In the first lesson of Unit 1, we read an excerpt from Because of Winn-Dixie. In this excerpt, Opal is at the library in her new town where she hasn't made any friends. Her dog, Winn-Dixie, is outside peeking in the window. Miss Franny Block, the librarian, catches a glimpse of Winn-Dixie and is convinced she's seen a bear. Opal learns why Miss Franny Block is afraid of bears in a flashback Miss Franny's childhood.
Important skills and strategies for Because of Winn-Dixie:
Comprehension Skills and Strategies:
Story Structure - characters, setting (time and place), plot (the story's events)
Point of View - the standpoint from which a text is written
Flashback - when authors tell about an event that happened before the time in which the main story is set
Summarizing - telling who the characters are and briefly retelling the main events of a story
Vocabulary Skill:
Prefixes re-, un-, and dis-
re- means again
un- means not, opposite of
dis- means not
Grammar Skill: What is a sentence?
simple subject - a main word that tells whom or what the sentence is about
simple predicate - a main word that tells what the subject does or is
complete subject - all the words the tell who or what is doing the action in the sentence