Name ______________________________

1
Name ______________________________
Yippee-Yay! By Gail Gibbons Prediction __________
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____ Authors Purpose inform persuade entertai
n
2

• Yippee-Yay!
• Focus Skills
• To distinguish main idea and supporting details
  in expository text
• To read and understand a nonfiction selection
• To read and understand a song
• Genre
• Expository Nonfiction explains information and
  ideas
• Summary
• The life of the American cowhand in the Old West
  was exciting and tough. It included taming wild
  horses and working on cattle drives.
• Reading Strategy
• Use Context to Confirm Meaning
• Good readers are active readers and they pay
  attention to context clues to help them
  understand what they are reading. Nonfiction
  often contains vocabulary that refers to a
  special subject or topic. If readers come to an
  unfamiliar word, they can use the context around
  the word to confirm its meaning.

3
Page 172
Fill in the dates on this time line.
Era of the American cowboy
What is the main idea on pages 172-173?
How do you know?
Page 174
Why was a cowboys horse or pony often considered
his best partner?
Why was roping an important skill for a cowboy to
learn?
Page 176
What could happen if a horse wasnt broken before
working with cattle?
4
Why was it important for ranchers to hold
roundups?
Page 178
Why did ranchers brand the cattle?
Draw a cattle brand.
Sequence the following steps by putting a 1, 2 or
3 in front of each picture.
start the trail drive
count the cattle
brand the calves
Why didnt ranchers want cattle to lose weight on
the cattle drive?
Page 180
Why did cattle drives need a remuda and a
wrangler?
Why might the foreman have to communicate with
Native Americans?
5
What do you think the author wants you to learn
in this section?
Give three details that help you understand what
it was like to be a cowboy in the Old West.
Page 182
What might a loud thunder clap do to a herd of
cattle?
How do you think most cowboys felt at the end of
a long trail drive?
What would a cowboy do?
Draw a cowboys face.
6

• Think and Respond
• How are the lives of cowhands and ranchers of
  today different from those of long ago?
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• Why does the author label some of the
  illustrations?
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• Why did only the toughest cowhands go on trail
  drives?
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• What parts of being a cowhand would you most
  like and dislike. Explain why.
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7

• Use the graphic organizer to answer the following
  questions. Highlight the answers on the
  organizer.
• What was the main reason there were so few
  cowgirls in the Old West?
• The 1860s to the 1890s is considered to be what
  era in the Old West?
• What did a cowhand have to own in order to work?
• What was a cowhands most important skill?
• What was the next thing the cowhands did after
  rounding up the cattle?
• Why were the calves not branded until after the
  roundup?
• Which group would wrangler, cookie, and flank
  rider belong to?
• Why was the drag position the worst job a cowboy
  could have?
• What was the reason for a trail drive?
• Why are there no long cattle drives today?
• What job do cowhands do today in a different way?
• Why did the author write this book?
• Why didnt ranchers have fences around all their
  land?
• How could ranchers identify their own cattle,
  including the new caves, when cattle from
  different ranches mixed together on the range?