1. Name ______________________________ Yippee-Yay! By Gail Gibbons Prediction ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Author’s Purpose informpersuadeentertain

2. Yippee-Yay! Focus Skills: To distinguish main idea and supporting details in expository text To read and understand a nonfiction selection To read and understand a song Genre Expository Nonfiction: explains information and ideas Summary The life of the American cowhand in the Old West was exciting and tough. It included taming wild horses and working on cattle drives. Reading Strategy Use Context to Confirm Meaning Good readers are active readers and they pay attention to context clues to help them understand what they are reading. Nonfiction often contains vocabulary that refers to a special subject or topic. If readers come to an unfamiliar word, they can use the context around the word to confirm its meaning.

3. Page 172 Fill in the dates on this time line. Era of the American cowboy What is the main idea on pages 172-173? How do you know? Page 174 Why was a cowboy’s horse or pony often considered his best partner? Why was roping an important skill for a cowboy to learn? Page 176 What could happen if a horse wasn’t broken before working with cattle?

4. Page 178 Why was it important for ranchers to hold roundups? Draw a cattle brand. Why did ranchers brand the cattle? start the trail drive count the cattle brand the calves Sequence the following steps by putting a 1, 2 or 3 in front of each picture. Why didn’t ranchers want cattle to lose weight on the cattle drive? Page 180 Why did cattle drives need a remuda and a wrangler? Why might the foreman have to communicate with Native Americans?

5. What do you think the author wants you to learn in this section? Give three details that help you understand what it was like to be a cowboy in the Old West. Page 182 What might a loud thunder clap do to a herd of cattle? How do you think most cowboys felt at the end of a long trail drive? Draw a cowboy’s face. What would a cowboy do?

6. Think and Respond 1.How are the lives of cowhands and ranchers of today different from those of long ago? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 2.Why does the author label some of the illustrations? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 3.Why did only the toughest cowhands go on trail drives? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 4. What parts of being a cowhand would you most like and dislike. Explain why. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

7. Use the graphic organizer to answer the following questions. Highlight the answers on the organizer. 1.What was the main reason there were so few cowgirls in the Old West? 2.The 1860s to the 1890s is considered to be what era in the Old West? 3.What did a cowhand have to own in order to work? 4.What was a cowhand’s most important skill? 5.What was the next thing the cowhands did after rounding up the cattle? 6.Why were the calves not branded until after the roundup? 7.Which group would wrangler, cookie, and flank rider belong to? 8.Why was the drag position the worst job a cowboy could have? 9.What was the reason for a trail drive? 10.Why are there no long cattle drives today? 11.What job do cowhands do today in a different way? 12.Why did the author write this book? 13.Why didn’t ranchers have fences around all their land? 14.How could ranchers identify their own cattle, including the new caves, when cattle from different ranches mixed together on the range?