ËxHSKBP3y546198zv*:+:!:+:! - Alton · PDF fileGrade 4, Lesson 2 Robust Vocabulary Robust Vocabulary 1. legendary Someone legendary is especially famous for something he or she did
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It was the morning of Bella’s first day at her new school. “I don’t like meeting new people,” Bella grumbled at breakfast. “It’s so hard to do! Everyone else will have friends already, and I don’t know anyone.” She slumped over her bowl of cereal.
“Hurry up, Bella,” her mother called. “It’s time for you to catch the bus!” With a sigh, Bella got up, grabbed her bag, and headed out the door.
On the bus, Bella found a seat next to a window. As the bus started moving, she heard someone shouting, “Wait for me!” A girl with long red hair was running on the sidewalk. She waved frantically at the bus. No one except Bella seemed to notice.
“Please stop! Someone needs to get on!” Bella called to the driver. The bus screeched to a stop, and the girl climbed aboard. She plopped into the seat next to Bella and grinned. “Thanks for getting the bus to stop. You saved my day,” she said. “My name is Magda. What’s yours?”
Gertrude Ederle (ed´ r•le) grew up on liverwurst and pickles from the delicatessen her German immigrant parents owned next to their house. The girl they called Trudy made her own clothes and sewed for the younger sisters in her large family. Summers were spent at a cottage in New Jersey, where Ederle’s father taught her to swim at age eight. A few years later she joined the Women’s Swimming Association on Manhattan’s lower East Side. When a fellow swimmer mocked the way Ederle was attempting to learn a new stroke, she responded by making up her mind to not only beat that girl, but to become a champion.
Dottie Wiltse was born near Los Angeles, California, in 1923. Her father was a semi-professional baseball player. He taught her to play ball when she was little. By the age of 9, Dottie was a powerhouse pitcher. In the 1930s in California, girls were not allowed to play on school softball teams. So Dottie joined a boys’ team in her neighborhood.
When Dottie was 12, she became the bat girl for a fast-pitch men’s softball team in Beverly Hills. She dreamed of pitching for them, but weeks went by and she did not get the chance. Then, during the Southern California Championship, Dottie’s luck changed. Her team’s regular pitcher got tired early in the game. The team manager sent Dottie to the mound. That day Dottie pitched in front of 10,000 fans at Wrigley Field. Her team won the championship, and Dottie’s career as a professional baseball player began.
In Tokyo the beginning of the summer is celebrated by the release of hundreds of fireflies that have been raised especially for this occassion. Also called lightning bugs, these insects are really beetles. Have you ever caught fireflies? They’re easy to trap in cupped hands. Don’t worry—they won’t bite. Put six or more in a clear plastic or glass jar with a lid that is punched full of tiny holes. Then settle down in the dark to watch them. The fireflies produce a cool light through a special chemical reaction in their bodies.
There are four kinds of question-answer relationships.
IN THE TEXTRIGHT THERE The answer is easy to find in the text.
THINK AND SEARCH Combine information from two or more parts of the text to answer the question.
IN YOUR HEADAUTHOR AND YOU Draw conclusions by thinking about what you
already know and what the author tells you.
ON MY OWN Use what you know and your own experiences to answer the question.
I thought living in New York City would be awful. I imagined hot, humid days and sidewalks jammed with people. Sure, some days are hot and humid, but our apartment is near Central Park. The park is like a huge, cool, green gateway. I go there every day.
1. Where does the author live? (RIGHT THERE)
2. How did the author’s opinion of New York City change? (THINK AND SEARCH)
3. How does the author feel about Central Park? (AUTHOR AND YOU)
4. What do you think the author does in Central Park? (ON MY OWN)
Well, summer is finally here. I don’t know why people make such a big deal out of summer vacation. To me, it’s a big bore. For one thing, everyone I know is gone. Josh and Jerome are at scout camp. Mario is spending a month at his cousin’s house in Florida. Even my little sister is away! I’m stuck here in the smoggy city. There’s absolutely nothing to do around here.
André keeps calling me on the phone. He wants me to sign up for swimming lessons with him. How boring is that? Jarell and Matt joined a summer softball league. They say there is still room for more members. Well, I have better things to do than run around a dusty field all day.
Today Mitchell invited me to go to a free computer animation class, but who wants to learn stuff on summer vacation? I told him it would be just like school.
I sure hope things get more interesting around here!
When your Dad and I first came to the United States, I was very lonely. Dad was in medical school and I was going to college. But I had never lived away from my family before. I was used to having my four sisters and brother, my parents, my grandparents, uncles, and aunties around everywhere. In Taiwan, we used to all eat dinner together, laughing and talking—everyone bubbling over like simmering soup. When I came to the United States, everything seemed quiet and cold. Usually, I ate dinner all by myself, because Dad was too busy. I would shiver on my way to school, the wind biting me the whole way. People would talk and laugh and walk by me as if I were an invisible ghost. I was scared to talk to them because my English was so bad. I didn’t understand the TV or my teachers or anyone. They all spoke so fast, their words sounded like monkeys jabbering. I didn’t know how to make friends with any of them. I was sad and lonely and homesick. I felt like a thistle in a rose garden.
My name is Li Keng. I grew up in a small village in China. Most of the people in my village were poor farmers. We worked hard to plant and harvest rice. There were no other jobs in the village. My father went to America in search of work. He sent us money every month, and this helped my family survive. Every two years, Papa came back to visit us.
Papa did well in America, but for us life became harder and harder. One year the crop was very bad. Many people in our village went hungry. When Papa came to visit us, he was saddened by what he saw. That was the year Papa decided we would all go to America with him.
We traveled on a big ship across the Pacific Ocean. The trip took 21 days. When we got to San Francisco Bay, a small ferry took us to Angel Island. I will always remember standing on the deck of the tender. I thought, “One journey is over, and another journey has begun.”
