Fish in Tree Reading Packet
Supported Reader Fish in a Tree • Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Page 1 of 4
Name:
Date:
Period:
Word Bank: doodling = scribbling/drawing • stalling = delaying on purpose
Chunk 1 • Chapter 1
In Trouble Again
Focus: Why does writing feel hard for Ally?
It’s always there. Like the ground underneath my feet.
“Well, Ally? Are you going to write or aren’t you?” Mrs. Hall asks. If my teacher were mean it would be easier. “C’mon,” she says. “I know you can do it.”
“What if I told you that I was going to climb a tree using only my teeth? Would you say I could do it then?”
Oliver laughs, throwing himself on his desk like it’s a fumbled football. Shay groans. “Ally, why can’t you just act normal for once?” Near her, Albert, a bulky kid who’s worn the same thing every day—a dark T-shirt that reads Flint—sits up straight. Like he’s waiting for a firecracker to go off.
Mrs. Hall sighs. “C’mon, now. I’m only asking for one page describing yourself.”
I can’t think of anything worse than having to describe myself. I’d rather write about something more positive. Like throwing up at your own birthday party. “It’s important,” she says. “It’s so your new teacher can get to know you.” I know that, and it’s exactly why I don’t want to do it.
“And,” she says, “all that doodling of yours, Ally. If you weren’t drawing all the time, your work might be done. Please put it away.”
Embarrassed, I slide my drawings underneath my blank writing assignment. Seven schools in seven years and they’re all the same. Whenever I do my best, they tell me I don’t try hard enough. Too messy. Careless spelling. And the headaches. I always get headaches from looking at the brightness of dark letters on white pages for too long.
Mrs. Hall clears her throat. The rest of the class is getting tired of me again. Chairs slide. Loud sighs. Maybe they think I can’t hear their words: Freak. Dumb. Loser.
“C’mon, Ally. No more stalling.” I watch a mind movie of her dressed as a sheriff and me in prisoner stripes. My mind shows me these movies that seem so real. They are a relief from my real life.
But instead of writing, knowing she loves clean desks, I grip my pencil with a hard fist. And scribble all over my desk. The circular scribbles are big on top and small on the bottom, like a tornado. “She’s such a freak,” Shay says in one of those loud whispers.
“To the office. Now,” Mrs. Hall says. I can’t go see our principal, Mrs. Silver, again. I wonder when they’ll hang up a banner that says WELCOME, ALLY NICKERSON!
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’ll do it. I promise.” She moves me to the reading table. I squint, hoping the lights will hurt my head less. I write with one hand and shield my paper with the other. I write the word “Why?” over and over from the top of the page to the very bottom. One, because I know how to spell it right and two, because I’m hoping someone will finally give me an answer.
Stop & Think: Chunk 1 Check-In
1. Complete the sentence frame below using details from the text:
Ally tries to avoid the writing assignment because .
2. What word does Ally write over and over on her paper?
A "Help"
B "Why?"
C "No"
Supported Reader Fish in a Tree • Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Page 2 of 4
Word Bank: hesitates = pauses with doubt • inappropriate = not suitable or polite
Chunk 2 • Chapter 2
Yellow Card
Focus: What went wrong with Ally's card?
For Mrs. Hall’s baby shower, Jessica shows up with such a big bunch of flowers from her father’s florist shop that you’d swear she ripped a bush out of the ground. Whatever. I don’t care. I found a bright card with yellow roses at the store. And a picture of flowers won’t dry up in a week. I feel like it’s my way of saying I’m sorry for being such a pain all the time.
Max gives his present to Mrs. Hall. He’s given her diapers. When Mrs. Hall slides my card out of the envelope, she doesn’t read it out loud like all the others. She hesitates, and I know that she must really love it. And I feel proud, which isn’t something I feel very much.
Mrs. Silver leans over to look. I figure I might finally get a compliment for once, but instead, her eyebrows bunch up and she motions me toward the door.
Shay has gotten up to look. She laughs and says, “The world gets dumber every time Ally Nickerson speaks.”
“Shay. Sit down,” Mrs. Hall says, but it’s too late. You can’t make people unhear something. I should be used to this, but it still takes a piece out of me every time. Last week Shay called me Alice in Blunderland.
Keisha steps up to Shay and says, “Why don’t you mind your own business for once?” I like Keisha. She isn’t afraid. And I’m afraid of so much. Shay glares at Keisha. “Stop talking to me.” “Stop being mean,” Keisha replies, leaning forward.
Max folds his arms. “Yes. There’s going to be a fight,” he says. “There isn’t going to be a fight,” Mrs. Hall says. Suki is holding one of her small wooden blocks that she keeps in a box when she gets nervous.
