Straightaway means right away or immediately. Why did Pablo accuse Desmoana straightaway of being the thief?” Pablo accused Desmoana straightaway because he believed she was jealous of him since he beat her in the tulip drawing contest. Now she was trying to get back at him by keeping him from winning the New Nose Now contest. When the detectives and Pablo went to Desmoana’s house, she denied stealing Pablo’s nose. Explain in your own words the reasons Desmoana gave to prove her innocence. Use details from the text. Desmoana told the detectives that she was wearing a red shirt not a blue one like the thief. She also said that even though she had a purple bike, she had not ridden it for nearly a year. She was in to skate boarding now. Encyclopedia Brown suspected Desmoana of being the thief. Why did he tell Desmoana, “You were never much good at riding a two-wheeler? Encyclopedia Brown knew that if he told Desmoana that she wasn’t good at riding a two-wheeler she would try to prove him wrong by showing off how great she was at riding. He could then determine if her bike had been put away for a year or had been ridden lately. An alibi is a reason or excuse that proves a person was not in the area and could not have committed a crime. How did showing off prove to be a mistake for Desmoana and disprove her alibi? Showing off proved to be a mistake for Desmoana because she gave herself away. Encyclodpedia Brown knew that if her bike had not been ridden for a year the tires would have been flat. Since the tires were not flat, this proved that Desmoana’s alibi was a lie and that she was the thief. Did Pablo “nose out everyone else” in the New Nose Now contest? Why? No. There was no one else to “nose out”. “Pablo was the only person to enter a nose in the contest, and therefore he won.
Vocabulary KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING WORDS WORTH KNOWING General teaching suggestions are provided in the Introduction TEACHER PROVIDES DEFINITION not enough contextual clues provided in the text alibi wailed muttered Agency mold texture forthwith sneered STUDENTS FIGURE OUT THE MEANING sufficient context clues are provided in the text burst pleaded jealous accused guilty retorted stump observed sculptor weather glanced recall snapped
Culminating Task Re-Read, Think, Discuss, Write: Pablo and Desmoana had something in common. They both liked to brag and show off. Write a paragraph to explain how bragging and showing off impact both Pablo and Desmoana? What lesson should they learn?” Use details from the text and class discussion to support your answer. Answer: Pablo bragged all over the neighborhood about making a nose to enter in the New Nose Now contest. Since Desmoana Lowry was jealous of Pablo because he beat her in the tulip drawing contest, she stole the nose so that Pablo wouldn’t have the opportunity to win another contest. If Pablo had been quiet instead of bragging all around the neighborhood, Desmoana would never have known anything about his nose. Pablo realized his mistake and even called himself a blockhead. When Encyclopedia Brown began investigating and questioned Desmoana about her purple bicycle, Desmoana lied and said she hadn’t ridden her bicycle in a year. Knowing that Desmoana was a show off, Encyclopedia challenged her about being able to ride a two wheel bike. She fell for the trap and quickly began to ride her bicycle showing off by doing all kinds of tricks. This allowed the detectives to ascertain that Desmoana was the thief! Pablo and Desmoana should have learned that bragging and showing off can lead to negative consequences. Additional Tasks Authors use vivid words to write interesting stories instead of using tired over-used words. Provide all the vivid synonyms the author used in the story for the word “said”. The author used the following synonyms: wailed, muttered, pleaded, demanded, retorted. How do these words affect the story?