Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, Lexile, and Reading Recovery are provided in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide. by Susan Jones Leeming illustrated by Daniel L. Grant Genre Realistic fiction Comprehension Skills and Strategy Sequence Setting Visualize Scott Foresman Reading Street 3.1.3 ì<(sk$m)=bdddah< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U ISBN 0-328-13330-2
by Susan Jones Leeming illustrated by Daniel L. Grant Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois Parsippany, New Jersey New York, New York Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts Duluth, Georgia Glenview, Illinois Coppell, Texas Ontario, California Mesa, Arizona
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions. Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd) Illustrations by Daniel L. Grant Photograph 20 Comstock Royalty Free ISBN: 0-328-13330-2 Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois 60025. Hi! My name is Chris Chen, and this is a photo of my best friend, Maggie McGee, and me. We are standing outside the United States Mint in Philadelphia. The photo was taken just after we won the class contest. Do you know Maggie McGee? If you do, then you won t be surprised to hear that she turned our third-grade class field trip into a contest. On the other hand, you might not know Maggie McGee. If you don t, then let me tell you about the smartest, strongest, funniest kid ever to attend Browning Elementary School! 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 3
4 Maggie and I became friends on the day she challenged and beat the bully Johnnie Jaspers in a battle of the minds. Maggie recited the fifty states and their capitals in alphabetical order. Unfortunately for Johnnie, he could not even remember the capital of Pennsylvania, the state where we live! (It s Harrisburg.) Johnnie had been giving me a tough time before Maggie had beaten him in the battle of the minds. But afterward, he troubled me no more! Even better, after Maggie won she told me, Stick with me, kid, and we ll do fine. And that s just what I did. Our class went to the Philadelphia Mint, where that photo I showed you was taken, at the end of third grade. On the day of the field trip, we boarded a bus. The ride to Philadelphia didn t take long and soon we were standing outside the mint. It was enormous! The mint was built of white stone. It had sharp corners, dozens of tiny windows, and bright white walls. The entire class was excited to see the mint. Maggie and I were especially excited. We d been looking forward to the field trip for months! 5
This way class, Ms. Chesterfield s clear voice instructed. Here are your question sheets. Our class had brainstormed a list of questions we wanted answered about the mint. Let s have a contest, Maggie suggested. Whoever answers the most questions on the list wins. That sounds like a wonderful idea, Maggie. Class, please pick a partner and form teams of two, said Ms. Chesterfield. Maggie and I decided right then to be partners. I was happy to be on Maggie s team. With our combined abilities, I was sure we could win the contest! Inside the mint, Ms. Chesterfield reviewed the list of questions that our class had put together. Question 1: What coins does this U.S. Mint make? Questions 2 and 3: Which men and women are on the coins? Question 4: Why is one side of the coin called the flip side? Question 5: Why are there grooves on the edges of some coins but not on others? Ms. Chesterfield continued to read from the long list. Question 6: What jobs do people do at the mint? Question 7: Name a coin that s no longer in use. And finally: Choose any coin and respond to the last three questions. Question 8: Explain the history of the coin. Question 9: Explain what the images on the coin mean. And Question 10: Tell any interesting facts about the coin you chose. 6 7
How can we answer all those questions in just two hours? I wondered. Then I realized that if anyone could answer the questions, it would be Maggie McGee. I sighed and adjusted my backpack, waiting for the fun to start. A man in a blue uniform came out and greeted our class. I m Walter Jones, one of the mint s police officers. I will be taking you through the metal detectors and into the mint, where you will meet your tour guide, Ms. Smith. Glancing over the class, he added, Please remember that this is one of the most heavily guarded places in the world. If you pay close attention, you ll learn many things today! On the other side of the metal detectors was a huge lobby. Its walls displayed coin exhibits. Maggie dragged me over to an exhibit called The History of the Philadelphia Mint. C mon, she whispered. This looks good. What? I asked. This mint produces all the U.S. coins used today, Maggie explained. Quick, turn around, she directed. I need to use your back to write this all down. This mint makes pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half and whole dollars, Maggie continued. We ve just answered question number one, and it only took us a few minutes! 8 9
In the next room we stood behind thick plate-glass windows, staring at the huge machines cranking away one story below us. We now use the most modern, computer-automated machines, our tour guide, Ms. Smith, explained. And we still print the backside of every coin upside down, the flip side, as it is called. Maggie nudged me and began writing, leaning her paper against the window. That s the answer to question number four, Maggie whispered. Ms. Smith continued, Quarters, fifty-cent pieces, and dollars are no longer made from precious metals. However, we continue to print them with grooved edges. The edges help the visually impaired distinguish one coin from another. We d been told the answer to question number five! Maggie winked at me and whispered, Only seven more to go! 10 11
