Category 1: Story Elements (Plot & Theme)
What is the conflict Leo faces in the story?
Leo needs to find a hidden spring to save his town's dying crops.
From which point of view is this story told?
Third-person limited (focused on Leo’s thoughts and feelings).
Provide a brief summary of the second paragraph.
Leo enters the dark forest and realizes the "whispering" sound is actually the wind moving through specific pine needles.
100: If this story included a diagram of a pine needle, how would that help the reader understand the "whispers"?
It would show the "jagged" shape that causes the wind to make that specific noise.
Provide 2 words to describe Leo.
Brave, observant
Which event represents the rising action of this passage?
Leo entering the dark forest and beginning to hear the "whispers" of the wind.
The author describes the trees as a "natural umbrella." What type of figurative language is this?
A metaphor.
The second paragraph compares the "sunny meadows" to the "Whispering Pines." What text structure is being used here?
Comparison and Contrast.
200: What evidence from the text shows that Leo is brave?
"Leo took a deep breath and stepped inside" despite the woods being "dense and dark."
Why is Leo going into the whispering woods if it's dark and dense?
To help the town save the crops by finding the hidden spring.
What is a possible theme of this story based on Leo's actions?
Curiosity and logic can overcome fear; or, Nature holds the keys to survival.
How does Leo’s perspective on the "Whispering Pines" change from the beginning to the end?
At first, he is skeptical/cautious; by the end, he views them scientifically as a "pattern" to be followed.
What is the central idea of the grandfather’s journals mentioned in the text?
That a hidden spring exists within the woods that can provide water for the town.
300: If the author added a map as a text feature, what specific location from the story would be most important to label?
The Hidden Spring or the Whispering Pines.
What clues suggest that Leo has changed by the end of the story?
At the beginning, he was scared, and the map trembled in his hand. By the end, he is an explorer on an adventure.
What figurative language is used in the following sentence?
Suddenly, the wind kicked up, making a low whoosh sound.
onomatopoeia
Which type of figurative language is used in this sentence?
He was no longer just a boy lost in the woods; he was an explorer on the verge of a discovery.
metaphor
This sentence represents a clue to a particular text structure. Which text structure would this be used with?
Unlike the sunny meadows nearby, the Whispering Pines were dense and dark.
Compare and contrast
What evidence is used to show that Leo understands the pattern?
"I see the pattern now," Leo whispered.
He followed the sound, noticing how the ground became muddier the louder the wind grew.
What can you infer from this sentence?
Leo didn’t believe in magic, but he did believe in his grandfather’s journals, which described a hidden spring that could save the town’s dying crops.
Leo's grandfather is not around anymore or maybe he has died.