1. How often did Papa come back to China to visit his family?(hint: RIGHT THERE)
2. Why did Papa decide to move the family to America?(hint: THINK AND SEARCH)
3. Why does the author say, “One journey is over, and another journey has begun”? (hint: AUTHOR AND YOU)
A violinist does not make his own violin, but a puppeteer often does make his or her own puppets. It is early fall now, and the leaves have started to turn colors outside the window by Paul’s worktable. In front of him is a glass jar filled with small balls of modeling clay. He takes one and presses it onto a larger ball of clay. He has been doing this for almost twenty minutes. To his left is a piece of paper with a rough sketch of a face.
Felipe was downcast. His friend Diego had just moved away. To make things worse, Felipe’s mariachi band had a street festival coming up. Diego had been the best trumpet player in the band.
Felipe was filled with consternation. He called his friend Carlos, who played the guitarron, a large bass guitar. “We have enough guitar players and violin players,” he said. “Who can we recruit to play trumpet?”
“Don’t worry,” said Carlos serenely. “I have an extensive list of friends we can try.”
It turned out that none of those friends could play the trumpet.Felipe sat in his room looking pensive. Suddenly he heard the song
“Y Andele!” being played on the trumpet. The music was reminiscent of his early childhood in Mexico.
He opened the door. His little brother Francisco was playing right outside. “I know I’m only ten, but I practice a lot!” he said.
“You’ll have to learn fast if you want to be in our band!” said Felipe, smiling.
On the day of the festival, the street was filled with dancers in vivid outfits. There were booths full of culinary delights. Felipe and Francisco raised their instruments happily, and the band commenced to play.
Students at Sunset Ridge Elementary School can look out the windows of their classroom and see a prairie. Rabbits scamper, bluebirds trill, and the grass is tall enough for a kid to get lost in. But Sunset Ridge, in Middleton, Wisconsin, is no one-room schoolhouse from a Laura Ingalls Wilder book. The students have pizza for lunch and do schoolwork on computers. So what’s a tallgrass prairie doing here?
“We’re trying to restore it,” says Nick, a student in Linda Hein’s fourth-grade class. All the students at Sunset Ridge, from the littlest kindergartner on up, are helping to return an acre of land in front of their school to the way it looked 150 years ago, when settlers in covered wagons saw the prairie for the first time.
from “Little School on the Prairie” from Ask magazine
When you read something that confuses you or does not make sense, use the reread strategy:
• Pause for a moment.• Try to figure out exactly what confuses you and
form a question.• Keep your question in mind and reread to look for
information you may have missed or forgotten.
Example
Sarah and her younger brother, William, had finished their chores early. They went to explore the woods near their farm. As they were jumping over a fallen tree, William slipped and fell. “Ouch!” he cried. “My ankle! I think it’s broken!”
Sarah ran over to her brother and tried to feel the ankle, but each touch made him cry out. Sarah did not know what to do. Their parents had gone to town and might not be back until dark. She couldn’t leave her brother here in the woods, but he was too big to carry. Sarah knew she would have to get William back to the house, but how? She looked around. She found two small, sturdy sticks that were about five inches long. “Here, hold these,” she told her brother.
Use the reread strategy to find the answers to these questions:
“What are you doing?” William asked, his eyes full of pain and worry.
“I’m making you a splint,” Sarah said. “It will protect your ankle until we find out if it’s broken or not.” She placed the sticks on either side of William’s ankle. “Hold these in place,” she said. Then she took the scarf out of her hair and wrapped it snugly around the two sticks to form a brace. “Okay, Willie, we’re going to try to make it home,” she said, trying not to let the worry show in her voice. “Lean on me.” She bent down so that William could place his arm around her shoulder. Grabbing her brother firmly around the waist, she said, “We’ll go slow, Willie. Tell me when you need a rest.”
Slowly the pair made their way home, William hopping on his one foot until he got tired, and then stopping to catch his breath. All along the way, Sarah tried to keep her brother’s spirits up. About an hour later, they reached the drive leading to their house. The wagon was by the house. “Ma and Pa are back!” Sarah cried.
Their father rushed outside and bent down to check William’s ankle. “It’s not broken,” he said, “just a sprain. That’s a very fine splint, Sarah. You did the right thing to wrap it up.”
Bill Pickett was one of the most famous rodeo riders of all time. He was not just a performer, though. He was a real, working cowboy. Zack Miller, owner of the 101 Ranch, once called him “the greatest sweat-and-dirt cowboy that ever was.”
There was plenty of sweat and dirt in a cowboy’s life, especially at roundup time. For months the cattle roamed freely around the huge 101 Ranch. They grazed on wild shrubs and grasses and grew fat. In early spring, Bill and the other cowboys rode out to find them.
It was Sandy’s first week at the Double L. All year she had looked forward to visiting her aunt and cousins. Now that she was at the ranch, though, she was having second thoughts.
Her cousins, Andy and Laura, were practically experts on horseback. Each day she watched them canter easily around the corral on their horses. Sandy was terrified to trot, let alone gallop.
Next week the rodeo would take place in town. Sandy’s cousins had invited her to ride with them in the Paint Parade. How could she tell them that she didn’t feel confident enough to do that? The Double L was famous for raising the beautiful brown-and-white horses known as paints. Each year, a trio of paints from the Double L led the entire parade. Usually Aunt Clara rode with Andy and Laura, but this year the honor was Sandy’s . . . if she had the confidence to accept it.
A computer is a machine that stores and then processes information. It is a bit like the human brain: It takes facts or data (the “input”), works on it very quickly using “hardware” and “software,” and produces information (the “output”) for us to use.
Computers as we now know them started life as much simpler machines many years ago. The development of computers began in 1832, when a British mathematician, Charles Babbage (1791–1871), designed the mechanical Analytical Engine. It was one of the first machines to use a “program” to work out calculations. In later years Babbage’s engine was the inspiration for modern electronic computers.
