Reading Day 1 - Module H ELA

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Reading

Success Criteria

During Independent Practice, students read a fiction
passage and answer text-dependent questions.

I will know I am successful when I can

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explain the type of thinking work a
passage will require,

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use my strategies to read the passage,

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answer text-dependent questions,

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and justify my responses with text evidence.

Stuart Little by E. B. White

1  When Mrs. Frederick C. Little’s second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse. The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way.

2  He was only about two inches high, and he had a mouse’s sharp nose, a mouse’s tail, a mouse’s whiskers, and the pleasant, shy manner of a mouse. Before he was many days old, he was not only looking like a mouse but acting like one, too—wearing a gray hat and carrying a small cane. Mr. and Mrs. Little named him Stuart, and Mr. Little made him a tiny bed out of four clothespins and a cigarette box.

3  Unlike most babies, Stuart could walk as soon as he was born. When he was a week old, he could climb lamps by shinnying up the cord. Mrs. Little saw right away that the infant clothes she had provided were unsuitable, and she set to work and made him a fine little blue worsted suit with patch pockets in which he could keep his and kerchief, his money, and his keys. Every morning, before Stuart dressed, Mrs. Little went into his room and weighed him on a small scale which was really meant for weighing letters. At birth Stuart could have been sent by first- class mail for three cents, but his parents preferred to keep him rather than send him away; and when, at the age of a month, he had gained only a third of an ounce, his mother was so worried she sent for the doctor.

4  The doctor was delighted with Stuart and said that it was very unusual for an American family to have a mouse. He took Stuart’s temperature and found that it was 98.6, which is normal for a mouse. He also examined Stuart’s chest and heart and looked into his ears solemnly with a flashlight. (Not every doctor can look into a mouse’s ear without laughing.) Everything seemed to be all right, and Mrs. Little was pleased to get such a good report.

5  The home of the Little family was a pleasant place near a park in New York City. In the mornings the sun streamed in through the east windows, and all the Littles were up early as a general rule. Stuart was a great help to his parents, and to his older brother George, because of his small size and because he could do things that a mouse can do and was agreeable about doing them. One day when Mrs. Little was washing out the bathtub after Mr. Little had taken a bath, she lost a ring off her finger and was horrified to discover that it had fallen down the drain.

6 “What had I better do?” she cried, trying to keep the tears back.

7  “Why don’t we send Stuart down after it?” suggested Mr. Little. “How about it, Stuart, would you like to try?”

8  “Yes, I would,” Stuart replied, “but I think I’d better get into my old pants. I imagine it’s wet down there.”

9 “It’s all of that,” said George. So Stuart slipped into his old pants and prepared to go down the drain after the ring. He decided to carry the string along with him, leaving one end in charge of his father. “When I jerk three times on the string, pull me up,” he said. And while Mr. Little knelt in the tub, Stuart slid easily down the drain and was lost to view. In a minute or so, there came three quick jerks on the string, and Mr. Little carefully hauled it up. There, at the end, was Stuart, with the ring safely around his neck.

10 “Oh, my brave little son,” said Mrs. Little proudly, as she kissed Stuart and thanked him.

11  “How was it down there?” asked Mr. Little, who was always curious to know about places he had never been to.

12 “It was all right,” said Stuart.

13  But the truth was the drain had made him very slimy, and it was necessary for him to take a bath and sprinkle himself with a bit of his mother’s violet water before he felt himself again. Everybody in the family thought he had been awfully good about the whole thing 6“What had I better do?” she cried, trying to keep the tears back.

Multiple Choice

Select the detail that best describes how Mrs. Little feels about her son Stuart.

• “When Mrs. Frederick C. Little’s second son arrived, everybody noticed

  that he was not much bigger than a mouse.” (paragraph 1)

• “‘Oh, my brave little son,’ said Mrs. Little proudly, as she kissed Stuart and

  thanked him.” (paragraph 10)

• “Mr. and Mrs. Little named him Stuart, and Mr. Little made him a tiny bed

  out of four clothespins and a cigarette box.” (paragraph 2)

• “But the truth was the drain had made him very slimy, and it was

  necessary for him to take a bath and sprinkle himself with a bit of his

  mother’s violet water before he felt himself again.” (paragraph 13)

Strategize It!

Multiple Choice

What is Mrs. Little’s perspective toward dropping her ring down the drain?

• Mrs. Little is excited about the possibility of buying a new ring.

• Mrs. Little is confident that her ring will be recovered easily.

• Mrs. Little is shocked and worried that she may not be able to get her ring out of the drain.

• Mrs. Little believes that her husband is to blame for her dropping her ring down the drain.

Multiple Choice

Which answer choice best summarizes the passage?

• Stuart Little helps his mother by climbing down the bathtub drain to get her ring.

• Stuart Little is an unusual son for an American family to have.

• Mr. and Mrs. Little work hard to make sure Stuart has proper clothing and a tiny bed.

• Stuart Little has a visit from a doctor, during which he is given a good report.

Multiple Choice

This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B.

Part A: Read the sentence from paragraph 9.

"So Stuart slipped into his old pants and prepared to go down the drain after the ring."

Which type of figurative language is used in this sentence?

• hyperbole

• idiom

• simile

• metaphor

Strategize It!

Multiple Choice

Part B: Why does the author use this type of figurative language in Part A?

"So Stuart slipped into his old pants and prepared to go down the drain after the ring."

• to make a comparison between Stuart and his father

• to describe Stuart’s feelings of fear

• to show that Stuart puts his pants on quickly and easily

• to exaggerate Stuart’s feelings of frustration