Preview the Words for Everyday Use and the footnotes. With a group of three or four other students, make a list of these words. Then go through the story and add five additional words to your list. Write down a definition for each word, using the definitions and contextual sentences in your textbook and using a dictionary. Then write a story that uses all of the words on your list. Share your story with the whole class.
Read “Joyriding.” Use your list of words and definitions to help you tackle challenging words as you read. Refer to the Words for Everyday Use and the footnotes for additional information. Try to make sense of the story using what you know about the words.
If you are having difficulty reading the selection, find a partner. Silently read the selection, stopping at each set of piano keys. Help each other answer the Guided Reading Questions in the section you have just read by rereading the parts of the story that contain the answers to the questions. Notice that each time a set of piano keys appears in the text, the narrator changes from Peter to Kevin.
After you finish reading the story, rejoin your group from the Before-Reading exercise. Using ten of the vocabulary words, write a round-robin story about a runner. One person should start the story using one of the vocabulary words in an opening sentence. Then pass the story to the next person in the group and have that person add to the story using another vocabulary word. If necessary, you may add multiple sentences in order to set up the use of a vocabulary word. If possible, try constructing your story the way Naughton did—have two speakers tell parallel stories. When you are finished, share your story with the rest of the class. Compare your Before-Reading and After-Reading stories. Which was the easiest to write? Which story ended up most like “Joyriding”?