The No-Guitar Blues

By Gary Soto

Before Reading

Honesty

What does it mean?

Who or what has

this quality?

How does one

learn this?

Before Reading

Dishonesty

What does it mean?

Who or what has

this quality?

How does one

learn this?

Vocabulary

1. Two of the words are adjectives that describe people. One is positive. The other is negative. What are they?

Because the teacher was ____________ that Robert was not a ____________ boy, she believed him when he said he had not broken the window.

deceitful privacy mimickedfidgeted wrongdoingconfident

Vocabulary

2. Two of the words are abstract nouns. One names a state or condition. The other names an action. What are they?

Maria was furious with her mother. She didn’t think it was a ___________ for her to simply want the ____________ of her own room.

deceitful privacy mimickedfidgeted wrongdoingconfident

Vocabulary

3. Two of the words are verbs. One, you probably do when you’re nervous. The other you might do when you admire someone. What are they?

Fausto _____________ in his seat at the talent show. He sure hoped he ____________ his idol well enough that everyone would recognize who he was trying to be.

deceitful privacy mimickedfidgeted wrongdoingconfident

Blues Music

Read pages 135

How do you predict the conversation will go between Fausto and his mother?

Read pages 136-137 to find out.

Predicting Outcomes

Certain details in the story are clues and making connections between the clues allows readers to predict outcomes as they read. For example:

Wondering how he could get enough money to get a guitar

This dog looked like h e belonged to rich people.

We can predict that Fausto may use the opportunity of meeting rich people to get money for a guitar.

Predicting Outcomes

What outcomes are you able to predict based on these details:

It took three hours to find one little job. He only earned a quarter and an orange.

These details help us to predict that Fausto needs another way to earn money.

Read pages 138-139

What does Fausto want most of all?

Do you think Fausto is being dishonest? Why or why not?

What do you think the dog owners think of Fausto? How do they treat him?

Read pages 140-141

Writers often give readers time clues to help readers see how much times goes by. Keeping track of the passage of time is important to understanding the sequence of events in a story. For example, Soto gives at least three time clues on page 141: His mother called him to dinner. The next day… Eight o’clock Mass

Sequence of Events

Use the authors clues about time to determine tow exact points in the story where new days begin.

Read pages 142-143

Why did Fausto give the money to the church?

How will Fausto learn to play the guitar?

How do you think Fausto might have felt if he hadn’t gotten the guitar after all?

Responding to the Literature Choose one or more of the following from

pages 144-145: Clusters Around Characters How Can I Get…? What Did Fausto Find?

Then answer the following questions…1. Why is getting his grandfather’s guitar so

important to Fausto?2. What is the most important decision Fausto

made in this selection?

Predicting Outcomes

Does Gary Soto want his readers to predict that Fausto will learn to play the guitar? Fill in the chart with clues from each category…

Prediction: Fausto will learn to play the guitar.

Character Clues

Story Clues Personal Experience

Combining Sentences using Appositives

Fausto was a Mexican American teenager.

Fausto wanted a guitar.

Fausto, a Mexican American teenager, wanted a guitar.

Combining Sentences using Appositives

Fausto is a teenager. He lives in Fresno, California.

____________________________________ ____________________________________

Combining Sentences using Appositives

Fausto’s father is a warehouseman. He does not earn a lot of money.

____________________________________ ____________________________________

Combining Sentences using Appositives

Lawrence is Fausto’s older brother. Lawrence likes to read.

____________________________________ ____________________________________

Handout: LAB pages 56 & 58

Contractions and Possessives

What purpose do the apostrophes serve in this sentence?

Fausto’s riding his sister’s bike.

Fausto’s --- Fausto issister’s --- the bike belonging to his

sister.

Contraction or Possessive?

Couldn’t ___________________ ‘bout ___________________ Can’t ___________________ We’ll ___________________ Fausto’s ___________________ Dog’s ___________________ He’d ___________________ What’s ___________________ There’s ___________________

Punctuating Dialogue

Transparency 2-6

Handout: LAB pages 59 & 63