Summarizing Sentences
Ira, one of the boys in our all-Creek gang, swears that the uniform his older brother was issued when he was here five years ago had a bullet hole in it.
I line up proper. Back still, eyes straight. I don't twitch a muscle, having learned my lesson at inspection the first day. I shifted one foot and had it stomped on hard by our company officer. Ray Chapman is his name. He's determined, despite the fact that he's been saddled with me in mid-semester, to win ribbons during Sunday Dress Parade.
Cal lines up and doesn't move at all. Last time he moved the guy in charge, Ray, stepped on his foot really hard. Ray wants to win a prize.
"I didn't drink any water before climbing into my cot, so I don't need to use the latrine down the hall."
Use context clues to figure out the meaning of latrine
A latrine is a toliet
If there was a new student in your class (like Cal when he come sto Challagi), what could you do to make him feel welcomed?
- say hi
- ask his name
- introduce yourself
- ask him questions about himself
Some of those white-looking Indian kids grew up thinking of themselves as Indians, maybe even speaking some of the language.
Some of the students with white skinned identify as Indian and speak Indian languages.
"Bird," Ray finally says, a smile on his face "You can fly. Think about track team. Okay? I've run so hard I can still barely breathe. How can I explain to him that the last thing I want to do is join anyone's tea? My plan is to get out of here as soon as Pop gives me the okay. The sooner the better.
Ray wants Cal to join the track team. Cal doesn't want to join because he wants to leave the school soon.
“Grasshopper is the narrow faced boy in Bear Meat’s gang who is always chewing on something then spitting it out. As we left class, he ejected from his mouth a piece of the eraser he’s just gnawed off his pencil.”
Use context clues to figure out the meaning of ejected and gnawed
ejected- spit out
gnawed- chewed
If you want to get to know a new student, what 2 questions you could ask?
1. What do you like to do for fun?
2. What is your favorite video game?
3. Do you have a favorite YouTuber?
Teaching for Mr. Mallett (the geography teacher) just means coming to class each day, taking the role, saying a word or two, and then spending the rest of his time sucking his mustache and reading cheap magazines.
Mr. Mallet, doesn't do any teaching. He just reads his magazines.
The teacher asked a question, but was met by silence. No one was raising a hand. Way different from my old white schools where those who knew an answer would just about be dislocating their arms waving to get the teacher's attention.
“The big ring the HD wears on his right hand glinted as it caught the light of the rising sun.”
Use context clues to figure out the meaning of glinted
glinted= gliterred or shone
You are at lunch and you see the new student eating by themselves- what could you do?
- sit next to them
- ask them if they want to sit with you
Possum and me and a dozen other boys are riding the back of the school wagon sent in to town to pick up harness shop supplies.
Cal and some other students are riding in the back of a wagon to town.
Mr. Pond is the math teacher here at Challagi. He's a big horse-faced man. In the classroom where he's supposed to be teaching, he hardly looks at any of us. Instead, at the start of each class, he writes a bunch of problems on the board. "Do these," he says in his deep sarcastic voice. "Though I doubt any of you dummies can." Then he sits down, closes his eyes, and goes to sleep until just before the bell rings.
Mr. Pond, the math teacher, doesn't teach any math. He just calls the student dummies and then falls asleep.
If I hadn’t promised Pop to stay I’d be headed for the nearest train station right now. I’d be on the first fast freight, a hundred miles gone before they knew I was missing.
Use context clues to figure out the meaning of freight.
freight=train
If the new student looks confused in class, what could you do?
My behavior since I've been here has been so good that I have hardly any demerits at all.
Cal has had good behavior and has hardly gotten in trouble at all.
“I had cloth bandages wrapped around both hands. But it didn’t prevent me from having to keep on working. Bleeding hands or not, if you don’t do exactly as you are told you get demerits. If you stray off a walkway and step on the green grass you get demerits. If you are late to class you get demerits. If your uniform is not neat, you get demerits.”
Students have to keep working even if they are hurt. If they don't do exactly what teachers say they get in trouble. Even really small things get you in trouble.
“I’ve never owned a photo of Pop. I don’t need one. All I need to do is close my eyes to see his kind face in front of me. But so far I’ve not been able to “see” what he’s doing or about to do. That gift of mine of precognition- sort of viewing the future- only kicks in rarely.”
Use context clues to figure out the meaning of precognition.
precognition= seeing the future
How can you tell if the new student might be someone you want to be friends with?
- they are nice to you
- they ask you questions
- they pay attention when you are talking