Little Red Riding Hood, or Little Red for short, had plans to go on a picnic with her grandmother. She looked forward to the outing all week long. On Friday night, Little Red got an e-mail from her grandmother. Granny had a cold and would not be able to make the picnic.
Little Red said, “Oh, no!” Then she had an idea. She would buy two fat chickens, three white onions, and a giant carrot. Then she would take them to Granny’s house and make her a big pot of chicken soup!
Little Red’s mother approved the plan, so on Saturday morning she took Little Red to buy the groceries. Then she dropped her daughter at the bus stop. “Don’t talk to any strangers,” she said.
Paragraph 1Little Red Riding Hood was planning to go on a picnic with her grandmother.
Granny e-mailed to say that she had a cold and could not go.
Some Electronic Sources• library database — an organized collection of records about
all of the books and other resources in a library
• CD-ROM encyclopedia — the text of an encyclopedia that has been stored on a compact disc called a CD-ROM
• Online magazines and newspapers — magazines and newspapers that have been specially designed to be read on a computer that has an Internet connection
Using a Library Database
View Entire Collection Keyword
Search Catalog
Welcome to the Greenville Public Library!
Library Catalog
Or search by:
Author Title Subject Call Number
This menu gives you the choice of looking through the entire collection, or one part of it, such as books for children.
Press one of these links to search by author, subject, title, or call number.
California native peoples have always been ingenious in their ability to make everything they needed from the materials around them.
Consider, for example, rocks and stones. To most people today, a rock or a stone is not very interesting or useful, but native people knew better. From hard stones like obsidian and flint they made knives and arrowheads. From soft stones like soapstone they carved bowls. From stones such as granite they made mortars and pestles with which to pound acorns, or weights that they could attach to fishing nets.
from “Native Ways” edited by Malcom Margolin and Yolanda Montijo
Maria Martinez was a famous Native American pottery maker. She was born in San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico in about 1887. Maria learned pottery making from her aunt, and she became very skilled. In 1908, some archaeologists visited Maria. They were exploring the remains of an ancient pueblo near San Ildefonso. The archaeologists wanted Maria to recreate some pots that were dug up at the site. Maria agreed. She and her husband Julian began to use some of the prehistoric pottery designs in their own work.
Maria and Julian devoted their lives to making pottery. They used some of the ancient Pueblo designs as well as some new designs. They became world famous for a beautiful black glaze they made from volcanic ash. They also taught their children and grandchildren how to make pottery.
Maria Martinez became one of the most respected potters in the world. She and her husband are credited with making the ancient tradition of pottery a part of modern-day Pueblo culture.
One warm September night, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, soft sea breezes filled the air. The moon was full. Mira could feel the energy in the air. She felt something exciting was going to happen. She loved everything about the ocean, and this evening she had come down to the beach to enjoy the salty night air and hear the waves lapping gently against the sand.
Mira closed her eyes and listened to the waves. The gentle rolling sound was calming. Suddenly, Mira could hear another sound, too. She listened carefully. The sound was so faint she could barely hear it. She held her breath. The sound was still there.
from “Mira Sees the Light” by Leneh Trowbridge
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My school is now home to one of Georgia’s most interesting and endangered plants. The pitcher plant is carnivorous, which means that when it grows into a mature plant, it eats bugs. An insect crawls or lumbers into one of the plant’s slippery, tube-shaped leaves. It is encircled by downward-pointing hairs on the leaf and cannot get out. Then the pitcher plant digests the unlucky insect.
It was hard for me to comprehend how such a hearty plant could be endangered. The problem is that the pitcher plants’ habitats are being destroyed. This makes them vulnerable to extinction.
Students in my class wanted to help. We decided to build our own pitcher plant bog! We were exuberant when we found out we would have the chance to nurture these interesting plants. Our teacher helped us scan the school grounds to find a good place for the bog. We dug a wide, shallow hole. We used pliable heavy plastic to line the bottom of it. Then we filled the hole with dirt and added water.
We sprouted the seeds indoors. At first we were worried that the seeds wouldn’t open. Then a solitary seedling sprouted. More followed. We transplanted the seedlings into our bog. I hope our pitcher plants grow up tall, strong, and hungry!
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One day a scrawny jackal, driven by hunger, left his pack and crept toward a village in search of food. A fierce pack of dogs began to chase him as he approached the house of a cloth dyer. He dashed into the dyer’s house, stumbled over pots and piles of cloth, and tumbled into a huge vat of indigo dye. Heart pounding, the jackal waited until the dogs were gone. Then he crawled out of the vat and crept back to the jungle.
Throngs of animals gaped at his extraordinary color. Dyed by the juice of indigo, his fur was a deep blue-purple. “What is this exotic creature who has fallen out of the sky?” cried all the animals. “He is beautiful and strange!” They cowered in fear and awe.
Fluency
from “The Blue Jackal Who Showed His True Colors,” retold by Heather Forest
Late at night a jackrabbit munches on grass. It is alert as it eats because predators, hungry for a meal, might be nearby. Suddenly, the jackrabbit hears a low growl. It leaps away, followed closely by a wolf. After a few long jumps, the jackrabbit is far away and safe.
A jackrabbit does not always run away from danger. To protect its young, a jackrabbit will fight bravely. It can jump over an enemy, such as a snake. Then the jackrabbit kicks with its back legs. As a result, the snake leaves and looks somewhere else for dinner.
All my life, I have lived in the mountains. When I was too young to walk, I climbed them in my parents’ backpack. When I grew old enough, I climbed them on my own. There is a feeling of home you develop about mountains, a sense of being away from the confusion of the world. Quiet and beautiful, they carry a sense of peace seldom found anywhere else.