While Mrs. Hall tells them both to cool off, Mrs. Silver waves me toward the door. What the heck is going on? Once we’re out in the hallway, I can tell by Mrs. Silver’s face that it’s going to be another one of those times when I’ll have to say I’m sorry or explain why I’ve done something. The thing is, I have no idea why I’m even in trouble this time.
I stuff my hands in my pockets to keep them from doing something I’ll regret. “I just don’t get it, Ally,” she says. “You’ve done other things that have been inappropriate, but this is just . . . well . . . different. It’s not like you.”
Stop & Think: Chunk 2 Check-In
1. How did Ally feel right after Mrs. Hall opened her card, and why?
Ally felt because she thought Mrs. Hall .
2. Who stands up against Shay when Shay insults Ally?
A Jessica
B Keisha
C Albert
Supported Reader Fish in a Tree • Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Page 3 of 4
Word Bank: sympathy card = card sent when someone dies • bluff = pretend you know something
Chunk 3 • Chapter 3 (Part 1)
Never up to Me
Focus: The truth behind the card mistake
“Ally,” Mrs. Silver says. “If you’re looking for attention, this isn’t the way to do it.” She has that wrong. I need attention like a fish needs a snorkel.
The door swings open and Oliver springs from the room. “Ally,” he says. “I think you gave her that card to tell her you’re sorry she has to leave us to go have some dumb baby.” Mrs. Silver sends him to the boys' room.
“Why in the world would you give a pregnant woman a sympathy card?” Mrs. Silver asks.
Sympathy card? I think. And then I remember. My mom sends those to people when someone they love dies. My stomach churns. “You do know what a sympathy card is, Ally, don’t you?” I should deny it, but I nod because I don’t want to hear her explain it. The thing is, I feel real bad. I just didn’t know it was a sad card. All I could see were beautiful yellow flowers.
No matter how many times I have prayed and worked and hoped, reading for me is still like trying to make sense of a can of alphabet soup that’s been dumped on a plate. I just don’t know how other people do it.
I sit in the principal’s office staring out the window, silent. I wish I had my Sketchbook of Impossible Things. It’s the only thing that makes me feel like I’m not a waste of space. My recent favorite is a snowman that works in a furnace factory.
Mrs. Silver sighs. “Between last year and this year, you’ve been here for less than five months, Ally, and you’ve been to visit me far too much. You need to make some changes. It’s up to you.”
It’s not up to me. It’s never been up to me. “Tell me what’s going on. Let me help you,” she says. She points at a poster on the wall showing two hands reaching. “Can you read that for me, please? Out loud.”
The letters on the poster look like black beetles marching across the wall. When I’m nervous, my brain goes blank like an Etch A Sketch turned upside down and shaken. “I don’t need to read it to you. I get it,” I say, trying to bluff.
Stop & Think: Chunk 3 Check-In
1. Explain Ally's metaphor: What does reading feel like to her?
Ally says reading feels like alphabet soup dumped on a plate because .
2. Why couldn't Ally read the motivational poster on the wall?
A She left her glasses
B Letters looked like beetles
C The lights were turned off
Supported Reader Fish in a Tree • Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Page 4 of 4
Word Bank: consequences = results of an action • Etch A Sketch = toy screen erased by shaking
Chunk 4 • Chapter 3 (Part 2)
The Walk Home
Focus: A new teacher & Ally's feelings
The bell rings. Mrs. Silver rakes her hair with her fingers. “Ally. I don’t know if you thought the card would be funny or you are upset that Mrs. Hall’s leaving or what. But it feels like you’ve crossed a line this time.”
I imagine myself crossing the finish line. My body breaking the bright red ribbon. The crowd cheering as confetti spins through the air. But I know this is not what she means.
“As of Monday, your new teacher will be Mr. Daniels. Let’s try to avoid any negative consequences, okay?”
I think about how me avoiding consequences would be like the rain avoiding the sky. She sighs as I leave her office and I know she’s tired of me. Even I’m tired of me.
As I run from the office, the hallways are filling with kids. I head back to my classroom to apologize to Mrs. Hall before the buses leave. I run up behind her, tap her on the shoulder. When she turns and looks at me, her face goes sad before straightening out. I stand there thinking how sorry I am. Hoping she doesn’t think I’d wish anything bad on her baby.
But I can’t find the words. My mind does the Etch A Sketch thing. Blank.
“What is it, Ally?” she finally asks. She puts her hands on her big belly like she needs to protect it. I turn and run out of the room. Down the hall and out the front door. The buses are pulling away without me. But that’s the way it should be, I guess. I deserve to walk.
Final Comprehension & Reflection
Write clearly in the blank spaces provided
1. Ally's Secret Struggle:
What is Ally hiding from her teachers and classmates?
2. Looking Ahead to Mr. Daniels:
What does Ally need in a new teacher to feel safe and succeed?
3. Sketch Ally's "Mind Movie":
Draw the snowman in the furnace factory or Ally's tornado scribbles:
Draw your response above
