language arts
Some accounts called this tall tale figure "half-horse, half-alligator" and claimed he could "outrun, out-hop, out-jump, throw down, drag out, and lick any man in the country!" A bull once dragged him over briars and stumps, and he shot a whiskey cup off his friend's head. Name this semilegendary figure nicknamed "king of the keelboatmen."
(MIKE) FINK
This symbol is often called "Old Glory." According to legend, Betsy Ross made the first one. What symbol of America is red, white, and blue?
(AMERICAN, US, THE) FLAG
A pup has had enough of summer in the city! Enough of sizzling sidewalks, enough of wailing sirens, enough of people's feet right in his face. When he plops down in the middle of a crosswalk, his owner endeavors to get him the breath of fresh air he needs. She hails a taxi, hops a train, and ferries out to the beach.
Hot Dog
At the 2017 Grammys, this singer won Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Album of the Year. "Rolling in the Deep," "Someone Like You," "Set Fire to the Rain," and "Chasing Pavements" won four of her ten other Grammys. Name this singer of "Hello," which is found on her album 25.
ADELE
It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is the just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry - and that Flora will be changed too, as she discovers the possibility of hope and the promise of a capacious heart.
Flora and Ulysses
One word with this pronunciation means "to pull or haul by a rope, chain, or other device." A differently-spelled word with the same pronunciation names a digit on the foot. What is the shared pronunciation of these words?
TOE/TOW
This conflict in North America was known as the Seven Years War in Europe. What conflict ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, and saw the American colonists fight with the British against a common enemy?
FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, this book gives an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption―a bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.
Water is the first medicine.
It affects and connects us all .
We Are Water Protectors
The models for this painting were the artist's dentist, Byron McKeeby, and the artist's sister Nan. A Midwestern farmhouse stands behind a stern-faced woman and her overall-clad father, who holds a pitchfork. Give the title of this work by Iowa-based artist Grant Wood.
AMERICAN GOTHIC
“With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . . The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. ’Cuz tonight I’m delivering,” raps twelve-year-old Josh Bell. Thanks to their dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood—he’s got mad beats, too, which help him find his rhythm when it’s all on the line.In this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander, Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.
The Crossover
An Aesop fable featuring one of these animals teaches the lesson, "Greed often overreaches itself." A man kills the animal to make his fortune at once, instead of gradually, only to find nothing inside. What kind of animal laid golden eggs?
GOOSE
This town was chartered by the Virginia legislature in 1782, and was the first meeting place of the Kentucky legislature ten years later. A century later, it called itself the Athens of the West with streetlights, a public library, a theater and a musical society. Name this Kentucky town where you will find Keeneland racetrack, and which serves as the home of "Big Blue Nation."
LEXINGTON
While driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl's Chinese immigrant parents spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. They stop the car, grabbing rusty scissors and an old paper bag, and the whole family wades into the mud to gather as much as they can.
Watercress
This country has five national dances, including the lively, triple-time mazurka [muh-ZER-kuh]. A popular misconception is that this country's national dance is the polka, which actually originated in Bohemia. Identify this nation, which also gave us the polonaise.
POLAND
Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, this is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets.
dead end in norvelt
Spelling required. A plethora of birds possess aerodynamic skeletons. Spell the word from the previous sentence meaning "able to move easily through the air."
A-E-R-O-D-Y-N-A-M-I-C
This conflict saw more than a half million U.S. military forces stationed in the former French Indochina by 1969. A memorial in Washington, D.C., features the names of American troops killed or missing in this conflict. In what conflict did China and the Soviet Union support the communist efforts to overrun the nation with its capital at Saigon?
(THE) VIETNAM (WAR or CONFLICT)
A girl is lost in a snowstorm. A wolf cub is lost, too. How will they find their way home?
Paintings rich with feeling tell this satisfying story of friendship and trust.
wolf in the snow
As inspiration for this painting, the artist cited "the countryside from my window a long time before sunrise." A sleeping village and tall cypress lie beneath a pulsing night sky, complete with full moon and Venus. Give the name of this Vincent Van Gogh landscape.
(THE) STARRY NIGHT
Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.
Moon Over Manifest
Spelling required. Her absence due to mild pneumonia was completely allowable. Spell the word in the preceding sentence that is a synonym of "permissible."
A-L-L-O-W-A-B-L-E
In 1889, they started their own newspaper, the West Side News, in Dayton, Ohio. A few years later, they opened a bicycle shop there, but later moved to North Carolina, to work on building a heavierthan-air plane. Identify the brothers considered the "fathers of modern aviation."
(ORVILLE AND WILBUR) WRIGHT (BROTHERS)
Originally performed for ESPN, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world's greatest heroes.
The Undefeated
This composer worked for the Duke of Weimar [VY-mar] and Prince Leopold before becoming director of music at Leipzig's [LYP-sigz] St. Thomas Church and School. A talented organist and harpsichordist, he collected a series of keyboard works under the title The Well-Tempered Clavier [kluh-VEER]. Give the name of this Baroque composer responsible for the Brandenburg Concertos.
(JOHANN SEBASTIAN) BACH
Believing that her French guardian is about to abandon her to an orphanage in the city, ten-year-old Lucky runs away from her small town with her beloved dog by her side in order to trek across the Mojave Desert in this Newbery Medal–winning novel from Susan Patron.
Higher Power of Lucky