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“How Tia Lola Came
To Visit Stay”
By Julia Alvarez
Story Overview: Miguel and Juanita Guzman have moved to Vermont from New
York City because their mother has taken a job at a local college. Their mother’s aunt,
Tia Lola, arrives for a visit from the Dominican Republic. Tia Lola soon impresses
Miguel’s friends, the owner of a local restaurant, the baseball coach, and even the
difficult Colonel Charlebois, owner of the farmhouse that Miguel’s family rents.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Vocabulary:
inscribed- written, engraved, or printed as a lasting record
resemblance- likeness
postmarked- marked to cancel the postage stamp with the date
and place of sending
enthralled- charmed
regulation- requirement by law or rule
grouchy- in a bad mood; irritable, sulky
embarrassment- the state of feeling of uncomfortable
pennant- a triangular flag that serves as the emblem of a team
Strategy: Word Parts / Inflectional Endings- adding an inflectional ending to a word
shows a change in tense or number. Adding –s or –es to a verb shows that the subject is
singular. The inflectional ending –ed changes verbs into the past tense.
Skill: Inference- Author’s do not always tell readers everything that takes place in a
story. Instead, they provide details that allow readers to figure things out for themselves.
Good readers use clues from the text as well as prior knowledge to make inferences.
Grammar: Common and Proper Nouns, Capitalization
Spelling List: Plurals
echoes bacteria staffs photos wolves buffaloes data dominoes sheriffs
scarves solos tornadoes volcanoes thieves sopranos shelves wives loaves
media cuffs
Review words: old-fashioned, windshield, question mark
Challenge words: halves, wharves