FluencyR43
from “‘Growing Up in the Mountains” by Daniel Byers
Why do many high mountains have snowy peaks? Air cools as it rises, so the tops of mountains are much colder than the bases. Mountaintops are likely to be covered in snow and ice.
Snow and ice present challenges for mountain climbers. Therefore, climbers often wear spiked footwear. They also anchor themselves with ropes to the mountain slopes.
First paragraphClue word: so
Second paragraphClue word:
CauseAir cools as it rises.
EffectThe tops of mountains are much colder than the bases.
Use Graphic Organizers
Use Graphic OrganizersR45
EffectThe tops of high mountains are likely to be covered in snow and ice.
Then I saw him—Forest Service Ranger Edward “Big Ed” Pulaski. He charged in on his horse, pushing through the burning, crackling timber, gathering men together as he rode. I could barely hear his shouts; the noise from the fire, wind, and crashing trees was thunderous.
“Follow me!” he ordered. “There’s an abandoned mineshaft nearby. Our one hope is to make it to that tunnel!”
Fluency R47
from “‘Big Ed’ Pulaski: Wildland Firefighting Legend” by Deanna Couch
• Pause when you come to a word, phrase, or sentence you do not understand.
• Try to identify exactly what is confusing you.
• Form a question about what you do not understand.
• Read ahead to try to find the answer.
As she reached the top of the ridge, Lisa stopped her horse. She looked out over the forest for signs of a conflagration. Lisa gave a sigh of relief. She saw only one small plume of smoke rising up from the forest. The fire was still small.
Lisa quickly located her satchel. She needed to get the information about the fire’s location back to the ranger station. She opened the shoulder bag and found her phone. She quickly switched it on and called the station. The supervisor’s aide answered. Lisa spoke slowly and clearly: “Lisa here. The fire is burning in Elk Canyon, about 10 miles to the northwest.”
It was Ramona’s first time in a kayak. She was doing fine until she let herself get ahead of the group. Suddenly she saw some wild rapids ahead. As she tried to paddle through them, a powerful surge of water turned her kayak around and made it bounce against the rushing water. Ramona shouted as her paddle flew out of her hands.
“Now what do I do? I don’t want to be in a boat I can’t steer!” she wailed as she prepared herself for another big bounce. Then her boat hit some calm waters. Ramona looked around and saw that she wasn’t too far from the shore.
Something told the wild geese It was time to go.Though the fields lay golden Something whispered, —“Snow.”Leaves were green and stirring, Berries, luster-glossed, But beneath warm feathers Something cautioned, —“Frost.”All the sagging orchards Steamed with amber spice, But each wild breast stiffened At remembered ice.Something told the wild geese It was time to fly, —Summer sun was on their wings, Winter in their cry.
Leigh sat alone on a rock by the lake. As she read her book, she heard a strange, low humming sound. The humming was coming from the lake! Then something appeared over the lake, slowly gaining size and changing. Leigh had never seen anything like the strange cloud that swirled just above the water.
Leigh dropped her book and started to back away from the water’s edge, her eyes fixed on the swirling cloud. Suddenly, as she stared at the “cloud,” Leigh smiled. She ran back toward the lake.
The “cloud” was made of many small forms, flipping and splashing just above the water’s surface. “What a lucky thing for me,” Leigh thought. It wasn’t often that schools of hummerfish came to the surface of a lake.
Lin, Roxy, and Bev saw a tall woman in the boathouse.“You must be the new counselor,” said Lin. “Can we help you
hoist the boats up off the racks?”“I am, and you can,” said the tall woman. “Today we’ll row
to a pristine area across the lake. I hope you’re all intrepid adventurers, because we undoubtedly will see wildlife—maybe a bear or two. They’ll be eating the delectable blackberries that grow there.”
“We’re not only fearless, we’re experienced,” said Bev. “We’ve rowed and hiked together for years. We’re a seasoned crew. We won’t need much guidance.”
“Sounds good,” the woman replied. “I’m Counselor Amy.”The girls introduced themselves.“It’s a privilege to meet you,” replied Counselor Amy. Then
she turned to Roxy. “You probably cherish that bracelet you’re wearing. It appears to be fragile. I’m sure you don’t want to lose or break it, so you probably should take it off before we start.”
“We’ll leave our bracelets behind, too,” said Bev.“Yes,” said Lin. “We need to be ready for anything!”
Vocabulary Passage
Vocabulary PassageR56
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To everything there is a season (especially for allergy and asthma sufferers): the ragweed season (ah-choo!); the pollen season (wheeze, gasp); and in the Pacific Northwest, there’s also the bluegrass burning season (ah-choo! scratch scratch, wheeze, cough . . .gasp . . .gasp).
Since ancient times, nearsighted and farsighted people have tried to correct their vision. Around 1000 AD, polished stones and glass domes were used to magnify the letters of reading materials. Then, some time around the thirteenth century AD, people began holding glass lenses in front of their eyes to correct their vision.
No one is sure who first invented eyeglasses. Some say it was an Italian monk named Alessandro di Spina. Others think that eyeglasses were first developed in China. We do know that by the 1300s and 1400s, European artists were painting pictures of people wearing eyeglasses. By the 1600s, many people wore eyeglasses with earpieces to hold them on.
Today, millions of people wear glasses. Without them, many people would not be able to do the same activities, have the same jobs, or enjoy the same sights. Eyeglasses have improved everyday life in many important ways.
Have you ever had a strange dream that you remembered perfectly yet didn’t understand at all? Believe it or not, you might be on your way to becoming a famous artist.
Shortly after World War I, a group of artists called “surrealists” used the unusual visions of their dreams and memories to create strange pictures, poems, and sculptures filled with fantastic images.
from “Dreaming with the Surrealists” by Jennifer Leonard
When I was little, I drew pictures with colored chalk on the sidewalk in front of our apartment. Painting pictures of people is still one of my favorite things to do.
