1. Pictures by Sylvia Long
Name ______________________________
Alejandro’s Gift
By Richard E. Albert
Pictures by Sylvia Long
Prediction
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Author’s Purpose
inform persuade entertain

2. Alejandro’s Gift Focus Skills:
To recognize cause and effect relationships
To read and understand a realistic fiction selection
To read and understand a nonfiction article
Genre
Realistic Fiction- tells about characters and events that are like people and events in real life.
Summary
Alejandro’s lonely desert life changes forever when he digs a secluded water hole for his animal neighbors. His gift is also a gift to himself, for as the animals visit, Alejandro’s loneliness disappears.
Reading Strategy
Read Ahead
Good readers use strategies to solve problems as they read. If students become confused by something in a story, reading ahead can sometimes help clear up the confusion. Reading ahead will help students to understand cause and effect relationships in a story.

3. The squirrel visited Alejandro’s garden.
Page
328
What is Alejandro’s home like? Draw a map of his home.
Why does Alejandro plant a garden?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Page
330
Cause
Effect
The squirrel visited Alejandro’s garden.
Seeing the squirrel makes Alejandro feel
__________________________________________________.

4. Why is time passing more quickly for Alejandro?
Page
332
Why is time passing more quickly for Alejandro?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Name some animals that visited Alejandro’s garden.
Page
334
Why don’t the larger animals visit Alejandro’s garden?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Draw a picture showing why Alejandro has plenty of water.

5. The skunk avoids Alejandro’s water hole.
Page
336
Why does Alejandro dig a water hole?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cause
Effect
The skunk avoids Alejandro’s water hole.
Page
338
Why do the larger animals come to Alejandro’s second water hole?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How does Alejandro know that the animals have come to the 2nd water hole?

6. Think and Respond
What gift does Alejandro give, and what gift does he receive?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What kind of person is Alejandro? How do you know?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why is Alejandro’s first water hole shunned by the animals?
Would you enjoy a visit to Alejandro’s home? Explain your answer.

7. Use the graphic organizer to answer the following questions
Use the graphic organizer to answer the following questions. Highlight the answers on the organizer.
Why is this selection a good example of realistic fiction?
Why can Alejandro have a garden in the desert?
Why does Alejandro work for hours in his garden?
What are woodpeckers, thrashers, and roadrunners?
What is the common physical characteristic shared by the animals that come to the garden?
Why does the squirrel come to Alejandro’s garden?
Why does Alejandro dig a water hole?
What happened to make Alejandro realize the animals did not feel safe near the house?
Why did the animals ignore the first water hole?
What is a good word to describe Alejandro when he refused to give up on the idea of providing water for the animals?
What makes the second water hole different from the first one?
How does Alejandro know when animals are at the second water hole?
How does Alejandro fix the problems with the first water hole?
Explain the meanings of the story’s title, Alejandro’s Gift. What gift does Alejandro intend to give? What gift does he receive?