andContrast • A Comparison tells how two or more things are alike. • A Contrast tells how they are different • Clue words such as like or as show comparisons • Clue words such as but or unlike show contrasts.

Word Structure Practice TE211c

Review Questions • How did grace show she was capable of taking care of Nana? • How were the trips to The Gambia and Trinidad alike? • What does this story teach about inventions? • How did Mrs. Myerson feel about the children?

Review Questions • Why do you think the author wrote this story? • How might Mrs. Myerson’s imaginary trip affect her present life? • Would you like to time travel? Why or why not? • How were the imaginary trips to Trinidad and Heidelberg alike?

Vocabulary - Say It awkward miracle mechanical capable chant • aboard • vehicle • atlas • reseats

Each new invention seemed like a mechanical miracle.

Each new invention seemed like a mechanicalmiracle.

The train was capable of wild speeds of up to 20 miles per hour.

Each rider was thrilled when they heard, “All aboard!”

He was clumsy awkward as he walked across the ice.

The conductor reseats us after the train started.

The click of the wheels sounds like a chant.

Now there is every kind of vehicle on the roads.

We will look in the atlas to see what country is the farthest away.

Grace and the Time Machine