My family is from a small village in central Japan. Many ideas for my art come from Japanese art forms. Kabuki is a type of traditional Japanese theater. Kabuki actors wear bold red and white face paint and make big, dramatic gestures. You can see these influences in the pictures of people I paint today.
Art helps us share our stories and feelings with other people. When you look at my art, I hope that it will inspire you to share your own story.
When Janet Evans was given her first swimming lesson at age one, everyone could see how quickly she took to the water—but no one could have guessed that just sixteen years later she would be one of the most celebrateed athletes of the 1988 Summer Olympics!
Janet’s introduction to the water was more out of convenience than out of design. Her mom had brought her older brothers to a swimming lesson, and Janet, being a very active baby, simply couldn’t sit still with her mother in the stands. Finally her mom asked if the instructors could take Janet and give her lessons as well. They agreed, and the rest is history!
from “Janet Evans: Dangerous When Wet” by Neal Shusterman
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To monitor your comprehension means to take control of your reading.
1. Be aware of what you understand and what you do not understand.
2. If you don’t understand something, try to identify what is confusing you.
3. Self-correct to clear up your confusion.
There are different reasons for misreading a word. Here are two reasons, and ways that you can self-correct.
Homographs• If you used the wrong pronunciation for a homograph, the
sentence would not make sense.EXAMPLE: The sleeping puppy looked very content.
Content, pronounced KON•tent, means “all that a thing contains,” like the contents of a drawer. Content, pronounced con•TENT, means “happy enough not to complain; satisfied.” Which way should the word be pronounced for this sentence to make sense?
Unfamiliar Words• If you come across an unfamiliar word, you may not understand
the sentence.EXAMPLE: It was a blustery day. The wind whistled through the trees and leaves blew all about.
Look for context clues that might help explain what the unfamiliar word means. How can reading the next sentence help you figure out the meaning of blustery?
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Tom Thumb is a folktale character. Stories about him were first told in England. When Tom was born, he was no bigger than his father’s thumb. Although he never grew any bigger, he proved himself to be both clever and fearless. Many stories have been told about Tom Thumb.
Once his father needed someone to take a cart into Nottingham Forest to collect wood. Tom Thumb volunteered. “You are too small to lead the horse,” his father said.
“That is of no matter,” Tom Thumb replied. “I will sit inside the horse’s ear and tell it where to go.” Tom nimbly climbed up the horse’s tail, hurried across its back, and leaped inside one of its tall, soft ears. “Gee! Haw!” he shouted. The horse obediently followed his every command. The townfolk looked on in astonishment as the horse cart made its way into the forest.
What does nimbly mean?
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All Forms • Have an element of fantasy• Were first told orally• Exist in many forms• May include animals as characters• Reflect the values and beliefs of a culture
fable • very short• states a simple moral at the end
folktale • teaches a lesson about how to behave• contains simple characters who stand for basic
human qualities, such as honesty or greed• often includes events that happen in “threes”
fairy tale • similar to folktales• often includes kings, queens, princes,
princesses, and imaginary creatures such as ogres
• may include characters who change their identity (ugly frog ➝ handsome prince)
• has a happy ending myth • comes from an ancient culture, such as ancient
Rome or Greece• tells about the gods and goddesses ancient
peoples believed intall tale • tells the adventures of a larger-than-life hero
• includes exaggeration and humor• comes from a particular region
pourquoi tale • explains how something in nature came to be
R69
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Long ago, during the days of the Aztec empire in what we now call Mexico, there ruled an emperor who sometimes liked to disguise himself and walk the city streets and country footpaths alone. He knew his subjects would speak far more openly and fearlessly to a common stranger than to their own emperor, and he was able to learn much about his people he would not have known had he always stayed on his throne.
from “The Emperor and the Peasant Boy” edited by William J. Bennett
Long ago, the Wind was a terrible braggart. “ I am the most powerful weather force!” the Wind would roar. Tired of the Wind’s bragging, the Sun proposed a contest.
“See that man walking on the road?” the Sun asked. “I bet you can’t make him take off his mackinaw.”
“Nothing could be easier,” said the Wind, and he blew forth a mighty gale. The man pulled his coat around him. “Hmph,” said the Wind. He blew with all his might, but the man just pulled his coat more tightly around him.
“Give up?” asked the Sun. Out of breath the Wind could only nod.
“Watch this,” the Sun said. Rising in the sky, she glowed warmly. The man unbuttoned his coat. With each passing minute, the Sun glowed warmer. Soon the man took off his coat.
“You see?” said the Sun. “What you could not accomplish by force, I accomplished through persuasion.” The Wind stopped bragging after that.
The “Messiah Violin” was the most expensive violin in the world. But it had been called a fake. The famous tree detective, Dr. Henri Grissino-Mayer, was on the case.
The violin was worth $20 million because the master instrument-maker Antonio Stradivari crafted the instrument more than 200 years ago. Or did he?
A scientist who studied violins and another scientist who studied tree rings claimed that Stradivari did not make the violin. It was not possible, they said, because the last ring in the violin’s wood had grown in 1738. That was theyear after Stradivari had died. Could Dr. Henri find the truth. . . also by using tree rings?
from “Solving the Violin Mystery” by Denise Harbison
Sasha and I thought about how to solve our latest case. Unlike most other cases, it had us confounded. The city’s art museum was missing a valuable painting, and the curator had hired us to find out what happened. We had monitored the security videotapes and collected evidence, but we just couldn’t put the pieces together. The museum curator had been gracious enough to give us more time, but the deadline was looming.
We both sat quietly, feeling miserable. Sasha was slumped in his chair, lacking his usual air of self-assurance. Then he had an idea. “Let’s create a program to solve the case!” he exclaimed. “We’ll input the clues, and the computer will find the answer. We’ll call it Solve-o-Matic!”
“A computer program?” I asked. “Do you know how to create one?”
