4th Grade Reading Comp. Task Cards 1

Did you know sound is also a type of energy? Sound is everywhere. Sound is a special type of movement. Sound is energy that makes substances vibrate. Sound travels as vibrations that we can hear and sometimes even feel. All sounds are caused by the vibration of substances. Sound can come from different sources. You can clap your hands, stamp your feet, talk, sing, or play a musical instrument. Different vibrations will make different sounds.

How does sound travel?

• Through air

• Molecules

• Vibrations

• Music

The oldest brother was sent into the forest to chop wood. He took a cake and a bottle of water. He meets a little gray man who begs for food. But the brother refused. He then injures his arm and is taken home. The second brother meets a similar fate. Then, the youngest was sent out. He had only a burned biscuit and unclean water. But he shares with the little gray man anyways. He was rewarded with a golden goose.

Why were the first two brothers unsuccessful?

• They did not share.

• They were mean.

• They did not work hard.

• They were spoiled.

Tyrannosaurus Rex was a big meat eating dinosaur. It was at the top of the food chain. It fed on other large dinosaurs. But could swallow smaller dinosaurs whole. One scientist believes that T. Rex was a scavenger. This is an animal that eats dead animals. He thinks that T. Rex was slow. It was too slow to catch prey. Others believe that T. Rex scavenged and hunted. This is like most living meat-eaters. T. Rex bite marks were found on the bones of healed dinosaurs. This shows that Tyrannosaurus Rex did hunt sometimes. It also shows that the prey could escape.

Which sentence is a point made by the author in the passage?

• T Rex killed all its prey.

• T Rex was too slow to hunt.

• T Rex did hunt and scavenge.

• T Rex was not that dangerous.

Alice, a seven-year-old girl, was feeling bored and drowsy while sitting on the riverbank with her older sister. She

notices a talking, clothed white rabbit with a pocket watch run past. She follows it down a rabbit hole where she suddenly falls a long way to a curious hall with many locked doors of all sizes. She finds a little key to a door too small for her to fit through, but through it, she sees an attractive garden. She then discovers a bottle on a table labeled "DRINK ME," the contents of which cause her to shrink too small to reach the key which she had left on the table. She then eats a cake labeled "EAT ME" as the chapter closes.

Which word describes Alice?

• Cautious

• Fearless

• Brave

• Curious

Many of the trees in your town have been chopped down to make space for homes and other buildings. The birds that used to make their nests in the trees now have nowhere to safely lay their eggs! There are many more rats, mice, and other pests in the city because there are fewer and fewer birds to catch them! This is because many birds left to find safe places to build their nests and raise their chicks. Some of the birds that stayed behind tried to make nests on rooftops, but the people did not like the mess they made on their buildings and destroyed the nests. Other birds tried to build their nests on tall radio and television towers. But then the people could not get their televisions or radios to work properly, so they also broke their nests and chased the birds away. People then complain about all the pests that are in the city, but the birds do not have a safe place to live and help.

Which phrase describes the structure of the passage?

• order of events

• cause and effect

• problem and solution

• compare and contrast

There are many simple things we can do to save water. First, just by turning off the tap while you brush your teeth in the morning and before bedtime, you can save up to 8 gallons of water! That adds up to more than 200 gallons a month, enough to fill a huge fish tank that holds six small sharks! The same is true when you wash dishes. Turn off the tap! Scrape your dirty dishes into the trash—then put them in the dishwasher. Second, taking a shower uses much less water than filling up a bathtub. A shower only uses 10 to 25 gallons, while a bath takes up to 70 gallons! If you do take a bath, be sure to plug the drain right away and adjust the temperature as you fill the tub. To save even more water, keep your shower under five minutes long—try timing yourself with a clock next time you hop in!

Which sentence from the passage best states the central idea?

• There are many simple things we can do to save water.

• Turn off the tap!

• Taking a shower uses much less water than filling up a bath tub.

• To save even more water, keep your shower under five minutes long.

Energy is stored in some sources. Stored energy is the energy that is stored in our food, gas, wood, oil, and other chemicals. Batteries also contain chemicals that are used to store energy. This stored energy can be used for different purposes. Examples: When we eat food, the stored energy in the food can be used by our bodies. When we burn wood or coal, the stored energy is released as heat energy that we can use to keep us warm. When we burn gas, we can use it for cooking our food. When we turn on a car, we use the energy in the gas to give movement energy to the car.

How does the image contribute to an understanding of the passage?

• By showing how people need firewood.

• By showing how to use a campfire.

• By showing an example of using stored energy.

• By showing a way our bodies use energy.

There is a poor fisherman who lives with his wife in a shack by the sea. One day the fisherman catches a fish, which claims to be an enchanted prince and begs to be set free. The fisherman kindly releases it. When his wife hears the story, she says he ought to have had the fish grant him a wish. She insists that he go back and ask the fish to grant her wish for a nice house. The fisherman returns to the shore but is uneasy when he finds that the sea looks dirty, as it was so clear before. He makes up a rhyme to call the fish, and it grants the wife's wish. The fisherman is pleased with his new wealth, but the wife is not. She demands more; her husband be made a king. Reluctantly, he does and gets his wish. But again and again, his wife sends him back to ask for more and more. The fisherman knows this is wrong, but there is no reasoning with his wife. He says they should be happy with what they have been given. Eventually, the wife wishes for too much and they are returned once again to the old shack.

What is the theme of the passage?

• Wealth does not bring happiness.

• Do not trust someone with magic.

• To not take advantage of others.

• Be happy with what you are given.

How can we make sounds louder? Have you ever seen someone talking into a megaphone? A megaphone makes our voices louder and travel further. Many instruments also make sounds louder in some way. Wind instruments (tube instruments) use a tube as a funnel to make sounds seem louder, similar to what you see with a megaphone. String instruments do the same but using a hollow shape.

Select the reason the author wrote this passage.

• To explain what makes sound louder.

• To describe how to make a megaphone.

• To show why sound can be heard.

• To compare different types of sound.

One bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat. "What!" cried the Ants in surprise, "haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?” "I didn't have time to store up any food," whined the Grasshopper; "I was so busy making music that before I knew it the summer was gone.” The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust. "Making music, were you?" they cried. "Very well; now dance!" And they turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with their work.

What role does the Grasshopper have in the passage?

• He shows why the ants needed to work so hard.

• He provides an example of what happens if you don't prepare.

• He helps create a fun element to the story.

• He explains why music is more important.