Home-School ConnectionHome-School Connection

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Dear Family Member:This week we are reading Dear Mrs. LaRue. It’s

about a dog named Ike who gets into a lot of mischief. His owner sends him to obedience school, but Ike writes letters back to his owner, telling her how terrible the school is. By reading and looking at the pictures, I’m deciding that Ike isn’t telling the truth.

This Week’s Skills

Comprehension: draw conclusions

Vocabulary: prefi xes

Spelling/Phonics: silent letters

Name

Word WorkoutWORDS TO KNOW

appreciated desperate endured

misunderstood neglected obedience

Isn’t He Silly Let’s use the words to tell about a silly pet.

SPELLING WORDS

hour lambs thumbs honest answer

honesty plumber honor wrapper knives

doubt knead wriggle heir wrinkle

knew wrench kneel known combs

Shhh! No One Can Hear Me I’m going to rewriteeach spelling word leaving out the silent letters.Then you can complete each word by writing in the missing letter or letters.

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Funny EndingsLook at the cartoons below and on the opposite page. What do you think happened? Draw your own conclusions. Write a funny caption for each cartoon.

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Conexión con el hogarConexión con el hogar

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Queridos familiares:Esta semana estamos leyendo Dear Mrs. LaRue.

Trata de un perro llamado Ike que siempre se mete en líos. Su dueña lo manda a clases de obediencia, pero Ike le escribe cartas donde le cuenta lo terrible que es la escuela. Por lo que leo y lo que veo en las ilustraciones, me parece que Ike no dice la verdad.

Destrezas de la semanaComprensión: sacar conclusiones

Vocabulario: prefi jos

Ortografía/Fonética: letras mudas

Nombre

Ejercicio de palabrasPALABRAS DE VOCABULARIO

appreciated desperate endured

misunderstood neglected obedience

¡Qué travieso! Vamos a usar las palabras de la lista para formar oraciones sobre un perro travieso.

PALABRAS DE ORTOGRAFÍA

hour lambs thumbs honest answer

honesty plumber honor wrapper knives

doubt knead wriggle heir wrinkle

knew wrench kneel known combs

Las letras mudas no están Voy a volver a escribir cada palabra de la lista sin las letras mudas. Luego completa cada palabra poniéndole la letra o letras que falten.

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Un fi nal cómicoMira los dibujos de abajo y los de la página siguiente. ¿Qué crees que pasó? Saca tus propias conclusiones. Luego escribe una leyenda cómica para cada caricatura.

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Table of ContentsThe Pet Store. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Fish Surprise! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

A Fishy Way to Make Friends . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Comprehension Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

by Sunita Apteillustrated by Carolina Farias

Fish Tricks Fish TricksText Clues ConclusionSummarizeUse the chart to list clues in

the story that help you draw

conclusions. Then use the chart

to summarize the story.

Think and Compare 1. Think about the actions

Minnie and Maddie take. What conclusions can

you draw from them? (Draw Conclusions)

2. Would you enjoy having Minnie as a pet?

Explain. (Evaluate)

3. How can pets, even if they are not unusual,

transform people’s lives? (Apply)

Comprehension Check

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Table of ContentsThe Pet Store. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Fish Surprise! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

A Fishy Way to Make Friends . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Comprehension Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

by Sunita Apteillustrated by Carolina Farias

Fish Tricks Fish Tricks

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The Pet Store

“Come on,” Maddie’s Aunt Irene said to her.

“Grab your coat. We’re going to the pet store.”

“The pet store?” Maddie mumbled, surprised.

“Why? Are you getting a new pet?”

“No, my sweet, you are.” Aunt Irene chucked

her surprised niece lightly under the chin. “I

think my favorite niece could use a pet to keep

you company until you make some new friends

at school.”

Maddie stole a quick glance at the older

woman. Aunt Irene was her father’s sister and

she and Maddie shared a special relationship.

Maddie appreciated the fact that Aunt Irene

always seemed to know what was going on.

2

“I could have sworn I heard a voice coming

from the fishbowl,” Aunt Irene said. “I must have

been dreaming. I guess I’m tired.”

