1. A Train to
Somewhere
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author’s Purpose: Inform,
Express
Skill: Sequence
Compiled by Terry Sams, PES
By: Eve Bunting
2. Summary
From the time she was left at the
orphanage in New York City,
Marianne had expected her mother
to come back for her. When
Marianne boards the train that will
take her and thirteen other orphans
to the Midwest, she hopes her
mother will be there waiting to claim
her. But doubt creeps in, and she
begins to wonder if anyone will
want her.
3. Genre: Historical
Fiction
•Historical fiction is realistic fiction that
takes place in the past.
•The author makes up the characters
and events, but they seem real.
•The setting is important and the
problems and events are based on
things that really did or could have
happened during the time period.
4. Comprehension Skill Review –
Sequence TE 67a
• Sequence is the order of the events that
occur in a story.
• You can determine the order of events by
clue words such as first and next, in the
beginning, then, following, after, and
finally .
• Some story events may occur at the same
time.
• Other story events, such as flashbacks ,
are told out of order.
5. Comprehension Skill Review –
Cause and Effect TE 67b
An effect is something that happens .
A cause explains why it happens.
Writing may include clue words such
as because, in order to, so, and as a
result to link causes and effects.
If these words are missing, readers
need to think about cause-and-effect
relationships on their own.
6. Practice Cause and Effect
TE 67b
Cause Effect
Marianne’s
mother could not
care for her.
People in the
Midwest wanted
children to adopt.
7. Vocabulary Skill Review :
Antonyms
Words with opposite meanings are
called antonyms.
You can often figure out the
meaning of an unknown word by
finding a clue in the words around
it.
Sometimes the clue is an antonym.
Sometimes you need to use a
dictionary to find out a meaning.
Click on the title to practice this skill.
8. Research Skill – Research Process TE
67j
You begin a research project by asking
yourself questions about your topic.
Then you find resources such as
encyclopedias, to help answer these
questions.
As you gather information, you can ask
new questions.
Summarize the information you find by
taking notes or writing outlines.
Then organize your information into a
report.
9. Literary Device – Dialogue
TE 67i
The conversation of two or more
people in a story is called dialogue.
Quotation marks go around the
words.
“Are these the orphans,” he asks.
Dialogue helps move the story
forward.
Dialogue helps the reader
understand about the characters
10. Weekly Fluency Check -
Read with Appropriate Phrasing TE
67d
● Students should read with
attention to punctuation, for
example, pausing with
commas and raising the voice
at the end of a question.
● Go to page 48, beginning
with “This is our train . . .”
11. Review Pages Pgs. 49 – 53
1. Why do Nora and Marianne want to
pretend they are sisters?
2. Why is it important to change into their
good clothes?
3. What does Marianne remember about her
mother and the past?
4. When did the event that Marianne
remembers take place?
12. Review Pages Pgs. 54 – 65
1. What has happened to each of
the children who left the train so
far?
2. How do you think Marianne feels
when the train reaches
Somewhere?
3. Why does the woman give her an
apple?
4. How does the story end?
13. Writing Assignment
Choose one of the following and
write a paragraph
Suppose your family was planning
to adopt a child. Draw a cartoon
showing how you would help the
child learn and grow. Include
dialogue in speech bubbles.
Write a newspaper announcement
about the arrival of an orphan train
in your town.
14. Fun Stuff
Learn more about the Orphan Trains
See an ad for orphans.
(scroll down)
Making cookies
Skill Practice
ABC Order Practice
Vocabulary Practice
Reading Test
Spelling Test
15. Say It!
adopt couple
misery
platform
atlas
carriag
16. More Words to Know
agent
locomotive
orphans
placing-out
17. carriage – a four-wheeled
vehicle that is pulled or pushed
