Connect Reading and Writing

Vocabulary

  • arrived

  • blooming

  • chapter

  • emperor

  • forget

  • remember

  • special

  • throne

Critical Thinking

  • 1. SUM IT UP Create a Description Chart that describes images of each setting shown in “The Lotus Seed.” Use it as you summarize the story to a partner.

    Description Chart
    The SettingDescription
    in Vietnambeautiful homeland with gardens, mountains, and palm trees
    at sea
    in New York City
    in the onion garden

  • 2. Compare In what ways do Bá from “The Lotus Seed” and Halmoni from “A Suitcase of Seaweed” choose to remember their homes? Explain.

  • 3. Speculate Why is it important to Bá that her grandchildren never forget the story of the emperor? Explain.

  • 4. Inference Why might the emperor have lost his throne? Use details from the story to support your ideas.

Reading Fluency

Intonation Read the passage on page 654 to a partner. Assess your fluency.

  • 1. I read

    • a. great

    • b. OK

    • c. not very well

  • 2. What I did best in my reading was ______.

Reading Strategy

Visualize

Share your chart with a classmate. Explain how identifying the sensory language helped you visualize Bá’s experience on the day she arrived in a new country.

Vocabulary Review

Oral Review Read the paragraph aloud. Add the vocabulary words.

When my family ______ in the United States, it was a new ______ in our lives. Even though I was very young, I will never ______ the day. I ______ that. it was spring because all the flowers were ______ When we left the airport, my father carried me on his shoulders. I was sitting so high in the air that I felt like an ______ sitting on a ______. The world looked so new and different. It really was a ______ day.

Written Review Imagine you are Bá and you just arrived in Vietnam again after many years. Write a journal entry describing your memories and impressions. Use four vocabulary words.

Illustration of the pen icon Write About the Guiding Question

Explore a New Chapter

Write an opinion paragraph responding to this statement: “It is important to remember the past.” Use details from the selection to support your ideas.