She leaned over and gave Maddie a kiss.

“Goodnight, honey. Sleep well.”

“Goodnight.” As the door closed behind her

Aunt, Maddie said softly, “And thank you—more

than you’ll ever know.”

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That night Aunt Irene came over. She went into

Maddie’s bedroom to say goodnight.

“Honey, I’m so glad that you’ve made some

friends at school,” she told her niece. “Your mom

said they are nice girls.”

“They are,” said a tiny voice from the fishbowl.

“They are,” Maddie said loudly, too loudly, at the

same time. She smiled as her aunt looked confused,

staring at the orange goldfish swimming serenely in

the bowl.

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It was true that Maddie was feeling lonely

at school this year. She was shy and having

trouble making friends. Her mother claimed it was

because she was an only child and wasn’t around

other kids very often.

Outside the pet store, Maddie stopped her

aunt. “Did you clear this with Mom?” she asked.

“You know how much she dislikes pets.”

Aunt Irene smiled. “I cleared it with her. I know

she dislikes dogs and cats, but you aren’t getting

that kind of pet. You’re going to get a fish.”

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A fish! Maddie’s face fell. A fish was a

ridiculous pet! You couldn’t play with a fish and

you couldn’t pet it. All you could do was watch

it swim around.

Still, Maddie couldn’t help but be fascinated by

all the fish in the store. She picked out a gigantic

orange goldfish with a big, beautiful fishbowl, and

then held the fish in its plastic bag carefully on

her lap all the way home.

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When the show was over and Minnie was

resting in the water, the girls turned to Maddie,

amazed.

“How did you do that?” Diamond cried. “That

was incredible!”

“You must have worked very hard,” Rosa said

softly.

“I did,” Maddie replied. She didn’t mention that

her fish could talk, since she and Minnie had

agreed that it would be their little secret.

Minnie’s tricks seemed to break the ice, and

after that, Maddie and the other girls hung out

and talked for the rest of the afternoon. Maddie

forgot to be shy with them, instead feeling as if

she had been friends with them forever.

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Maddie made a hand signal and Minnie began

swimming madly around the bowl, leaping out of

the water. The other girls watched, fascinated, as

Maddie made more hand signals and Minnie leapt

through a hoop, fetched tiny misplaced toys from

the bottom of her bowl, and did a series of

back flips.

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Fish Surprise!

At home, Aunt Irene helped Maddie set up

the fishbowl in Maddie’s bedroom. They filled

it with water and carefully poured in some fish

food. “Don’t overdo the food,” Aunt Irene warned

Maddie. “If you overfeed your fish, you can harm

it, but make sure your fish is not neglected,

either. Pay attention to it every day.”

Maddie admired her new fish while Aunt Irene

chatted with Maddie’s mom in the kitchen. But

she soon lost interest, since all the fish did was

swim around. She had been right the first time—

fish were a snooze.

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Maddie sighed and sat down at her desk,

thinking that she might as well begin her

homework until Aunt Irene came in to say

goodbye.

She bent over her math book, humming under

her breath. But it was hard to concentrate. She

kept getting distracted by a splashing sound. Was

something falling into the fishbowl?

Maddie looked over at the fishbowl. Her

goldfish appeared to be swimming in rapid circles

around the bowl, but nothing strange

had fallen in. Maddie sighed and

returned to her math.

6

Several afternoons later, Maddie arrived home

with her two classmates. After a quick snack in the

kitchen, she led them into her bedroom.

“I got a new pet fish a few weeks ago,” Maddie

said shyly. “Want to see it?”

Diamond sniffed. “A pet fish? Fish are boring.

What is there to see?”

Maddie pointed to Minnie in her bowl. “This isn’t

just any pet fish. Minnie is special because I taught

her to do tricks.”

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For the next few weeks, Maddie

practiced with Minnie every day after school.

Minnie endured hours of training until she could do

various tricks. She could jump through a hoop and

fetch miniature toys thrown into her fishbowl. She

could clap her fins and do a back flip.

