Soft Rain: Chapter 9, "Rain Comes"

Read the following sentence: "She shared her water ration with them, just as they had when Green Fern was ill." (pg. 51) What does the word ration mean?

• bottle

• to grow crops

• a fixed share or portion

• medicine

Read the following sentence: "The welcome rain stayed all day, washing them, quenching their thirst, lessening the heat." (pg. 55) Using context clues, what does the word quenching mean?

• worsen

• satisfy

• to be with family

• making worse

Read the following sentence: "When I was a girl, she began, this is what I was told about the uktena, that huge snake that has shining scales and horns on its head." (pg. 52) Using context clues, what does the word uktena mean?

• a dragon-like snake from a Cherokee legend

• a group of children

• a Native American instrument

• a type of bird

How did Mother and Aunt Kee react to the rain?

• cried with happiness

• cried with sadness

• filled their buckets

• danced and laughed together

What did Aunt Kee and Mother do when they were young girls?

• went to school to read and write

• learned stories, cooking, and sewing

• learned about growing crops

• learned about hunting and fishing

Why did Soft Rain share stories her Grandmother had told her?

• it helped the other children laugh

• it made mother healthy when she was sick

• it helped her forget her troubles

• the soldiers told her to tell stories

How does Soft Rain find out about where they will be going next?

• Her mother tells her

• The soldier with the shiny belt buckle tells her

• Another child tells her

• The soldiers make an announcement to everyone

Where will Soft Rain and the others in the pen be going to next?

• to their new homes

• Rattlesnake Springs and then west

• back to their old homes

• to a hotel

Which statement does NOT show that the people were afraid to be moved?

• Some of them, hollow-eyed and pale, only stared at her in silence

• Others screamed in fear.

• Soft Rain tried her best to close her eyes to the sobs, moans, and wails

• Soft Rain told the children