The next room had panels with large replicas of the coins and their histories. Let s write about the quarter for questions eight through ten, said Maggie. You read about the images, and I ll read about the history. OK, I agreed. I was already reading about how the image of the eagle on American coins had changed over time. I laughed as I studied the original image of the eagle. It looked more like a pigeon than a majestic bird of prey! Don t forget to write down what you read, Maggie instructed. Right, I said, recording the image of the pigeon-like eagle. Wow, the quarter was first minted in 1796. It was made heavier in 1873, and it changed from silver to a mixture of copper and nickel in 1965, Maggie said. She continued to fill in answers to the questions at a furious pace. I d like to have a real silver coin! I said as I imagined how shiny it would be. Yeah, Maggie said, looking around the room. Hey, she exclaimed suddenly. If we read the captions under each coin we ll know the answers to two and three. Remember, Chris? Those are the questions about the men and women on the coins! 12 13
I dashed after Maggie as she told me about the people on the coins. The image on the dime is of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was president of the United States and got us through the Great Depression. The nickel shows Thomas Jefferson. He, too, was president, and helped write the Declaration of Independence. And the penny displays Abraham Lincoln. As president, he led us through the Civil War. Sacagawea is on the golden dollar coin, I said. She helped Lewis and Clark explore the West and communicate with Native Americans! 14 Maggie crossed her arms and smiled when I finally caught up and finished filling in the answers. You know what this means, don t you? Maggie whispered as we followed the class out of the room. We ve now answered every question except six and seven! Great, I replied. But we only have half an hour left, and we have to eat lunch, I said. Just then Ms. Smith said, This way to the cafeteria. The cooks have prepared a lunch for the class. The tour guide barely finished her sentence before many of the student groups cornered her and began badgering her with questions. 15
I followed the rest of the class into the cafeteria, and I picked up my lunch. Then I attempted to find Maggie. I d completely lost her in the rush to get lunch! I found Maggie sitting at a table. Where have you been? she asked. We can answer question six by sitting right here! I groaned. We re not going to work on the contest here, are we? Just look, Chris, at that guy sitting one table over. He s looking at a sketch, Maggie said. I bet he engraves the images on the coins. He s probably working on the state quarter project right now! she whispered excitedly. I looked over at the table next to us with new interest. You re probably right, I agreed. I wish we had time to speak with him. 16 17
So there are engravers, tour guides, mint police, cafeteria workers, cleaners, and minters, Maggie announced to me. Now, for the last question, number seven... Before Maggie could finish, our teacher, Ms. Chesterfield, made an announcement. Finish up, class. We ll be leaving the mint in a few minutes. May we stop in the gift shop before we go? Maggie asked anxiously. Well, I suppose so. Ms. Chesterfield studied her watch. It s on the way out. I couldn t find any answers to question seven inside the gift shop so I left. When Maggie came out, I apologized to her. I m sorry we didn t win, I said. What are you talking about? she replied. We were the only group to get the answers to all ten questions! Huh? But I thought... I stammered. Maggie explained. I knew the gift shop would be selling old coins for collectors. Maggie showed me a coin and explained, This two-cent piece is just a replica. The real coin is worth a lot more than two cents now. Wow! You really are the greatest, I said, amazed. And that s how our field trip ended. 18 19
Budgeting Your Money Budgets help people keep track of how much money they have, how they spend it, and how much they save. Some people may use a computer program or a special notebook to help them organize their budget. In order to keep track of how much they are spending and saving, people often save their receipts and balance their checkbooks. If they have spent more in one area than their budget allows, they may decide to use less money in another area. Does your family use a budget? What about you? How do you think a budget might help you take care of your money? Reader Response 1. Skim the story to list the order in which Maggie and Chris answered the ten contest questions. 2. How is the U.S. Mint building described on page 5? Can you visualize any buildings you know of that look similar to the mint? 3. On a chart like the one below, list any words from the story that are new to you. Next, use context clues to write your own definitions. Last, write the dictionary definitions and compare. New Word My Definition Dictionary 4. If you took a tour of the U.S. Mint, what questions would you have that are different from the ones in the story? 20