Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning #8

You can train your pet mouse to sit in your hand.  Start by giving your mouse treats from your hand.  Then when your mouse is familiar with you, hold it in your hand.  Meanwhile, talk to your mouse with a soft, calm voice.  Over several days, add more minutes to the holding time.  Before long, your mouse will come on its own to sit in your hand.

 

How is the paragraph organized?

• It shows the effects of feeding a mouse.

• It shows the steps in the order they happen.

• It explains how a mouse is different when held.

An educator named Dr. James Naismith found himself with a problem in 1891.  At his Massachusetts school, he realized there was no sport students could play indoors in winter.  The search for a solution led him to install two peach baskets and to author some regulations.  The result was the birth of what would become one of the world’s most popular sports.  Today, basketball draws immense crowds and inspires great passion among devotees.  It’s also given rise to some of the greatest athletes the world has ever known.

Why did Naismith invent the game of basketball?

• He wanted a sport that could be played inside during the colder months.

• He believed it was a way to showcase the skills of athletes at his school.

• He thought it would draw crowds of fans to his school in Massachusetts.

Santiago wants to learn the size of the largest freshwater fish ever caught.

Which source could be most trusted?

• A book of world records

• An ad selling fishing gear

• A neighbor who loves to fish

Kristen and her mom want to build a tree house.  They find an online magazine article that tells how to build a tree house.

Which of the following will they probably learn from the article?

• Whether there are places people live in tree houses

• Where to find the biggest tree house in the world

• The best materials to use in building a tree house

Cho opened the can an stirred the thick paint.  She dipped her brush into the an and began painting the wood.  She painted the back, sides, and each shelf.  After it was dry, she would put her books on the shelves.

What is Cho doing?

• reading a book

• painting a bookcase

• moving her chair

Some farms have horses they let you pet.  Not all horses will come over to see you.  They like apples.  Try holding one out.

When will a horse come over to be petted?

• When it wants to eat an apple you are holding

• When other horses do not want to be petted

• When you are ready to go home and eat apples

Noah likes to sit in the kitchen in the morning.  Sunlight pours in through the windows, warming the room.  Cheerful voices surround him as everyone gets ready for the day.  Noah likes to sit in the quiet kitchen before bed.  He reads at the kitchen table and drinks a cup of hot cocoa.

How is the kitchen different in the evening?

• It is brighter in the evening.

• It is quieter in the evening.

• It is cleaner in the evening.

Leila sat beside a little stream.  She listened to the water bubbling over the gray and white pebbles.  Leila reached and dipped her hand into the water.  She gasped as she quickly pulled her hand out of the ice stream.

Which words tell what Leila heard?

• ice cream

• water bubbling

• white pebbles

Kyle and Joy wanted to buy their mom a present.  Each one had different ideas about what Mom would like.  Later, Mom entered the kitchen and said, “Oh no!  There is a hole in one of my garden gloves.”  Kyle and Joy grinned at each other.  They would buy Mom new garden gloves.

How do Kyle and Joy solve their problem?

• They try to think of new ideas.

• They listen to what Mom says.

• They ask Mom for her help.

“Oh, Said the Worm,” by Leroy F. Jackson

“Oh,” said the worm,

“I’m awfully tired of sitting in the trees;

I want to be a butterfly

And chase the bumblebees.”

What makes the worm seem like a person?

• it sits in the trees

• it can voice its thoughts

• it wants to be a butterfly