“Sure! The computer will be able to look at data in ways we can’t,” Sasha said, beaming with enthusiasm. “Once we have it installed, there won’t be any mystery we can’t crack!”
We quickly got to work. The curator would be so happy if this worked to expose the thief! Finally, the program was finished. After we typed in the clues, the computer rattled and shook and let out an ominous puff of smoke. Then the printer spat out a piece of paper.
3374_Trans_Read_Gr4_L20.indd R753374_Trans_Read_Gr4_L20.indd R75 1/16/07 8:36:18 AM1/16/07 8:36:18 AM
In the 14th century, a French historian named Froissart (frawah-SAHR) told the story of a prince who had to find a husband for his younger sister. The girl in question had three suitors, each of whom was brave, noble, and chivalrous. Indeed, these knights had so many fine qualities that the prince found it impossible to choose between them. So in the end, he decided to leave the final choice up to fate. Remembering his sister’s fondness for her pet greyhound, he had the dog brought before the suitors, and declared that the princess would marry whichever man the animal preferred.
Rory ran up the steps of the library and made a beeline for the children’s book section. “Here’s book six back” he said to the children’s librarian. “I’m ready for book seven!”
“Bad news,” Mr. Reed said. “Somebody’s checked it out.” Rory followed his gaze to the reading table. There sat Rose Peters, a girl in his class. She was reading book seven of the Black Knight Mystery series!
Rory swallowed hard. Usually he tried to avoid talking to girls, but he saw no other choice. As Rory neared the table, Rose turned a page and looked up.
“Hi, Rose,” Rory said. “I was wondering....How long will it take you to read that?”
“About a week,” Rose said. She saw Rory’s shoulders slump. “I’ve got an idea,” she added quickly. “Why don’t we both read it? I’ve just finished chapter one,” she said, sliding the book to Rory. “You read chapter one tonight. Then give me the book tomorrow.”
Rory thought a minute. “What about the weekend?” he asked. “We can meet at the library Sunday morning,” Rose said. “I’ll take
Saturday and you’ll have Sunday.” Rory decided since Rose was doing him a favor he wouldn’t
mention the fact that she would get two nights in a row, Friday and Saturday. “Deal,” he said, and then he surprised himself by shaking Rose’s hand.
jangle of keys, door swung open, living room, her dad came from the kitchen
People return to their homes after a visit to the library.
The setting is the house where Monica lives.
Make Inferences
Make Inferences
• An author may not explain everything that is happening in a story.
• Sometimes readers need to make inferences.
• To make inferences, readers use clues from the story along with what they already know.
R79
“Shhh! Everybody! I think they’re coming.” After a quick round of whispers and giggles, the room fell silent.
Outside a car door slammed, then another. Soon they heard the jangle of keys and Monica’s voice, “...thanks for taking me to the library, Mom. Too bad that Dad had work to do.”
Then the door swung open and Monica frowned in confusion. Before she could figure out why all of her friends were gathered in the living room, everybody shouted, “Surprise!” Just then her dad came from the kitchen carrying a delicious-looking chocolate cake with 10 candles on it.
My first journal was a pocket-size, hot pink book with “diary” written across the cover in cursive, gold letters. It came with a key no bigger than a peanut to open a tiny lock so wobbly you could easily pop it with a bent paper clip, which is what I did after I lost the miniature key. At first, I hesitated to write in the journal. Every great book I’d ever read had adventure, mystery, and suspense. My life was stale tuna sandwiches, clarinet practice, and soccer games—not exactly gripping drama.
Alicia stood at the bus stop, puzzled. The second bus had just passed by. She was sure this was where her brother had told her to wait. Why didn’t the bus stop? She didn’t understand the bus system in this big California city at all.
As she waited, people slowly began to gather at the bus stop. Luckily, a woman in the crowd saw the worried look on Alicia’s face and asked if she could help. Relieved, Alicia showed her the slip of paper with the name of her stop written on it.
The woman assured her that she was waiting in the right place and told her what number to look for on the bus. Alicia smiled and said, “Thank you.”
“Maybe living in this big, strange city won’t be so bad if people are this nice,” she thought.
1. burst When a person feels ready to burst if he or she doesn’t say something, it means that the person is very excited and cannot wait to say that thing.
2. opportunities Opportunities are chances to do something you want to do.
3. huddle When people huddle together, they gather close to each other in a tight group.
4. comforted If a person comforted a friend, he or she helped that friend feel better about something.
5. recognizes If someone recognizes you, it means they know who you are when they see you.
6. journey A journey is a trip from one place to another that usually takes a long time.
A buzzing zeee-zeee-zeee rises from meadows on warm summer days. As evening falls, chir-r-ip chir-r-ip and treet-treet-treet ring from trees and fields. Summer is filled with music performed by an insect orchestra made up of grasshoppers and crickets.
There are many different kinds of grasshoppers and crickets found all over the world. A few of them are serious pests—especially the migrating grasshoppers known as locusts, which travel in huge swarms and do great damage to crops. But most crickets and grasshoppers do little or no harm and are fascinating to watch and to hear. Crickets and grasshoppers have no voices. They produce their calls by rubbing body parts together as if they were playing fiddles.
If something confuses you while reading, try to ask questions. Then keep those questions in mind as you read. You may ask questions about
• unfamiliar words.
• characters, setting, or plot.
• a character’s traits or motives.
• a story’s theme or message.
R84
“This looks like a good spot, Dad,” Miki said, peering out the window at the passing greenery. “I think he’ll like it here.” Miki’s father turned up a dirt road that gently branched off Highway 25. Once they were well away from the highway, he pulled the car over to the side of the road. “How’s he doing?” he asked.
Miki held up the jar. Inside the jar a cricket sat perched on a nest of twigs. “I think the country air agrees with him,” Miki said.
