Help Me Train My Pet

Dear Cat Whisperer,
My cat, Shadow, is always being naughty. At dinner time, he always jumps up on the table and tries to eat my food! When I put him on the floor he just jumps up again. If I put him in the other room he meows loudly. My dog learned to follow the rules so quickly! Why isn't Shadow learning? Why is he so naughty? Can you give me some training tips? Joan

Hi, Joan,

The first thing to remember is that cats and dogs think differently.

Next time you are preparing dinner, get Shadow's food ready, too. Before you sit down to eat, put Shadow in another room with his food dish. This way he won't come to you when you are having dinner.

When training Shadow, be strict but don't get angry. Cats get scared easily. If he's scared, he will not want to learn rules in the future.

However, when Shadow does something good, always praise him. Pet him and say, "Good!" or give him a treat. This tells him that you are happy.

Don't always respond when Shadow meows from the other room. Sometimes he just wants your attention. If Shadow learns that you will come any time he calls, he will meow all the time!

The Cat Whisperer

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Fluency Strategy: Dealing with Unknown Words

Unknown Words·

A. Read the first letter of the passage Help Me Train My Pet. Write any words you do not know.

B. Look at the words that you write in the paragraphs above. Complete the chart below.

Did you underline any word more than once? If a new word comes up many times, then it may be important to learn that word. For example, the word naughty appears twice in the first paragraph. Do you already know what naughty means? If not, can you guess its meaning?

C. Now answer this comprehension question about the paragraphs you just read:

1. What does Joan want to know?
a where to buy a new cat
b why her cat is being bad
c why her dog hates her cat
d what she should name her cat

Were you able to answer this question without looking up the meaning of the unknown word(s)? Remember, you don't always need to understand every word to understand the meaning of the passage.

D. Now read the whole passage on the next page, without using a dictionary. Write any words you don't know, but don't worry about their meaning. How many words did you skip?

Write the words you wrote here: