Words
Elements of Fiction
Summarize
Infer
Synonym/Antonym
100

admirable

deserving respect or approval

100

Character

The people (or animals) in a story.

100

Luca’s grandpa lives on a farm. His grandpa has a big garden, and many animals. When Luca was little, he was afraid of the chickens. When he helped his grandpa feed the chickens, the chickens chased him, crying, “Cluck, cluck, cluck!” But his grandpa showed him how to shoo the chickens away with his hand, saying, “Shoo chicks, shoo chicks!” Luca still doesn’t like the chickens much, but he isn’t afraid of them now. He feels very grown up. 

Summarize the story in 1 sentence.

MUST INCLUDE: Luca and the chickens

100

Sandy’s favorite thing to do at the park is play on the monkey bars. When she gets to the top, she hangs from her knees and hoots like a monkey. Sandy also likes the little playhouse in her back yard. She likes to sit on top of it and imagine that she is a pilot. 

What is one thing that Sandy likes to do? 

climb     eat     draw

climb

100

__________ is an antonym for bad

good

200

pep talk

a short speech to make someone more confident or feel better.

200

Setting

The place and time a story takes place

200

Alex’s grandpa lives in a big city, on the 18th floor of an apartment building. From his grandpa’s windows, Alex can see the whole city. Alex used to be afraid to look out the windows, because they were up so high. But his grandpa would sit with Alex, and point out all the interesting things in the city. Now Alex likes to look out his grandpa’s windows. He can see the library, and the train station, and the park. He feels very grown up. 

Summarize the story in 1 sentence.

MUST INCLUDE: Alex and his grandpa's windows.

200

Sandy’s favorite thing to do at the park is play on the monkey bars. When she gets to the top, she hangs from her knees and hoots like a monkey. Sandy also likes the little playhouse in her back yard. She likes to sit on top of it and imagine that she is a pilot. 

What is one thing that Sandy likes to do? 

color     pretend     turn flips

pretend

200

_____________ is a synonym for sea

Ocean

300

reflection

your image in a mirror

300

Infer

Finding an answer that is not stated directly in the text.

300

Anthony’s teacher, Mr. Rivera, gave the class a different kind of homework assignment. The assignment was to watch the weather report on television every night for a week. Mr. Rivera told the students some things to listen for as they watched each night’s report. He also gave them a worksheet to fill out while they watched. Mr. Rivera said to look at the large weather map that they would see behind the weather reporter. He told them that they might see a large blue line or a large red line on the map. There might be both a blue line and a red line. He said that a blue line is a high pressure area that usually brings dry weather. A red line is a low pressure area that usually brings wet weather. When blue and red lines meet, there usually is stormy weather on the way. On the worksheet there was a box to fill in with the expected high temperature for the next day. There were other boxes to check if it was expected to rain, or to be cloudy, or to be windy. Anthony watched the weather report and filled in the worksheet each night. He noticed that the next day was usually a lot like the report said it would be. One day’s weather map showed a blue line right next to a red line, and the next day there was a rainstorm. Anthony decided that he liked this kind of homework assignment. 

Summarize the story in 2 sentences.

MUST INCLUDE: Anthony, Mr. Rivera, worksheet, and that the report was usually right.

300

Kangaroos are very interesting animals. The only place they live in the wild is in Australia. They live in all parts of that country. Kangaroos are about 6 feet tall. They have very large back legs and much smaller front legs. They can walk on all 4 legs or stand up and hop along on their back legs. They can travel across 30 feet in a single jump. They can jump 3 times their height. Sometimes they use their back legs to kick an enemy. You wouldn’t want to have a kangaroo get mad at you. 

Where is one place that kangaroos do NOT live in the wild? 

Western Australia,  Eastern Australia,  North America

North America

300

The best synonym for wonderful is _____.

awful    prideful    miserable    fabulous

Fabulous

400

trembling

shaking due to fear, excitement, or weakness

400

Summarize

To tell what happened in your own words (shorter than the original text).

400

A Mother Crab was watching her son play on the beach. Like all crabs, the Young Crab walked along sideways. He walked along to the left, then he walked along to the right. The Mother Crab saw the lobsters on the other side of the beach. The lobsters were all walking straight forward. The Mother Crab said to her son, “Why do you walk sideways like that, my son? It would be much better to walk straight forward.” The Young Crab said to his mother, “That is true, dear mother. Show me how to walk straight, and I will follow your example.” The Mother Crab tried and tried, but she could not walk straight forward. She finally gave up trying, when she saw how foolish she had been to find fault with her son. 

Summarize the story in 2 sentences.

MUST INCLUDE: Mother Crab, Young Crab, waking straight and sideways.

400

Kangaroos are very interesting animals. The only place they live in the wild is in Australia. They live in all parts of that country. Kangaroos are about 6 feet tall. They have very large back legs and much smaller front legs. They can walk on all 4 legs or stand up and hop along on their back legs. They can travel across 30 feet in a single jump. They can jump 3 times their height. Sometimes they use their back legs to kick an enemy. You wouldn’t want to have a kangaroo get mad at you. 

How high can a kangaroo jump?

6 feet      18 feet      30 feet

18 feet

400

The best antonym for awkward is ____.

relaxed    stressed    strange    heated

relaxed

500

Environmental Awareness

the understanding of the environment, how human actions affect it, and the importance of protecting it.

500

Climax

The big fight/when the conflict is resolved

500

Sloths are the slowest mammals on earth. It takes a full minute for a sloth to move 6 feet across the ground. You probably couldn’t move that slowly if you tried! The sloth’s body is about 2 feet long. It has long legs, and curved claws that are 3 to 4 inches long. Their claws and their long legs help them climb trees and hang from tree branches. They spend almost their entire lives hanging from tree branches. The life of a sloth is not very exciting. Sloths have a round head, small ears, a stubby tail, and sad-looking eyes set in a dark-colored “mask.” The shape of a sloth’s mouth makes it look like it is always smiling. It has extra bones in its neck that make it possible for it to turn its head almost all the way around. Sloths are very cute to look at, but they don’t put on much of a show. Sloths are home to other plants and creatures. Tiny plants grow on the sloth’s fur, making the animals appear to be green. This green color makes the sloths almost invisible against the green leaves of the trees they live in. Moths and insects also live in the sloth’s fur. Maybe the sloths move so little and so seldom that the small creatures that live on them don’t even know they are animals. 

Summarize the text in 3 sentences.

MUST INCLUDE: sloths, slow, cute, home to other things

500

The Greedy Man There once was a very greedy man who sold everything he owned and bought a brick of gold. He buried the gold brick behind a hut that was across the road from his shabby old house. Every day, the greedy man went across the road and dug up his gold brick to look at it. After a while, a workman noticed the greedy man going across the road every day, and decided to follow him. The next day, the greedy man dug down for his gold brick, but the hole was empty. He pulled at his hair, and cried out in sorrow. “My beautiful gold brick!” he wept. A neighbor came running, and asked the greedy man what had happened. When the greedy man told him, the neighbor just shrugged his shoulders. “Why be so sad?” said the neighbor. Just go get a rock and put it in that hole, and pretend that it is gold. It will do you as much good as the gold did.” 

Why did the greedy man bury his gold brick? 

A. He didn’t have a house. 

B. He thought it would grow into a tree of gold. 

C. He was afraid someone would steal it.

C. He was afraid someone would steal it.

500

The best synonym for pleading is ____.

hinting    begging    joking    suggesting

begging

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