Last week, Miki and her father had discovered the cricket on the fire escape of their apartment building. They put him in a jar, making sure to punch plenty of holes in the lid. Miki had tried to find things for the cricket to eat, but there were few trees in the city. She and her father decided it would be best to set the cricket free out in the country.
Miki and her father got out of the car and walked into a field. Miki slowly took the lid off the jar. “Goodbye, cricket,” she said. “Nice knowing you.” As if on cue, the cricket sprang out of the jar. It made a graceful arc through the air and disappeared into the tall grass.
1. Sometimes context clues provide a direct explanation of a word.
“So for all the long years of my youth, when I could have been gamboling—which means playing—with the other mousies, I saved.”
The context clue which means playing explains the word gamboling. The word means “leaping about playfully.”
2. Sometimes context clues only give a general sense of a word.
She picked up a magazine—very big and heavy—and heaved it after Tucker. It hit him on the left hind leg just as he vanished into the drain pipe.
The underlined context clues suggest that heaved means to throw something heavy, such as a thick magazine.
3. When a word has more than one meaning, context clues can help you choose the right meaning for the word.
Chester shook the silver bell furiously; it rang like a fire alarm.
Furiously can describe something done angrily or something done strongly. In this example, the context clues tell readers that Chester shook the bell really hard, but not angrily.
“Can you hear it?” our mother asked us one sun-filled, golden afternoon in summertime. “Hear what?” we asked together—identical twins with identical features, identical thoughts. . . and identical confusion. “The song of nature,” our mother answered, “when the sounds of nature are all that can be heard. Listen. Can you hear any human sounds?”
We strained, listening for the familiar jumble of island sounds; the thump-thump of a freighter heavily churning up the ocean strait, the sharp roar of an airplane splitting the peaceful summer sky, or the humming of a sleek motorboat zooming acorss the glittering blue sea. But this afternoon, for a moment, all was silent and still.
from “Nature’s Island Song” by Dori and Kate Hodgkin
The mangrove snapper is a small fish. It grows only about 18 inches long and weighs no more than ten pounds. Large groups of this fish live in the mangrove habitats of the southern Florida coast. There, they are relatively safe from predators such as larger fish, sharks, eels, and barracudas. During the day, the fish swim in large schools. At night, the mangrove snapper comes out to feed on the abundant food sources in the habitat. Mangrove snappers may stay in one place for as long as four years because of the large supply of smaller fish, shrimp, crabs, and other sea creatures and the safety of the habitat.
The mangrove forest is most important, though, in serving as a “nursery” for young mangrove snappers. Adult snappers release their eggs around the full moon at several different times during the year. The fertilized eggs hatch about 20 hours later and settle into the interior of the mangrove habitat where they are safe from large predators. Among the mangrove roots, they find a rich supply of tiny fish called plankton. As they grow to adulthood, they feed on shellfish, worms, and other small sea creatures. When the young snappers become adult, they move into coastal reefs closer to the open sea.
We lived on Clay Street above Powell, so it was a steep walk down to the fish store. Between the tall buildings, I could see a blue square that was the bay. Oakland was a smudge hidden in the haze on the horizon. Somewhere in the distance, I heard the clang of a cable car bell.
The coffee shops and bakeries had opened long ago. The smell of tea and coffee mixed with the smell of fresh bread and cakes.
It was the day of the big parade to celebrate the Chinese New Year! June, Pete, and Mei were on a student committee that planned several aspects of the celebration. Their main project had been to reconstruct a famous lion float from the past, using old photographs. The float was nearly ready. The last step was to decorate it.
The three friends giggled with excitement as they ran to meet their classmates. Pete was in charge of handing out the ornate costumes, which were made out of red and gold fabric. June and Mei led a group of students to decorate the float. At the center of the float stood a golden lion, ready to ward off misfortune. Around the sides, they added gorgeous fresh flowers and festive streamers. They used mostly red flowers, because the color is meant to symbolize good luck.
Mei called out, “We have twenty minutes until we line up for the parade!” Everyone worked vigorously to finish the float.
The students made their way to a side street where the parade marchers gathered. The streets were crowded with people moving toward various destinations around Chinatown. Everyone was waiting expectantly for the celebration to begin. “Happy New Year,” June called to her friends, “and remember to smile!”
A group of researchers stared at their specimen, a skeleton of Triceratops—the three-horned dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. Usually these creatures were nearly 30 feet long, but to these paleontologists, the dino wasn’t any bigger than Fido. Grabbing a leg bone, a researcher pumped the joints. “So,” she asked her colleagues, “did it move this way or this way?”
from “A Dinosaur Lives, Virtually” by Amy S. Hansen
For centuries, people around the world have told stories about legendary creatures known as dragons. In Western countries, dragons are usually thought of as huge fire-breathing lizards with leathery wings. In most myths and legends, these dragons are dangerous creatures who are up to no good. Many tales tell about a hero who successfully hunted dragons. Heracles, for example, overpowered a many-headed dragon.
In Eastern countries such as China and Japan, dragons often represent good luck. The kind, wise dragons of Asia look a little like long snakes. Although they are shown flying, many do not have wings. Some historians think that the Chinese dragon developed from images of fish or crocodiles.
Example 1: ORIGINAL SENTENCE:Long ago, people believed that the huge ancient bones they found were the remains of mythical creatures.
WORDS REPLACED WITH SYNONYMS:In the past, people thought that the gigantic old bones they discovered were the remains of legendary beasts.
WORD ORDER CHANGED:When people discovered gigantic old bones in the past, they thought they had found the remains of legendary beasts.
LA97
When you paraphrase, you retell what an author has said in your own words, without changing the meaning. • Replace some words with synonyms.• Change the order of the words.• Remember that there is more than one way to paraphrase a sentence.
Example 2: ORIGINAL SENTENCE:We know of more than 1,000 species of dinosaurs. More dinosaurs are being discovered every year.
