Anchor Reading 6

Perfectly Safe

In This Grade 3 Perfectly Safe 19 No Choice 35 The Word Is . . .

51 Why Does a Woodpecker Peck?

65 The Tennin’s Robe

81 Making Makingthe theTeam Team 97 Everella’s Everella’sWand Wand

113 Stop Stopthe theHungry HungryGiant GiantFish!

Fish!

Based Basedon onaaLegend Legendfrom fromthe theIsland Island of ofGuam Guam

129 For Forthe theLove Loveof ofthe theGame Game 161 A Chilling Thrill

Or was it a thrilling chill?

145 Citizen CitizenCarmen Carmen

177 The White Crane A Japanese Folktale

193 He Made Trees Live Again

RL.6.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments RL.6.3: Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution RL.6.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone SL.6.1 c: Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion

Nat is supposed to ride in the chaser truck at the balloon festival, but an animal in need captures his attention.

209 The Unwelcome Neighbor A tale from the Panchatantra

223 The Woman in the Moon A Kumeyaay Legend

U nit Author: Uma Krishnaswami Illustrator: Gary Undercuffler

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heap trail

blipped gracious festival

giddy quivered

Have you ever rescued someone or something? What did you do? How did you feel afterwards?

rumble clutch

predators patient billowing

thrashed wisps

• Can you make a prediction about what this story is about based on the picture?

• Have you ever had to sacrifice something you wanted for something more important?

• What do you know about nature conservation?

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The day of the balloon festival, I felt as light and giddy as a hot-air balloon. This year, I wouldn’t just be watching. I’d be riding in Mr. J.’s “chaser” truck, following the flight of the balloon and meeting it when it came down.

It was a perfect day. Dad and I drove down the road, looped around the lake, and turned into the field that was being used as a parking area. Dad pointed toward the lake. “That’s where you’ll find the crew,” he said.

We scraped to a halt. I tumbled out of the car.

And then I saw it—a white bird with black stripes, brown head, and skinny legs. It screeched and thrashed in the dirt in front of the cars that were driving downhill. Its wing looked broken, one end trailing. Suddenly it shrieked and flew off.

“Dad!” I called. But my father was watching the balloons.

“It’s a killdeer.” The voice quivered like wisps of heat from a balloon’s burner.

I turned to see a silver-haired older woman. “It has a nest here somewhere,” she said.

“In the parking area?”

She sniffed. “It was a nesting place before it became a parking area. No one told the killdeer about the balloon festival.”

“Nat!” Dad called. “Isn’t it time you went down to meet Mr. J.?”

“I’ve got to go,” I said.

It was a great day for the balloon festival.

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But the woman pointed with her cane. On the ground was a perfect clutch of speckled eggs, looking like a heap of pebbles. They were smack in the path of cars, trucks, motorbikes, and stomping feet.

Screech! The parent bird was back, its wing all twisted again.

“They pretend to be wounded,” said the woman. “They lead predators off, miles sometimes, before flying back.

Those eggs sit there pretending to be rocks.”

“Nat!” Dad called. “The balloons are ready to launch.”

“Dad! I’m—” A pickup truck roared over the hill. The woman waved her cane. “Not this way!” she shouted. “Take the other road!”

Brakes screamed. Dust flew. “What’s the matter?” asked an angry voice from the truck. The parent bird repeated its wounded act. The woman began a patient explanation.

Grumbling, the man backed up the dirt road to take the long way around to the other parking area.

“Nat! After all the fuss you made about getting down here early—” Dad stopped short. “I’ll be . . . it’s a killdeer.”

The woman smiled. “Killdees we called them when I was a girl.”

“This,” said my father, “is one rotten spot for a nest.”

“Dad,” I said, “what about the chaser truck?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’ll still catch it if you run.”

“What about the nest?”

“Son,” Dad said, “that nest doesn’t stand much of a chance.”

I looked at the lake. A few balloons were still billowing, filling with hot air. Most were fat and ready. Mr. J.’s Big Blue was there. The chaser trucks were getting ready to roll.

A killdeer screech forced me to look back. A sports car, radio blaring, narrowly missed the four perfect eggs.

I felt as if I had a rock in my belly. In my mind, the chaser truck grew smaller, then blipped out like a UFO on a radar screen. “Dad, I’m not going.”

“You’re sure?”

“I can’t,” I said. “I have to stay here so cars don’t roll over the nest.”

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He gave me a funny look. “I’ll go tell Mr. J.” And he took off down the trail.

The woman grinned. “I’m Edie Thomas,” she said.

