1. The Astronaut and the Onion
By Ann Cameron
Illustrated by Anna Rich

2. Which person in the photo is the leader?
How do you know?
Besides a teacher,
who else might be a
good mentor? Explain.

3. MentorS
For what kinds of occuptations, or jobs, might a mentor be especially useful to have?

4. The Astronaut and the Onion
Strategy: Make inferences
and analyze
Skill: Character
Genre
Realistic Fiction

5. This story is called The Astronaut
and the Onion. Sometimes an author
connects two things that are very
different. How might an astronaut
and an onion be connected?

6. Making an inference
You can make an inference, or
informed guess, based on
information you read or know.
Character
Authors provide clues to a
character’s personality through
the character’s thoughts and
interactions with other characters.

7. What do
you know
about astronauts?
Astronauts

8. Let’s start by reading pages 83 - 85.
While we read we are going to look
for character traits, or the way a
character acts.
tests
herself
wild and
daring
What was
wild & daring
about Gloria’s
actions?
Gloria
Use inferences
about Gloria’s character traits
to fill in two boxes of the Character Web.

9. Topic Sentence What is the topic sentence in the fourth paragraph on
page 84?
Next to me there
was a giant Berkbee’s
Baby Food display.
What are some “Tell
Me Mores.”

10. Look for a new character introduced at the end of page 87. Remember
Let’s read pages
Look for a new character
introduced at the end
of page 87. Remember
some details about her.
She has
sparkly
brown eyes.
What details about the woman’s
appearance did Gloria notice?
Earrings that
spin around
like planets.
Hair is shiny
black ringlets.

11. The Astronaut and the Onion
What parts of this story so far seem realistic, or like they could really happen?
The parts of the story that seem
realistic are _________.
The parts of the story that seem
realistic are the activity in the grocery
store is realistic and astronauts do orbit
Earth in space stations.

12. Let’s continue reading pages 90 - 93.
Be prepared to make
an inference about
why you think Gloria
shivers when she tries
to imagine what Dr.
Street saw.
I think Gloria shivered
because __________.

13. Dr. Street believes in trying to succeed is realistic wants to help
What do you learn about Dr. Street’s character traits on page 92?
believes in
trying to
succeed
is realistic
Dr. Street
wants to help
by offering
advice
What else?

14. Character Gloria is daring. How is Dr. Street daring too?
Dr. Street was afraid in space. When has Gloria been afraid?
Gloria has a lot of energy.
Does Dr. Street have a lot
of energy? Explain.

15. Let’s finish reading the story.
What does Dr. Street mean when she says, “Big things are really little”? (p. 95)
Dr. Street talks about being able to succeed at things that seem
difficult. Difficult things seem really big when you think you can’t do them.
Once someone learns how to do something, it doesn’t seem like such a big thing anymore.

16. Using what you have learned about
space travel, take 2 minutes and talk to someone at your table about whether
or not you would enjoy being an astronaut. Support your decision.