Jack Landon is visiting the Grand Canyon for the first time. His sister, Ashley, and their parents, Olivia and Steven, have awoken early to watch the sun rise across the canyon.
Over the Edge
The sky was lightening in the east, sending out delicate rays, burning the tips of the piñon pines until they looked as if they were on fire. The air itself seemed touched with gold. A walkway arced from the parking lot toward a small building; next to it were more pines, more slices of sky touching distant mountaintops, and yet, with less than a hundred yards to go, the view of the canyon itself eluded him.
from “Over the Edge” by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson
Did you know that the ancient Greeks had tourist guidebooks? The most famous guidebook was a list of things to see in ancient Greece and the surrounding Mediterranean area. You may have heard of it, since it became very famous over the ages. It was called the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still exists today. It is the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. All the others were destroyed over time. That doesn’tmean that there are no wonders left, though. Many other amazing natural and human-built wonders have been discovered or created since that time. Many new “Seven Wonders” lists have been created as well. One example is “The Seven Wonders of the “Natural World,”which includes the Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, and Mount Everest.
The first winter Paul spent in Wisconsin he cut so many logs that the northern sawmills couldn’t handle the output, so Paul decided to drive them down the Mississippi to New Orleans. However, at that time there were six Mississippis, not just one main river as we know it now. They all flowed south, and you couldn’t tell one from another. It led to many mistakes, but nothing was really ever done about it until Paul came along.
When spring came he decided to send Big Joe, the river boss in charge of the first batch of logs. The men worked night and day getting the logs in the river, and Paul waved goodbye to Joe and his men as they went out of sight around the first bend. Everything went along nicely for the first few days. The river was wide and swift and everybody thought they would soon be in New Orleans, but it turned out later they were on the wrong Mississippi, for it suddenly turned west and wandered all over the state of Texas. Joe and his river crew finally ended up at Albuquerque, New Mexico, and had to sell the logs to the Indians for whatever they could get.
People tell a tale like this in west Africa.Once long, long ago, a farmer planted a single pumpkin seed. This
seed sprouted into a vine that soon encircled his entire village. In time it produced a pumpkin that grew to be as large and as heavy as a hippopotamus.
When fall came, the pumpkin’s skin turned reddish orange. “Now I can make soup for the whole village,” the farmer said. He hacked through the pumpkin’s stem and began poking his knife through its vermilion cloak.
“Ouch!” screamed the angry pumpkin. “Stop hurting me!”Though he was quite surprised to hear the pumpkin talk, the farmer
did not stop his cutting. “You are ripe, and ripe vegetables must be eaten before they spoil. I must dice you without further delay,” he told the pumpkin.
Seething with fury, the pumpkin started rolling toward the farmer. The farmer raced away downhill, but the pumpkin pursued him. Just as he was about to be flattened, the desperate farmer leaped sideways like a gazelle. Unable to stop, the pumpkin continued tumbling downhill, fell on a sharp-edged boulder, and split in two.
Its top half became the sky. Its bottom half became the earth. Its seeds became the stars. Its skin wrapped around the sun, which turned orange. And the farmer became the first person to grow vegetables in this bright new world.
By 1900 humans had been almost everywhere on this planet’s land surface—everywhere, that is, except the North and South Poles.
Adventure: It was in his blood. Risk taking: It was part of his way of life. To escape from a difficult childhood, Matthew Henson set out to sea when only twelve years old. Through “on-the-job” training he learned math, reading, and navigation skills. By the age of twenty-one, he was an experienced world traveler. Then fate stepped in. Hensen was working in a fur and supplies store when an explorer named Robert Peary came in to buy some items. He mentioned that he needed a servant to accompany him on an expedition to Nicaragua. Guess whom he chose?
from “Matthew Henson: The Man ‘On Top of the World’” by Dennis Denenberg and Lorraine Roscoe
In John Muir’s time, the second half of the nineteenth century, adventurers were still exploring distant parts of America unknown to its citizens. But even then, the wilderness areas of the nation were rapidly growing smaller. At Muir’s urging, the first national parks were created and wilderness protection organizations such as the Sierra Club were born. A generation later, people such as Ansel Adams would begin to support conservation with a new level of dedication.
One of the greatest landscape photographers in the history of the art, Ansel Adams felt a passionate connection with the landscapes he photographed. Carrying on John Muir’s legacy, he spent long periods of time in the wilderness and worked tirelessly to raise awareness about conservation efforts. More than anything else, though, he used his photography to display the amazing and fragile beauty of the natural world.
Analyzing shipwrecks is similar to detective work. Divers must always remember: The crews of ships in trouble often tossed overboard unnecessary cargo, including cannons, to lighten their load. Some ships in distress went for a kilometer before actually sinking. An entire ship did not always sink and settle in one spot. Thus, as much may be learned from the “scatter” or “spill” of a sinking vessel as from the ship itself.
Leon and Shondra stood on some rocks overlooking a beach. “I bet there’s treasure buried in this vicinity!” Leon said.
Shondra looked dubious. “What makes you say that?” she asked.
“I heard there was a shipwreck here,” Leon answered. “They never found it, though. I estimate there are two tons of gold buried nearby!”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” asked Shondra. “You bet,” Leon said. “One ton for you, and one ton for
me. Let’s search!” The two friends started to descend the path to the beach.
Then Shondra stopped abruptly and pointed to some jagged rocks below them. “Let’s look there. Maybe the ship crashed on those rocks.”
They ran to the rocks and dug frantically beside them, hoping to find a clue. Leon hit something that looked rusty and old. At first they couldn’t discern what it was. They took a few moments to scrutinize the object and realized that it was a necklace.
“It looks like something a distinguished lady would wear,” Shondra said. “We need someone to verify that it’s old and valuable!”
Leon and Shondra carefully wrapped the necklace and headed for home.