Eventually, Maddie and Minnie agreed that Minnie

was ready to perform for others. Maddie decided

to invite two girls from her class that she really

liked—Rosa and Diamond.

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Splash! She heard it again. Maddie looked

up at the fishbowl, just in time to see her new

fish leap out of the water and dive back down.

Splash! Then Maddie stared, startled, as the fish

waved a fin at her.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Maddie wondered

aloud.

“I’m just showing you my tricks,” said a tiny

voice.

A stunned Maddie leaned toward the fishbowl.

“Did you just talk?”

“Yeah, that was me,” the tiny voice said again.

“My name is Minnie. I was just presenting a few

of my tricks. I really am a good

pet, you know, because I

can do all sorts of things.”

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“Of course,” Minnie added, “I would improve

greatly with a little training. Do you think you

might be interested in training me?”

“Let me get this straight.” Maddie paused for

a long moment. “You’re a fish, but you talk and

do tricks. And you think you could do even better

tricks if I trained you?”

“Yeah,” Minnie said eagerly. “That’s it precisely.

I heard you and your aunt talking in the car

about the hard time you’ve been having in school,

so I know you want to make friends. What if

you trained me to do tricks and then invited

your classmates over to watch? You could really

impress them and make a lot of friends that way.”

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A Fishy Way to Make Friends

The next day, Maddie burst into her bedroom

after school. “Hey, Minnie,” she announced, “I got

a book to train you with, but the only problem

is, it’s for dolphins. It’s called Dolphin Obedience

Training, but I think we can make it work.”

Minnie swam eagerly up to the surface of

the water. “A book of tricks? Oh, wow, I’m

so excited, I can’t wait. I’m desperate to get

started. Let’s hurry!”

“Okay,” Maddie dumped her bag on the bed

and opened the book up. “Chapter one—‘Jumping

Through Hoops.’”

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Aunt Irene gave her niece a big hug. “I’m so

glad, honey. I’m sorry that it couldn’t be a bigger

pet, like a cat or a dog, since I know fish don’t

do much, just swim around.”

Maddie had to work hard to suppress a smile.

“That’s okay, Aunt Irene, I don’t really mind.

Goodnight.”

As Maddie closed the door behind her aunt,

she heard a tiny, outraged voice from the fishbowl.

“Fish just swim around, huh?” Minnie sniffed. “She

is so misinformed. Wait until she sees the tricks

I’m going to learn to do.”

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The Agreement

Maddie couldn’t really believe she was holding a

conversation with a fish—her own pet fish, in fact.

She leaned over the bowl. “No offense,” she began,

“But I have to say I find this talking fish tricks

thing a little, well…fishy. Why should I train you?”

Minnie sighed. “We fish are so misunderstood,”

she muttered under her breath. She swam a little

closer to Maddie. “You should train me because

your classmates will be amazed by my antics.

Haven’t you noticed how

big fish are lately ?

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Minnie raised a fin and waved it in the air.

“What about Legend of the Lone Shark or

Batfish to the Rescue? We fish are movie stars!

And, anyway, look at all the things I can already

do, like the backstroke.” To demonstrate, Minnie

swam backwards, fin over fin.

“And I can play dead—see?” Minnie rolled over

and froze in the water, belly up.

Maddie held up her hand. “All right, all right.

I’ll look for a book and train you, and maybe, if

you master some amazing moves, I’ll invite some

kids over to watch you.”

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“Oh, thank you, thank you!” Maddie wasn’t

sure what super grateful fish were supposed

to look like, but she was pretty confident that

Minnie’s expression nailed it.

Just then, Aunt Irene knocked on the door,

and Maddie dove back to her desk and her math

problems. For some reason, she didn’t want her

aunt to discover the truth about Minnie.

“Maddie, honey, I’m leaving now,” Aunt Irene

said from the other side of the door. “Can I

come in and say good night?”

“Sure.” Maddie looked up and smiled as her

aunt opened the door. “Thanks for the fish, Aunt

Irene. I really love it.”

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