“I’m Nat,” I said. She shook my hand as if I were someone important.

I showed him. The bird circled, dragging its “broken” wing.

“Uh-oh.” He pulled across the path. “You want to tell me about this?”

Mrs. Thomas and I answered questions. Brad took pictures.

I spoke to the drivers of the cars and trucks that were forced

“If we can protect the nest today, it’ll be OK,

to stop. Soon a ring of vehicles surrounded the nest, bumper to

right?” I asked. “No one parks here except for the

bumper. Nothing coming down the hill was going to get those

balloon festival.”

eggs. Soon the bird returned, fluffing into place and crunching

“Do you have a plan?” she asked. “Oh, gracious, here comes another one!”

A plan? No time for that. I raised my arms to signal to the driver. He rolled down the window. “I’m Brad Brennan. I’m covering the balloon festival for The Times.

Are you telling me I can’t park here?”

down, round and still like a striped rock.

Nothing was going to crush those eggs.

That was when a plan took sudden, perfect shape in my head. “No, sir,” I told him. “You can park right here. Just turn so you’re across the path.”

It was my day to get funny looks.

“Why?”

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1. Complete each sentence using the vocabulary word in parentheses.

a. (thrashed) The bird _______________________________________ __________________________________________________________ b. (patient) They told me _____________________________________ All morning we watched balloons float across the sky. Another white bird with an olive-brown head—the male—flew down. The first one left. “To eat,” said Mrs. Thomas. The male settled in, keeping an eye on us.

By the time noon had stirred a rumble in my stomach, the festival was over. People began to leave.

I’d missed the chaser truck. Thinking about it gave me an odd feeling, an empty place where something I’d looked forward to all week should have been.

When Dad came back, only Mrs. Thomas and I were left.

And one killdeer, watching over her four eggs in a nest— perfectly safe.

__________________________________________________________ c. (wisps) In the morning, _____________________________________ __________________________________________________________ d. (predators) The rabbit _____________________________________ __________________________________________________________ e. (heap) At the farm, _________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ f. (rumble) The storm _________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ g. (billowing) The curtains ____________________________________ __________________________________________________________ h. (quivered) The baby squirrel _______________________________ __________________________________________________________ i. (trail) In the mountains, _____________________________________ __________________________________________________________ j. (giddy) The children _________________________________________ __________________________________________________________

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2. Circle the correct answers about the events in the story.

3. Fill in the Setting and Events Chart.

Setting:

a. Nat and his father were 1. on the way to the state fair.

2. on the way to the balloon festival.

3. on the way to the carnival. b. When Nat first saw the killdeer bird, 1. he thought its wing was broken.

2. it flew at his face.

3. it was sitting on its nest. c. Mrs. Thomas 1. needed a ride home.

2. organized the festival.

3. knew a lot about the birds.

Event:

Character’s Reaction:

Event:

Character’s Reaction:

Event:

Character’s Reaction:

d. Nat was forced to 1. turn people away from the festival.

2. redirect cars to protect the nest.

3. move the killdeer nest to a safer spot. e. Nat sacrificed 1. his chance to ride in the chaser truck.

2. his time and energy.

3. both A and B.

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4. Fill in the Theme of the Text Graphic Organizer. What is the author trying to communicate with the reader? What is the story’s message?

Clue

Clue

Clue

5. Use these questions to discuss the story in more depth.

a. Some people in the story were mad at Nat for not letting them park. Have you ever faced anger or opposition when you stood up for something?

Theme of the Text

b. What problem does human expansion pose to nature? If you need help, think about the killdeer bird and where its nest was located. c. What are some ways that you can contribute to nature preservation?

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Story Connection About the Autho r

Retell

Uma Krishnaswmi w as born in New Dheli, India. Uma d oesn’t have any brothers or sisters, so as a child she saw books as her fr iends. She loves to write books for children and also teaches writing cla sses. She has a son and lives in New Mexico, USA.

Retell Perfectly Sa fe in your own words.

Beginning Middle End

To Student: Find a picture of the author on the internet.

Print, cut, and paste here.

Author�s Purpos e

Uma Krishnaswmi’s story tells of the importance of pro tecting animals and how sometimes we must make difficult choices about the ri ght thing to do.

Design a hot air ba lloon. Draw a picture of it. If you can take a hot air balloon ride in any country, which country would it be and why? Write about it.

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Text Evidence 1. What is a killdee r? What was wrong with the one Nat found?

Key Detail 2. Why was this ye ar’s balloon festival special for Nat? What difficult decision d id he make?

Key Detail 3. Where did this Setting

story take place?